Final Fantasy XVI

The Famitsu Dengeki Game Awards 2023 happened on March 17 and while awards were spread over a wide number of games, one game stole the show entirely, taking home five of the 17 awards — Final Fantasy XVI.  The Famitsu Degeki Game Awards are voted for by readers and run by Famitsu and Game Dengeki. While the new Final Fantasy didn’t get as much hardware at other shows like The Game Awards, it’s clearly garnered some love in Japan. It took home awards for Best Graphics, Best Music, Best Voice Actor and Character for Clive,…

After being revealed at the Las Vegas Final Fantasy Fest in July, and then detailed at the London Fan Fest in October, the Final Fantasy XVI crossover event is scheduled to hit the popular MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV in Early April. We’ve known the event was in the works for a while now, but this is the first time we’re seeing an actual release timeframe. The event will launch with the current expansion, Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, ahead of the release of the new one Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail.…

Octopath Traveler 2 is one of those games where I couldn’t even comprehend how special it was until it was over. I went into it expecting more of the original Octopath Traveler, which I liked but did not love (similar to Chris Carter’s take). But if Octopath Traveler was a love letter to golden age SNES/PSX RPGs, Octopath Traveler 2 is a perfect encapsulation of them. This is, without a doubt, one of the most fun RPG worlds I’ve ever explored. There are secrets and bosses around nearly every corner, rewarding every ounce…

It’s not an overstatements to say that 2023 was one of the best years for video game sequels ever. Simply looking at The Game Awards 2023’s Game of the Year nominations, all of which are titles from preexisting series, proves that. It’s not just that we received a lot of new video game sequels in 2023; that happens every year. No, what makes the game sequels of 2023 stand out is how many of them impressively build upon what came before. From Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 to Baldur’s Gate 3, these follow-ups all looked at…

Deck the halls, write to Santa, and update your respective consoles before the traditional Christmas network outages. ‘Tis the season, so we’re wrapping up another year of gaming at Destructoid with 2023’s best games, and that includes a heavy-hitting category of PlayStation nominees. Destructoid’s process is pretty simple, our very own Eric Van Allen explains as much in his Indie Nominees rundown. Games can only be nominated in one category, and our ‘year’ begins in December 2022 — December 2023 games don’t make the…

When you think about seminal years in gaming, a few instantly come to mind. There’s 1986, the year that gave us 8-bit classics like Metroid, Dragon Quest, The Legend of Zelda, Castlevania, and Adventure Island. Or there’s 2013, which brought modern epics like Grant Theft Auto V, The Last of Us, Bioshock Infinite, Dota 2, and revamped Tomb Raider. In a world where gaming is a commodity, with more platforms in everyone’s grasp and development tools available to the masses, it takes a lot to stand…

Digital Trends With the video game industry as busy as it is these days, there’s rarely ever a “bad” year for any console. Even in a less busy year, platforms like Xbox still tend to have highlights in exciting indie games. That was true for PlayStation this year, which continued its strong momentum this generation despite only having a handful of big-ticket games. While not every big PS5 exclusive thrilled this year, there were a lot of strong experiences to dive into. Developers got more mileage than ever out of…

Final Fantasy 16 tells a complete story right out of the box, that hasn’t stopped Square-Enix from capitalizing on players’ love of the game with two planned DLCs. The first of these is called Echoes of the Fallen, and it takes place near the end of the main campaign, expanding upon Clive and pals’ adventure with a brand-new questline. This exciting extra excursion is a relatively short slice of content that should take most players between two and three hours to complete – but for diehard fans, especially, there are…

One of the biggest surprises from The Game Awards this year is the surprise release of Final Fantasy 16 DLC titled Echoes of the Fallen. The DLC sees the return of Clive Rosfield, and we get brand new chapters to expand on the game’s epic tale. The trailers reveal that we’ll be getting more of the explosive combat that made the base game so exhilarating to play, though there’ll be new enemies to contend with. As a PlayStation blog post explains, in addition to new chapters, the DLC brings with it a new level cap,…

The first Final Fantasy XVI DLC was not only announced at the Game Awards 2023; it’s already available on the PlayStation Store. Echoes of the Fallen, set before the base game’s final battle, is out now, while a second DLC installment, The Rising Tide, arrives in spring 2024.The PlayStation blog says Echoes of the Fallen “unlocks a whole new story, battles, weapons, accessories, level cap and more.” You’ll follow Clive and the gang as they run into “a group of suspicious traders,” which points them to an abandoned Fallen…