Final Fantasy 16 Must Avoid Repeating FF15's DLC Mistakes

gamerant.com:

While there’s still more to be revealed, many fans are likely happy with everything revealed so far with Final Fantasy 16. The Eikons, the political intrigue, and the fates of Clive and Joshua are all intriguing, and it seems to have promise. Of course, until it releases, there’s no way to know for sure.

For example, much of the above could be said about Final Fantasy 15 following its initial. It’s a divisive entry, to say the least, with many loving it and some hating it. However one feels about it, it’s hard to deny that there’s one fatal flaw in its design—fully realized in its DLC run—that it’s super important Final Fantasy 16 skips.

Forspoken Has Serious Final Fantasy 15 Vibes

It’s not certain yet, of course, whether the new game will feature DLC. Final Fantasy 16 needs to release first, and that’s where Square Enix’s priorities should be. But it’s becoming more commonplace in the industry, and it’s likely to bolster engagement with FF16…if done right.

Final Fantasy 15 had several promising DLCs in the works, before they were abruptly canceled. Its most promising episodes—Episodes Aranea, Lunafreya, and Noctis—would never see the light of day. Episode Ardyn was a good DLC to end on, but it didn’t have much momentum going into its release. This is because Episodes Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto filled in holes that were obviously and intentionally left it in the core game.

Oftentimes, when someone lobbies the “cut it from the game to sale as DLC” argument against DLC, it doesn’t quite hold up. But with Final Fantasy 15, it’s hard to ignore that BIG parts of the game were missing and then filled in with DLC. Episode Gladiolus fills in what happens when he leaves the party early in the game, Episode Ignis fills in what