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Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail Revealed at Fan Fest (Updated x13)

by on July 28, 2023
Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail Screenshot of Alisaie holding a mysterious new tropical fruit and looking amazed

The first stop for this year’s Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival is Las Vegas, where Yoshi-P and team revealed Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail as the next expansion for the wildly popular MMORPG that celebrates its 10th anniversary next month.

Despite those of us who may have expected to visit the southern continent of Meracydia, surprisingly, Dawntrail will take us to “the New World,” also known as Tural, something lightly touched on in the world of FFXIV, and no doubt a whole… new world for the game. Yoshi-P went on to say that Dawntrail is the start of a whole new journey for FFXIV as a whole, with the expansion’s theme being “A Journey of Discovery,” as it kicks off a brand-new main story.

Given Endwalker‘s twist on the game’s formula by hosting a self-contained story at launch, with patches showcasing another tale, it’ll be interesting to see which direction the developers go with this one. For now take a look at first screenshots and the trailer, and speculate with me if the Warrior of Light is a Corsair, Pirate, or other unreleased job:

Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail Screenshots

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Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail Artwork

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We may have answers to this and more as the keynote and weekend unfolds, so keep an eye here for updates!

Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail will feature expected but welcome updates:

  • The level cap will increase from 90 to 100
  • Two new jobs will be added, a melee DPS job, and ranged magical DPS. While they can’t reveal the jobs today, Yoshi-P did, in typical fashion, reveal a shirt that’s meant to be a clue, but what a TMNT: Mutant Mayhem t-shirt means for a new FFXIV job is anyone’s guess (but hey, that movie looks fun).
  • Duty Support will be available for all dungeons, including some unrevealed new content
  • New regular dungeons, variant dungeons, 8-man raid, 24-man raid, and ultimate raid
  • Following the extremely positive reception to the current Myths of the Realm alliance raids, the next round will be “even more Final Fantasy“
  • A new tribe, the Pelupelu
  • “Expansive New Lifestyle Content” akin to the game’s current Island Sanctuary, but something new
  • PVP content Frontline, Rival Wings, and Crystalline Conflict will all see updates
  • Blue Mage will get updates
  • “Inconceivably Further Hildibrand Adventures” is my favorite new title
  • More Deep Dungeons are coming (whoo)
  • A vague “Gold Saucer update” is in the works (it’s not Blitzball).
  • An increase in furnishing limits for housing
  • With the release of patch 6.5 later this year, the FFXIV free trial will include the Stormblood expansion
  • An early version of a feature called “Strategy Board” was shown that allows some kind of battle planning for difficult content
  • A fun collaboration with Fall Guys was shown off that will see Fall Guys getting FFXIV-themed characters, and FFXIV getting colorful Fall Guys-like events in the Gold Saucer

Yoshi-P covered the much-anticipated graphic updates coming in Dawntrail, including higher-resolution textures and shadows and improved material qualities, enhancing the look of textures like metal. The new, detailed foliage seen around Tural is only possible with the new updates being baked into 7.0. A handful of videos showcased the updated character models, with notable improvements on hair textures, shadows, and facial detail, and a “materials” clip that showed the drastic updates we can expect with new materials, shading, and lighting in the scenery. The last clip focused on foliage and grass was eye-opening.

They also revealed, to great, fanfare, that they are updating the gear dye system to allow 2 different dye colors per piece, and the ability to separate eyeglasses from “head” pieces, so players no longer have to choose between a desired headpiece and pair of cool glasses, but wear both together. Interestingly, the glasses are not going to be classified as “gear” and do not use a gear slot or inventory space.

Given the amount of stuff in FFXIV, graphic updates are to be rolled out in stages, starting with 7.0, followed by 2.0 and then the expansions in between.

Finally, Yoshi-P welcomed Microsoft’s Phil Spencer to the stage to announce that Final Fantasy XIV is finally coming to Xbox in spring 2024, with an open beta starting during the 6.5x period. The game will support both Xbox Series X|S, with 4K support on Series X.

The event is still ongoing, so be sure to visit the official event schedule, and watch today and tomorrow’s events as they’re streamed live:

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Mike Salbato

Mike Salbato

Mike has been with RPGFan nearly since its inception, and in that time has worn a surprising number of hats for someone who doesn't own a hatstand. Today he attempts to balance his Creative Director role with his Editor-in-Chief status. Despite the amount of coffee in his veins, he bleeds emerald green.

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