Games Happy

I like Last Fantasy XIV – and like some other participant I’ve been eagerly awaiting after we would get to study extra in regards to the title’s upcoming 7.0 Growth; and with the reveal of Last Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, it’s develop into abundantly clear that the primary focus for subsequent yr’s launch will likely be tackling all of those little complaints that the playerbase has had over time.

I’m not speaking in regards to the new story, or any of the brand new content material that’s slated to launch alongside the growth – however reasonably updates and options that apply to particular elements of the sport. Including in an extra dye channel, permitting gamers to additional customise their Warrior of Gentle’s look, a rise within the quantity of furnishings that homes can maintain, and – my favourite – a correct raid technique planner, full with visible indicators and all.

Alongside the previously-announced graphics replace – which, in fact, was additionally closely showcased throughout the Fanfest 2023 Keynote – and the long-awaited Xbox console port, Sq. Enix and Inventive Enterprise Unit 3 have made it abundantly clear that Last Fantasy XIV in it for the lengthy haul. Moreover, that the group is dedicated to honing in on the sport’s strengths (glamour, housing) whereas additionally making sensible modifications to enhance current weaknesses (Social gathering Finder).

Maybe all of it stands out much more seeing simply how comparable the brand new content material that Dawntrail is slated to deliver presently sounds remarkably just like the slate of latest content material that was added with Endwalker; the requisite new dungeons, trials, and raids. A brand new Deep Dungeon, new Variant and Criterion Dungeons, new informal content material just like Island Sanctuary, and PvP and Gold Saucer updates.

Endwalker additionally featured its fair proportion of housekeeping, in fact. Throughout the lifetime of the growth the group has made nice strides to overtake earlier content material to ensure that duties equivalent to Dungeons from A Realm Reborn via Stormblood will be accomplished completely solo with a set of Trusts; the addition of a brand new Residential District within the Empyreum, new servers and Information Facilities internationally, together with the introduction of the primary Oceania Information Heart.

All of that, understandably, received overshadowed by Endwalker’s position of concluding practically a decade’s price of story; whereas throughout Fanfest we had Naoki Yoshida saying as a lot that Dawntrail is envisioned as form of a “Summer time Trip” for gamers. Whereas I’m certain it can arrange the following part of the sport’s story, the expectations have been set that no matter occasions occur in 7.0 and its patches probably gained’t really feel as essential as what has come earlier than – not less than, not initially.

A part of me does want that 7.0 may very well be a extra drastic reinvention of what has come earlier than, and to take full benefit of the advantages {that a} new starting would possibly deliver – a lot as A Realm Reborn so boldly did again in 2013. But I additionally absolutely perceive that when a sport has develop into as profitable as XIV has, you might have a lot much less leeway to make such sweeping modifications; so it seems that Dawntrail prepares to blaze a brand new path forward for Last Fantasy XIV, not by revising what already works, however reasonably by constructing upon what has made it so successful within the first place.