When to play DLC

[Lethian]

I just started and finished the 1st chapter of the main game and am wondering when can/should I play the DLC.

[LaserCookie]

https://www.reddit.com/r/FinalFantasy/comments/puim0f/made_a_way_to_hopefully_make_it_easy_for_people/

[Lethian]

Thank you seems I am going to be busy for a while xD

[archmag]

Wait, A King's Tale (sidescrolling action game), Brotherhood (anime?), Kingsglaive (a movie) and even a book? No wonder the story feels incomplete in the game. Thanks for the information though, I heard pieces of it but never seen such an easy to understand list.

[Lethian]

Originally posted by archmag:

Wait, A King's Tale (sidescrolling action game), Brotherhood (anime?), Kingsglaive (a movie) and even a book? No wonder the story feels incomplete in the game. Thanks for the information though, I heard pieces of it but never seen such an easy to understand list.

I just finished watching brotherhood on youtube it does deepen the characters alot for me cannot wait to dive into chapter 2 now

[archmag]

Yeah, I also found it on youtube about 10 minutes ago, right after I posted previous post. Will watch it too while I am playing the game these days (I am almost at the final battle now, but went to explore the world to collect some extra info about it before proceeding). Will also finally play extra episodes now. I thought they are to be played only after the main game. Now, I doubt I will play sidescrolling action game which is not available on pc and not sure where to get Kingsglaive or a book, so I guess the experience of the world and this story will remain incomplete for me.

[Mako]

I disagree with the list, especially for 1st time experience.
Kingsglaive movie partrays some characters very differently (their character and even faces for some reason). Consider this a spinoff that took some liberties rather than a proper intro. All important information from it is already in the game anyway.
Episode Ignis spoils main game ending even if you dont take extra verse route (which is just Ignis' pipe dream basically)
Brotherhood is better watched when you've already played the game for some time, doesnt really matter when exactly.
Comrades is a massive time sink for very little story. Play it after the main game.

So basically:
main game + gladio and prompto episodes during chapter 8 beginning and mid chapter 13 respectively (like it says "you'll know when").
ignis
ardyn (btw it has animated prologue on youtube, may be a good idea to watch before playing)
comrades (optional)
all other content - whenever (optional)

Or just dont overcomplicate things and play DLC when game itself recommends it, which is after finishing main story.

[archmag]

Btw, it's kinda of related to this so I will ask about this thing in this thread instead of creating another. At certain point in story, one of the last chapters, you have a choice to play as one character or two others. I started as one but then switched to two others in the first place that allowed the switch and when I returned back to the first character it seemed like some part of his story was skipped. Is it really true that I missed a part of his story or would it go like this anyway with a minor timeskip?

When I returned to Noctis' story he already had the father's sword while when I switched from his route he didn't have it yet so I missed the part where he got it. Would I have missed some part of the other route if I fully finished Noctis' route first?

[Mako]

Yes, you do miss some story from main (Noctis) route. That other route is basically a skip to the longest main story dungeon in the game. Not many cutscenes but plenty of documents and ardyn chatter that adds to the overall lore (especially pretty dark truth about MTs).

Chapter 13 extra route is playable separately from main menu after you complete the game. So best way is to stick to Noctis and play it later from main menu. You dont miss anything from doing it this way. Regardless of the way you start it nothing (levels, items) is carried in or out. Originally on consoles it was added to the game as a free content to advertise season pass (its episode gladio promo) and to silence some complaints about chapter 13 being too hard.

[archmag]

Originally posted by Mako:

Chapter 13 extra route is playable separately from main menu after you complete the game. So best way is to stick to Noctis and play it later from main menu.

So only extra route can be replayed, not the Noctis' one. I wish I knew this before completing the chapter. Well, too bad then. But thanks for the info.

[Mako]

You can replay main route as well with chapter select later. Chapter select relies on existing save file so make sure to create one after end credits (game will ask you). Chapter select works a lot like NG+, it resets side quests progress but carries over character data.

Directly loading that save will send you to chapter 15, it has no extra main quest missions but has some end game stuff unavailable in other chapters. Also only chapter 15 saves are usable with NG+ and chapter select. So if you do use any of those functions dont overwrite your chapter 15 save with earlier chapter saves or you'll lose access to those functions untill you reach ending again.

Extra route is playable without chapter select. Seperate menu option doesnt need a save, faster (starts exactly when split occurs) and doesnt load back to main route when it ends. There is no benefit in playng it with chapter select, bc as I said earlier it never carries anything in or out.

[archmag]

Ohh, ok, thanks for explanation.

[Kei as in K]

Don't follow those "ultimate timeline guides" people post.
I always say this: Follow the release date order. That's how the story is meant to be digested.
Jumping back and forth DLCs and other media is going to destroy that linear path you're supposed to be immersed in. Would you pause a movie halfway through and start watching a different one? No. You would finish it, then watch the next one after.

Kingsglaive film released in July 2016, months before the game. You can basically say it was to hype up the release of the game.
Brotherhood anime was also released before the game. Weekly episodes released on FF's YouTube page.
King's Tale was a preorder bonus at Gamestop here in the US. Optional to play, if you're intrested in Regis's adventure, go for it.

DLCs obviously released after the game and at this point, the DLCs are available so there's really no order for you to play them in. But the release order was Gladio, Prompto, Ignis, then Ardyn.

[FineMouche16 [FR]]

Does dlc give items / weapons ? if yes i will play DLCs during my playthrough to have them.
I'm at chapter 8, so if the Gladiois DLC give somethin i will play it before starting chapt 9.

[MapleShroud]

release date order is fine but tbh the game kind of give segments on when dlc's should be played.