The Hydalean and Zodiark arc may be over in Final Fantasy XIV, but the popular MMORPG is far from over. Patch 6.2 was recently released on August 23, and in the time since, players have gotten to experience a lot of new content, including the Island Sanctuary. With even more updates on the way and a new arc starting to unfold, it's a great time to be playing FFXIV. Producer and director Naoki Yoshida - perhaps better known to fans as Yoshi-P - recently discussed the new content and the future of the MMO with Screen Rant.
The last major expansion, Endwalker, was a critical and commercial success when it launched last year. Reviews for Endwalker, including Screen Rant's own, especially praised the story and character development. Moving FFXIV into new territory after such a narrative high note could've been tricky, but the team at Square Enix has successfully begun to push the story into new places while adding in quality-of-life improvements, dungeons, raids, and a lot more.
Although 6.2 only launched a month ago, Patch 6.25 is expected to arrive in October 2022, meaning there's no shortage of content in FFXIV. After being brought onto the team for A Realm Reborn, Naoki Yoshida has overseen FFXIV and its expansions ever since. Ahead of Patch 6.25's release, the producer and director discussed the most recent update with Screen Rant.
FFXIV Patch 6.2 added in so much great content. Do you have a personal favorite?
Pandæmonium: Abyssos did extremely well in tying the story progression and battle encounters together, and also features a wide variety of new mechanics throughout the series. In particular, our newer team meshed well with our more experienced , and I felt that the content turned out quite promising, so I’ve really enjoyed the raids from a content creation perspective as well.
I absolutely adore the Island Sanctuary, and from what I’ve seen, I think a lot of other fans do, too. Looking ahead, what kind of and features will this see in future updates?
Thank you! We’re currently working on additions like allowing for further expansion of the hideaway and more types of facilities to construct, but we’re also hoping to make minor updates to improve the overall experience based on the we receive from our players.
We also have more Hildibrand side quests. Is coming up with humorous Hildibrand content as fun for the dev team as it seems?
The Hildibrand series tends to be very comedic with its story, so we run the risk of it getting stale if we constantly crank them out. But, because we were able to take a bit of a break during Shadowbringers, everyone - our staff included - was able to refresh and tackle it again with renewed strength, so I believe we can continue to deliver a slapstick story. [laughs]
For the new dungeons and trials, how did the dev team find the right balance in of difficulty - with keeping things new while also providing a challenge for players?
This boils down to the team repeatedly creating, repeatedly receiving , making our data quantifiable, and continuously improving our sensibilities. We thoroughly play through each content before its release, as we test it with several parties of different player skill and make adjustments based on the results.
The story in 6.2 has really moved into some interesting places since Endwalker’s credits. Can you share anything about what fans can expect in future 6.X updates?
The Hydaelyn and Zodiark saga that’s unfolded since the original Final Fantasy XIV has now come to an end with Endwalker, but our team constantly strove to deliver surprise and adventure to the players. This remains unchanged and will remain unchanged moving forward. I’d be glad if everyone continued to look forward to a multitude of new gameplay experiences, surprises, thrills, as well as the best story and music! (Sorry, I don’t want to spoil the story!) [laughs]