Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide Reviews
So, The Rising Tide is ultimately a mixed bag. Mysidia is beautiful, but you can feel the DLC’s budgetary constraints sometimes when some of the more important cutscenes are undercut by less involved animations than they’d have gotten in the main game. The boss fights are absurdly good, Shula’s a hoot, and there’s plenty else in there that’s worth your time. But the side quests are (mostly) still kind of whatever, and you’ll have seen everything there is to see in the setting’s village in, like, four minutes. Jill’s chance to shine is a partly-cloudy endeavor. That epilogue quest is merely serviceable. But the worldbuilding is rich, some of the new powers in Clive’s flashy array of murder tools are sublime, and Kairos Gate is a blast.
The Rising Tide works great as one last hurrah with new Eikons and a short but worthwhile adventure that shows a different side of FFXVI.
Simply put, The Rising Tide is a fitting end to Final Fantasy XVI. It delivers more stellar gameplay and an interesting narrative, all while further solidifying the legacy of the franchise's sixteenth title. While it may play it safe with the characters, bosses and story, it makes up for it with the addition of Leviathan and Kairos Gate. Furthermore, the DLC is a perfect sendoff to the game, lending itself well to what was established and giving fans a chance to return to Clive, Torgal, Jill and Jonathan one last time. Those who enjoyed the base game will find The Rising Tide to be an enjoyable and worthwhile adventure to travel back to Valisthea for.
Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide is settled with a story too short in a new area of great beauty, new characters and a leviathan that is the best of the expansion. The combat shines again in an expansion that again makes the same mistakes and successes as the base game and its first DLC.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Final Fantasy XVI says goodbye with The Rising Tide, a new dose of spectacle that will surely please the defenders of the sixteenth installment, but that falls far short of the expectations generated.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Good DLC should pull you back into the game’s world. Final Fantasy XVI’s DLC sort of achieves this goal. You want to spend more time there, but the version of the world on offer feels a bit bleak. Maybe this is just the ‘end of days’ vibe that permeates the final chapter. Perhaps I’m just cursed with knowledge about these characters and their ultimate fates. Either way, the actual tangible content is mostly pretty fun. Yes, the sidequests are a bit dull, and I wish the main quest was a bit longer. And while I don’t care about the plight of Leviathan and his Dominant, the ensuing battles are a blast. Plus, there’s a boatload of postgame content to dive into. Though the Rising Tide DLC doesn’t quite hit the same story highs as the main game, that gameplay is still tons of fun.
Final Fantasy 16: The Rising Tide is a great expansion to an excellent action RPG, offering up one of the game's most intriguing and considered chapters. With yet more memorable boss battles, an emotional storyline, and some downright stunning environments, it's the worthy sendoff that Clive and company deserve.
Unlike the previous DLC, which was excessively linear and poor in content, The Rising Tide led us into a more open area and all in all full of optional activities.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Final Fantasy XVI is a fantastic game from start to finish, which manages to combine the classic structure of the series with a combat system focused on action and customization. The Rising Tide is the perfect complement to this experience, and although this marks the end of this chapter in the history of one of my favorite video game series, I can't wait to see how Square Enix takes everything that worked here and expands these concepts in Final Fantasy XVII, or in a sequel to Clive and Joshua's adventure.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide is an excellent continuation of everything that made the base game great: excellent battles, a plethora of options in battle, and most importantly, strong characters.
The Rising Tide DLC does finally reveal the fate of Leviathan, but it's somewhat lackluster. Coupled with simple side-quests and a small region, this DLC doesn't add too much to FFXVI. The post-game content is well worth it for fans of FFXVI's combat. (Review Policy)
The Rising Tide may not offer anything new or novel to Final Fantasy XVI, but it does continue its streak of incredibly polished and fun gameplay. The story is a nice cherry on top of the main adventure, and the Karios Gate mode will keep you coming back for more.
Knowing the ending of FFXVI, The Rising Tide doesn’t change Clive’s outcome or add a meaningful impact to the world to warrant an emotional introspection like the main game’s story. Instead, it adds additional power to Clive’s Eikonic skillset, making him appropriately powerful for postgame content that will assuredly punish players and test their might in Final Fantasy Mode. It might be a weirdly timed expansion, but it adds enough meat to the core gameplay to encourage replaying.
Clive's journey may have ended last year, but The Rising Tide is a proper send-off to Valisthea, presenting a compelling standalone narrative and its best battles yet.
The Rising Tide is exactly what a Final Fantasy XVI DLC expansion should be. It's got a beautiful, mysterious new region to explore, an engaging questline with great new characters, hugely satisfying new additions to combat and plenty of extra challenge for those ready to seek it out. It doesn't do much to fix the main game's few flaws, but what's here is some of the most compelling and exciting content in the entire game.
The Rising Tide is an well-thought DLC that adds something interesting to all that FFXVI already has to offer.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Overall, Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide DLC is both a satisfying experience and kind of a disappointment. Had this content been part of the base game, I wouldn't have had any complaints, but since this is set at the tail end of the game, it feels like there should've been more to the plot and presentation. Instead, it feels too divorced from the game world to have an impact. The new abilities and additional boss fights are very cool, but the fact they come only at the end of the game means they are basically for fooling around the Karios Gate or doing a New Game+ run. If you are a big fan of Final Fantasy XVI, you'll absolutely have fun, and it isn't a bad DLC. It just could've been better, and it missed the chance to improve on some of Final Fantasy XVI's weaker points.
The Rising Tide once again delivers a short yet epic adventure full of challenging bossfights and incredible Moments. If you wish to embark on a one last journey with Clive, The Rising Tide is a must play.
Review in Persian | Read full review
The Rising Tide is a great expansion of Final Fantasy XVI. The battle with Leviathan is sensational and the whole plot involved is very good to follow. Kairos' Gate is a fun challenge format, too. The only problem is the length of the DLC itself: it's quite short.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
A lot of content and a beautiful new area to explore, in addition to a plethora of new powers. It doesn't stray too far from the base game or add much to its lore, though.
Review in Arabic | Read full review