The chance for you to be, or watch, or read along with, a hero who takes it all on and triumphs, only to be called into action time and time again, is one of the demands of epic stories. In its latest chapter, Final Fantasy XIV asks you to be a hero on their downtime, but it also asks you to do something different.
This week, the beloved MMORPG released its first major content update since the release of its latest expansion, Endwalker. Final Fantasy XIV had been building itself towards this point since it relaunched in 2013; Patch 6.1 picks up where the story of that expansion left off.
Endwalker had eight years of story to tell, and for the most part it succeeded in telling a sweeping, epic tale of apocalypses long in the making, bold and daring plans of sacrifice hatched across generations of time, love, loss, and saving not just a world. It ended with a fight between you, your best friends, and an almighty being that was capable of dooming entire worlds with a song of dread. Big old fantasy stuff. You are the hero. Hope and friendship prevail. The day is saved, you attack, and you dethrone the capital-G-God, which is saying something because you kill gods every other week in Final Fantasy XIV.
That is not the case with Newfound Adventure. Your hero might be the ultimate hero, a Warrior of Light now known as the Savior of not just your home but your entire existence, but times have changed for them. The Scions of the Seventh Dawn have left their organization to pursue their own interests. You have changed as well, your relationship to the world as the former fated guardian now upended and transformed with your duty done, leaving you longing for the simple life of being a wandering adventurer, as you were when your journey was just beginning.
You may have stopped being a Bunny boy and become a Lion man who summons deities for fun and large amounts of damage. That might be me.
The developers of Final Fantasy XIV are teasing that Newfound is the beginning of another decade-long saga similar to A Realm Reborn. It does so in a charming way because it isn't the stage-setting for a big, sweeping fantasy story about good and evil. At least not yet. It acknowledges that your character has just saved the universe as you know it, and instead asks, what if you just wanted to hang out with a few of your friends?
While there is some stage-setting here and there in Newfound Adventure, its primary narrative thread is about your character getting back together with a few of your fellow Scions. Some of them are busy with relief efforts in the wake of Endwalker's destruction of the world, some of them are chasing the life of an adventurer themselves. Should they ever need to save the universe again, some are following old hobbies and studying ancient texts for research and preparation. Some of them are happy to drag you into an adventure for that research, like the Yttola, or some are just eager to be dragged away from that research and do something exciting again.
It is all very low stakes. There is no combat in the story of Newfound Adventure except for a dungeon that you have to run around in. Some seeds are thrown for threats down the line to make themselves known to you, but that's more for the player than your character to know. They're just vibing, having fun, going on little adventures, and talking to their old friends. That means you are as well.
Endwalker was a release of Final Fantasy XIV. XIV is structured around a lot of linear story-driven content, which makes it an emotional roller coaster for the least interested player. Throwing you back into the deep end of things with big stakes and bigger bads to go smack in the face for loot and emotional satisfaction would cheapen both the dire stakes of that story you just went through. For those stakes to feel dire for you and your characters, there has to be this wax and wane in the sense of scale.
In a world of seemingly endless franchises and sequelization, it is hard to get right. You are the chosen hero who has to save the whole universe, so come back to play this game and hang out.
Right now, for Final Fantasy XIV, what happens is hanging with your former friends. You have earned a rest, and that can be just as satisfying as fighting gods and monsters.
Wondering where our feed went? The new one can be picked up here.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
