Final Fantasy XIV's Next Expansion: Evercold

Go forth. Discover.

Unite the stars unto one.

- Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold teaser trailer

The first Final Fantasy XIV Fanfest for this expansion cycle was held in Anaheim this weekend. Judging from the online reactions from people who absolutely hated Dawntrail, popular sentiment about the game may return to highly favorable. Or people may look at the changes, declare them bad and the game in the process of dying. Trying to figure out what the internet judges good and bad is tricky. So instead of predicting the future I'll just put down some initial thoughts.

First, FFXIV's trailer game is back. I thought Dawntrail's expansion trailer was the worst of the game's expansion trailers. Time will tell but the initial portion of Dawntrail may go down in history as an awkward pause as a shift from the original Hydaelyn–Zodiark Saga that ran from A Realm Reborn to patch 6.0 of Endwalker.

The second of the multi-expansion story arcs is the Godless Realms Saga. Forgive me if I'm a bit unclear on whether the saga began with Dawntrail, Dawntrail's post-patches, or begins with the next expansion, Evercold. I've watched the keynote, lots of reactions, and Square Enix' press release and am still puzzled. For now, I am going to base the new saga on the appearance of the interdimensional key the party first runs across in Alexandrea. But as the key is the reason Krile initially travels to Tural one can count to the beginning of the expansion as the beginning of the arc.

I want to address a sore subject with me from Dawntrail. I thought a lot of the Scions made guest appearances that didn't make a lot of sense. Basically, they appeared for fan service purposes and not really to advance the story. If the trailer is any indication players will adventure with three of the main characters. Alphinaud as the healer and Estinien as physical melee DPS seems obvious. I think the third is Krile, the holder of the interdimensional key. We see the key interact with Azem's crystal, symbolizing the connection of the key with the Traveler, which we hear the Warrior of Light referred to as in the trailer.

For Duty Support purposes when advancing through the MSQ, all we are missing is a tank. I imagine we will see a new character appear, one who is the new tank role.

A lot of the reactions from content creators is over the top positive, and not just because the level cap was raised to level 110. For just one example, the game is moving away from Allagan tomestones for equipment upgrades and moving to a system I've heard described as similar to World of Warcraft's Trading Outpost. And that player gear on all jobs will have the item level of that of the best geared job. Oh, and that the player matching system for dungeons, raids, and trials will cover all worlds in a region and not just those in a logical data center. But we won't hear more details until the Fanfest in Berlin in July.

I'll just leave with one final note. At the same time patch 7.5 goes live on Tuesday the free trial will receive an update. The free trial will have the Shadowbringers expansion added. At this point I have to say getting the free trial is worth the effort for those who don't mind story-driven MMORPGs.