With Patch 6.1 releasing April 12, there is much to look forward to in Newfound Adventure.
New stories, new encounters but there is a neat little feature on the horizon that could be the next sleeper hit among XIV’s systems. There are also many new collectables!
Adventurer Plates
Probably the feature most of us just brushed off and forgot about as soon as it was announced. But the Adventurer Plate’s might end up as a favorite feature within Final Fantasy XIV. Imagine it like a business card for you Warrior of Light that you can personalize with different unlockable decorations. So, when another player checks you out, they can see when you’ll be available, what jobs you play and what kind of content you are looking to do.
And the system looks like it provide lots of depth. You can customize the background, borders, change the placements of elements around. How you’ll be able to unlock even more elements is unknown. But we suspect that they’ll come as rewards for various activities and achievements, maybe even drops from content. With the ability to tie them to your gearsets, similar to glamour plates. You can be sure to always have the right one for the job you’re currently playing. This feature will release as a beta with 6.1 and the team is looking forward to your feedback regarding it.
Portraits
Of course the Adventurer Plates need an image of your character, so we have the portrait function now. Which seems to be an extension of the GPose feature already implemented in the game. Here you can pose your character in front of a customizable background, adjust lighting and colors and much more to come. As mentioned earlier, these Portraits can be used with Adventurer Plates to show off your character. But they’ll also be used in the new Crystal Conflict PvP mode. When the match starts, a selected Portrait of all characters will be shown off. So there is an incentive to make something stylish.
Portraits can be attached to your gearsets, that way your Adventurer Plate will always show off the job you are currently using. Currently the system allows to save up to 20 portrait slots, but they are thinking about increasing it to a 100 by 6.15. The team is also looking forward for your feedback on this feature too.
Unending Codex
Another feature that falls under quality of life improvement would be the Unending Codex. A kind of glossary that will expand as you progress through the various stories of Final Fantasy XIV. Director and Producer Naoki Yoshida confirmed entries won’t need to be collected, it will automatically fill up. As for its contents, the Codex will give you details on characters, places, concepts and events within the story. How extensive these entries will be, is unknown. For some of us lore-heads this could be interesting. But the feature is mostly meant for players who need a refresher on characters they’ve previously met. Or if someone bought a story skip, players won’t feel lost when characters and terms are thrown at them. The Unending Codex will be added under the collections tab.
Miscellaneous Additions
All of 6.0 will be available in New Game+ with the release of 6.1, along with a portion of 6.1’s content. And, Hrothgar will finally have the ability to change hairstyles; so far they’ve only shown off some of the optional ones. But there’s no word on further additions to Viera hairstyles yet. Glamour plates can now be applied whenever you are in a sanctuary, and you’ll also have more of them. Then there’s the ability to try on items from the FFXIV Online Store when you enter an inn room. There are new idol animations for parasols, plus certain types of glasses can now be equipped with the collection tab and be worn with hats. And now you can see if you have already collected a mount, minion or other collectable if they are ticked by a checkmark.
On top of that there are also a number of new minons and mounts coming, possibly as rewards for the new PvP mode. Most prominently shown off was the Pod mount from the NieR Automata Alliance Raids. Currently we don’t know how to unlock it, but that’ll probably be revealed with the official patch notes.
Other Announcements
Later this year in June, the Final Fantasy XIV band; The Primals will be touring. However, only in Japan; overseas will have to wait for another FAN FEST to see them live. But rejoice! You’ll be able to stream the two events. With more information on that coming to the Lodestone very soon. Dubbed ‘The Primals Beyond the Shadow’, the band will perform some of the songs of XIV’s extensive catalogue. Including some songs from the Endwalker expansion. But there is more! Beyond the Shadows will also release as a mini-album in late May. Including four songs performed and re-imagined by the band.
Endwalker’s Artboook, The Art of Resurrection – Among the Stars – will release in September of this year. Including over 600 images, ranging from concept art to illustrations. Information for Pre-Order are available on Square Enix’s store page.
You can find our more about Final Fantasy XIV and the 70th Live Letter here on ESTNN