I also tried switching the API to the original one, which I believe was 23.0.1, I now get this
Observed package id 'add-ons;addon-google_apis-google-23' in inconsistent location 'C:\Users\Trent\AppData\Local\Android\sdk\add-ons\addon-google_apis-google-23-1' (Expected 'C:\Users\Trent\AppData\Local\Android\sdk\add-ons\addon-google_apis-google-23')
Already observed package id 'add-ons;addon-google_apis-google-23' in 'C:\Users\Trent\AppData\Local\Android\sdk\add-ons\addon-google_apis-google-23'. Skipping duplicate at 'C:\Users\Trent\AppData\Local\Android\sdk\add-ons\addon-google_apis-google-23-1'
Incremental java compilation is an incubating feature.
:com.meowmere.game
reBuild UP-TO-DATE
:com.meowmere.game
reReleaseBuild UP-TO-DATE
:com.meowmere.game:checkReleaseManifest
:com.meowmere.game
reDebugBuild UP-TO-DATE
:com.meowmere.game
repareComAndroidSupportMultidex101Library
:com.meowmere.game
repareComAndroidSupportSupportV42301Library
:com.meowmere.game
repareReleaseDependencies
:com.meowmere.game:compileReleaseAidl
:com.meowmere.game:compileReleaseRenderscript
:com.meowmere.game:generateReleaseBuildConfig
:com.meowmere.game:mergeReleaseShaders
:com.meowmere.game:compileReleaseShaders
:com.meowmere.game:generateReleaseAssets
:com.meowmere.game:mergeReleaseAssets
:com.meowmere.game:generateReleaseResValues
:com.meowmere.game:generateReleaseResources
:com.meowmere.game:mergeReleaseResources
Z:\com.meowmere.game\src\main\res\values\strings.xml:3:35: Error: The content of elements must consist of well-formed character data or markup.
:com.meowmere.game:mergeReleaseResources FAILED
FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.
* What went wrong:
Execution failed for task ':com.meowmere.game:mergeReleaseResources'.
> Z:\com.meowmere.game\src\main\res\values\strings.xml:3:35: Error: The content of elements must consist of well-formed character data or markup.