Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ardyn

Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ardyn is a downloadable extra episode for Final Fantasy XV. It takes place 35 years before the events of the main game and follows its main antagonist Ardyn Izunia following the events of Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ardyn – Prologue. Ardyn's part of Final Fantasy XV -The Dawn of the Future- novelizes the events of Episode Ardyn, albeit with a slightly different ending. 
It was released on March 26, 2019, and is available for purchase via the PlayStation Network store and the Xbox Live marketplace for $9.99.
This episode is the only one not included in the game's Season Pass, and it is the last DLC for Final Fantasy XV after more than 2 years since the initial launch.
==Synopsis==
===Characters===
*Ardyn Izunia (in the guise of Mars Sapientia)
*Verstael Besithia
*Somnus Lucis Caelum
*Aera Mirus Fleuret
*Regis Lucis Caelum
*Ifrit
*Bahamut
*Clarus Amicitia (voice only)
*Noctis Lucis Caelum (flashback and image)
*Gladiolus Amicitia (flashback)
*Prompto Argentum (flashback)
*Ignis Scientia (flashback)
*Mors Lucis Caelum (mentioned)
===Story===
Two thousand years ago, Ardyn Lucis Caelum was the firstborn son of his family. He had the power to heal others by transferring their ailment into his own body, believing it a blessing from the Astrals, but the Starscourge corrupted him. He was rejected as tainted by his own family as well as the gods and his ascension to the throne of Lucis was denied. He was chained up in Angelgard while virtually all traces of him were erased from history. Now immortal, Ardyn stays a closely-guarded royal secret and becomes known as the fabled "Adagium."
In M.E. 734 Ardyn arrives in Insomnia under the guise of Mars Sapientia, an Insomnian border patrol officer whom he presumably daemonified to take on his appearance. As Ardyn arrives in the metropolis, he thinks back on what set him on this quest.
After 2,000 years of captivity, in M.E. 721, Ardyn was freed by Verstael Besithia of Niflheim. As he was escorted out of his prison he was attacked by the Lucian Royal Guard, and amid defending himself discovered that he could daemonify others while experiencing their memories.
Seven months later Ardyn came to at the magitek research laboratory Verstael had brought him to, having lost all concept of passage of time. Verstael informed him of everything that had transpired, including the results of the various tests he had performed on Ardyn. Ardyn had no interest in aiding Niflheim in its war against Lucis, but learned about the extent of the empire's influence in Eos along with its research on daemons, monstrous life forms the Starscourge eventually transforms the afflicted. Verstael showed Ardyn the frozen body of the treacherous God of Fire, Ifrit, deep in slumber at the lab after Niflheim had salvaged him from the Rock of Ravatogh. Ardyn was horrified when Besithia asked him to daemonify the deity, alluring him with Ifrit's memories. The lab was attacked by the Royal Guard, whom Ardyn destroyed when his hallucinations made him see its members as Somnus Lucis Caelum, his brother who had demonized him and taken the throne in his stead.
When the enraged Ifrit awakened, Ardyn subdued and daemonified the deity who was stunned to see a member of the Caelum line present. Glimpsing the Infernian's memories, Ardyn saw how he was meant to be the king before experiencing an intrusive flashback to Aera's last moments. The Aera of Ardyn's memories revealed she had told Somnus that the gods had chosen Ardyn as king, blaming herself for her unintentional role in Somnus's usurpation, and begged Ardyn to punish her. While Ardyn could not bring himself to harm her, he ended up being forced to watch her die by his memory of Somnus. Consumed by hatred for his brother, Ardyn submitted himself to the Starscourge and decided to craft a path of darkness to satiate his revenge, not caring if it defied the gods.
Now going by "Ardyn Izunia" and an imperial citizen, Ardyn allowed the Starscourge to spread and the imperial lands were ravaged by a "vanishing disease", Ardyn using the epidemic to absorb the memories of the infected to learn as much of Lucis as he could. However, doing so warped him into a shadow of his original self, no longer able to separate the memories of those he daemonified from his own.
