Gaming Sentiment: Final Fantasy XVI DLC – The Rising Tide – June 24, 2026

FF16’s second DLC The Rising Tide has been out for a few weeks. The community response is strong but polarized.

Good:

• The Leviathan fight is the best boss encounter in the entire game — multi-phase, mechanically dense, visually spectacular
• New area (The Land of the Dead) is genuinely creepy — dark atmosphere, environmental puzzles
• Eikon abilities for Leviathan are satisfying — tidal wave attacks that synergize with existing Eikon sets

Mixed:

• Story doesn’t add much to the main narrative — feels like a side quest stretched to DLC length
• Length is 6-8 hours for $20, which is fair but not generous
• Difficulty spike at the final boss is steep

Needs Work:

• No new endgame content — once the DLC is done, nothing new to do with the new abilities
• Performance drops in the underwater sections on PS5

Verdict: Worth playing if you enjoyed FF16’s combat. The Leviathan fight alone justifies the price.