Final Fantasy 16 1.21 Update Patch Notes
The 1.21 Update for Final Fantasy 16 has arrived, bringing with it the ability to purchase the first DLC, Echoes of the Fallen, an Inner Voice option, changes to Arcade and Training modes, and more!
This page acts as a comprehensive breakdown of the December 8th, 2023, 1.21 Patch for FFXVI, including a link to the full Patch Notes.
Echoes of the Fallen
Echoes of the Fallen is the first DLC pack to release for FFXVI, and is available now on PS5. This all-new story chapter revolves around Clive and co. investigating strange crystals that have appeared on the black market and harbor dark secrets.
Alongside a new storyline, Echoes of the Fallen offers new equipment, an increased level cap, a new replayable stage, and more!
1.21 Features
Inner Voice
- A new Inner Voice option has been added to the Grand Cast menu, which can be viewed upon inquiring with Vivian about the State of the Realm
- Hover the cursor over a character and press the touchpad to view their inner feelings toward their allies and enemies. These feelings will update as the story progresses, so be sure to check in often for further insight
Orchestrion Rolls
- Several new orchestrion rolls have been added
- These can be obtained from in-game vendors after progressing a certain way through the story
Changes to Arcade Mode
- A technical bonus feature has been added that increases battle performance scores
- Attacking enemies and performing a variety of battle techniques fills the technical bonus gauge, which increases your score multiplier each time it crosses a certain threshold. The gauge depletes over time or upon taking damage
- New accolades have been added
- These can be earned by clearing stages within a certain time limit or with a final battle performance score above a certain threshold
- Ranking thresholds over individual legs and stages have been adjusted
- This will allow players to earn higher battle performance scores than they could previously. The ranking thresholds are adjusted to account for this
- A new leaderboard has been added
- All scores earned after the update is installed will be recorded to this new leaderboard
- Allows you to view leaderboards and rankings from previous versions
- Adjusts the difficulty level of Ultimaniac stages
- Adds and adjusts explanations of various features
Changes to Training Mode
- An Immediate Takedown option has been added
- With this option turned on, attacks will reduce an enemy's will gauge by 50%, allowing you to partially stagger enemies with a single attack, then fully stagger them with a second attack
- A Megaflare Level option has been added
- This option allows you to fix your Megaflare level to any value
- A Zantetsuken Level option has been added
- This option allows you to fix your Zantetsuken level to any value
System-Related Changes
- A Photo Mode shortcut option has been added
- This option, accessible from the Game Settings tab of the System menu, allows you to launch Photo Mode by pressing the touchpad with two fingers
- The ability to enter Photo Mode from the pause screen has been added
- This allows photos to be taken during cutscenes, with certain exceptions
- The option to retry from the Game Over screen when Clive is defeated by a notorious mark has been added
- Retrying will return Clive to the point immediately before the battle with the notorious mark began
- Allows you to examine the details of the rewards available from the Patron's Whisper in the hideaway
- The option to filter save data in the Load Game tab of the System menu has been added
- Press □ to cycle between the following filtering options: Show All Saves, Show Auto-saves, and Show Manual Saves
- A Credits option has been added to the title menu
- This option, which allows you to view the credits sequence, becomes available after completing the game
- Adds and adjusts various UI elements
Bug Fixes
- Several issues wherein graphical elements did not display correctly during cutscenes have been fixed
- Several issues wherein certain NPC animations were incorrect during certain quests have been fixed
- Several issues wherein certain NPCs became positioned incorrectly under specific conditions during certain quests have been fixed
- Several issues wherein progress became impossible in certain quests under specific conditions have been fixed
- Several issues wherein quest objectives and destination markers did not display correctly in certain quests have been fixed
- Several issues wherein NPC dialogue was incorrect in certain quests have been fixed
- Several issues wherein the reward of ability points was incorrect in certain quests have been fixed
- An issue wherein the demontamer's armguards were impossible to obtain have been fixed
- Several issues wherein enemies did not behave correctly under specific conditions during battle have been fixed
- Several issues wherein collision detection did not behave correctly under specific conditions during battle have been fixed
- Several issues wherein the camera did not behave correctly under specific conditions during battle have been fixed
- Several issues wherein the frame rate dropped significantly during battle have been fixed
- Several issues wherein abilities or limit breaks did not trigger correctly under specific conditions during battle have been fixed
- Several issues wherein accessory effects did not trigger correctly under specific conditions have been fixed
- Several issues wherein the menu did not display or update correctly in Chronolith trials have been fixed
- An issue wherein the conditions to achieve the Mark of the Jongleur accolades were incorrect in Chronolith trials have been fixed
- Several issues wherein the menu did not display or update correctly in Arcade Mode have been fixed
- An issue wherein Clive's clothing did not display correctly under specific conditions in Training Mode has been fixed
- Several issues wherein menu navigation did not behave correctly under specific conditions in Training Mode have been fixed
- Several issues wherein the AI of companion NPCs did not behave correctly have been fixed
- Several issues wherein parkour animations did not trigger correctly under specific conditions have been fixed
- Several issues wherein graphical elements and collision surfaces were set incorrectly in explorable areas and replayable stages have been fixed
- Several issues wherein location names displayed at incorrect points in explorable areas and replayable stages have been fixed
- An issue wherein certain menu screens flickered when the Graphics Settings option was set to Frame Rate have been fixed
- Several issues wherein character animations did not trigger correctly under specific conditions have been fixed
- Several issues wherein Active Time Lore elements did not update at the correct timing have been fixed
- Several issues wherein menu elements did not display or update correctly in Vivian's State of the Realm have been fixed
- Several issues wherein menu elements did not display or update correctly in Harpocrates's Thousand Tomes have been fixed
- Several issues wherein entries in the Thousand Tomes did not update at the correct timing have been fixed
- Several issues wherein Torgal's Animal Instinct did not function correctly under specific conditions have been fixed
- An issue wherein graphical elements did not display correctly in Photo Mode under specific conditions has been fixed
- Several issues wherein areas failed to unlock on the world map under specific conditions have been fixed
- Several issues wherein text and icons did not display correctly on the world map under specific conditions have been fixed
- Several issues wherein the camera did not behave correctly under specific conditions have been fixed
- Several issues wherein the wireless controller vibration and adaptive triggers did not function correctly under specific conditions have been fixed
- An issue wherein progress towards the trophy Here Be Rosfields did not display correctly under specific conditions has been fixed
- Several issues wherein incorrect images and videos appeared in tutorial slides have been fixed
- Several issues wherein important notifications did not display correctly under specific conditions have been fixed
- Several issues wherein audio elements did not trigger under specific conditions have been fixed
- Several issues wherein the game would freeze under specific conditions have been fixed
- Several minor text issues have been fixed
Full Patch Notes
If you wish to read the Patch Notes in full, you can do so via the official Square Enix websites 1.21 Patch Notes blog post.