Final Fantasy XVI: Echoes of the Fallen Review – Final Fantasy Fan Service

Final Fantasy XVI took players on an action-packed journey filled with political drama, summon creatures, and pulse-pounding combat when it launched last year. While the base game told a complete story, Square Enix heard cries from fans to spend more time in its immersive world. Enter Echoes of the Fallen, the first of two slated DLC expansions aiming to quench players’ thirst for additional adventures in Valisthea.

Dropping mere months after Final Fantasy XVI originally released, Echoes of the Fallen surprises with both its sudden arrival and modest scope. At only a scant few hours long, this bite-sized content morsel focuses narrowly on what many considered the main course of FF16’s gameplay feast: the slick combat system. It inserts a linear dungeon craw before the finale of Clive’s journey, letting players reassemble their squad to take on creatures and bosses with new tricks up their sleeves.

Don’t expect much worldbuilding or subplot momentum from Echoes’ story beats. This DLC keeps narrative slim and centered on the lost Fallen civilization hinted at by FF16’s ending. Instead, the draw here is experiencing the game’s exceptionally crafted battles against baddies who pose fresh challenges. It’s best treated as a combat-focused epilogue and gateway to the second DLC expansion, The Rising Tide, rather than a standalone story addition meant to massively widen Valisthea’s scope.

More Mythos Than Meaningful Storytelling

Echoes of the Fallen slots neatly into Final Fantasy XVI’s main narrative right before the finale, as if filling a gap rather than forging new ground. It sees Clive investigate the sudden appearance of unstable homebrewed crystals seemingly tied to the long-lost Fallen civilization. These “dusk crystals” end up in the hands of average folks looking to sell them for profit, prompting our hero’s interference. It’s a sensible enough premise that provides excuses for environmental exploration and enemy encounters rather than an emotional impetus or bold twist on existing lore.

After chasing down some shady salesmen, Clive steps through a mystical door into the Sagespire, a towering dungeon complex built by the Fallen themselves. It’s here he hopes to discover the origin of these faulty crystals. As players climb through the spire’s linearly arranged floors, they’ll spot occasional clues expanding on the Fallen’s obsession with godslaying swords like Chaosbringer or attaining godhood through crystals. But rather than dive deeply into any revelations about their history or culture, Echoes seems content keeping players battling onward rather than pondering past mysteries.

New allies introduced along the journey fail to leave lasting impressions or backstories one cares about. They feel less like integral additions to FF16’s ensemble and more like cardboard quest dispensers. Their sparse dialogue rarely enlightens Clive’s crystal quest or Valisthea’s domains; they’re narrative window dressing and little more. Thankfully, seeingconnectivity with Final Fantasy XVI’s major players through occasional interjected lines. But even these familiar faces play nominal roles compared to the enemy encounters demanding your attention.

By keeping the spotlight squarely on hack-n-slash action through its brief runtime, Echoes of the Fallen feels detached from and inessential to Final Fantasy XVI’s core narrative. It neither significantly progresses party character arcs nor reveals huge strokes of world history that recontextualize story events. What tidbits it does sprinkle about the Fallen may intrigue lore junkies but likely won’t resonate with those more invested in Clive’s personal growth or political upheavals.

Compared to the main game’s delicately balanced integration of intimate character drama and sweeping world-building, this DLC’s perfunctory presentation of either element leaves the overall experience feeling hollow. Those hoping to see more satisfying exploration of FF16’s richer fantasy concepts like Eikons or resonant subplot resolutions for beloved party members may leave disappointed.

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Combat Carries the Experience

Veterans who found themselves enraptured by Final Fantasy XVI’s thrilling real-time combat will be glad to hear that Echoes of the Fallen offers more of the same excellently crafted battles. The core mechanics go untouched, avoiding new abilities or combos in favor of presenting fresh challenges to master through a gauntlet of formidable foes. What narrative shortcomings the DLC possesses fade into the background as players lose themselves in responding to enemies’ punishing-yet-fair attack patterns during white-knuckle standoffs.

Echoes structures its lone new area, the multi-floor Sagespire dungeon, akin to raids from MMOs like FFXIV. Expect long stretches battling regular baddies interspersed with intense boss encounters throughout the ascent. Trash pulls teach newcomers the fundamentals while allowing veterans to polish rusty skills. Meanwhile, bosses put combat dynamics to the test, demanding keen use of talents like parrying, magic spells, stagger gauges, and your Eikon’s special abilities. Most foes feature familiar cues and telegraphs compared to monsters fought during Clive’s main quest, but force quicker reactions while chaining deadlier combo strings if not promptly dealt with.

