When you’ve already conquered the planet the next step is to turn your eyes to the heavens. After a hugely successful relaunch, a massive base game experience and three critically acclaimed expansion packs, Final Fantasy XIV is looking to the great beyond for its next big move. That step comes in the form of Endwalker, the fourth content pack for the game that looks set to take players to the stars in an ongoing fight for the light and safety of the realm. Strap in folks, this looks absolutely wild.
Like the previous expansion packs before it, Endwalker will massively expand the scope of the game’s narrative and mechanics with a brand new class headlining the update. Seen here in a new trailer, players who occupy the role of a healer will have a new class to enjoy with the introduction of Sage, a mainstay from the overarching Final Fantasy mythos. While exact details remain to be seen, it appears as though Sages will have a focus on buffing the defensive capabilities of squadmates through magical barriers and AOE moves.
Wonderfully dramatic new class aside, Endwalker is also setting the stage for some pretty big changes to the game’s ongoing quests and future prospects. Players will kick things off on land by travelling to the city of Radz-at-Han, an explosion of colourful design work that would make Studio Ghibli proud. From here things will progress as a quest line first kicked off in the base game back in 2013 will reach its climax as players are launched to the moon – as you do.
As always the extensive list of new content in the pack can be found here on the official site, but Endwalker‘s additions contain a couple of intriguing highlights. The new explorable locations are home to new threats and allies alike with the introduction of a new Beast Race and a creepy new foe, the Anima. Sages will also be joined by another new job role, a DPS melee of sorts, and an increased level cap of 90. Players can also look forward to new dungeons, raids, PVP content, residential plots and loads more.
Endwalker‘s story is set to pit players against a calamity of a much larger scale than anything they’ve encountered before. The trailer highlights are world quite literally ablaze as the end times appear to have finally arrived, beautiful anime man stoically watching from a throne and all. No matter how this all shakes out it sounds as if the game’s producer and director Naoki Yoshida has plans for something to rise from the ashes. Endwalker is being heavily teased as a new beginning as well as the conclusion to ongoing questlines, potentially resetting the table for a new wave of content meant for old and new players alike.
Which, given the game’s consistenly rising player base and forthcoming next generation launch, makes a whole lot of sense. Final Fantasy XIV is currently sitting at over 20 million registered users as the game has continued to win over MMO fans and Final Fantasy enthusiasts alike with consistent and expansive content updates and community engagement. A common question among those users however was when the game would launch on the PlayStation 5 and we finally have an answer.
April 13th will see the arrival of patch 5.5, heralding the beginning of the PlayStation 5 open beta. Players who have their copy of Final Fantasy XIV registered to a PlayStation 4 will be able to upgrade to next-gen for free while newcomers can access it through the game’s existing Free Trial. The new and improved version of the game will see a marked improvement to load times, 4K resolution support, improvements to frame rates and much more.
For ongoing updates about Endwalker and more keep an eye on PowerUp!
We’ve already had the pleasure of chatting with Yoshida about the game and have a personal recount of a new player’s journey into Final Fantasy XIV for you to enjoy!
