Echoes of the Fallen is the first DLC for Final Fantasy XVI, before the second and larger DLC, The Rising Tide, and I am so glad that there is more to come. Echoes of the Fallen takes you back before the final fight, but to begin Echoes of the Fallen, you need to complete two side quests; ‘Where There’s a Will,’ and ‘Priceless.’ Once those are complete, Charon will have something to show you.

I will try not to spoil anything if it can be helped, but here is a spoiler warning, just in case. Charon will tell Clive about a new mysterious crystal that has been circulating the markets, and it seems they have one use only. This makes them both useless, but as no more crystals are available since the Mother Crystals have been destroyed, they’re all that’s left. Clive and the others fear that there is another Mother Crystal, but not one created by the Gods. Clive, Jill, Joshua, and Torgal set out to find the crystal’s sellers and their origin, leading them to a large Spire of the Fallen.

Nothing has really changed from the initial game, and this DLC is rather short, but it’s also reasonably priced. There are some new additions in the form of weapons, armour, and trinkets, all better than the current best gear in the initial run-through, however, I do wish that it was a little more challenging to get these items because it kind of made the task of getting the Gotterdammerung obsolete.

I mean, we are progressing forward, but if you were playing Final Fantasy XVI for the first time, there would be no point in doing the work for the Gotterdammerung unless you are a completionist – you can just skip it and earn a better sword as a drop. You will get the Buster sword as a gift, though it’s not better than your current sword, but with weapon transmog, you can have your weapon look like the Buster Sword, which is cool.

As it is a tower climb, the DLC is pretty linear, where waves of mobs are thrown at you – some familiar enemies, some new, and some altered. The only new mechanic that I saw was that some enemies can buff their friends with orbs, hurting you if you hit them with a melee attack, meaning you will have to use ranged attacks until you break the protection to re-engage in close quarters, and there are some tough boss battles where you will need to call on all of your skills to make it through.

Being a Fallen ruin, there is a whole new vibe that comes with the DLC. Magitech is the key here, from airships to sentinel androids, and you will find the big boss here looks a little similar to another boss from Final Fantasy XIV of the same name. I found this DLC reminded me a lot of FFXIV in the way the Magitech looks, so it was almost nostalgic in a way.

This may be a short and sweet experience, but it’s well worth it, and it’s a lot of fun. I’m now more excited for the next DLC, which will be bigger and have new mechanics for us to master. So if you did enjoy the original game, then I highly recommend getting Echoes of the Fallen, even if it’s just for the bit of lore drop on the mysterious Fallen; the civilization that almost reached Godhood through technology.

Written by: Adam Brasher