A good while has now passed since the monumental Dawntrail release, and the Final Fantasy 14 community is looking to the future as Square Enix unveils patch 7.1 - an enormous update featuring tons of content while tying some of the expansion story's loose ends.
This article contains light story spoilers for Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail.
Patch 7.1, aptly dubbed "Crossroads," is set to drop sometime this November - and boy, is it a biggie. From brand-new Hildebrand adventures to Main Scenario Quests, fans can expect to receive plenty of fresh story content this fall - including much-needed context for characters like Zoraal Ja, whose past and relationship with his father will finally come to light. While young Gulool Ja is settling into his role, it seems Wuk Lamat is taking a back seat this time.
She isn't featured on Crossorads' cover art, after all - instead, none other than the fan-favorite Bakool Ja Ja surprisingly is. It's unclear how he will fall into the patch just yet, however. He isn't the most exciting character on the poster, either - Prishe, a beloved figure from Square's older MMO Final Fantasy 11, stands beside him in the image. She's likely to play a central part in Echoes of Vana'diel, the upcoming series of 24-man raids.
Alongside the first Echoes raid, Jeuno: The First Walk, an older Alliance Raid returns as part of a far more difficult tier - Chaotic. The Cloud of Darkness, a boss from Final Fantasy 14's introductory raid series, takes players on in the game's first-ever Chaotic fight. Director and producer, Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida, explains that while this new difficulty was meant to "have sort of an Extreme feel," it ended up turning "a bit more into a Savage than an Extreme."
Coupled with The Jade Stoa's upcoming Unreal iteration and the likely incredibly unforgiving Ultimate raid, Futures Unwritten, it sounds like there's plenty of content to keep any hardcore fans occupied. There's also a hefty chunk of normal content to look forward to, though - from the Yuweyawata Field Station dungeon to The Minstrel’s Ballad: Sphene's Burden trial, patch 7.1 packs a punch of PvE activities suited to every flavor of player.
For fans of the MMO's cozier elements like housing, there are big changes in the works. The ability to select interior designs from any residential area regardless of a plot's location is one of my own personal 7.1 highlights, is what's coming later down the line - new interior designs and the option for the inside of a house to appear as any other size. This means the interior of my humble Lavender Beds cottage, while small, can look like a large plot's does if I choose.
So as to remain fair to players with larger plots, swapping the look of an interior won't come cheap - but I and my gil are more than ready. This is all just the tip of the patch 7.1 iceberg, though. The Live Letter touches on it all, from the more major content additions like raids to more minor things such as Doman Mahjong updates. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a lengthy nap until November.
