GamerEscape

We’re moving away from the narrative that has taken up the 6.x patch cycle of Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker! Patch 6.5, Growing Light wraps up our time in the void as we get our first, strong hints of what we can expect in Dawntrail.

We have four reviewers, five categories, and a maximum score of 100! Let’s see how Patch 6.5 fares!

Warning: This review contains spoilers for Patch 6.5 content.

Main Scenario

Fusionx: At its best, the 6.x arc has been Final Fantasy IV fan service that, ultimately, had too much time in the spotlight. At its worst, it was a predictable list of events including the extremely tired redemption of the villain in the 11th hour. Revisiting the First was long overdue, though was ultimately disappointing when it turned out to be another “get consent to use a tower” quest like we just had in the previous patch. For a theme park MMO like FFXIV, this FFIV heavy MSQ was more than simply an attraction. It was it’s own themed area inside of the park. To me, there was too much FFIV, and not enough FFXIV. After everything was said and done, this arc felt like lazy filler, with no obvious impact to what Dawntrail’s story might bring. For me, the best part of this 6.x narrative is knowing that, with this patch, it’s finally over.

1/5

Xenedra: Final Fantasy IV! Dragons! The Void! I’m not sure how many times I can say “I love these concepts, so smashing them together in a plotline makes me happy!” But it’s still true! I honestly feel that the concepts here, even the theme-park-like FFIV additions, were strong. What made them falter in some cases however, was the amount of time it took to execute them, or the actual content that backed them up. Zero is a fun, worthwhile character that I hope to see again in the future, but her character development was terribly rushed. The rate at which she cued into “human” concepts was fast and made her progress seem unearned or forced. Bringing the Light aether from the First was…they could have come up with something better. The aether transferring thing-a-ma-jigs were a very unsatisfying McGuffin in practice, whereas learning more about how the crystal tower transference would have just been much more interesting, but they were very vague in that area. Criticisms aside, I still enjoyed myself. I’m happy as can be for the characters involved in what they achieved, big or small, especially for Vrtra! This is the bumpy, weird beginning of what I can easily see becoming a majestic tapestry of lore and wonder in the future.

4/5

Aldianaux: 6.5 marks the end of the current Void related MSQ and starts to pivot us towards Dawntrail. Even though I am giving this patch a middling score, there were moments that I really enjoyed. I feel that it sticks the landing, but only just. Finally addressing Eden, Gaia, and the Void Quests from Shadowbringers was a step towards bringing this all together in a future expansion. I’m just left with the feeling that this arc of the story would have fit better before the expansion in which we directly deal with helping the Thirteenth to recover. It is very clear that we are not done there and that gives me hope that we will see characters like Unukalhai and Cylva participate in the MSQ one day.

3/5

Anonymoose: Given that the 6.1 to 6.5 cycle has been a stand-alone arc (and one stretched quite thin, to boot), I frankly didn’t expect very much from this patch…but the final stretch of the Golbez saga exceeded those (admittedly low) expectations by a healthy margin. It goes to show that sticking the landing can elevate a story every bit as much as the contrary. I didn’t expect to dislike it, mind you; the void always gets high marks for style and the character development of Zero has been a joy. But seeing as this story lacked the benefit of years of build-up emotional investment, choosing to forego overhyping the climactic battle and have Zero succeed in talking down an adversary was a breath of fresh air and really resonated with the themes of the arc as a whole.

4/5

Main Scenario and Dungeon Total: 12/20

Dungeon

Fusionx: Where a lot of obvious references to other games have tended to simply re-use the original music pieces, I appreciated that the Lunar Subterrane’s BGM was a fun remix of the original track this time around. I also felt like the mechanics this time around made my brain think a little harder, which felt nice. That said, the full screen effect during the second part of the dungeon feels a bit too strong for me. I would like to see it greatly reduced, if not simply removed altogether.

3/5

Xenedra: This is a fantastic dungeon! Does it follow the formula? Yes. But, the journey it takes us on is magical. Descending into the heart of the moon, we trip over a Dark Elf, another FFIV reference, so as you might guess- I love it. The coolest part of the dungeon, though? Getting sucked up into that memory of Baron. The concept itself, which we’ve seen used before, is just cool, and was used to transition in a way that some other story beats weren’t able to manage. It gave me the brain sparklies. And it drops me in Baron!? They did such a good job of rendering that lil’, bitty 8-bit castle town into a full-ass city-dungeon. I loved tilting my camera up and seeing the iconic castle. Just visually fulfilling. There was also the similarly iconic Antlion boss. He looks so dumb, just like his sprite in FFIV, and I love it so much! The last boss was fine, though expected. It was an obvious, but good way to move the plot along. The mechanics, though, were a nice change of pace for a dungeon. Manageable, and obvious after a time or two, but fun those first few runs.

