Final Fantasy 14 2023 Fan Festival Live Blog - Catch All The Major Updates Here!

Awkward corporate handshakes. Still, Xbox getting FFXIV is huge.

FanFest London coming October 21st, 2023, will have much more Dawntrail information later this year.

That's a wrap for the keynote. Opening ceremonies are next. What was your favorite part?

Crossplay is also confirmed for the Xbox version, combining the playerbase with PC, Mac, and PlayStation users. 

4K support, faster loading, and more. Open beta is scheduled for 6.5x, while full release is Spring 2024.

 

Final Fantasy XIV is coming to Xbox FINALLY. Phil Spencer is on stage at Fanfest - and there can only be one reason!

Expanded free trial is coming with 6.5, extending through Stormblood. This gives EVEN MORE CONTENT for free, expanding the meme even more.

So now the free trial lets you play through to level 70, bringing players right up to the award-winning Shadowbrings expansion.

So nudge friends and family in the direction of the MMORPG. "PLEASE," implores Yoshi-P.

Also, the crossover none of us knew we needed, but now has to desperately play, Fall Guys and FFXIV are collabing. Starting August 22nd and running through October 3rd, players can take up the garb of the Warriors of Light and take on the cute battle royale together.

It's also coming to FFXIV itself too!

A new whiteboard feature is coming to help groups plan positioning and more when looking at taking on hard duties. The whiteboard should let groups help learn and plan for bos mechanics and much more. The UI itself is not final, but it's a great start.

System requirements are changing, with an RTX 2060 and AMD 5600 XT being required now for 1080p gaming once 7.0 hits. PS4 is still being supported, though Yoshi-P drops a very strong hint to grab a PS5...you know...because Final Fantasy XVI.

More fashion news: Eyeglasses are coming and it's a new type of gear to be quipped alongside your headgear. 

My character is going to be looking smarrrrt.

Raiders can rest assured that these won't take up space in an armory chest or affect gear for their 8-person raids or Ultimate raids.

Housing is also getting a furnishing limit increase, though it won't be coming with 7.0. Sometime in the Dawntrail update cycle, though.

One of the biggest benefits of the new graphics update will be updates to the dye system. Two dyes per gear piece is now coming, allowing for even more customization to the real endgame of FF14: Final Fashion 14.

Plants are getting new life in Final Fantasy XIV, with players now being tasked with touching grass in game. This update is coming across the game, though this won't apply to the polygon count, meaning the grapes are still going to just be...those grapes.

Better quality materials are coming to the game, rolling out in the new area first, then 2.0, and then the middle expansions. New lighting is also coming with the graphical update. The improved lighting just adds so much to the scene, from god rays to specular highlights, maybe volumetric? Lighting will be automatically applied across the world, though extra objects are going to be added as the 7x series goes on.

The graphical update is now being discussed, with Yoshi-P giving a run down of the philosophy behind the update itself. 

Focusing on Screen-wide improvements, with higher resolution textures and shadows, improved material quality and more. Metals will look much more realistic, though Final Fantasy 14 won't lose the art style and look we all love. The goal here is to improve the look without changing the look of the game. The team is taking care to ensure that characters don't change in how they look, just improved.

The changes are subtle, yet huge. Improved materials really shine, including skin textures, shadows across the body, and much-improved textures. Improved textures to gear will roll out throughout the full 7.0 update cycle, along with NPCs and such. This is going to be a gradual roll out for the team.

 

PvP is getting some love, with additions to the Crystalline Conflict series. 

Ongoing content update brings new Blue Mage updates, "Inconveivably Further Hildibrand Adventures" brings Hildibrand to 7x updates. New plans are being laid for deep dungeons, and new Gold Saucer updates (not Blitzball.....).

New content, from Variant dungeons, Alliance Raid (coming in 7.1), with the team promising that the next Alliance Raid will be "even more Final Fantasy-ish." 

Maybe the Final Fantasy 16 crossover?

New 8-player raid coming in the 7x update series, as well as new Ultimates (plural, it was noted).

We'll also see duty support for all dungeons associated with the story, with new characters coming to the duty finder for those solo players.

Dawntrail is also going to see "expansive new lifestyle content," much like we saw in 6.0's Island Sanctuary. 7.x series is aiming to do the same with new content in the same vein. Nothing yet to share about this, though.

FFXIV will see the same core content that we can expect from the MMO, with trials, duties, Fates and much more.

There are also new dungeons, though the team can't share anything just yet. Maybe next Fan Festival?

Have a boss art, though. Valigarmanda.

A new level increase is coming, bringing the level cap to 100 in Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail. 

New skills are coming to all jobs, and crafters will also be getting some love here.

New Jobs are also coming to Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail - two jobs as Yoshi-P emphatically said on stage. Unfortunately, Yoshida can't tell us what jobs players are getting...though maybe the Warrior of Light on the brow of a ship in the trailer, wielding a single blade is a hint? Yoshi-P did unveil which roles we'll be seeing a new job - one melee DPS and one Caster DPS. RIP the duty finder queue.

One of the new tribes, the Pelupelu, was unveiled. Old-school Final Fantasy fans likely will recognize the Pelupelu from previous titles. Well known for their beverage making, including Mezcal. MEZCAL. In FINAL FANTASY XIV.

The next new area, Yak Tel, is a forest area that is accessible from the player hub. There is a high area and low area, each with their own vibe.

The new region obviously includes new areas, with the first being large mountainous region of Urqopacha.

Note the shadow-work, Yohsi-P implores.

Screenshots! The new graphics update doing work here.

 

The new hub city in Tural is located in Yok Tural, and is called Tuliyollal. Noaki Yoshida emphasized that the new city has more diversity than the rest of the the MMO.

The city itself is not necessarily as industrialized as other cities in Final Fantasy 14, with the inhabitants living closer with nature. The contest is for the succession of the Tural throne, held by Gulool Ja Ja, a two-headed Mamool Ja. 

The team mentioned that the journey here is meant to be a new story, with players learning what the contest for Tural succession, but also learning the mysteries of the city of gold.

The new world, Tural, is a continent far west of Eorzea. The new area is across the Western seas, and the more the team develops, the larger the map will get.

A new journey for FFXIV as a whole, with the theme of Dawntrail being a "Journey of Discovery."

Yoshi-P mentions that the Arc from 1.0 all the way through Endwalker has concluded, with Dawntrail being that first step into a new story for FFXIV.

The goal? Give you the best summer vacation possible. The site of the expansion is in new horizons, as players will help a visitor from the New World sort out the succession of Tural.

The contest will feature a legendary city of Gold, which is nameless right now. All of the Scions will be there to help the Warrior of Light, though Yoshi-P teases that the contest divides the Scions into two opposing groups.

On stage, producer Naoki Yoshida spoke on stage about getting the expansion out as early in the summer as possible, but obviously no promises.

New Square Enix CEO takes the stage, not using any cosplay. Really wish he channeled his inner Blue Mage.

Apparently he waited to watch the Dawntrail trailer until today, this way he can feel the same thing we are all feeling here in the crowd: unabashed excitement.

The new trailer kicked things off with a bang - with the Warrior of Light sailing on the open seas. Cameos from all the Scions in a new Aztec/Mayan-inspired region elicited massive cheers from the fans here in the audience. Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail is the next expansion of the MMORPG, coming Summer 2024.

Not in Las Vegas? Keep up via the live stream here:

And here we go! Fan Festival XIV has officially begun.