Now in Insomnia during the Founder King's Day festivities, Ardyn infiltrates the city and summons Ifrit to cause carnage before disabling the Wall amplifiers. Ardyn defies Besithia's withdrawal orders to go after King Regis, intent on forcing him to summon the Old Wall to settle the score with Somnus. After Ardyn nearly kills Regis, the king's Ring of the Lucii summons Somnus's Lucii form. The ring is a magical heirloom given by the gods and the past kings' souls are collected inside it rather than "passing on". While trading blows, Somnus gradually admits his regret for what he did to Ardyn and confesses that he was jealous for being outshined. After losing to his brother, Somnus tries to explain himself, but Ardyn is outraged at his brother's audacity in asking to be understood after taking everything from him. Somnus wishes Ardyn will find peace as his spirit disappears.
The still-furious Ardyn is about to kill the unconscious Regis when the Astral Bahamut intervenes and pulls Ardyn into his domain where he reveals the Astrals' new purpose for him: to cover the world in darkness and be killed by the True King as a sacrificial lamb, allowing him to find peace in death while also satisfying his revenge. Ardyn can either reluctantly submit, or defy his fate. If he submits Ardyn demands to know if Aera and Somnus knew of his fate. He receives no response and screams in anguish over the betrayal. If he rejects that fate he is tortured into accepting it by Bahamut.
Once back on the mortal plane, Ardyn finds himself in Angelgard. He laments that nothing matters anymore and accepts the role he is to play in plunging the world into darkness, his plan to kill the True King once he comes. He envisions himself murdering the cooperating Aera and Somnus.
The credits sequence shows clips of Ardyn's interactions with the party as well as his murder of Lunafreya (heavily implied to be part of Ardyn's memories) while walking towards the ruins of Insomnia during the long night. He ascends the throne while looking glum. After the Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ardyn logo pops up, it cuts to the events just prior to his and Noctis's duel, which continues the story of the main game with Chapter 14.
== Gameplay ==
The player takes control of Ardyn Izunia, who wields the royal arms, and his Rakshasa Blade, a one-handed sword, for his basic attack combo, with the final hit sending most enemies into a vulnerable state. Tilting the analogue stick while attacking has him sideswipe. If Ardyn stops attacking just before the finisher sword swing, he will leap back and an attack prompt will appear, which launches the enemy upward into a vulnerable state. While attacking, Ardyn may be able to parry nearby attackers, summoning a button prompt for each. After being knocked down, he can knock enemies back with a sword swing. 
Instead of free-warping, Ardyn can daemonify vulnerable enemies with the warp button, instantly finishing them off and granting AP for Descension, and can rapidly daemonify groups of vulnerable foes in succession. Blindsiding an enemy will send them into a vulnerable state. The final attack of his blitz combo won't finish off enemies, instead setting them up for easy daemonification. Against bosses, he will instead unleash a strong blow. 
When Ardyn daemonifes an enemy/boss, his phantasmal meter fills up, granting additional passive attacks during his blitz combo, turning his sideswipe into a spinning saw, and having his aerial attack send sword projectiles forward. The meter strengthens his warp-strikes, which depletes fully when executing one. If it maxes out, Ardyn's warp becomes , a barrage of royal arm attacks that restore his HP. When fighting Somnus, the meter fills automatically. Warp-striking an object outside of battle won't deplete the meter, and Royal Retribution may turn into a standard warp if used high above a target.
Rather than phasing, holding the dodge button lets Ardyn , rapidly draining up to 30 MP while pausing time and allowing him to zoom across the battlefield intangibly. He can do this in mid-air as well, with a small cooldown. Similar to point-warping, he can freely shadowstep directly towards specific locations with , letting him recover MP.
Ardyn has a technique bar, reserved for unleashing three different unique attacks from Ifrit. Doing this will summon Ifrit and allow him to attack alongside Ardyn in battle for roughly a minute, causing the arena to engulf in flames and the screen turn orange. Ifrit will phase in and out of battle to deal strong blows.
