‘Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker’ Preview – the end is nigh, and bloody brilliant

Want to learn more about Sage, Reaper, and all the new zones coming in Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker? We’ve got you covered.

From the moment I step through Old Sharlayan’s white cobblestone gates, an irresistible sense of nostalgia takes hold. As if I’d already been to this gorgeous seaside city before — which isn’t the case, given I’m visiting for the first time at a hands-on preview event for Final Fantasy XIV’s upcoming expansion. Everything is new here, from vast, jaw-dropping zones to its ferociously creative jobs. Yet that warm, familiar feeling remains, and I’m confident it’s the byproduct of Endwalker being a culmination of everything that makes this MMORPG magnificent.

After frequently battling the Garlean Empire since A Realm Reborn, it is surreal to finally explore the capital city of Garlemald for myself. Well, what’s left of it, anyway. Everything is dilapidated and charred, from tiny innocuous lamp posts to towering skyscrapers. The only semblance of life in this haunting landscape is an occasional wicked beast or mechanical menace, neither of which are fond of my party strolling about to take in the sights. I can’t say why Garlemald is in such a sorry state because story context has been removed for the preview, but its destroyed beauty makes it one of the most fascinating zones in Final Fantasy XIV.

The mean streets of Garlemald are an excellent proving ground for would-be adventurers, so I take a chance to try out the Reaper, a scythe-wielding DPS job that could have stepped out of Bloodborne. It’s a fast, free-flowing job that requires a watchful eye to use effectively. There are two resources on its job gauge: Soul and Shroud. Some skills like Slice increase Soul, while others, such as Gibbet, build up Shroud — think: Red Mage but with a devilish grim reaper vibe.

Discovering effective skill rotations during combat is the best part of rolling as a Reaper, especially once battle crescendos with you conjuring up eldritch horrors that slice and dice any poor sod on the receiving end. It’s probably one of the more difficult DPS jobs to play, especially if you want to utilize its area of effect abilities against multiple enemies, which is tough to effectively figure out. Single targets, though? Easy prey. Before long, I feel every bit as dangerous as any unsavory folk skulking about Garlemald.

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While Reaper is loads of fun, healers are more my jam — so the Sage fits me like a glove. Instead of being a pure healing job like White Mage, Sage leans more in Scholar’s direction with damage-mitigating shields. However, its skill rotations are more systematic than other healers, as most of its complete toolkit doesn’t come into the picture until you pop the Eukrasia skill, which completely changes the functionality of some abilities. For example, Diagnosis goes from a standing healing spell to Eukrasian Diagnosis, which erects a magical barrier around a friendly target. Balancing when to use Eukrasia fits Sage’s scientific flavor too. Final Fantasy XIV’s other healing jobs are akin to wizards, while Sage feels like a futuristic combat medic. Maybe that aroma is due to all its explosive laser attacks making my lizard brain sizzle, though.

When I put my healing prowess as Sage to the test inside dungeons, it feels dirty. Nothing is wrong, far from it — I feel like my old White Mage is about to get tossed into the nearest trash bin, though. If an ally is on death’s door just out of reach, Sage’s gap closer skill, Icarus, brings you to their position just in time to slap on shields of instant heals. Like high fantasy Life Alert. Then you can immediately spin around and unleash several area-of-effect damage and healing at once spells in a pinch. It’s liberating after playing White Mage for so long. Sage’s job gauge, however, is complicated enough I couldn’t figure it out during a short preview, but there’s plenty of time for that later. Truthfully, that constant, irresistibly feverish pitch to Sage’s ebb and flow might be what I’m now looking forward to most in Endwalker.

I probably would’ve appreciated the Tower of Zot, a new dungeon in Endwalker, had my attention not been laser-focused on either of the new jobs. Rest assured, it kicks ass too. Long-time fans of the series will no doubt recognize its name, though I’ll be transparent with you: I’ve only started playing Final Fantasy IV in the past week, so I can’t tell you how true to the source material Endwalker’s depiction is. I can tell you that it looks like a damn xenomorph hive straight out of Aliens, however. Rib bones and fleshy-pink innards make up everything from narrow serpentine walkways to the sticky ground beneath my party’s feet. Grotesque stuff probably a first for Final Fantasy XIV too I love it. H.R. Giger would be proud.

Sadly, the Tower of Zot also reaffirms a growing fear that Endwalker will continue making dungeons incredibly linear. Pretty much since Stormblood, Final Fantasy XIV’s second expansion, dungeons are a straight line with no veering paths to lose yourself in. The Tower of Zot’s enemy encounters still rule, especially the ridiculously cool final boss fight that I dare not spoil, but it’s a shame. Returning to A Realm Reborn’s more varied layouts would’ve been nice.

As the preview event’s finale draws near, I decide to explore the wilds of Thavnair. Imagine deep reds and bright oranges during fall in the Pacific Northwest but in a tropical setting. Chill vibes incarnate, I’d say. Maybe not as exciting as Garlemald from a storytelling perspective, but no less of a majesty. Especially its enormous, wind-worn elephant statues. NPC chatter is turned off during the preview, so I can’t grasp what the people of Thavnair are like, but given Final Fantasy XIV’s track record, I’ve no doubt they’ll be worth hitting up later. If Thavnair is any indication, unfamiliar zones in Endwalker will be incredible.

If my time with Endwalker taught me anything, it’s that Final Fantasy XIV’s development team is more than ready to meet and even surpass expectations. It’s hard to believe that the brilliant jobs and stunning zones shown off here were only a taste of what’s to come. I only hope that by Endwalker’s curtain call, that nostalgic aroma is as strong as ever.

