Summary
At the 2023 London Fan Fest,Final Fantasy 14producer and director Naoki Yoshida said that theDawntrailexpansion would focus more on group play thanEndwalker, which comparatively emphasized solo play during the conclusion of the Hydaelyn and Zodiark story arc. In addition, Yoshida said thatDawntrailwould continue the trend ofFinal Fantasy 14paying tribute to pastFinal Fantasygames within a given expansion.
Final Fantasy 14introduced the Trust and Duty Support systems during theShadowbringersexpansion, which allowed players to queue up for dungeons with AI-controlled story characters. Further enhancements and additions to the Duty Support system came duringEndwalker. As a result, themain story ofFinal Fantasy 14can now be played solofor the most part, aside from a majority of 8-player Trials that still require player groups to complete. While the Duty Support system will remain inDawntrailfor 4-player dungeons, players looking for more content to do with groups received reassurance from Yoshida that the development team is listening to their feedback.
WhileEndwalkerdid not include any large-scale content similar to Eureka or Bozja from past expansions, Yoshida said thatDawntrailwill be a return to form for players looking for challenges to overcome as a group. In a series of London Fan Fest interviews compiled by Famitsu and translated by the r/ffxiv subreddit, Yoshida said that playing an MMORPG gets boring if players do the same thing repeatedly. Therefore, Yoshida wantedDawntrailto focus on “having fun together with everyone” by way of group-focused content. In addition, Yoshida commented onthe upcomingFinal Fantasy 16crossover. He clarified that it is intended forFF14players who have not playedFinal Fantasy 16yet and that the event would not touch upon the second half of the latter’s story.
Yoshida also touched upon a few extra topics, including the upcoming alliance raid “Echoes of Vana’diel” which is themed onFinal Fantasy 11. He said that the respective development teams are discussing boss and fight mechanics and encouraged players to have patience with news on that front. In addition, Yoshida confirmed that theYo-Kai Watchcollaboration would return, and said that he would love to collaborate with Blizzard on doing a crossover with theDiabloseries in the future. Withthe Xbox port ofFF14entering open beta in early 2024, it remains to be seen what will come of Yoshida’s wishes.
Betweenthe reveal of the Viper Joband a renewed focus on group content, reception to the news from London Fan Fest has been positive. Only time will tell ifFinal Fantasy 14can continue the momentum going intoDawntrail.
Final Fantasy 14is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5, with an Xbox Series X/S version launching in Spring 2024.
