5/5 ★ – asoola's review of Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide.

The second FINAL FANTASY XVI DLC is finally here! I am a bit late to the party but I finally finished playing it today and I REALLY LOVED IT if you read my Echoes of The Fallen review then you already know how much I loved that one I wasn’t expecting to like The Rising Tide as much as I did and I think I love the story in this DLC a tiny bit more than Echoes of The Fallen! (Maybe it’s because I was always interested about the story of Leviathan the Lost!) The moment I saw Shula I knew she has the potential to be an amazing character and she did not disappoint I love how they wrote her character and how caring she was in a way she kinda reminds me of Clive always willing to help her people and take on the weight of their burdens! (This is mentioned in a side quest and Clive says he’s following Cid’s footsteps but I still think she reminds me of both Clive AND Cid) Shula aside Mysidia is breathtaking it’s visually pleasing and I enjoyed exploring it, as for the story of Leviathan I was NOT expecting the Dominant to be a baby I felt so bad for him he deserves a better fate ☹️ I feel like Clive is kinda like his older brother in a way I loved seeing Clive being more caring and gentle when he took on the powers of Waljas’s Eikon and Clive was the same way when he fought Leviathan, Clive was always shown to be caring however this DLC really highlighted his caring, selflessness, and funny side and I really loved that! I love how the theme of this DLC once again fits the themes of FFXVI because of people greed and reliance on the Crystals they chose to sacrifice a baby that is innocent and never asked for any of this! Not only that but the Dominants in general where told how to live their lives even though they may have been afraid (Joshua mentions how afraid he was when he primed) and the Dominants were always burdened with responsibilities they never asked for ever since they were born and I’m glad they talked about that more in this DLC! And while I’m talking about Dominants I’m glad the DLC talked more about the northern territories (where Jill is from) and I wasn’t expecting to know more about the previous Shiva Dominant! I really loved how they wrote Ysay story and how it’s tied to the story of Levithan, as a Jill fan I’m glad they dived a bit more into her hometown and the previous Dominant before her 🫶🏽 Also I loved seeing more Jill and Joshua moments I love these characters so much, not just those two though best boy Torgal and the best protagonist Clive (and Ambrosia too) I love all of them 🥹 Story aside not just Shula but every character in Mysidia is really good whether it’s a new character or a returning character which brings me to my next point I LOVED SEEING FAMIEL AGAIN (even though it was a side quest) I LOVE HIS CHARACTER HE’S BRINGS JOY WHEN HE SHOWS UP IN MY OPINION 🫶🏽 The new side quests in general were fun too I really loved them and I’m glad the game gave me more way to explore Mysidia and it’s characters stories. Now that’s over I wanna talk about gameplay I think the new boss fights were very challenging and fun at times! I wanna go back and learn how to fight Leviathan perfectly because I really loved that boss fight (even though it has an annoying phase personally speaking)! Boss fights aside the new skills are SO MUCH FUN, Leviathan skills are fun and I’m still learning how to use them perfectly but Leviathan is not the only power Clive gets 😌 If you answer the invitation from Ultima you get the Ultima powers I mean Clive kinda got the same ones I assume in the ending but since it happened in the ending I didn’t get to see how it worked so I’m glad they gave me the option to play with Ultima’s power and hey those wings look cool on Clive. 🫡 Well that is all I loved this DLC so much and the new songs do not disappoint I love the music in this game so much, I’m definitely gonna miss the characters, the world of FFXVI, and Clive I’m so glad I was able to experience the story of FFXVI and its DLCs. A big thank you to the devs for the breathtaking, well written, fun, and challenging DLC 💙