Some exceedingly memorable adversaries awaited atop the Sagespire, ready to wreck unprepared raiding parties. A particular standout was an Ahriman-esque beast who made liberal use of duplicating himself before unleashing relentless multi-target attacks from all directions. Keeping track of his true form while avoiding room-wide deadly laser grids and targeted projectiles forced deft positioning and expert situational awareness. He stands tall as likely the most intense Clive-only enemy in all of Final Fantasy XVI – no small praise!

These nail-biting contests extend through the climatic bout with Omega, an iconic superboss paying homage to old-school Final Fantasy challenge runs. His varying attack combos, alternating weaknesses, and constantly shifting arenas turn an already fierce bout into a supreme test of combat mastery sure to make series veterans grin through gritted teeth. Toppling his staggered form at the fight’s finale after such an epic struggle imparts a profound sense of accomplishment.

While certainly impressive encounters, their conventional movesets perhaps represent missed chances for innovation. New Eikon abilities or an expanded armory with more outlandish properties could have better justified Echoes’ existence to those seeking substantial gameplay expansions rather than familiar fundamentals. Still, as dress rehearsals for The Rising Tide and gateways for lapsed players to regain battle prowess, the Sagespire’s contents don’t disappoint in preparing for future challenges.

And the DLC’s rewards match such elite encounters with powerful accessory additions plus Cloud’s iconic Buster Sword from Final Fantasy VII, letting players deck their best gear out in stylish new ways. Whether boosting battle capabilities or aesthetics, these mythic-tier upgrades make progressing through Echoes’ many meat grinder-esque fights more than worth the effort. Armored in new finery and weaponry, warriors can stride confidently into further adventures across Valisthea knowing few enemies can withstand their might.

Jaw-Dropping Style and Sound Design

One area where Echoes of the Fallen undoubtedly brings its A-game lies in phenomenal presentation across both visuals and audio. Final Fantasy XVI already stunned with its graphical showcase of new generation hardware power, earning praise as one of the most visually impressive RPGs ever made. Somehow, this diminutive DLC manages to eclipse even that lofty benchmark in certain scenes. Just when one believes Square’s art teams have pushed PS5’s limits to the breaking point, they prove imagination exceeds any technical boundaries.

The sublime crowning jewel comes as players finally emerge from the Sagespire’s labyrinthine depths back into daylight. No words do justice to the angelic imagery awaiting outside the dungeon’s exit. Radiant vistas and heavenly auroras fill the sky as beams of divine light filter through cloud-streaked atmosphere, creating picturesque scenes of jaw-dropping magnificence worthy of desktop wallpaper status. Every meticulously modeled blade of grass, painstakingly placed architectural detail, and deliberately angled lens flare outshines even Final Fantasy XVI’s most ostentatious imagery. Such inspired art direction deserves awards in its own right.

And such phenomenal graphics come matched by equally outstanding audio design. Series veteran composer Masayoshi Soken returns to provide a typically rousing musical score. But the jaw-dropping final boss theme accompanying players’ confrontation with Omega perhaps best captures his talents for marrying epic, rock-infused bombast with emotional pathos into unforgettable auditory artworks. Whether soul-stirring or adrenaline-surging, Soken’s work consistently accentuates the onscreen drama at all the right moments. No adventure to Valisthea feels complete without his iconic tunes.

So while Echoes of the Fallen may falter slightly regarding combat innovation or deep lore dives, it stays true to Final Fantasy XVI’s heart as a technical tour de force realizing fantastical sights and sounds. In an age dominated by derivative open worlds and homogenized design, Square Enix continues proving themselves as visionary auteurs across all presentation aspects. JRPGS might still wear stigma as niche genre interests, but production values matching Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters make this franchise undeniably inspiring mainstream marvels.

Familiar Performance Profile

Users hoping Echoes of the Fallen would deliver optimizations or performance bumps compared to Final Fantasy XVI will leave sorely disappointed. This DLC offers an identical technical showing to the original release across all areas. While far from broken, lingering frame pacing problems and unreliable targeting of higher resolutions or framerates do slightly tarnish encounters. Those fine with or unaware of such granular drawbacks likely won’t care. But after next-gen patches for several other 2022 titles, Square’s inability to address complaints sticks out.