The player can purchase various hats around Insomnia that grant different effects. Ardyn can rest at benches, granting three buffs that slightly boost HP, Vitality, and critical hit rate for roughly 5 minutes. Ifrit also gains these buffs. During the infiltration, the player can destroy props around the city, such as billboards and flag poles, to increase the total score. Occasionally, Ardyn will get ambushed by troops while wandering around, and with them an attack prompt that will stun them, allowing easy daemonifications.
When Ardyn's HP is depleted, rather than entering Danger as in the main game, he enters , in which he transforms into an undying state. During this state, his MP and phantasmal meter are permanently depleted, and his blitz combo becomes a string of powerful punches. Unlike Danger, Ardyn's max HP doesn't drain over time during Overkill; it will still deplete from taking hits, though he won't be staggered. Ifrit also can't be summoned in this state. After waiting a period of time, or after using an item, he will revert to normal and restore his HP. Since there are no Phoenix Downs available, getting Downed will lead to a Game Over.
=== Descension and stats ===
Using Descension from the main menu allows the player to unlock Daemonspheres to learn new abilities and boost stats. On top of daemonification, AP is still gained from warp-strike kills.
Alongside his sword, he can wield the Cerberus-0, a sniper rifle that staggers enemies and can drain MP to pause time similar to Shadowstepping, summon a in a similar manner to Elemancy that drains his phantasmal meter to deal repeated damage over an area and inflicts Enervated, or use Spectral Charge to drain his MP enough to recharge his phantasmal meter while in battle and standing on the ground. The rifle's damage and range are ineffective outside of battle, but can still deliver headshots and destroy objects from a distance. The Tornado can still be summoned with the meter at 0x, but its duration will be brief.
Ardyn can sprint indefinitely (and holds his hat while doing so). He doesn't take fall damage. His MP recharges quickly and stasis lasts a shorter period. While in stasis, he can still dash forward slightly and parry attacks.
Strength affects the damage from Ardyn's Rakshasa blade, Cerberus-0, and punches in Overkill. Magic affects the damage from his royal arms (including Royal Retribution), Dark Tornado, and , an unlockable skill that can be used after 100 combos are achieved, which sends out a strong area attack, also resetting the combo when used.
			
						
				
		
Name	AP	Description
 	0 	Conjure spectral weapons to wield in battle. Press to attack, or use + to sideswipe your foes.
 	16	Press to convert all remaining MP into spectral energy.
 	32	Hold to conjure a swirling whirlwind of dark energy. Use to aim, then release to unleash the blast.
 	32	Press to summon a sniper rifle, then fire with . Hold to hone your precision (costs MP).
 	0 	Press when the marker displays to daemonify a vulnerable enemy.
 	0 	Hold to dematerialize and swiftly move around the field.
 	8 	Press after jumping to leap again in midair.
 	16	Absorb more particles when daemonifying an enemy.
 	8 	Recover MP after parrying an attack and landing a successful counterstrike.
 	16	Press + after stringing together a 100-hit combo to wipe out all enemies in the surrounding area.
 	64	Receive items after daemonifying an enemy.
 	4 	Increase maximum HP and MP.
 	8 	Greatly increase maximum HP and MP.
 	16	Significantly increase maximum HP and MP.
 	0 	Launch an enormous orb of concentrated elemental energy. Depletes bar by two.
 	16	Crash into the ground and raze the surrounding area. Depletes bar by three.
 	32	Engulf yourself in flames that strengthen your power. Depletes bar by two.
===Items and gear===
===Shops===
=== Strategy ===
The player is graded for their efforts. They can save at camps repeatedly and reload if too much damage is incurred. Maxing out the phantasmal meter and spamming sideswipes, especially against bosses with a hat that does not boost magic, can easily rack up combos. Using items will not penalize the score, and not all of them have to be picked up. Only the battle time is factored, not the total time.