5/5

Aldianaux: We’re back in Golbez’ spooky moon dungeon again, but this time with more Final Fantasy IV. I liked the trip down literal memory lane with Golbez and Durante. While the bosses aren’t anything incredibly special as far as mechanics go, they look great rendered in Final Fantasy XIV’s style. It was fun to experience this version of Baron, and the chaotic battle sequence helps to sell the story of the Thirteenth. Dungeons usually aren’t the most exciting addition in a patch, but this one has a little more going on.

4/5

Anonymoose: I have been consistently overwhelmed by the sense that the Golbez saga’s homages to Final Fantasy IV are rooted in a sincere, heartfelt appreciation for that game. I say “sense” because I’ve never actually finished Final Fantasy IV, but the people I hang out with have, and they will not shut up about it, so clearly someone at SE deserves a pat on the back. Crossing the bridge, I noticed that the map design especially felt like a modern-day reimagining of a landscape created for the SNES and literally stopped doing content to pause and admire it for a moment. Finally, the dungeon making use of an interactive flashback tugged hard at my nostalgia for the way the Echo worked in 1.x. If we continue to utilize the Echo as a plot device – more of that, please.

5/5

Trial Total: 17/20

Trial

Fusionx: This encounter was… fine. I would have loved to have seen more direct callbacks to the Zodiark fight, or even some fights we’ve had against dragons, but I can also understand why they might not want to do that either. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. The 6.x patch cycle started out strong with Barbariccia, but later Trials, Zeromus included, couldn’t reach that high bar that she set. Additionally, the music change during the last 20% of the fight, while maybe nostalgic for Final Fantasy IV fans, felt a bit out of place to me.

3/5

Xenedra: This was a trial that served its purpose of helping us kill the bad guy. It was pretty, with some cool effects, like the fractured darkness on the sides of the arena, and a nifty mechanic or two, like the big, platform sweeping laser. It was fine, with a pretty good level of difficulty for an MSQ trial, and a below average difficulty for an Extreme.

3/5

Aldianaux: Here is another Final Fantasy IV sprite lovingly rendered in Final Fantasy XIV, and it is exactly as gross as I thought it would be. Most players with any knowledge of FFIV knew this version of Zeromus was coming, and I think that they did a wonderful job in recreating it. I also think that the fight could have been more interesting, especially with Zodiark and a Dragon being mixed into this amalgamation. The mechanics are fine, and I loved seeing little things like them incorporating Bio and Big Bang. I just think it would have been neat to see more mechanical influences from Azdaja, Zodiark and Golbez as this version of Zeromus was brought to life in a completely different method.

3/5

Anonymoose: A surprisingly straight-forward fight for the ostensible chaos happening on screen, I rate this fight highly primarily because it’s a heck of a spectacle. It’s got Final Fantasy IV callbacks, it’s got void callbacks, it’s got dragon callbacks, it’s got Zodiark callbacks, and some of the animations truly look amazing. The only thing I can really fault it for is that is that it’s more of a summary than a capstone. It doesn’t do anything terribly new or interesting, and there’s no thematic wow factor, but what it does, it does well.

4/5

Trial Total: 13/20

Raid

Fusionx: I love that they’ve been using the music from the A Realm Reborn cinematic in these raids, and the final boss theme here is no exception. The music, coupled with what I think is one of the most interesting boss designs to come out of Endwalker, feels like the best compliment to the end of the Hydaelyn and Zodiark Saga. Where the MSQ felt like a trial series with a spotlight, I would have much rather the resources were spent to do it with this alliance raid. The story was good, and we got some interesting revelations, but I think with more resources allocated to it, it could have been truly exceptional. All that said, I want to point out how silly it is that developers felt the need to give Thaliak pants after what they did to Ryne’s Shiva Savage fight.

