Today is the first day of Final Fantasy XIV’s Fan Festival in Las Vegas and Square Enix has revealed where adventurers will be heading in 7.0. The expansion is titled Dawntrail, and will arrive in summer 2024. The trailer was a lot less serious than previous expansion trailers, as our favorite characters are now heading to The New World and there isn’t the threat of a disaster looming over their heads, at least not yet. In fact, we get to see everyone’s favorite catboy eating a taco instead of brooding over an ominous book.
During the opening keynote, Naoki Yoshida said the focus of Dawntrail was to deliver “the very best summer vacation a hero can possibly have.” The site of this vacation and the brand new adventure is The New World, officially called Tural. To kick off the expansion, the Warrior of Light will travel across the Indigo Deep with Alphinaud, Alisaie, and Erenville, but Yoshida teased that this journey will divide the Scions into two opposing groups.
The theme of Dawntrail is “a journey of discovery” and Yoshida reiterated that this is the first step into a new story for Final Fantasy XIV, following the conclusion of the Hydaelyn vs. Zodiark story in Endwalker. Players will discover what the contest entails, what awaits in Tural, and what is the truth of the City of Gold? Yoshida also shared some details about Tural, giving us an updated map of Final Fantasy XIV’s world, revealing that we’ll be traveling west for the expansion.
Of course, we’ll have a new hub city in 7.0 and this time it’ll be called Tuliyollal in an area called Yok Tural. The city has an emphasis on diversity and the nation’s ruler is currently Gulool Ja Ja, a two-headed Mamool Ja.
Obviously the expansion is a work in progress, but Yoshida did share some screenshots that give us a glimpse of the graphical update heading to the MMORPG. What you see above is a screenshot of the new hub city, Tuliyollal. Yoshida then shared some information about new areas that will be part of the expansion, including Urqopacha, and Yak T’el.
Next, we learned more about the people that will inhabit Tural. Yoshida started with the Pelupelu, which are a diminutive people inhabiting Urqopacha and are seldom seen without their distinctive masks. They are natural entrepreneurs who travel the continent on Alpaca-back and are renowned producers of tea, coffee, and mezcal.
We then got an overview of the content that is heading to 7.0, starting with the obvious level cap increase to 100. Naturally, that also means new skills for all jobs. Yoshida also confirmed the expansion will deliver two new jobs, both DPS, one melee and one ranged magical. In continuing with tradition, Yoshida then revealed his t-shirt that typically hints at what the one of the future jobs will be. This time he’s wearing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutant Mayhem shirt. The trailer does tease a Pirate/Corsair-type class, so feel free to start speculating on the possible new jobs.
Yoshida then confirmed we’ll get expansive new lifestyle content, similar to Island Sanctuary. The 7.x series will implement some sort of content in the same vein, but he wasn’t able to share more details. Of course, we’ll also get what we expect from each expansion: new dungeons, Variant Dungeons, Alliance Raid, 8-player raid, and Ultimate Raid. Yoshida did say the next Alliance Raid will be even more “Final Fantasy’ish.” The team will also continue updating PvP, including new maps for Frontline. Other ongoing content updates include Blue Mage, Inconceivably Further Hildibrand Adventures, new plans for Deep Dungeons, and updates to Gold Saucer.
Yoshida then shared details on system updates, including details on the first graphical update heading to the game. The main focus is to deliver improvements to screen-wide aesthetic appeal with a unified approach. That means higher resolution textures and shadows, and improved material qualities. The team is prioritizing the preservation of the overall look that you know and love, specifically for your own character. Yoshida emphasized that we can expect even higher quality than what was revealed today, since it’s all still under development. But what was shown with the character models and environments look great.
One of the biggest benefits players will be getting from the system updates will be the dye system. So with the update, players will be able to apply two dyes per gear piece — and this announcement got the loudest applause yet during the keynote. It may not apply to housing items, but the team did promise it’ll try to apply this change to as many pieces of gear as it can. Players will also be able to outfit eyeglasses to their characters, and it’ll be a new type of gear that can be equipped alongside headgear. Finally, the team plans on increasing the furnishing limit, but it’ll come in 7.x, after the expansion’s release.
Yoshida also shared the new PC requirements since the game is getting a systems update. It will continue supporting the PlayStation 4, but Yoshida, of course, plugged Final Fantasy XVI and the PlayStation 5. Obviously if the team could drop support on the PlayStation 4, the game wouldn’t be held back as much by older hardware.
Finally, Yoshida showed off the Strategy Board feature that is still a work in progress. Essentially, the team is trying to implement more raiding tools in game, so players don’t have to rely on third-party tools.
