Square Enix held its usual live stream, Letter from the producer Live Part LXVII (67) this November 6, most notably revealing that Final Fantasy 14 Endwalker was delayed - here's our news summary.
YoshiP announced the delay shortly after the first introductions and the stream's start. He explained that long story short they "couldn't make it" and that it's his own decision and selfishness which led to the delay.
Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker early access will now launch on December 3rd, 2021. The official release of Endwalker is coming on December 7, 2021.
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Final Fantasy 14 Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXVII summary - Why Endwalker got delayed
Endwalker is the end of the huge arc of all FF14 so far, so YoshiP is being very thorough and particular about it. Most notably to make sure that all of the foreshadowing and plot points so far all fit together perfectly. The expansion in itself is finished, but he's reviewing the story, cutscenes, tweaking the quality of the character modeling, etc.
He hesitated a lot about delaying Endwalker or not, as it was just a matter of a few days whether they'd make the schedule or not. In the end, Square Enix and YoshiP took the decision to delay the Expansion just last Friday, October 29, 2021.
YoshiP, teary-eyed, said he's incredibly sorry as he knows a lot of fans booked days off for the announced release date of November 23. He mentioned it's the first time in his career when he announced a specific release date day and didn't make it. One of the board of directors members at Square Enix, Miyake, scolded Yoshida last week too for taking the decision to delay it so late.
YoshiP, answering commenters worried about the well-being of the FF14 development team, said everyone is fine and how they'll still be able to take end of the year holidays despite the delay.
Keep reading for a full summary of the stream, with all the news and comments from YoshiP.
Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker new release date and patch schedule
YoshiP specified he's looking at his right so much because there's a dedicated screen there so he can read the comments, both from YouTube and Niconico. Lot of Japanese fans on Niconico jokingly said he should rap about his delay apology. Then, they started playing the Endwalker launch trailer, with the Japanese dub specifically as YoshiP wanted everyone to see it in his native language first.
Endwalker launch trailer with Japanese, English voice acting
Final Fantasy XIV Letter from the Producer LXVII summary - Patch 6.0 new cities, areas, fields
New player town Old Sharlayan. It's the home city of Alphinaud and Alisaie. YoshiP mentioned a lot of JP players are happy about it as they consider Alisaie their waifu and Alphinaud their husbando so they gotta greet their family.
New player town Radz-at-Han. It's on Thavnair island.
New field Labyrinthos. This is actually underground. We'll learn in the story how it was built and for what purpose. It's a place we'll go to frequently at the beginning.
The island of Thavnair. You can look over Radz-at-Han at certain spots and it's really beautiful for screenshots.
Garlemald. It shows up several times in the launch trailer. YoshiP sad he can't say anything about it without spoilers. It's a place closely tied to FF14 since the original version. So it existed even before Yoshida Naoki took over as producer.
Mare Lamentorum (Nageki no Umi in Japanese).
???? Very secretive new place. It's an artwork because the community team tried really hard to find a good screenshot without spoiling too much, but YoshiP had to reject their proposals.
YoshiP specified there are other new maps in Endwalker but they won't show them now.
Key Characters of the new Main Scenario Quests in 6.0
Thancred, who's been there since the original version of FF14. YoshiP joked his only good point was being able to pick up women.
Y'shtola. She's still pursuing the truth behind the mysteries of the world. She's also going to be one of the characters explaining stuff for the players in a simpler way. YoshiP noted a lot of players from different language call her "mommy" or "mama" ever thought he never said that about her, and won't be responsible if Y'shtola comes after you for calling her that.
Urianger. Another one out there since FF14 vanilla. YoshiP put a lot of his heart into his story.
We'll learn more about Alphinaud and Alisaie's past and how the people of their home place see them as.
YoshiP: "G'raha Tia will also play a big role in Endwalker."
Tataru. YoshiP noted fans believe Tataru will be the true final boss.
Kururu will be a particularly important chara especially in Old Sharlayan. YoshiP also noted it was Tataru and Kururu who convinced Estinien to join the Scions.
YoshiP jokingly said Estinien is pretty much unemployed right now.
Zenos is a reaper now instead of a katana user. Can't say anything to avoid spoilers. JP commenters on Niconico said Zenos should be automatically added to your friend list, making everyone on stream burst out laughing.
Lady of the Light. YoshiP said she's an "incredibly important character" and "notice the mask hanging on her chest". Commenters noted the abbreviation of her name is LOL.