4/5

Xenedra: This was far from a ground breaking storyline. We knew where we were going the whole time, but wasn’t it a glorious trip? This last leg of the journey led us on a jaunty little journey to finish beating up the gods so they could finally rest. Seeing Eulogia really got me. It’s a living, breathing, gaudy as all get-out eulogy for people who have been watching over us since our creation- which we now have to beat up and send to the lifestream. Even now, there’s a bratty little version of me tugging on my heart strings, center chest, going, “No! They can’t be gone! I have so many unanswered questions!” Questions that a few of the Gods teased us about instead of answering. Those jerks… My only solace is that Snoegeim is going to wander the globe now, looking for more information about them. She’s the real MVP. Go with grace, Snoegeim! Overall, the fights didn’t feel as difficult as the first installment, but they were fun! And beautiful! Llymlaen and Oschon’s fights were genuinely fun and Llymlaen’s arena, I just… I like water, OK? I’m a big Limsa-Lominsa fan.

5/5

Aldianaux: My favorite section of the patch and, honestly, my favorite of all the story we’ve gotten after 6.0. This was an amazing love letter and send off for the Twelve, with all the finality and emotion that such an undertaking deserves. As with most of the game of late, quite a few people predicted the general outline of what would happen in this Raid, we all knew Derek was Oschon, we knew which Gods we had left to see and fight, and we knew we were one short of the usual boss count. What we didn’t know is how well it would all come together at the end. The only thing this arc left me wanting for is…more. I don’t know that it would have worked, but I wish they had swapped this Alliance raid story with the MSQ patch series and given it a little more room to breathe.

5/5

Anonymoose: This was almost a 3…and then it was almost a 5…so let’s just meet in the middle and save me a headache. The Twelve have always been with us in spirit, but have been virtually absent from FFXIV otherwise. SE was left in an unenviable position: a blank slate to work with, but the potential for dramatically letting people down, anyway. Again, it goes to show how much sticking the landing can really count for. Dragging out the bittersweet goodbye is what did it for me – giving me time to reflect on all my past thoughts and theories, what they amounted to in the end, and how they stacked up against what we got. The final boss may have come out of left field, they may have snubbed Thaliak’s thumpin’ thighs, but my hometown hero, Llymlaen, is serving. They also remembered Perykos exists. The raid tied into both 1.0 and Endwalker well enough, and none of my worst fears about the Twelve manifested. I’ll take it!

4/5

Trial Total: 18/20

Other

Fusionx: The inclusion of a new gathering area for Island Sanctuary (a small cave attached to the last cave they added) was frankly, disappointing. More animals to add to your pasture, without increasing its capacity continues to be a point of frustration. Changes to the Crystalline Conflict UI are a welcome addition. Additionally, the new gear earned via Trophy Crystals, while stylish, also have no role restrictions. We need to see more of this, along with glamour restrictions removed. It’s long past due. Minus one point because we’re still adding hairstyles to Viera and Hrothgar, and the duty recorder continues to be laughably irrelevant.

4/5

Xenedra: So far, so decent. Some shining new examples of furniture were added, like the new gazebo and the celestial screen. I like the little cave section they added to Island Sanctuary. It’s not a big thing, but y’know, caves are pretty cool. I haven’t really progressed beyond that. I’ve only been able to observe a few of the PvP updates and have personally not been able to observe the difference in Dragoon dives yet- even when I was looking for it. Maybe it’s just my old eyes. The stand out here, though, is the universal gear you can get from PvP. Even though it’s not really my cuppa tea, It looks nice, and, oh, the important part: it’s not role locked. I sincerely hope this is an indicator of things to come in the gear department!

4/5

Aldianaux: We’ve got teleportation UI changes, PvP UI changes, Island Sanctuary additions, the expansion of the free trial and more this time around. Though, I’m probably not alone in thinking that the PvP gear added in this patch is the standout. Not just because of the look of the hot new glams (honestly, not my favorite aesthetic, but that’s fine!) but because it is all wearable while playing any Job, which unlocks some fun glamor combinations. Has the dev team finally moved past the hang-up they had with Jobs being identifiable by their gear/silhouette? Oh no, will we finally see the chaos of Tanks in Bikinis or Healers in full mascot suits? Wait…that’s always been possible?! But seriously, this is a great move, please continue.

4/5

Anonymoose: Full disclosure, I haven’t actually done much “other” content, just yet…but the current status quo in Crystalline Conflict is easier to read, PvP rewards a depression emote, and we’ve got another great set of new furnishings. The Crystarium wall canopy, in particular, might finally be that “buy 50 of them and use it as a pillar of the aesthetic” item that lets me decorate my house in a way that reminds me of the Rapture tech demo. (I can’t believe I’m still struggling with this.)

5/5

Trial Total: 17/20

Patch 6.5 Total: 77/100

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Images courtesy of Square Enix.