Now, from the buzz of the release Final Fantasy XIV: Terminator Having settled down, players of the free trial can once again check out the critically acclaimed MMORPG It’s time to start looking ahead to what’s next for Warriors of Light and Scion of the Seventh Dawn.
During a recent Live Letter broadcast, producer and director Naoki Yoshida gave fans an update on the future of Final Fantasy XIV. In addition to the usual upcoming patch content updates, we’ve also seen a graphics overhaul in progress and plans to make the game solo playable. After reflecting on what makes Endwalker so great and examining the complexities of its success, the team is looking forward to the future with enthusiasm and excitement — and it’s a pleasure.
After a surge in player numbers over the past 6 months, FFXIV has become the most popular and successful game of all time – so seeing the developer’s plans so far ahead, rather than lingering on current success, is a good thing exciting. While smaller MMOs may wait until player numbers start to drop before making any major changes, it’s refreshing to see a team so committed to development. FFXIV has nothing to prove, but it’s doing it anyway.
The most obvious of the upcoming changes is the graphics update planned for the next expansion (7.0). While you can expect any kind of realism or anything close to the horizon Forbidden City (even high-end grapes) and the like, and development is still very early, the sneak peak of player characters and backgrounds is already promising. Still, it’s a major upgrade for a game that’s been in the works since 2013.
Textures, shadows, lighting, and the number of placeable objects are all being researched and improved. Of course, that means the minimum specs will be raised, but the team has PS4 players in mind, as PS5s are still hard to come by, so there’s no need to worry about them dropping support for the console for now.
However, arguably the biggest update is that the developers aim to make FFXIV single player possible, so if you’re a Final Fantasy fan who’s never played since you’ve been put off by the whole MMO and playing other is no longer a problem thing. As of patch 6.1 (the next big thing coming out in April), all 4-player dungeons are playable using the game’s “trust” system, which will fill your party with AI so you’ll never have to worry about queuing again. If you’re the type of player who likes to go solo in The Elder Scrolls Online, Final Fantasy XIV will no doubt start to pique your interest.
To make this happen, the developers have also changed some battles and dungeons – the infamous Cape Zephyr and La Habrea battles are now single-player dungeons instead of 8-player trials, and the Praetorium and Castrum Meridianum dungeons will now be 4 Human copy instead of 8. Future patches will add more trust dungeons for patch quests, Heaven and Stormblood until the game catches up with Shadowbringers when the system was originally introduced. One caveat though – the trust system currently only works with 4 player content, so you’ll still have to do 8 player trials and raids related to the story…so basically you’ll need to party a lot of boss fights.
The incorporation of better single player gameplay is a real boon for the game. FFXIV contains one of the greatest Final Fantasy stories of all time, but is often overlooked because it’s an MMO, so hopefully this will remove the fear barrier for many. Some people might be concerned that it could mean fewer people wanting to play together and as a result games will be less social or queues will be longer, but I’m not worried – this is for those who will Play once in each dungeon, then move on. The core game base of replaying things to upgrade other jobs, team up for raids, or grind for relics, etc., will remain the same. These changes just open more doors for people, and perhaps by doing so, more people will be persuaded to stay.
I do have some concerns about that, because at the moment it means the first fight you’re forced to play with someone else in the story will be against the Good King Moggle Mog XII – a fun but tricky first fight Combat, as the mechanics involve quite a bit of cooperation and direction of conquest. It’s going to be a hell of an introduction to play with other people, but given how much changes have been made to the early missions to fit the game, I’d imagine the battle will be tweaked too, so no need to panic right now.
We still have a lot of patch content waiting for the next expansion in the more near future. 6.1, coming sometime in April, will see the return of everyone’s favorite Extraordinary Inspector Hildibrand, as well as the first “Kingdom Mythology” 24-player Alliance Raid, Story Updates, Ishgard Housing, and Hrothgar hairstyle. Soon you’ll be able to travel between datacenters in patch 6.18, and 6.2 (which will likely be released sometime in September based on current patch timing) will roll out for those players looking to add a little Harvest Moon to their expectations Long-standing Island Sanctuary feature. Their lives.
All of this is just a look at the next few years for Final Fantasy XIV, and we’ll have more information on Patch 6.1 on March 4th (stay tuned). It’s exciting to see the development team being so open to their progress and expectations, while they keep improving what they do. With so much happening and a bright future planned ahead, now is the perfect time to become an FFXIV player.
