I’ve received a paintbrush, and I’m not afraid to make use of it.
Closing Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail is the favored MMO’s subsequent enlargement, releasing on July 2. It takes gamers to a brand new land throughout the ocean, the Tural. The brand new world has extra to supply than summer season trip vibes, as Dawntrail will provide gamers new challenges and methods to play. This contains two character jobs: the sword-spinning Viper and the magical painter Pictomancer.
I had an opportunity lately to play an in-development construct of the enlargement (as such, something I noticed is topic to vary). This gave me a possibility to check out the brand new jobs, deal with a dungeon, and discover among the new zones.
I additionally received to speak to Closing Fantasy XIV producer and director Naoki Yoshida.
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Jobs properly executed
I needed to strive Pictomancer first. With this job, you paint creatures, landscapes, and weapons after which magically convey them to life to take out your enemies.
As you’d hope for a job all about artwork, the aesthetics are unimaginable. Casting spells splatters paints and pictures throughout the display screen, making Pictomancer one of the crucial enjoyable jobs to simply have a look at. It’s additionally extremely satisfying to color a hammer after which whack it at enemies.
Viper, regardless of missing in magical paint, is simply as flashy. Impressed by Zidane from Closing Fantasy IX (the opposite greatest Closing Fantasy), Viper switches between wielding two swords after which attaching them collectively for double-sided motion.
It’s a quick job that has you pushing numerous buttons, nevertheless it was additionally surprisingly straightforward to be taught. Normally, melee DPS jobs aren’t my favourite in FF14, however I used to be digging Viper.
Dungeons and tiki bars
I examined each jobs out in a brand new dungeon, one which had us on a ship racing down a river as we chased one other vessel. I’m all the time a sucker for boat or prepare ranges which have the world speeding by as you’re combating.
Closing Fantasy XIV’s dungeons are all the time enjoyable, nevertheless it was putting simply how stunning this was. That is partly because of new graphical updates which might be coming to the MMO’s engine with Dawntrail, which is enhancing character fashions, lighting, textures, and extra. It doesn’t make FF14 abruptly appear to be some new sport, however the updates have the MMO wanting noticeably higher than it ever has.
Other than the brand new graphics, it’s actually the artwork path that makes Dawntrail look so fairly. The areas I might discover felt lush and tropical, together with the brand new metropolis Tuliyolla (with its ample provide of beachfront property).
New dominos
It simply feels stress-free after the cataclysmic occasions of the final enlargement, Endwalker, which ended FF14’s first main storyline. Dawntrail is the primary chapter in one thing new. You’d anticipate that getting to start out with a cleaner palette and all these stunning vistas would make for much less tense growth, however Closing Fantasy XIV producer and director Naoki Yoshida advised me that this isn’t the case.
“To be completely honest, if I were to compare it, Endwalker had less pressure, actually,” Yoshida mentioned. “The reason being, when you’re starting to build things up, that’s when you feel the pressure. If you could imagine a set of dominos that you’re trying to set up, trying to place that single piece to make the large shape is when you feel the pressure. If you knock one down, you can ruin what you’ve built up. The players, of course, through Endwalker — we were aware that it was one large domino installation. For the developers or creators, it’s just a matter of knocking down that first piece and watching it all crumble down. It was almost exhilarating. With experiencing that sort of grand finale through Endwalker, with the intricate dominos we’d set up, and having that catharsis, now that we’re going into a new chapter people might expect a similar sort of catharsis with a new arc. In that regard, there’s a bit of pressure.”
So, a giant stack of dominos has fallen down, and now you need to begin that course of over once more. I can see how that may really feel daunting.
“But what we’re doing on the production side doesn’t change from what we’ve been doing,” Yoshida defined. “I’ve been encouraging my team to enjoy and get creative with their process. It seems like the developers are enjoying that process. From that aspect, it’s fun as well.”
Journey is on the market
Not less than from what I’ve seen, the brand new dominos are shaping up properly. I couldn’t be happier with Dawntrail’s stunning vibes, and Pictomancer and Viper each really feel like nice additions to the MMO’s roster of jobs.
Endwalker could have felt like one thing of a finale, however Closing Fantasy XIV is simply too good to finish but. I’m comfortable to start out a brand new journey and let the chips (or dominos) fall the place they might.