Inside Final Fantasy XV's "Assassin's Festival" collaboration with Assassin's Creed

In what may seem like an oddball pairing, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XV is hosting a collaboration with Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed series in the form of an limited-time in-game festival based around the franchise. Funny enough, this isn’t the first time Assassin’s Creed has had an appearance in a Final Fantasy title. Available for free through the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live, you can access this DLC through the title menu under the “Special” section. Take note that the event will end on January 31st, 2018.

In the video below, we take a look at the DLC — including the scenario and many of the mini-games.

The DLC opens with Noctis navigating through a crowd, climbing up a tower, and diving into a hay wagon — all hallmarks of Assassin’s Creed. We learn he is tracking Loqi, brigadier general of the Niflheim army, who has come to teach the occupied Lestallum to heel — but more importantly — to find the Crown Prince of Lucis himself, who is rumored to be in attendance. While the DLC does offer a glimpse at the menace of the Empire, though Loqi himself isn’t much more than a twirling mustache anyway, it’s more of a silver platter for Assassin’s Creed stuff.

Sometimes this works out in clever ways, such as using the Assassin’s Creed traversal with Noctis’s ability to Warp Strike — sometimes it doesn’t, such as the hammed-up enthusiasm for anything Assassin’s Creed-related that feels like an outtake from an infomercial. The writing trips over itself by trying to establish Assassin’s Creed as a video game series that Noctis and Prompto are into, but the festival is based off an “assassin of legend” within Lucian history. Don’t expect much here, it’s basically a glorified ad. Fans, however, will likely gravitate towards the here-and-there banter the four guys have — Final Fantasy XV‘s mildly-redeeming nicety in the writing department.

There will be a main scenario to progress through, along with a ton of mini-games to partake in. Participating will grant you Medals, which can be spent of various rewards at a prize counter. Many of these mini-games have been ported from the Moogle Chocobo Festival such as chocobo racing, whack-a-Cactuar, and picture taking — which felt a bit disappointing considering the theme. That being said, I particularly enjoyed the treasure hunts that have you traveling all over Lestallum, which is a new thing.

Much like a city in Assassin’s Creed, there are dangers to be wary of, such as patrolling Niflheim soldiers. You won’t be able to engage these enemies in the typical way — you must use stealth to land an assassination attack. While there are few moments where “combat” and traversal feels a bit fumbly on the controls and proximity detection, it works out well enough for a game not intrinsically designed around stealth and climbing every which way.

You’ll be able to unlock Assassin’s Creed-themed outfits for the guys in the main game as an extra goodie. Just keep in mind this is a limited-time event.


About the Author

Tony Garsow Tony joined Nova Crystallis in 2015, and has spent more than a decade writing in the Final Fantasy community. He also contributes to the Nova Crystallis Twitch and YouTube channels, where you can watch select gameplay highlights, previews, and streams.

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