Final Fantasy XV is set to expand into 2018 and beyond
[FIGHT] [SMUG] [MAGIC] [ITEM]
I'd apologise for the excessive coverage of Final Fantasy XV lately, but that would be wrong, so instead I'll just admit to being quite excited for the overhauled PC release of Square's quirky and unique mega-budget male-bonding magical realist road trip RPG, and the changes coming to it.
Katharine has been serving as the spirit of FFXV's both present and past, but here I bring you a vision of Final Fantasy XV yet to come: It's a fresh wave of episodic DLC, and it may well be rolling out all the way into 2019, starting with a chance to play as smirking, flamboyant antagonist Ardyn, pictured above.
As revealed during a (Japanese) interview with Famitsu Magazine, there are now four character-focused DLC packs set for release after the PC launch, expanding from their original plans to only do three over the course of the year, and possibly stretching beyond their initial intent to wrap the game up fully in 2018.
The DLC plans open with a chance to play as the bad-guy for once, stepping into the ever-polished shoes of Ardyn Izunia. You can get a decent measure of the man in this clip from tie-in prequel movie Kingsglaive. Slightly spoileriffic, I might add before you click, but we are nearly a year and a half from the original launch of the game.
After Ardyn? The sky's the limit. In the interview, they mentioned that fans have been calling for a chance to play as Princess Lunafreya as well, a character often talked about but seldom seen during the game. I can think of a few other characters that people might want to have a chance to play as, most notably Gladiolus' wayward sister Iris and all-round badass Aranea Highwind. It would be nice if three of the four new characters were leading ladies, wouldn't it?
It should be worth noting that these are almost certainly going to be near-standalone stories, fleshing out characters that may not have gotten as much screen-time in the game as they deserved, and should not be considered mandatory or even planned parts of the original game. I expect to see them bulking up the multiplayer a bit along the way, too.
And all of this on top of the expansion to online multiplayer that's launching in parallel with the PC version, and the ridiculous Half-Life tie-in gubbins for those jumping aboard the fashion-train early. For those who want more FFXV without paying extra, there are plans to expand the mod tools after launch to allow for the easy creation and injection of new quests and scenarios.
No pricing, release date or season pass plans have been announced for the new episodes, although if it's anything like the original game on consoles, individual character-story DLCs weigh in at around £4/$5 each, and clock in at approximately movie-length. Final Fantasy XV itself will be hitting PC on March 6th, just over a week from now, and includes all DLC produced to date.