Players excited to know what happened to Gladio during the main story of Final Fantasy XV will find out soon on March 28.
Square Enix has revealed the official Episode Gladiolus trailer shown during the Final Fantasy XV panel discussion at PAX East 2017.
Episode Gladiolus, the next story DLC for Final Fantasy XV, will feature the character Gladiolus - or Gladio - as he sets off on an adventure of his own. This will be the first story DLC for the game, following the previous releases of several updates and freebies, such as mini-game A King's Tale.
Final Fantasy XV Episode Gladiolus will be available for download on March 28 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Gladiolus Embarks On A Personal Quest
In the trailer, we see glimpses of Gladiolus fighting different monsters with his trusty (and super huge) broadswords. Also featured in the trailer is Cor, the katana-wielding commander of the King of Insomnia's forces. The trailer also shows various weapons for Gladio and a huge dragon-like creature that he can ride to unleash more destruction upon his monster enemies. Also shown is a revamped user interface.
However, the main focus of the story DLC will be Gladio's quest to make himself stronger by taking on Gilgamesh, the legendary swordsman in the game. Here's the official description of the episode:
"Gladio, one of the three faithful comrades who accompany Noctis on his journey will become a playable character for the very first time in his own episode with a completely different type of gameplay and an all-new story.
"Picking up from the events from the group's encounter with Ravus, Gladio leaves the group to train alongside Cor and become even more powerful. He sets on a path to face challenges by encountering larger than life monsters along the way."
Gladio-Focused Narrative And Gameplay
In an exclusive interview with GameSpot, DLC producer Haruyoshi Sawatari said he wants players to have a different experience playing Gladio after playing for hours as Noctis, FFXV's main protagonist. Because Gladio is considered the "tank" of the group, the combat gameplay will be focused more on defense and offense. There will be a "Rage" feature, which according to Sawatari will be an "attack multiplier" as Gladio's Rage increases the more he blocks enemy attacks.
Sawatari also talked about a special moveset called "Glaive Arts," which when regular attacks are chained, a gauge is filled up that lets Gladio perform Glaive Arts. He also confirmed that the main boss in the episode will be Gilgamesh, the Final Fantasy series' recurring character who is described as a legendary swordsman.
GameSpot has posted the first 15 minutes of gameplay of the story DLC. The video showed Gladio and Cor going to a mysterious ruins to confront the "Blademaster" aka Gilgamesh.
Episode Gladiolus will release on March 28. It will be free for Season Pass holders or as a separate DLC purchase for $4.99.
