Fresh off the successful release of the Episode Gladiolus DLC, Final Fantasy 15’s director Hajime Tabata is already looking past the game’s already established DLC schedule and into the future. During a recent interview, Tabata discussed what the team has in store for Final Fantasy 15’s future content before being prompted about whether or not they want to explore Ardyn Izunia’s backstory, leading to this response:
That statement certainly suggests that Final Fantasy 15 will be getting some Ardyn DLC sooner rather than later, especially since that’s been the development team’s preferred method of exploring each character’s history. For those unfamiliar with the narrative, Ardyn introduces himself to Noctis and crew early on as a mysterious wanderer before eventually positioning himself as Final Fantasy 15’s main antagonist.
“We do have plans for something like that. Please look forward to it.”
Still, even by the time the game has ended, there’s a lot about Ardyn that fans simply don’t know. Whereas iconic villains like Sephiroth and Kefka had their reasons for world domination intimately explored in their respective games, there has always been the sense that Ardyn’s story may have seen some major alterations alongside other elements of Final Fantasy 15 that may have been cut.
Given the fact that Ardyn has remained popular among fans, then, it makes perfect sense for Tabata and the team behind Final Fantasy 15 to explore his history, especially since it is so deeply connected to the rest of the game’s lore. Tabata was also quoted as saying that Square Enix plans to introduce new types of gameplay “based on the theme of each downloadable content”, meaning potential Ardyn DLC could play drastically differently from the way Noctis’ journey did.
What that means in the long term is anyone’s guess, but Episode Gladiolus featured a more action-heavy style of gameplay, so Tabata clearly isn’t afraid to shake things up. With Episode Prompto - and, more specifically, Prompto’s fondness for ranged gun combat - on the horizon, there’s a very real chance that every “Episode” DLC for Final Fantasy 15 could play as a different style of game.
For now, though, barring any official announcement, fans will just have to speculate and dream about what Ardyn DLC could look like. Without spoiling too much, there are some tantalizing options available for what Ardyn’s gameplay could look like - here’s hoping that, combined with his complex backstory, make for some compelling DLC down the road.
Final Fantasy 15 is available now on PS4 and Xbox One.
Source: Game Legends
