DLC Review: FFXV, Episode Prompto

Well…I can at least say this one was more interesting to play through than Gladiolus’ segment. If nothing else it felt less unenthusiastic. I don’t know how they made a duel against someone like Gilgamesh so boring – maybe it was just how damned straightforward the whole thing was – but Prompto’s DLC did manage to be a bit more engaging. As one could probably guess, the story follows Prompto during the time he was separated from the rest of the group and provides more information regarding his background as he fights his way across the frozen wastes of Niflheim.

So let’s pick this apart a bit. Combat this time around was a bit different. Unlike Gladio, whose combat style was basically a watered down version of Noctis, Prompto’s abilities all revolve around guns and a knife. Which does more damage than the guns. Go figure. He comes equipped with his trademark pistol and said knife, and can improve his arsenal by picking up weapons or stealing them from enemies. Depending on which weapons you use, the controls get a bit different. Using his pistol or knife involve little more than holding down the attack button and dodge rolling when the enemy gets too close.

His other options consist of a machine gun, bazooka, and sniper rifle. He can only carry any one of these at a time, and only gets a limited number of shots before losing the weapon. Using any of these requires you to whip out the old targeting reticle and aim. Which is what you’d expect from a gunner and actually works pretty fluidly, so kudos to them on that. Honestly though? Playing this just proves to me that Prompt was just dicking off during the main game cause he’s way more capable here than he was in XV.

Interesting as it was, combat was still super easy. Most enemies can be taken out with three hits from the knife and a finishing move, meaning you only resort to using the guns against bigger enemies.

Yes, a monkey. Cause reasons.

Whereas Gladio was joined by Cor, Prompto is lucky enough to pair up with Aranea who provides support of both the moral and melee variety. This alone made it more engaging for me. Cor was a cool character, don’t get me wrong, but Episode Gladio decided his time was better spent staring at ramen than being bad-ass. Aranea plays the role of a supporting character here, so you don’t gain much additional insight into her story like we did with Cor. But that actually works here. Rather than trying to shoe-horn more information in about her, the developers focused on enhancing the story they were already telling. That said, fingers crossed for an episode of her own somewhere down the line.

Square Enix did a better job with keeping things interesting here. Whereas Gladio (kinda feel bad ragging on the guy so hard, but what can I say?) just followed the path, killed the enemies and fought the boss, the action here changes gears multiple times. A good chunk of the DLC involves controlling Prompto and shooting stuff, but the weapon options and addition of cover keep things interesting there. You are also provided with an up-gradable snowmobile, mixing in vehicle based combat, escapes, and even a side-quest system. I’ll be honest, I shot-gunned this play through so I didn’t dig into the side-quests but they mostly seem to involve fighting big monsters to obtain upgrades for your ride. I’ll probably backtrack and check those out later.

As for carry overs to XV itself if you’ve got an eye towards a new game plus at some point, completing the DLC provides the Lion Heart (a pistol, not the gunblade) and the tundra attire for Prompto. You also pick up another art for him to use in future play throughs.  And of course at the end of it all we get a brief clip leading into Episode Ignis which is slated for this December. So there’s that to look forward to down the line.

I have to say, I liked Prompto the least of Noctis’ comrades. Possibly because I kept catching him taking pictures when he should have been, ya know, helping. But his DLC was actually fun and engaging, a big improvement over Episode Gladiolus. So good job Square Enix, keep it up and make the next one worthwhile too.

That’s all guys, hopefully you enjoyed this article. Let me know what you thought of the latest Episode from FFXV in the comments, and as always, happy gaming!