After the climactic conclusion to a decade-long Endwalker saga, anticipation is high for Final Fantasy XIV’s upcoming expansion, Dawntrail. I got to play the game and talk to director Naoki Yoshida (aka Yoshi-P) about the new jobs and the difficulty of incorporating fan feedback (not to mention the reasons why the Warrior of Light has such a great skin – you’ll see ). But how can Square Enix hope to follow the climax of Endwalker, involving space travel and a fight against the physical embodiment of grief? Taking us on vacation, of course.
The build I got my hands on was still in development, but everything I’ve seen of the graphics update so far looks stunning. Trees feel fuller, mountains look more imposing, and clothes have a lot more detail now. Textures have improved, but so has object density, so there’s more grass to walk on and more world items to explore. It’s not exactly a generational jump, but it all adds up to a world that feels richer, more lived-in, and ripe for exploration.
Gone is the gloom of Garlemald and the quiet emptiness of Endwalker’s Ultima Thule – in the new land of Tural every place seems filled with bright spectacle to create a sense of adventure at home. I spent most of my time looking at the world around me. I wandered around the main central town of Tuliyollal, popping my head into bars and climbing the dense hills towards the main castle. I glided through the jungles of Kozama’uka to take in cascading waterfalls and wetlands, and then hiked through the mountains of Urqopacha as the peak of Wokhor Zomor loomed above me.
FFXIV has never felt more alive to me. Environments beckon with hidden caves and mist-obscured vistas that are only revealed when the light is just right. Even the swampy beginning of the dungeon I played had a sense of infinity (regardless of the default path you take).
Dawntrail also sees the level cap increase to 100 and two new Jobs will join the roster. Of the pair, the Viper is the easier to handle: a nimble role that uses dual blades to focus damage on a single target. It may be fast, but the basic skill rotation is clear. There’s a lot of customization to it, as you can choose how combos play out and then build more abilities. Just because its basics are easy, doesn’t mean it’s super simple. A lot of thought went into creating the Viper, and the wishes of the fans were kept in mind, says Yoshida.
“We got a lot of feedback from players around the world that if we were to implement another melee DPS, they would want to have a job where they could wield two swords,” he says. “And what’s more, at the same time, it often happened that they set an example, like Kirito from Sword Art Online.
“So we went with an approach where we were going to focus on stylish, fast-paced action and also make it look good. But when it comes to Kirito from Sword Art Online, Kirito is kind of overpowered and very strong in the game. So for Viper, we thought to show that feeling of becoming strong and for the player to focus on his actions and immerse himself in the battle. And that was a challenge for us to consider.”
While I found the Viper easy to deal with, the Pictomancer (the other new job) is a bit more difficult. It feels a lot like Black Mage combined with Dancer. Your spells combine to create canvas paintings that you can then drop for more damage, but you can also create landscape areas for party buffs. I’m excited to see what skilled players are able to do with it.
Of course all the other jobs in the game got updates as well with the new level cap. Monk, Ninja, Dragoon, Black Mage, and Astrologian have received the biggest overhauls, while the rest have received some improvements based on player feedback. I mostly played as a white mage during my exercises to help heal during a group dungeon and had a lot of fun playing with a new gap closer and damage burst while fighting an angry manatee (don’t feel sorry for that , the trees threw us first).
“There are many different types of people playing Final Fantasy XIV right now,” says Yoshia, “and the types of feedback we get from casual players are extremely different from the feedback we get from hardcore players. We try to find a balance between the feedback that we receive and the reactions we leave behind.
“There’s a history to this. From the 3.0 to the 3.X series, players told us they wanted jobs with more complicated mechanics. In other words, they wanted more unique jobs. So we took that feedback and started adapting . jobs…”
“But then we started getting feedback that things had become too difficult and that they didn’t want things to be fixed that a lot. So from patch 4.2 we started addressing feedback where we aimed to reduce the stress players felt when playing their jobs. And that was our policy for the team at the time. We were focusing on making Jobs more random so they weren’t too hard to play with.”
Players have definitely noticed the trend towards a more casual feel for Jobs over the course of Endwalker. For example, Summoner was modernized for ease of use. But now that the Jobs have a solid foundation to work from, Yoshida aims to work on making each Job special.
“So if you’re wondering if this policy will continue indefinitely,” he says, “I made the decision with patch 7.0 that we were going to stop it here. From here on out we’re not going to do more random jobs, we’re focusing more in restoring a sense of the individuality of work.”
While a lot of player feedback may come in the form of complaints and criticism, Yoshida and his team are still excited to receive it, he says, and in particular to see what players will put in their stride. first in Tural.
“Compared to previous expansions we have incorporated a different atmosphere and sense of tension. This time it is quite bright. First, I want to see the player’s reactions to this,” he says. “When players start the expansion, they will travel to Tural, and then take their first step in Tuliyolal, they will see that there are many different tribes and peoples living here. We really wanted to create a sense of a world adventure that was different from anything we’ve done before. Our team put a lot of effort into creating this. I can’t wait to see what kind of reactions players get when they start the expansion.”
From what I’ve seen of Dawntrail so far, I don’t think the team has much to worry about. The build I played had many NPCs hidden for spoiler reasons, but even without them I realized how alive Tural is. From the towering architecture of Tuliyolal’s marketplace and docks, to the cozy camp-like structures of Urqopacha, the world of FFXIV feels more alive to me than ever.
While it’s clear that a lot of love and attention has gone into the new areas, I’m also curious to see how the updates affect the older parts of Eorzea. Will they eventually receive the same contacts? Or do you feel old and tired in comparison? After all, it’s been over a decade since I started playing FFXIV, and over time I’ve definitely picked up a wrinkle or two of my own (I can’t get a graphics update). However, my Warrior of Light continues to maintain their youthful appearance. I asked Yoshida if the team would ever add aging options. He laughed at me with understanding.
“First of all, I really understand that request,” he said. “You can see that I myself have some frown lines or smile lines on my face, and when the light hits those lines, it creates a shadow, and so they stand out. So when we think about adjusting that in real time , we’ll have to create polygons, and therefore it’s extremely difficult. It’s not like we can just draw lines.
“Having said that… I think maybe the only option we have is to prepare some kind of face with the wrinkles applied to it… I can say it’s not easy, but I wouldn’t rule it out, I think it can possible life. So maybe it would be great if you could give me until the next graphics update, and we’ll think about it. Until then, you can just consider that at Etheirs, there are super skin creams.”
If only I could get a super face cream for myself, but maybe Dawntrail’s sense of a fresh start will be more than enough.