Playing one of Final Fantasy 14's best raid series changes the MMO's next story patch

A Final Fantasy 14 character looks at her hand
(Image credit: Square Enix)

Final Fantasy 14's patch 6.5 might change slightly depending on whether you've played the best raid series in the MMO.

Final Fantasy 14 director Naoki Yoshida has spoken to Dengeki Online about what to expect in patch 6.5, which launches later this year. The director recommends you go back and play the Eden raid series from the post-Shadowbringers patches if you haven't done so already.

Yoshida says the development team is working on making "subtle" changes to dialogue and scenes in Final Fantasy 14's patch 6.5 depending on whether you've played the Eden raid series. This will apparently come in the patch's dialogue, which could relate to player dialogue options.

However, Yoshida says the development team is avoiding making "significant" changes to the patch for these players. The director probably doesn't want you branching off in wildly different dialogue paths in Final Fantasy 14's patch 6.5 depending on whether you've done one raid series.

If you haven't already played the Eden raid series, consider this your official invitation to do so. The raid series is widely regarded as some of the best stuff to come out of Final Fantasy 14's excellent Shadowbringers expansion, and we'd definitely hear an argument that it's one of the best raid series' in Final Fantasy 14 as a whole.

Yoshida's comments open a can of worms as to how patch 6.5 will change, but he obviously isn't giving the answer away here. It could be that the player will be able to make reference to Ryne or Gaia, the two heroes of the Raid series - and girlfriends, depending on which fan you ask.

Final Fantasy 14 patch 6.5 launches next month in early October, and it's through this patch that Final Fantasy 14 enters beta for Xbox players, at long last. This all precedes Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail, the MMO's next major expansion, which will arrive next year in the summer of 2024.

Square Enix's developers have enough material for another expansion after Dawntrail, so the future of Final Fantasy 14 might already be charted. 

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.