Final Fantasy XIV‘s next expansion is Endwalker, which will conclude the story that’s been running through the massively multiplayer game since A Realm Reborn launched in 2013. Before that will come update 5.5, which will bridge the gap between Endwalker and the previous expansion, Shadowbringers, and there’s a new trailer for it below.
I don’t play FFXIV – or Final Fantasy games generally – but there’s some pleasingly daft stuff in the trailer. Chief among it is the new Nier: Automata crossover raid, YoRHa:Dark Apocalypse, designed by Yosuke Saito and Yoko Taro. Those are the bits above where the players are tiny (or rather, far away) and fighting a giant woman in a greyscale cuboid world of stairs, for some reason.
Patch 5.5, Death Unto Dawn, has a landing page which breaks down all the additions. There are new main story quests, obviously, in which Fandaniel and the Telophoroi are causing ominous towers to rise across the realm as part of their plan to recreate the Final Days. I don’t know what several of those words mean.
There’s also a little of everything. New raids, a new dungeon, a new trial, and new mounts, minions and New Game+ updates. When Endwalker arrives later this year, it’ll increase the level cap from 80 to 90 and add multiple new classes. If you like eating FFXIV, you’re going to have a lot to chew on.
I will never have time to get into Final Fantasy XIV, realistically, but watching these trailers makes me feel that this is a great shame. If you’ve got more time than I, patch 5.5 launches on April 13th.