Part two of the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Fest world tour has just taken place in London, revealing loads of new details on the Dawntrail expansion and more. Here’s everything that was revealed in the event’s keynote speech.
Viper Job Reveal
The first of Final Fantasy XIV’s two new jobs was finally revealed, and it’s one that nobody expected. Entirely original to FFXIV, the Viper job is a duel-wielding melee DPS class. What separates this job from the Ninja is the ability to combine both swords into one double-bladed weapon, switching out ultra-fast strikes for heavier and more powerful ones.
Before director and producer Naoki Yoshida took to the stage to reveal the job’s name, the audience was treated to a first look at it in an extended version of the cinematic Dawntrail trailer that we first saw back in July’s Fan Fest in Las Vegas.
The Viper job will require no starting job and will be available to all players who already have at least one other job at level 80. The starting area for Vipers will be Ul’dah.
We also saw a sneak peek at some gameplay footage of the Viper striking a morbol. The job’s unique abilities allow the Warrior of Light to call on memories of ancient powers to boose their DPS.
The second job, which we already know to be a ranged magical DPS class, remains a mystery. The full reveal of this class is now confirmed to be happening at the Japan Fan Fest in January.
New Key Art
Alongside the reveal of the Viper job, we also got our first look at the all-new key art for the Dawntrail expansion. This art prominently features the Warrior of Light in full Viper regalia. It also confirmed that the expansion is still set for release in Summer 2024.
Dawntrail’s Main Story
We knew that the Scion’s journey to the continent of Tural would start out as a vacation, but now we have a few more clues about the expansion’s narrative.
After saving the entire cosmos from destruction in Endwalker, The Warrior of Light and the Scions will be sailing west across the Indigo Deep to enjoy some downtime. Despite the sun-drenched beauty of this new isle, it seems the relaxation won’t last long.
Tural is looking for a new ruler, and naturally, the Scions can’t help but get involved in the rite of succession. Unfortunately, it seems that the group will be divided between who they think deserves to become the new ruler. It’ll be interesting to see how each of the Scions reacts when their friendships are put to the test. However, it’s not yet known if you will have any choice over who you side with amongst your splintered friends.
The overall theme for the expansion will be “A Journey of Discovery,” which makes sense given Tural’s new world aesthetics.
YoshiP confirmed that Dawntrail will continue the tradition of offering a full retail game’s worth of content and proclaimed that this new era of FFXIV will be “even better” than the Hydaelyn/Zodiark narrative that was the focus for all expansions from A Realm Reborn through to Endwalker.
Players should expect “big surprises” as they play through this story and reveal more of Tural’s secrets.
The Continent of Tural
We were also given an early look at some of the different areas we will be visiting in Tural, as well as the first in-progress gameplay footage.
The first main town we’ll be visiting in the expansion is the previously announced Tuliyollal. The town will be home to many different peoples and has an established sea route to Old Sharlayan. Two other new areas on the island were also given in-game sneak peeks: Yak T’el and Urqopacha. All of these locations deliver on the vacation island vibes that had been promised, and YoshiP was keen to stress that they would be a showcase for the game’s new graphical updates.
More interesting yet was a first look at some concept art for two other locations we’ll visit as we progress through Dawntrail. Kozama’uka is a tropical region where crags in the land create huge waterfalls across the environment. The concept art was absolutely stunning and will surely look jaw-dropping in-game.
The other new region is Shaaloani, which has a frontier desert look. This Wild West is the road to something bigger though, as indicated by a giant SECRET banner covering part of the concept art. YoshiP says he wants players to experience this surprise reveal for themselves when they play Dawntrail.
With newly discovered ceruleum deposits driving something of a gold rush to the area, we can only imagine this will invite some of Hydaelyn’s more nefarious characters there.
Gameplay Features in Dawntrail
The new area of Kozama’uka will be home to one of Dawntrail’s new Allied Tribes, the Moblins. They’re like the Goblins, except they’re not, okay? It looks like this tribe will feature crafting and gathering daily quests.
As for dungeons, it’s now been confirmed that Dawntrail will have just as many as any other expansion pack. We got our first look at a few of them, including one that YoshiP himself described as a “Jungle Cruise,” another with a vast ruin covered in a mysterious purple growth, and an Aztec-looking temple.
The reveal that got the biggest reaction from the crowd, however, was the concept art of an ominous technological area featuring a glowing tank that faintly brought to mind Jenova’s from Final Fantasy VII. Whatever is going on here is sure to have a significant impact on Final Fantasy XIV’s next major story arc.
The sense of threat continues with the first look at one of Dawntrail’s enemies – the Eliminator. This thing is absolutely huge. It’s confirmed not to be a raid boss, so as to how we’ll come face-to-face with it, we’ll have to wait and see when we play the expansion.
