A few months after the release of the Endwalker expansion and the first minor update implementing the first endgame content, Final Fantasy XIV continues to be talked about with a patch that brings the client to version 6.1 and introduces a lot of important news. We never saved our boundless love for a reboot. Naoki Yoshida: Final Fantasy XIV is an extraordinarily refined and content-rich MMO with an engaging narrative arc, one of the best we’ve played, and ending with the Endwalker expansion we rewarded in the review.
But now is the time to start over. The new update truly represents a new beginning for the Square Enix title: As the game’s name makes clear, one chapter has been closed and a new one opened.Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker, Newfound Adventure update 6.1. And let’s find out about these new adventures.
lots of PvE
As we said, New Found Adventure It’s a reboot: We saved the world at the end of Endwalker, the Scions disbanded, and players spent months wondering how the Main Scenario Quest would continue. Patch 6.1 answers that question only partially, laying the foundations for the future of Final Fantasy XIV and the expansions that will follow, and it does so with a piercing dive into the mythology of the franchise. Ten additional quests also go through a dungeon – Legacy of Alzadaal – and perhaps the weakest PvE content in the update, a prelude that evolves through tons of cinematics and a ton of dialogue, ultimately only opening the door to the next update.
But even more interesting is the mission cycle in Old Sharlayan, which begins with the quest “A Mission in Purple Dhona”, which unlocks this expansion’s first 24-player Alliance. This new endgame content called Aglaia is only the first part of the game. Realm Mythsa sub-topic that will allow us to fight the gods who ruled the world in ancient times.
This first chapter of Alliance is split into the usual series of bosses – four to be exact – but the scenario is very different from the eight player encounters in the Pandaemonium cycle: if the raids proposed so far are set in dark areas, it’s almost hellish, what happened aglaya they are characterized by open, bright, almost idyllic spaces. Despite their more mundane appearance, we like the tough encounters and the design of these bosses, which remind us of our most famous pantheons, especially the Greek and Scandinavian pantheons. Rewards follow the usual format – loot per week – and come in 590 item levels.
The most ambitious players, who will probably have reached this item level for a while thanks to the endgame content already available, can instead devote themselves to two new Trials designed specifically for them: Endsinger’s Aria The new Minstrel’s Ballad, a rematch with the final boss of the Main Campaign Quest, rewarded with the usual Totems to be exchanged for Weapon 595; Ultima’s Bane (Unreal) instead, it is a new iteration of the clash with the famous Weapon that falls under the category of False Relics.
Square Enix could have limited itself to this expansive endgame content designed for different groups of players, but instead chose to inflate the versatile PvE 6.1 update. In addition to introducing a number of unpublished role assignments that serve to deepen our knowledge of Fourchenault Level, Yoshida thought well of revising the Quest for the Main Scenario Quest for the A Realm Reborn episode. As promised some time ago, it’s now possible to face the Mission – namely the various mandatory dungeons – without grouping up with other human players, but forming a team with real “bots”. It’s basically a dynamic that surpasses the Trust of the last two expansions with the Squadron system: It’s designed to prevent players from spending too much time in Duty Finder. Mission Support – as it’s called – it’ll then land in the Heavensward and Stormblood parts of the Main Scenario Quest. On this occasion, the developers also revised and fixed some old dungeons that were considered particularly outdated in terms of structure and boss.
lots of PvP
Update 6.1 also includes an almost complete overhaul of PvP dynamics that replaces Feast with a new gameplay dynamic. Crystal Conflict. Player Vs Player has never been a strong point in Final Fantasy XIV, neither due to the low-conflict nature of the game nor the impossibility of carefully balancing very niche content. But judging by the enthusiastic comments from the community, Naoki Yoshida seems to have found the square of the circle. The new content is designed for a little fun: matches involve up to two teams of five players (Astra and Umbra) and last a few minutes, nodding to battle royals and Overwatch-type arena shooters. On three maps – structurally identical, but characterized by different tricks such as explosions or gusts of wind – players compete for a crystal with an explosion, and the team that manages to capture it wins.
With the release of Crystalline Conflict, Square Enix has completely redesigned various PvP Jobs and our impression is that they are experimenting with new gameplay solutions given a possible refresh in PvE as well. Despite being extremely unstable, the new PvP is captivating thanks to the uniqueness of the various Jobs, as well as diversified to their new and highly personal traits. Border Break It can change the course of the fight.
It’s currently possible to face the games in Daily, Ranked and Custom modes, climb the ranks – divided into medals such as bronze, silver, gold and so on – and have your hands on different rewards that include mounts and outfits. most attractiveness. Given the uptake of Crystal Clash, it can’t be ruled out that PvP could play a bigger role after this update, but we’ll find out how much it really costs in the coming weeks, once the news is out. on the community.
Meanwhile, players are dealing with another … crossover form of PvP: housing. With the opening of a new district – highly anticipated empyreum – and the introduction of an unprecedented lottery-style assignment dynamic has unfortunately caused some annoying bugs, causing a stir, players can compete on equal footing for the much coveted matches. We’ll have to have a very long talk about the housing system, but it will be short: It’s ridiculous that this content, which is basically one of the most accurate and layered of Final Fantasy XIV and MMORPGs in general, still depends on this kind of thing. an archaic designation system and prohibitive.
Considering the importance ofHousing Over the years, even in a social and communicative sense, Yoshida’s stubbornness remains incomprehensible, because at this point, it would have been much easier for them to manage it.
As a result…
Update 6.1 is an important transitional moment for Final Fantasy XIV: it actually represents the first step towards the next expansion. The Main Campaign Quest begins to build on the narrative that will accompany us in the months and years to come, and the revamp to PvP gives a glimpse of some of the gameplay dynamics that could seep into PvE as well. This is a very rich patch and we invite you to read the official notes as we have analyzed only its most striking features, but there are a few other important innovations such as:endless codexA real encyclopedia to unlock, or Adventure Plates that players can customize like business cards.
However, there are more controversial points that don’t convince everyone, such as the first touch up to various Jobs in terms of PvE balancing. This Samurai, for example, they were deprived of a historic Action, Kaiten: The idea was to weaken Job a bit and also make its complex rotation easier, but Square Enix in particular doesn’t seem to hit the mark. excellent piece played early in the expansion with the new Summoner. But you know, this is how the balance works in MMOs: Samurai today, someone else tomorrow, and no one is happy.
Source: Multiplayer
