Close Encounter of the Terra Kind



Close Encounter of the Terra Kind is a quest in Final Fantasy XV that is a collaboration event with Hironobu Sakaguchi's Terra Wars mobile game. Added to the game in patch 1.26, it is added to the quest log in chapter 5, and stays available for the rest of the game, and can be repeated. The quest is entered from a "warp pad" in Maidenwater area.

The quest is self contained and no items or equipment carry over from the main game. The reward for completing the quest, Sarah's Shortsword, is added to all save files and will be available in new games as well.

After being whisked away to a strange new planet, Noctis teams up with Sarah from Terra Battle 2 in saving the Hiso Aliens from a menace they call the Eroder. The quest takes ~30min to complete. The event reuses most assets from the main game.

Story
Noctis is whisked away to the mysterious world of Hiso Aliens where she meets Sarah. She is hurt and Noctis heals her with a potion. She is thankful, but Noctis remains distrustful. Sarah asks for him to partner up with her to solve the mystery, and though Noctis is reluctant, the two explore the mystical forest ruins and discover the area is sealed off by magical barriers.

They meet a small white alien who explains the situation to the pair, although only Sarah can understand its language. Sarah and Noctis have been summoned to the forest by the Great Tree at the behest of the Hiso Aliens' elder, who wants two saviors from other worlds to save them from a monster known as the Eroder, who has been eroding their world.

Sarah and Noctis follow the alien and find statues coming alive to attack them. The two combine their skills to fight them off and learn to fight together. They follow the alien to its village where a group of alien children steals Noctis's smartphone. Sarah rushes after the kids and gets the phone back, but when she helps an alien child hanging precariously over a waterfall, the tree they were on snaps. Noctis catches them midair and warps them to safety. He scolds Sarah for being so reckless, and she thanks him for his help.

On their way to meet the Elder, a tree comes alive and starts to attack, but Sarah saves Noctis from it and he again heals her with a potion. He is relieved and thankful. The Elder asks them to save the alien society from the Eroder, and the two agree to it, as if the Eroder is left to run amok, it would only be the matter of time until it could appear in their worlds as well.

The aliens remove the magic barriers for Sarah and Noctis to proceed to the coliseum, where the Eroder abandons its Hiso Alien form to copy Sarah's powers. Basking in its newfound powers the Eroder attacks and Sarah and Noctis fight it off together. After defeating the Eroder, it fades away, as do Sarah and Noctis now that their task is complete. Noctis is sad they must part ways and Sarah tells him to be more honest with his feelings toward his friends before it will be too late. Noctis says he will keep that in mind.

Etymology
Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 science fiction film by Steven Spielberg that tells the story a man whose life changes after an encounter with an unidentified flying object (UFO). "Close Encounter of the Terra Kind" refers to Terra Wars, the game the event is a collaboration with, but the word "Terra" also means Earth.