Exploring the Sagespire shows off all the same rough edges noticeable when roaming Valisthea’s expansive plains. Surfaces sometimes shimmer from temporal reconstruction trickery trying to retain higher 4K resolutions. Frame pacing suffers too, causing occasional stuttering even on screens with variable refresh rate (VRR). Such hitches disrupt the sense of fluidity and immersion modern gamers expect, especially at higher difficulties demanding split-second reactions.

As usual, battles escape most of these snags by locking things to a smooth 60fps 99% of the time. Players seeking steadier overall performance should enable the Quality mode capping exploration and fights to 30fps. While sacrificing responsiveness for stability, keeping things consistently around that mark sans fluctuation provides better general playability. Since Echoes makes no alterations affecting speed or timing, combat’s superb dynamics shine at either setting.

Brief and Straight to the Point

Resembling bite-sized DLC of old, Echoes of the Fallen provides a narrowly focused content morsel digestible in a single 2-3 hour sitting. Its runtime seems reasonable for a reduced-price addon, but undeniably leaves one wishing there was more to see and do. The streamlined structure catapulting players straight into the self-contained Sagespire dungeon lets little opportunity to explore wider possibilities or side content compared to the base game’s sprawl. Once you’ve cleaned out its floors of threats and admired the gorgeous skyboxes outside, credits abruptly roll.

Some won’t mind this breakneck pace rapidly wringing out what action-oriented juice it can then calling it a day. But the concentrated structure tends to undermine absorbing investment in the DLC’s already thin plotlines or characters. Just as players start establishing connections to either element, Echoes ends, interrupting more deliberate worldbuilding beats meant for emotional resonance. Compared to the original’s carefully measured pacing woven between gameplay highs, lows, and dramatic plot punches, the expansion’s heavy foot feels like an unsatisfying sprint.

Thankfully, The Rising Tide promises meatier content and scope more resemblant of Final Fantasy XVI’s best qualities later next year. So series fans can consider Echoes akin to tidying up leftover side dishes while their next main course finishes preparation. Tantalizing if slight, this unquestionably leaves one eager for the coming main course.

An Enjoyable Yet Inessential Addition

Echoes of the Fallen delivers exactly what its name implies – echoes of the excellence found in Final Fantasy XVI’s original incarnation without enough bold new ideas to wholly justify the price of entry. As a vehicle for engaging battle content presenting fresh challenges for series veterans while letting them reminisce about beloved characters, it broadly succeeds. Spectacular encounters with remarkable presentation fully realize the base game’s potential for cinematic flair and demanding skill tests. Its glories lie primarily in spectacle over substance, however.

Players entranced by FF16’s finely tuned combat will squeeze enjoyment from the added trials here, yet may desire bolder innovations given the sparse runtime. Fans invested more in narrative depth or open-ended exploration won’t discover much tiding them over until the next expansion. Echoes stands best treated as optional endgame content rather than essential story progress for all but the most fervent audience subsets.

Casual fans or series newcomers should take a wait-and-see approach unless intent on wringing every last morsel of content from FF16’s complex battle mechanics. As an introductory journey exposing more users to the game’s appeal, Echoes doesn’t present Valisthea’s finest qualities cohesively enough to captivate skeptics. But for no-nonsense access to more intensely challenging enemies atop a graphically stunning tower after already witnessing Clive’s journey, it certainly delivers.

Had Echoes featured meatier environmental scope, better incorporation of beloved characters, or implemented bolder gameplay wrinkles, it may have earned an easy recommendation for most. As stands, it’s best considered delightful yet disposable dessert content rather than a fully balanced meal. The slim pickings here won’t starve series supporters’ appetites, but may risk leaving some still hungry for heartier fare hopefully coming in The Rising Tide.

Until that arrives, stepping through the visually resplendent Sagespire remains worthwhile for battle enthusiasts eagerness to test their combat prowess. Players who require deep narrative payoffs or wide-open adventure beyond linear dungeon crawls need not apply. But viewed appropriately as a arena for flexing one’s mastery over Final Fantasy XVI’s outstanding action system rather than a story expansion or open world addition, Echoes of the Fallen entertains despite its limited scale. Just set expectations accordingly and savor these echoes as the enticing yet fleeting fanfare Square Enix intends them to be rather an opener signaling sweeping change.

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