New feature of the Main Story Quests in 6.0 - NPCs follow you around
You'll be able to move around with NPCs following you or boarding your mount during certain story sequences. They'll have conversations too. If you go too far off track they'll return to whatever position they should be at. You'll be able to take screenshots as well.
Final Fantasy 14 Letter from the Producer LXVII summary - Screenshots for new Role Quests, Dungeons, Trials, Raids
Role Quests coming in 6.0. They won't add level 90 job Quests. It'd be too entangled with all the characters appearing, and Warrior of Light has become ultra powerful by now. So Level 80 Quests are the conclusion of the Job Quests story lines.
New Studium Deliveries.
" A lot of new dungeons" screenshots.
YoshiP "You might think this is just a burning forest, but it's basically the only non spoiler screenshot we could take."
"Note the aurora like thing at the left."
"You'll get into this dungeon with a lot of people. There are very specific AI patterns in this area."
The new Trials are a secret. But we know it'll have a normal and hard mode. JP fans jokingly said "It'll be where we'll fight Tataru Ultimate" a stronger version of her final boss fight.
Starting the 2:27:57 timestamp of the stream, we got to see a few minutes of walking around gameplay in the new Raid area, Pandemonium. They're planing for something "really surprising" here. Especially when it comes to which characters will appear. And YoshiP hopes people will be like "THAT's what you wanted to do!".
New Treasure Dungeon and a screenshot of its floor. It's the only thing they can show to avoid spoilers.
Final Fantasy 14 Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXVII - New PvP Crystal Conflict
YoshiP long story short said it's safe to assume it's an entirely new gameplay experience. Note that jobs like Dragoon still have their iconic Jump ability.
Rules and how to play Crystal Conflict explained:
YoshiP explained they basically tried to make a simpler version of typical PvP FPS team battle games rules like Capture The Flag. There are several Crystal Conflict maps too, here are some screenshots:
Each map has its specific gimmicks too. Like these explosions you'll have to avoid:
Both JP and EN commenters were going "BOMBERMAN". YoshiP jokingly noted "This is TOTALLY not related to how I first entered the game development industry by working on Bomberman at Hudson. I mean, it's not like Bomberman is the only thing with cross-shaped explosions. You have them in Evangelion too. Though yeah they're standing up in Evangelion."
Crystal Conflict will have season rewards.
PvP reward system changes, overhaul
YoshiP totally understands there are people who don't want or can't play PvP. Like how there are people who don't like Savage content and who post mean comments like "don't add this crap in the game". However it's a part of FF14 and they'll keep developing it.
The Garo collab in FF14 is coming back at some point (Probably 2022)
YoshiP also mentioned since a lot of people are asking for the Garo items, they started negotiating to bring back the collab in FF14. Garo is much less popular outside Japan, so I believe it's definitely JP players asking about it.
Calling Card new system
The Feast is getting removed
Changes for crafting and gathering
System Adjustments
Final Fantasy 14 Letter from the Producer LXVII summary - New gear mainly from FF4
Some of the new gear you can get with the new Allagan Tomestones, inspired from FF4 and more. Aphorism won't have a weekly cap.
YoshiP was like "this is E... E.... " when showing this one.
YoshiP: "Ry...."
Final Fantasy 14 Letter from the Producer LXVII summary - New hairstyles coming in 6.01 and beyond
YoshiP "A lot of players want more hairstyles, and they're coming now. We're working on it:"
"Lightning"
"This one was pretty high on the priority list". NieR Automata 2B hairstyle.
More System Adjustments
Some new gameplay was shown during that part. Starting the 4:46:06 timestamp. They were extra careful to not show any Endwalker story content.
GOAT compoer Masayoshi Soken joins the stream
Next, sound director Soken Masayoshi joined the stream to talk about the Immerse Spatial Audio in Endwalker. It's like 3D audio basically.
Final Fantasy 14 Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXVII summary - Endwalker Housing system update
The new Oceania Data Center will be called Materia, release date set for February 2022
FF14 future updates roadmap schedule up to Patch 6.05
The next FF14 stream, the patch notes reading for Endwalker, will be happening on December 2, one day before the Early Access. It may have a guest appearance, probably Soken seeing how it was implied when they showed the vinyl OST release.
Saki x FF14 manga volume 1 release, new manga spinoff with Alphinaud and Alisaie at school
Ending the stream, YoshiP apologized once again for announcing the delay so late. He truly believed they'd be able to make it work without a delay, and tried to make it happen till the last minute. That's it for our Final Fantasy 14 Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LXVII summary. Hoping to see you soon for the next stream.