‘Final Fantasy XV’ – Major Update Coming Soon

Henry Gilbert
Games
Games

Final Fantasy XV took a decade to come out. You might think that Square Enix would take a break once the game is finally being played. Instead, the developers are already hard at work on the first Final Fantasy XV major update. The story, pacing, and difficulty will all be addressed in what appears to be sizable (and free) DLC.

What’s Changing?

Square Enix provided some of the first details on the Final Fantasy XV major update. First off, big changes are coming to the particularly challenging Chapter 13 of the campaign. An essential item will now be more powerful, along with some other changes to that segment. Hopefully, they’ll make the drawn out Chapter 13 a bit more lively.

Additionally, there will be some added cutscenes that will better explain character motivations. Ravus, an enemy in the game, will be one of the characters getting an expanded story and more voiced cutscenes. There’ll also be smaller, more cosmetic changes that’ll fix the readability of some text, add in a New Game+ Mode and God Mode to the post-game fun.

There’s no word on when these changes are coming, but we do know this update will be free. It’s also not part of the season pass, which offers up its slew of new content. It sounds like Final Fantasy XV could be a very different game shortly. And one has to wonder just how long Square Enix will keep tinkering with it.

When Will Final Fantasy XV Be Complete?

This major update is hardly the first post-release update that a game has received, though this is different than what most expect from it. Gamers are used to adjusted framerates, rebalanced weapons, removal of exploits. Or you’ll get new plot-related DLC that is played independent of the campaign. Less often do you hear of games adding new scenes or character moments to a completed campaign, as Square Enix plans to do by making significant changes to Chapter 13 and Ravus.

If you read my Final Fantasy XV review (and seriously, why haven’t you?), this update seems to deal with some of my issues. While I enjoyed the game, the storytelling in the latter half of the game, Chapter 13 in particular, was lacking. I also felt that Ravus ended up underserved by the campaign, so any further background is needed. Once all those changes are added, just how accurate will my review be to the game people will play a few months from now?

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The situation is certainly a new frontier for Final Fantasy, where games are often updated years down the line, not mere months later. Will the devs keep tinkering until Final Fantasy XV is “perfect?” Or will there be some point where they let go? As the old saying goes, “Art is never finished, only abandoned.” But with DLC and continual updates, perhaps that’s no longer the case.

Henry Gilbert
Henry Gilbert is Senior Games Editor at Fandom. He's worked in the gaming press since 2008, writing for sites as diverse as GamesRadar, IGN, and Paste Magazine. He's also been known to record a podcast or two with Laser Time. Follow him on Twitter @henereyg.