Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker takes inspiration from Animal Crossing with a neat new feature

Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker
(Image credit: Square Enix)

Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker's Island Sanctuary area will let all your Minions roam around freely.

Just earlier today on October 28, Square Enix updated the official Final Fantasy 14 website to provide some small new details about the upcoming Endwalker expansion. Within said new details was the reveal that the expansion's Island Sanctuary location will let you Minions roam around while you explore, kind of like how Animal Crossing's lovely folk roam around your island.

"After a hard day's adventuring, come and relax in your own personal paradise, where you may let your minions roam free and while away the hours to your heart's content," the official website reads. This is a fantastic feature, allowing Endwalker players to take all their accrued Minions over the past decade, and let them all roam around together in an island paradise.

The likes of mini Alphinaud, Estinien, Alisae, and more will be running over our Island Sanctuaries in no time at all. If you're unfamiliar with the new feature for Endwalker, it's basically a combat-free zone where players focus on exploration and social interaction, sort of like the Housing Plots, except without the excessive waiting lists and costs per plot.

There's not long now to go until Final Fantasy 14 wraps up its current story arc, when Endwalker launches worldwide on November 23, and a few days earlier on November 19 for early access players who pre-order the new expansion. For our thoughts on when we went hands-on with three new areas of the expansion earlier this month, head over to our full Final Fantasy 14 Endwalker preview for more.

Alternatively, check out our Final Fantasy 14 Endwalker interview with director Naoki Yoshida for why he doesn't think players should be worried about the new expansion killing off characters.

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.