Those who enjoy playing the game solo will be pleased to hear that all of Dawntrail’s new dungeons will include Duty Support, meaning that they can complete them with a party of NPCs rather than having to group up with other players. This will consist of new characters, not just the Scions we’ve teamed up with before.
There will also be new lifestyle content in Dawntrail, but unfortunately, this wasn’t quite ready to show in London. A full reveal will, therefore, take place in January’s Fan Fest in Japan. It was, however, revealed that the new systems would be group-focused.
New Gear
New expansions mean new glamours, and Dawntrail will have plenty for everyone’s tastes in fashion. As well as several sets that have a distinctively 19th-century look to them, there are also new job-specific sets.
Unlike a lot of new content, which has given all jobs new gear that is similarly themed, in Dawntrail, each job will get its own entirely different set of gear. The concept art preview we got of four of these new job sets received maybe the biggest cheer from the crowd out of anything else in the keynote.
With this very Ezio-looking set of gear and the Viper’s open Edward Kenway look, there’s definitely some strong Assassin’s Creed inspiration being given off by Dawntrail.
Final Fantasy XI Crossover
The Alliance Raid’s have a rich history of crossovers, with previous ones smashing Final Fantasy XIV together with Nier: Automata and Final Fantasy XII’s Ivalice. The latest Alliance Raid, Echoes of Vana’diel, will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first MMO in the series, Final Fantasy XI.
New Limited Job
This was one of the keynote’s biggest surprises. A second limited job is coming to the game in the latter half of Dawntrail’s patch cycle. What it will be, nobody knows.
With the first limited job being the Blue Mage, could the Green Mage be next?
The audience was going wild at the possibility of a Beast Master job, and YoshiP was keen to encourage them, so maybe they were onto something there.
Graphical Update
In a final, rather anti-climactic conclusion to the keynote’s Dawntrail reveals, we got another new look at the upcoming graphical enhancements arriving in Dawntrail. This included a fresh look at the updated Au-Ra model, with slightly less reflective horns and improvements to shadows on Lalafell faces.
Honestly, it was nearly impossible to see any difference between the before and after images in this demonstration. Still, I’ve no doubt all these little changes made will accumulate into a significant boost when it comes to actually seeing them all come together in the game.
Pre-Dawntrail Updates
While there’s still a bit of a wait to go before Dawntrail hits in Summer 2024, there’s no shortage of things happening in the game in the meantime.
Xbox Beta
The year’s long wait for Xbox console owners to journey to Eorzea is almost over. The FFXIV Xbox beta is coming mid-January to February 2024, and will let anybody jump in to try out the game.
With the PC requirements now being boosted, being able to play the game on a console doesn’t sound like a bad idea for those wincing at shelling out for a new graphics card.
Fall Guys x Final Fantasy XIV
After Final Fantasy XIV content dropped in Fall Guys earlier this year, it’s now time for FFXIV to get its own Fall Guys content. The new Fall Guys mini-game at the Gold Saucer looks like a tonne of fun, and it’s arriving with Patch 6.51 on October 31.
This event will have cyclical availability, so be sure to jump into the game to check it out before it disappears for a bit.
Final Fantasy XVI Crossover
YoshiP collaborates with YoshiP to bring Clive Rosfield to Final Fantasy XIV. You’ll be able to fight alongside Final Fantasy XVI‘s protagonist in the coming crossover titled The Path Infernal.
Rewards for taking part in the event will include a Torgal mount and minion, as well as gear based on FFXVI.
If you’ve not yet played the new game or are waiting for its upcoming PC release, have no fear. YoshiP confirmed there won’t be any spoilers for the game, and instead, it will serve as an introduction to those who haven’t played while offering fun references for those who have.
Cloud Server Stress Test
The previously announced shift to cloud servers is rolling ahead, with a stress test tentatively set for 21-27 November. All players are encouraged to log in to this new server and try out as much content as possible during these dates.
Although you won’t be able to keep your character after the test, you’ll be given a whole bunch of gear, including 50,000,000 gil, to ensure you can hit the group running. The more players that join in, the more info the server team will have to help iron out any problems before this important step forward in Final Fantasy XIV’s future takes place.
Celebrating Final Fantasy’s Legacy
In a touching conclusion to the keynote, we got two callbacks to Final Fantasy’s long history. First, we got a look at an all-new piece of artwork for Dawntrail, designed by legendary artist Yoshitaka Amano. This artwork features the Viper job and is an homage to Amano’s art for Final Fantasy III.
And finally, Final Fantasy creator and current CEO of Mistwalker, Hironobu Sakaguchi, took to the stage to say a few words about his appreciation of Final Fantasy XIV. He famously took up playing the game back in 2021 and told the Fan Fest audience that he now plays the game every day.
That’s all for our wrap-up of everything revealed during FFXIV Fan Fest London. With A Realm Reborn having just turned ten years old, the future has never looked brighter for this long-running MMORPG.
Published: Oct 21, 2023 11:24 am