With Final Fantasy 14 expansion Evercold underway, it's hard for us raiders not to consider what the 8.0 tier might look like – after all, Dawntrail's own Arcadion arguably stands as one of the best the MMO has seen to date.
Just why is it so good, though? Dawntrail as a whole left many players disappointed, after all, teetering back and forth from "Mostly Negative" reviews on Steam since its release – but its raid series, the Arcadion, never met that sort of poor reception itself.
I got to ask assistant director Tsuyoshi Yokozawa about this, questioning what Square Enix had learned from its past tiers… and how it implemented this knowledge into the Arcadion.
"Our experience from previous raid series, along with feedback from players, played a very important role in the design philosophy of the Arcadion," he tells me. "In previous series, especially at the time of Pandæmonium, our emphasis was on a policy of comprehensively ensuring player comfort and stress reduction. This approach did help make content more accessible," but it also limited developers' ability to "explore more creative ideas."
They saw another problem there, too. As Yokozawa says, "There was less room for individual players to demonstrate their true abilities, resulting in a heightened sensation of 'going through the motions' when tackling the fight. To break through these challenges, we decided that with the Arcadion, we would return to the mindset we had during the Heavensward era."
That's right – the Alexander era. I love it, you probably love it, many fans love it. I've even got a soft spot in my heart for the more recent Ultimate.
If you're newer to the MMO, you might be wondering what he means here, however. He explains: "This entailed not being bound by convenience alone, but rather focused first and foremost on 'novel experiences and surprises,' approaching encounter design with a freer, more flexible perspective."
Square Enix also "placed importance on striking a balance, where overcoming moderate challenges would deliver a strong sense of achievement."
That's why the lead thinks the team was "able to create exciting battles filled with new surprises" out of the Arcadion – "and that led to positive feedback from many players."
It certainly did. I, for one, see it as one of the best Savage (and Normal, honestly) tiers. The Arcadion is up there with the Alexander raids in terms of novelty, coming as a much-needed breath of fresh air amid Dawntrail's other content.
Yokozawa stresses this once more, describing the Arcadion as "a return to the design philosophy that prioritized 'surprise and novelty,' which we pursued at the time of Heavensward."
He concludes that, "By building mechanics with a more open, unrestricted mindset, we feel that this approach resonated well with the expectations of today's players." I'd say he's most definitely not wrong here.
Across discussions on forums online, you'll see people praising the Arcadion as a top-tier… well, tier. Heck, you'll even find folks noting that it's as boundary-pushing as Heavensward's raid series was. I'm just hopeful Evercold's will prove similarly brilliant.
