During the Letter from the Producer Live broadcast, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida and Community Manager Toshio Murouchi shared more information about Part 1 and Part 2 of update 3.5, dubbed "The Far Edge of Fate." They will conclude the story of Heavensward in preparation for the new expansion Stormblood.

First of all, we learn that Part 1 will release on January 17th, 2017, while Part 2 will come in March.

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First of all, we got to see new features of the /gpose feature, that will basically turn it into a full fledged photo mode by bringing several effects to spice up your pictures.

Yoshida-san also showcased the new housing items coming to Final Fantasy XIV, including paintings bound to the Sightseeing Log feature.

Following, we got a preview of the new trial (Containment Bay Z1T9 and its extreme version) against Zurvan.

A boss fight from new alliance dungeon, named Dun Scaith, was also previewed with live gameplay, alongside a different area from the raid.

With patch 3.5 Part 1, the current Exploratory Missions will be closed, with their rewards made available via other means. The completely revamped Exploratory Missions will return with Part 2, split in two categories, hunting and gathering.

New features will include aether currents unlocked  from the start, a display of objectives at House Hailleinarte and specific rewards will be granted on completion. An NPC will unlock a lock box, giving equipment with random stats, while completion rewards will appear directly in your inventory. Defeating monsters can also cause a treasure chest to appear.

"Anomalous events" will also happen, with multiple battle events occurring spontaneously during exploratory missions. Reaching a certain "Limit" will trigger a special raid in a specific location. All the players in the area will have to team up in order to defeat a boss.

We also got to see the first screenshots of the revamped feature.

Last, but not least, a new seasonal event will bring back the Songbirds idol group, granting idol outfits and a special idol emote.

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We get information about the release of the next Eorzea Collection book, releasing in Japan on January 24th.

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Last, but not least, below you can see the announcement trailer of crossover content coming from the Tokusatsu franchise Garo, to celebrate its Director Keita Amemiya working on the game's upcoming raid Return to Ivalice together with Yasumi matsuno.

The armor will be provided as rewards in the Gold Saucer or in PvP, while the mount will be an achievement reward. They will come in January, just after the launch of 3.5 Part 1.

After the release of update 3.5 Part 2 in March, the next step will be the Stormblood expansion, releasing on June 20th. You can read all the details shared today about it in our keynote recap post.

Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood will be the second expansion of Square Enix’s popular MMORPG. It was announced back in October. You can check out more details shared back then, on top of feasting your eyes on the gorgeous cinematic trailer by Visual Works.