Summary
WithFinal Fantasy 16,Square Enix brought its flagship RPG franchise into the future by making some big changes to its overall design and approach.Final Fantasy 16may not have played like a traditional entry in many ways, but its engrossing characters, world, and stories were firmly grounded in the series' history of providing richly realized settings with complex histories and untold secrets behind them.
Despite some fan misgivings about the modern iteration,Final Fantasy 16ended up regarded as one of thebest action RPGs of 2023. Toward the end of the year,FF 16received its first piece of DLC, Echoes of the Fallen, which fleshed out a bit more of the tale of the ancient race. The second DLC, The Rising Tide, was released this past April and delved even further into an outstanding mystery introduced in the main campaign. Even so, there remains yet another extremely fascinating part of the land of Valisthea that should be revisited down the line.
ThoughThe Rising Tide DLCwas the last planned piece of extra content, and the development team is now disbanded, director Naoki Yoshida has commented on the possibility for more.
Final Fantasy 16’s Dzemekys Falls Deserves to be Revisited
The Lore of Final Fantasy 16’s Dzemekys Falls
While traveling around the Steps of the Forgottenalong the coastal region ofFinal Fantasy 16’s Dhalmekia, fans will visit Laetny’s Cleft and the huddled markets of Boklad. Both are situated near Dzemekys Falls, and players arriving at this location for the first time will truly find a sight to behold. Dzemekys is formed by a massive crater that now serves as an enormous basin that draws in water from the surrounding sources, creating the majestic Falls. Even stranger, it seemingly never fills up, despite having existed in this state for hundreds of years.
During the era ofthe Fallen inFinal Fantasy 16, the civilization strove to usurp the powers of the gods of themselves, in the form of the Mothercrystal called Dzemekys. The Fallen assaulted the crystal, but main villain Ultima responded by destroying its heart, causing a huge magical explosion that decimated the local population and leaving the Falls as seen in the present day behind as a result of the conflict. While those are the facts presented to players and protagonist Clive, there is certainly much more to the tale, and the Falls stick out as being ripe for further exploration in possible future content.
How Final Fantasy 16 Could Return to and Further Explain Dzemekys Falls
As the prior DLCs answered major questions behind some ofFinal Fantasy 16’s other big mysteries and previously unresolved plot threads, Dzemekys Fall is primed for the same treatment. Although there are currently noplans for futureFinal Fantasy 16contentin a direct way, such as DLCs, there are other options for Square Enix to explore.Final Fantasyhas had various spins-offs, and something like a limited animated series or similar connecting material would allow the company to give fans more insight into Dzemekys Falls and its history.
An intriguing direction might be to introduce new POV characters in a spin-off, and allow fans to experience the event from the perspective of ones who were present at the time of its occurrence. This could then show in-depth the series of actions that led to the cataclysmic formation of Dzemekys Falls, and its immediate aftermath. This kind of approach would also lend itself to rendering anotherepic Eikon-like battle, for example, with a version of Ultima again appearing at the climactic conclusion of the Fallen’s attempts to control the crystal. Though it may be wishful thinking at this time, the sheer potential and tantalizing lore surroundingFF 16’s Dzemekys Falls makes it an interesting prospect, and one that the studio should seriously consider returning to at some point.
Final Fantasy 16
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An epic dark fantasy world where the fate of the land is decided by the mighty Eikons and the Dominants who wield them.This is the tale of Clive Rosfield, a warrior granted the title “First Shield of Rosaria” and sworn to protect his younger brother Joshua, the dominant of the Phoenix. Before long, Clive will be caught up in a great tragedy and swear revenge on the Dark Eikon Ifrit, a mysterious entity that brings calamity in its wake.
