Episode Ardyn
User Stats
- 34 users have this in their collection
- 4 users have this on their Wish List
- 0 users are currently playing this game.
- 6 users have backlogged this game.
DLC Details
| Release Date | Mar 25, 2019 |
| Platform | PlayStation 4 (PS4) |
| Popular Tags | 1.1 JRPG Waiting, 2020, 2022, 2024 - Games Completed, Completed, DLC, Done, - Final Fantasy |
Ratings for Episode Ardyn
| 5 (4) |
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|---|---|
| 4 (7) |
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| 3 (9) |
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| 2 (0) |
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| 1 (1) |
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How long is Episode Ardyn?
Most Popular Reviews
ACTION RPG - The tragic backstory of FFXV's main antagonist, Ardyn.
PROS:
++ Simple, but empowering combat. The combat is simple and lacks any difficulty, but it is incredibly fun. Ardyn is extremely powerful and the combat accurately reflects this fact. The Shadowstep move where you can move throughout the battlefield unimpeded was OP but very empowering. And to top it all off, Ifrit can be summoned rather frequently and he just devastates the enemies.
++ Great music.
++ Important characterization. In the base game, I found Ardyn to be quite interesting but was frustrated that his backstory wasn't explored. This DLC provides just that and clearly reveals why Ardyn became the villain he was in FFXV. It was a tragic series of events, and you can sympathize with him to a degree.
++ Clarity. I don't know why, but because of how the story and worldbuilding lore was presented in this DLC, I was able to clearly understand the plot and events that FFXV tried telling. It was concise and clear.
CONS:
-- Why is this a DLC? This DLC covers important information about the plot and about Ardyn, and it really should have been part of the main game rather than being sold as DLC.
I found Episode Ardyn to be by far the best of the DLC episodes Final Fantasy XV has to offer. It supplies some much-needed backstory for the main villain of the base game and is just plain fun to boot. It is indeed frustrating that this story or some shorthand version of it was not present in any capacity in the base game though. It loses some points there but as a solo package I had too much fun with it to treat it harshly.
The combat in this DLC is probably the most fun in the entire game, to be honest. Ardyn is really OP, as he should be, and zipping around the battlefield while unleashing a barrage of royal arms attacks upon your enemies is super entertaining. After some initial linear story beats you're let loose into the city of Insomnia to wreak havoc upon the populace. I was having such a great time I went out of my way to take down all the radio tower thingies around the city when only a few of them are really necessary to move on. There are also many sellable treasures to find scattered about the city, and the gil you get from selling them lets you buy a multitude of silly hats to wear that augment your stats. It's totally absurd and I love it.
As I said above, the story here feels essential to Ardyn's character. He's totally lacking a primary motivation in the base game, which makes him come off more as someone who "just wants to watch the world burn." This is fine, but I really like how they manage to make him sympathetic and give him some depth here while also not taking away from how much of a villain …
I found Episode Ardyn to be by far the best of the DLC episodes Final Fantasy XV has to offer. It supplies some much-needed backstory for the main villain of the base game and is just plain fun to boot. It is indeed frustrating that this story or some shorthand version of it was not present in any capacity in the base game though. It loses some points there but as a solo package I had too much fun with it to treat it harshly.
The combat in this DLC is probably the most fun in the entire game, to be honest. Ardyn is really OP, as he should be, and zipping around the battlefield while unleashing a barrage of royal arms attacks upon your enemies is super entertaining. After some initial linear story beats you're let loose into the city of Insomnia to wreak havoc upon the populace. I was having such a great time I went out of my way to take down all the radio tower thingies around the city when only a few of them are really necessary to move on. There are also many sellable treasures to find scattered about the city, and the gil you get from selling them lets you buy a multitude of silly hats to wear that augment your stats. It's totally absurd and I love it.
As I said above, the story here feels essential to Ardyn's character. He's totally lacking a primary motivation in the base game, which makes him come off more as someone who "just wants to watch the world burn." This is fine, but I really like how they manage to make him sympathetic and give him some depth here while also not taking away from how much of a villain he really is. That can be a tough line to walk and I think this DLC nails it. There are also some really interesting worldbuilding details snuck into here relating to the daemons plaguing the world of Eos. All this makes this DLC totally essential playing for anyone interested in the story of Final Fantasy XV, even if it's a bitter pill to swallow that you need to shell out extra to experience it.