The Pointed Hat is perhaps the most useful equippable hat, purchasable from the two northernmost shops. The hat costs 56,000 yen, but manacircuits dropped from Guardians sell for 10,000 yen each. It greatly increases Ardyn's MP, Magic, and Spirit, boosting the power of most of Ardyn's attacks, granting more drainable MP for his Spectral Charge skill, and allowing more shadowstepping and warp-strikes for mobility and maintaining a chain while destroying objects. Draining MP to charge the phantasmal meter can also extend the duration of an active Dark Tornado.
Blindsides and Ifrit are effective against the Guardians. Both Ifrit and the Cerberus-0 (with a Strength-based hat equipped) make short work of the Guardians' and Regis's barriers. Regis can be headshotted while vulnerable to deal significant damage. Somnus's large body is useful for racking up a large combo, especially with Royal Retribution, and his powerful sword attack can be evaded by immediately leaving the central street.
=== Datalog ===
Finding Verstael's documents, slaying different enemies, and destroying different objects fills entries in the Archives. There are 33 entries in total.
===Episode completion rewards===
*The Mutant Rakshasa Blade, a greatsword and that can be equipped by Noctis and Gladiolus in the main game.
*Ardyn's Ensemble, attire that can be equipped by Noctis in the main game.
*Three new entries in the Datalog, which are shared between all saves.
*A new hat shop and hat available for purchase (Royal Crown that boosts MP), located on the ground level near the mid-right part of the map. (Map) Also unlocked for all saves.
*The Kingly Clash mode, where Ardyn faces off against Noctis and co. in the ravaged Insomnia.
==Gallery==
FFXV Episode Ardyn title screen.png|Title screen.
FFXV Episode Ardyn cleared title screen.png|Title screen (cleared).
Ardyn on the throne in FFXV Episode Ardyn.png|Ardyn awaits for his adversary on the throne.
Ardyn daemonifies a soldier in FFXV Episode Ardyn.png|Ardyn daemonifies his first victim.
Ardyn Verstael and Royal Guard in FFXV Episode Ardyn.png|Ardyn and Verstael surrounded by the Royal Guard.
Imperial recovery room in FFXV Episode Ardyn.png
Ardyn Ifrit and Verstael in FFXV Episode Ardyn.png
Somnus_and_Ifrit.jpg|Ifrit unleashing "Hellfire" against Somnus.
Royal Arms command in FFXV Episode Ardyn.png|Royal Arms command in battle.
Royal Arms long range in FFXV Episode Ardyn.png|Royal Arms used from a range.
Kingly Clash loading screen from FFXV Episode Ardyn.png|Loading screen.
FFXV Episode Ardyn loading screen.png|Loading screen.
==Trivia==
*The scene where Ardyn enters Insomnia under Mars's guise is a recreation of an old Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailer where Noctis entered Insomnia in a black car. The scene where Ardyn and Regis face off is a recreation of a Versus XIII scene where Noctis faced off against the Hooded Man. 
*If the player doesn’t resist Ifrit’s grapple, Ardyn will be incinerated, leading to a Game Over. The same applies to the attack prompt that finishes off Somnus, though Somnus will have to be re-fought. 
*Ifrit's attacks inflict Burnt on Ardyn. 
*The menu description for Ardyn's default Chancellor attire says the empire specifically designed them to protect him from sunlight. 
*The manner in which Bahamut interferes against Ardyn's attempted murder of Regis resembles how he spirited Ardyn away in the collaboration with Assassin's Creed Origins.
*During Ardyn's hijacking of the broadcast, when Regis comments on the video to his advisors, portions of Ardyn's speech could be heard yet not subtitled. The dialogue was as follows: "And today, you shall atone on behalf of your forebears. Resist, if you wish, but know that your fight against fate is a foolish and futile one."
**In the English localization for the "resist fate" ending, Aera before departing with Bahamut ends up giving an ironic echo towards Ardyn regarding the latter part of the speech. 
==Citations==
ru:Final Fantasy XV: Эпизод Ардин
Category:Downloadable content in Final Fantasy XV