FF14 Dawntrail is sort of upon us, and sport director and producer Naoki Yoshida says that, after the profitable implementation of solo story components all through Shadowbringers and Endwalker, the brand new enlargement for the critically acclaimed MMORPG may have a heavier concentrate on multiplayer and large-scale content material. Because it stands, nevertheless, Last Fantasy 14 doesn’t do the most effective job of getting newcomers from the story to the endgame, and so PCGamesN asks Yoshida if he’d wish to implement extra methods to assist gamers be taught.
As a daily participant ever for the reason that launch of A Realm Reborn in 2013, I’ve watched Last Fantasy 14 proceed to develop and evolve over its decade-plus of improvement. Whereas it actually earns its place as among the best MMORPGs ever, most gamers will agree that its best power is in its story, one thing that Yoshida and Inventive Enterprise Unit III have positioned nice concentrate on all through the newest Shadowbringers and Endwalker expansions.
That’s set to alter in Dawntrail. Having widened the entry level for gamers to get on board, Yoshida now says he needs to push for extra concentrate on multiplayer content material, aiming in direction of a objective of “80 to 90% multiplayer content material shifting ahead.” He additionally says the workforce is engaged on making FF14 content material much less repetitive and inspiring participant events to strategize on the fly and determine options to the challenges at hand.
On the media tour occasion the place I play the FF14 Dawntrail preview construct, together with the Viper and Pictomancer jobs, I ask Yoshida if this focus requires providing extra help to story-driven gamers, to assist them be taught the fundamentals of high-end fight. In any case, regardless of my in depth playtime I nonetheless really feel a pang of apprehension on the concept of queuing for brand spanking new duties on something however my consolation melee DPS jobs.
“First I wish to reply from my perspective as a sport designer but additionally as somebody who may be very conversant in MMOs,” Yoshida says. “In relation to informal players and getting them to attempt a sure sort of content material, I’m not the one who would need to pull them to attempt that.” Everybody has their very own conditions, he explains, whether or not they’re busy with work or learning, and he wouldn’t want to drive somebody out of their consolation zone whereas enjoying FF14 throughout their downtime.
“Clearly from my perspective, I might need many individuals to check out the varied forms of content material that we’ve, however I believe the perfect scenario is that they struggle it out at their very own tempo and every time it fits them.” I point out the Corridor of the Novice, a easy tutorial system that introduces some fundamental ideas like avoiding AoE assaults, concentrating on enemy healers first, and interacting with objects mid-fight. It’s fairly useful, however sticks to quite simple concepts and hasn’t been expanded since its introduction.
Yoshida agrees that it is a system that would profit from some brushing up. “I believe slightly than a tutorial, there ought to be some coaching of kinds that may be offered, possibly for individuals who’ve reached the extent cap. So in Dawntrail it might be at stage 100 – they’re questioning about how their ability rotation works, or possibly for people who find themselves tanking this coaching might assist them perceive how tank switching works. I believe at the very least this sort of coaching ought to be offered, as a result of it’s worthwhile having this information to tackle the problem of assorted content material.”
One potential resolution lies within the Gold Saucer. I really like the FF14 Fall Guys occasion, I inform Yoshida, as a result of it’s an effective way to apply some extra superior raid mechanics in a very stress-free zone. There’s no worry of letting others down, and when you mess up you possibly can instantly give it one other go along with no actual draw back. It’s removed from the primary Saucer occasion to supply this potential, and with plans to develop on the on line casino’s choices in Dawntrail, I ask whether or not we might see extra such integration sooner or later.
“I believe this might be excellent,” Yoshida responds. It’s an area the place gamers can simply soar in and participate, he says, “and as they’re enjoying the content material, they’ll progressively be taught in regards to the mechanics. I believe that is excellent as a result of if we current it as ‘right here’s a tutorial, right here’s one other tutorial, right here’s one other tutorial,’ it feels such as you’re in class – I need to keep away from that sort of scenario.”
He additionally expresses a wariness that gamers may develop into too demanding if a extra specific tutorial system have been applied. “We do have a really passionate neighborhood,” he concludes, “so if we had that, the neighborhood would say, ‘Oh you might want to go and do that,’ ‘you might want to go and do this.’” Some form of center floor possibility, then, may be simply what FF14 wants, and I’ll actually by no means say no to extra Gold Saucer minigames.
You may as well learn the opposite a part of our media tour interview, the place Yoshida reveals canceled FF14 jobs and weapons. Because the FF14 Dawntrail launch date nears, be sure you’re all caught up with our useful overview of every thing that’s new. And when you love narrative, ensure to not miss out on the most effective story video games to play in 2024.
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This text is predicated on time spent enjoying an in-development construct of Last Fantasy 14 Dawntrail, and content material within the ultimate model is topic to alter.