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF

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“Alphinaud would absolutely be a Redditor” – ‘FF14: Endwalker’ interview with Naoki Yoshida

Final Fantasy 14’s director and producer had a chat with us about the game’s story going into Endwalker.

When Naoki Yoshida took over as Final Fantasy XIV’s director and producer in 2010 shortly after launch, the MMORPG was in a disastrous state. Most PCs couldn’t handle its absurdly detailed environments, a bizarre adherence to old-school role-playing mechanics made combat joyless, and even simple movements like jumping were bafflingly absent. Yoshida knew that virtually everything had to be rebuilt from the ground up.

Final Fantasy XIV’s world and characters, however, remained as a narrative foundation. With each minor update or massive patch that fixed the game’s technical issues, its storyline would also slowly build into what many consider the best in Final Fantasy’s history. Especially once the wildly popular and critically acclaimed Shadowbringers expansion came out in 2019.

Endwalker will be Final Fantasy XIV’s biggest expansion to date, and the development team is looking to one-up Shadowbringers — including its story. 

Endwalker’s storyline is going to be immense,” Yoshida says. “It’s going to have lots of interesting quests with fully-voiced cutscenes. And of course, tons of new battles that we hope players enjoy.” 

The mere notion of outdoing Shadowbringers is like saying your Star Wars movie will top The Empire Strikes Back. It’s one thing to say it, but another to do it — a sentiment that’s all too prevalent among Final Fantasy XIV players. Heck, most of them don’t even believe Fandaniel, one of Endwalker’s new villains, will hold a candle next to Shadowbringer’s big-bad, Emet-Selch. Yoshida is all-too-familiar with folks brushing off the fresh, nefarious face in town, though.

“I feel that fans had a similar reaction to Emet-Selch as they do now with Fandaniel,” Yoshida explains. “When Emet-Selch first appeared as Emperor Solus zos Galvus in patch 4.4 or 4.5, I remember everyone going ‘Ugh, not another ascian’ claiming he was overdramatic and overblown.” 

Then, of course, Emet-Selch went on to be arguably Final Fantasy’s greatest villain. Fans just had to, you know, actually give him a chance. However, Yoshida wants everyone to know that directly comparing Fandaniel to Emet-Selch is a fruitless endeavor, as they serve different purposes in their respective stories. 

“Emet-Selch was the primary antagonist of Shadowbringers,” Yoshida states. “He was the flipside to the player’s coin, your opposite in many ways. You were trying to prevent another umbral calamity while Emet-Selch was trying to incite one. That’s not what Fandaniel’s role in Endwalker is, as he’s not even the last boss of this expansion. That’s all I’ll say for now.”

The more Yoshida goes into Final Fantasy XIV’s story, the more apparent it is that he’s every bit invested in its characters as fans are, which comes as no surprise. After all, he’s worked hand-in-hand with the game’s scenario writers for over a decade. Endwalker will serve as a finale for several members of Final Fantasy XIV’s cast of characters, including its central heroes: the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. For most, it’s hard to choose a favorite, but not for Yoshida.

“That would be Alphinaud,” Yoshida says, barely needing a moment to answer. “I don’t have any siblings, so Alphinaud is like a younger brother to me. He’s studious, great at his studies, but he’s also passionate about bringing peace to the world.” 

Yoshida believes that Alphinaud’s propensity to talk, usually before thinking things through, is part of the character’s charm. 

“Alphinaud talks so much,” Yoshida says. ”He’d be like that kid that posts on Reddit about his ideals. But when he faces reality and his failures, Alphinaud learns how to become more humble and to accept those people reaching out to help him. I feel that he’s a protagonist amongst the NPCs that appear, so I would encourage players to pay close attention to how he grows in Endwalker. But yeah, he’s my favorite Scion. I think he’s cute as a button. But because I think he’s my adorable little brother, I’m harsh on him, too.”

There’s no question about that. After all, accusing a loved one of being a Redditor isn’t exactly flattering. 

“He would absolutely be a Redditor,” Yoshida laughs. “He’d be on [Reddit] shouting about how the world should be. Once he made it to Ishgard, however, he moved on from being a Redditor. Though I think he still lurks to see what everyone else is saying.”

Be it Final Fantasy VII’s magical materia or entire raids devoted to Final Fantasy XII’s world of Ivalice, Final Fantasy XIV has a long history of referencing earlier entries. Endwalker appears to tip its hat generously in Final Fantasy IV’s direction, particularly with all of the interstellar iconography. It’s a curious decision considering many tropes associated with the series began there. However, Yoshida insists that the parallels between the two games are more straightforward than most fan speculation would lead you to believe.

“Whenever we discussed going to the moon, the development team and I naturally thought about Final Fantasy IV,” Yoshida explains. “I’m sure all long-time players feel similarly. Of course, Endwalker is going to be completely its own story. But we did want to have that aroma of Final Fantasy IV lingering in the background.”

That nostalgic scent encompasses much of Endwalker, not just for previous entries but for everyone that’s stood in Hydaelyn’s radiant light. From players eager to witness how this chapter in Eorzea’s history concludes to a development team that’s poured every fiber of their being into Final Fantasy XIV over the past decade — on November 23, 2021, they’ll all get to march toward an undiscovered country. Yoshida only hopes the journey is worth it.

“We would love for players to enjoy the main scenario quest for sure,” he says. “Even if we haven’t quite finished making it yet.”

Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF

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