Final Fantasy 15 adds a free crossover quest-line and Lara Croft's outfit today
The boys are... mostly absent today?
Mega-budget as it may be, Final Fantasy 15 has always been content to walk its own road, so it's not that weird that its latest cross-promo update is with a game that doesn't exist yet. In a big patch released today, Prince Noctis can stumble into a new adventure with Sarah, protagonist of upcoming mobile RPG Terra Wars. It's being developed by Mistwalker, a team of ex-Square Enix folks. Those playing FF15's online multiplayer can now also dress up in Lara Croft's iconic tomb-delving gear, and listen to some Tomb Raider tracks on the radio in-game. Nifty.
This particular crossover strikes me as especially odd as Mistwalker have been through some rough times lately. While I'd gladly recommend their puzzle-strategy RPG Terra Battle to anyone with a modern phone or tablet, its sequel - Terra Battle 2 - launched badly and never recovered, shutting down after just a few months. Still, someone at Square Enix has faith in Terra Wars (and I'm hoping it works out well - I like Mistwalker), so here we go. The new quest is available at some point in Chapter 5 of the main story, and takes Noctis and Sarah to a "new, mysterious world".
Free updates like this one are just the tip of the iceberg. While the released PC version of Final Fantasy XV on PC was the 'definitive' edition with all the console version's DLC included, Square Enix are gearing up for a second season of episodic adventures. This time, telling the story of several new characters and extending the story in some new directions. It feels that the Terra Wars crossover might be a warm-up exercise for the crew as they get ready for their next paid DLC release. You can see the full details on this update here.
The upcoming DLC will let players control three new characters - affable antagonist Ardyn, professional stabmeister Aranea Highwind, and the magical (and seldom-seen in the main story) Princess Lunafreya, before returning to Noctis for the fourth planned episode leading to a new ending, branching off from the original game's story. I'm just glad they're giving me another excuse to come back to the game - as strange as some of its design decisions may have been, there's nothing else quite FF15. The new DLC is due "2019" - the boys aren't backing down.