(FF15) Final Fantasy XV : Episode Ardyn (DLC) - Our Latest Review Makes Us Feel Rather Overwhelmed

Final Fantasy XV Episode Ardyn DLC is said to be the last character DLC for Final Fantasy XV.
In all honesty this DLC was probably way more needed than any of the others and it was about time we got one too.

Out of all the different characters within the game there was one that stood out the most as having a really good background and personality but sadly was never executed very well, this was of course Ardyn.

To know much about him other than a few in-game cutscenes you needed to speak to an NPC character which was easily missed.
In my time I have sadly discovered that a lot of people are unaware of Ardyn’s background and what his true motive actually was, hence why this DLC was needed. One of the biggest characters in the base game and to think that no one really knew whom he was was rather baffling. Just goes to show how badly Final Fantasy XV was executed as a whole, it was all messy. To even know more about Ardyn other than parts of the base game and the DLC you needed to also watch a separate Prologue Anime, shameful.

Anyway onto the actual DLC. I have not watched the Prologue Anime as I am personally tired of how Final Fantasy XV has been handled, various Films, Anime and you needed to watch these to know the game. This in my honest opinion should of been included within the game and not purchased separately. So this review is based on not having seen the Ardyn Prologue, I have however spoke to the base game NPC who talks more about the character and for the most part does a good job at it too, it is just a shame this NPC is miss-able.

I won’t go into too much detail about the story of Ardyn as I do not like to spoil stuff as you can see from my past reviews. Ardyn however as most will be aware was once a hero who sadly turned evil and the DLC explains how and why.
Honestly speaking the DLC does manage to do an okay job at explaining the how and why too. Sadly the DLC is perhaps rather basic but for fans of the character and Final Fantasy XV I’m sure will appreciate the DLC regardless of how basic it may be.

The gameplay is fun and some familiar Final Fantasy XV music does make a return as does some new tracks too. It feels great and perhaps a bit overwhelming playing as a rather bad boy such as Ardyn, whom was indeed one of my favourite characters in the main game.
Ardyn has a nice moveset consisting of many different Weapons and abilities, it may take a while to get used to but after a while it should feel all too familiar and you will be pulling off so many different moves without even breaking a sweat.

Though most of the DLC is somewhat linear, there is an area where you do have a bit more room to move about more freely. Here you can even work through the different Trophies and Achievements too by collecting Treasure and destroying certain objects.

One of our main disappointments is how easy it is to complete the DLC, we did not die even once it was that easy. Thankfully though there is an extra mode you can unlock after finishing the DLC and this for us at least provided a much better challenge. Also, perhaps it is a good thing to point out that there are only two different difficulties within the DLC and we played on the highest one. There is also the option to try and get the best score after the story finishes which unlocks a Trophy and Achievement if that interests you and it may take quite a bit of skill in order to get this, along with a bit of time too.

OVERALL:

It is about time we got more story background on one of the best characters in video game history. This DLC has been long overdue.
The DLC is rather basic and all too easy but I for one personally enjoyed just knowing more about the character and being able to play
as him to not even care about this.
We managed to unlock all of the Trophies within the DLC and still wanted more on Ardyn, it would be great to see a standalone game based
on him, though we do realise how unlikely that is.
Overall not a bad DLC which we are thankful to finally be able to play.

Developer: Square Enix / Publisher: Square Enix
Release Date: 26th March 2019
Platforms: PC PS4 XBox One
Genre: Action RPG
Main Story Length: 3-4 Hours
Platinum Trophy Length: ——-
Platform Reviewed On: PS4

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Selphie1999Gaming

Admin at Selphie1999Gaming

The owner of Selphie1999Gaming.com.
Has been playing video games for her entire life so far. Grew up with the Sega Master System II. Her favourite games include both Resident Evil 2 (OG) and Final Fantasy VIII.
She now writes articles about video games.

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