The team behind Final Fantasy 14 knows many of the MMO's faithfuls found Endwalker's end-game weapon quest "too easy."
Director and producer Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida tells Play Magazine - in an issue on sale now - that Square Enix is treading lightly regarding details on what's in store for Dawntrail's Relic weapon quest, as it's still in the planning process. But fret not; complaints that the Manderville weapons were a bit of a doddle haven't fallen on deaf ears.
"I do appreciate that some people do say that it's too easy in Endwalker, but on the other hand, generally, players are playing many jobs on a single character," Yoshida says. "So although the weapon itself is easy to make, they can benefit from being able to enhance several weapons for different jobs on the same character."
Getting one of Final Fantasy 14's Relic weapons is typically a multi-step affair that unfolds after the launch of a new expansion. Every now and then you get a patch that provides the next step in the questline, typically tasking you with handing in resources to level your weapon up to the next level until it becomes among the strongest in the MMO.
Getting those in-game resources normally takes you to fresh Final Fantasy 14 content introduced alongside the expansion. Plenty of fans have fond memories of Shadowbringers' Relic weapons, a lot of time spent in Bozja's open zones with other players all grinding for the same thing. In Endwalker, though, the resources can be gathered doing your typical daily duties, which meant many players didn't have to grind much at all.
It was a bummer for some as it took away from the social spirit many enjoyed about previous weapon grinds. However, it also fed into larger conversations about the lack of content for midcore fans – people who want to play Final Fantasy 14 beyond keeping up with the story but don't have a dedicated group to run the most brutal raids.
While Yoshi-P remains cautious about discussing development plans that are in flux, the producer does share that the team is introducing various ways you can grind for the resources needed to upgrade your Dawntrail Relic weapons. Just don't expect to return to the days of A Realm Reborn, which many players consider to have the grindiest Relic weapons.
"When we think about players who have been playing for a long time, I think for a lot of them what really sticks in their memory is the original Zodiac weapons and just how difficult it was to collect all of the materials and to enhance those weapons," Yoshida says. "And so when we think about it that way, it's great for the players to be able to kind of reminisce on that kind of aspect. I want to reiterate that I'm not going to make it exactly the same as it was originally, but I do appreciate that it gives a sense of reward to the players, so I would like to keep that in mind.
"We are currently proceeding with our planning for the new content, but I will also add that we will have various routes in place in terms of the methods to enhance the weapons."
You can buy the current issue of Play here if you fancy reading the interview in full.
