In my previous Ultimate Fantasy XIV opinions, I’ve typically been a bit extra vital of the fourth patch following an enlargement. Coming off of the second climax within the third patch, the story within the fourth patch slows down as the sport begins laying the groundwork for the following enlargement. This will generally imply that aspect content material just like the conclusion of the 8-man raid sequence garners extra curiosity and pleasure than the primary story. Whereas Dawntrail’s patch 7.4, Into the Mist, doesn’t completely shrug off this precedent, it’s extra participating than different equally located patches because of the character focus of its narrative and a wholesome serving to of nostalgia.
With the fast disaster in Alexandria resolved, Into the Mist sees our heroes flip their consideration to the mysterious key that has been on the middle of latest occasions. After seeing off just a few companions, the remainder resolve to make a dangerous journey to the floor of the Ninth to be taught what occurred to Alexandria’s closest neighbor, Treno. In the event you’re a fan of Ultimate Fantasy IX, this entire sequence will put a smile in your face. After all, all the Alexandrian plot line is closely impressed by Sq. Enix’s ultimate PS1 entry within the sequence, however there’s nonetheless one thing particular about attending to see one other well-known locale tailored into Ultimate Fantasy XIV. And it’s not simply the sights! There are a number of preparations of Ultimate Fantasy IX music, together with “Darkish Metropolis Treno,” that vastly improve the nostalgia issue.
Into the Mist isn’t nearly nostalgia, although. It’s additionally a character-focused story centered across the Warrior of Gentle’s brush-wielding ally, Krile, who learns extra about her household whereas looking for solutions about the important thing. On the one hand, these developments really feel a bit odd, as a result of Krile already appeared to get decision for her character arc close to the top of Dawntrail correct. And since the main target is so tight on her, there isn’t a lot time for the enlargement setup that we’d usually count on to see right here. Alternatively, it’s fairly the gratifying story, with loads of heartfelt moments and an intriguing sendoff. It might in the end really feel like a detour, but it surely’s nonetheless a enjoyable trip.
Attending to Treno is the place Into the Mist’s new dungeon, Mistwake, comes into play. It begins off a bit sluggish, with a mine tour and a primary boss that’s frankly one of many extra boring opponents I’ve seen this enlargement. However issues ramp up properly within the second leg of the dungeon as you emerge from the mine and get your first glimpse of Treno itself. The second and third bosses, each of whom fittingly use lightning assaults, are way more gratifying to combat, and the trash mobs in between are extra strongly related to the story. Sluggish begin apart, all the dungeon will get a brand new association of “Battle 1” from Ultimate Fantasy IX, and the same old Ultimate Fantasy XIV fanfare music is changed with the unique model from Ultimate Fantasy IX as effectively, each of that are good touches that add to the nostalgia issue of this dungeon and patch.
Afterward in the primary story, we meet Into the Mist’s new trial boss, the Doomtrain. It feels just a bit random, each within the context of the story and as in comparison with the earlier two trials, as a result of Doomtrain is from Ultimate Fantasy VIII, not Ultimate Fantasy IX. However the combat itself is extremely quick and enjoyable, on each the conventional and Excessive difficulties, as Doomtrain chases you down the rails, destroying automobile after automobile till none are left. The motion is accompanied by a wonderful trance association of Ultimate Fantasy IX’s “Battle 2,” which unusually sufficient matches the combat completely regardless of coming from a unique recreation. Total, it’s certainly one of my favourite trials from this enlargement, and I believe Ultimate Fantasy VIII followers will particularly admire the homage to the Guardian Pressure’s summoning animation.
The ultimate piece of instanced content material that we have to speak about is, in fact, the conclusion of the Arcadion raid sequence. Story-wise, this final leg gives a good wrap up, but it surely feels rushed and unsatisfying in some respects. The battles themselves are incredible, as is to be anticipated by this level. They’re quick, require gamers to concentrate to their environment, and have one other collection of catchy and becoming accompaniment—with one exception. “All the things Burns,” which was composed for and gifted to Masayoshi Soken by Rage In opposition to the Machine’s Tom Morello, is a fairly nice rock monitor by itself. Nevertheless it doesn’t match Ultimate Fantasy XIV all that effectively, despite the fact that the Arcadion might be the very best place that it may have been used.
Final however not least, Into the Mist brings some long-awaited quality-of-life updates. First, and doubtless most essential, glamour restrictions have lastly been faraway from the sport. This implies in the event you’re a healer who’s uninterested in all the time carrying robes—like me—you may lastly don tank armor or crafter casuals. And vice versa, in fact. The one remaining restriction is on weapons, which should match your present job, however it is a minor limitation within the face of what’s unequivocally one of the vital important and requested enhancements to Ultimate Fantasy XIV in a protracted whereas. As I’ve stated a number of instances earlier than, glamour is the true endgame, and this variation permits gamers to actually let their creativity and vogue sense run wild.
Second, Into the Mist lastly implements the Technique Board function the devs have been promising for some time now. That is mainly an in-game technique to make and share raidplans for fights, permitting gamers to make use of an overhead view of an enviornment and job icons to speak how numerous mechanics ought to be dealt with. The Technique Board editor itself seems pretty strong, it’s straightforward to share boards amongst get together members, and there’s even a real-time modifying choice, which ought to be helpful for discussing positioning in additional advanced mechanics. Nonetheless, there are some limitations to this function that will have an effect on how readily the group adopts it. For instance, every board is the equal of a single raidplan slide, and you may solely save 50 boards complete, that means house goes to be an actual challenge in the event you commonly do tougher content material. One other drawback is that sharing boards outdoors of events requires utilizing a protracted code, and that code is just good for a single board. This implies they successfully can’t be linked in Celebration Finder descriptions, and console gamers could have issue utilizing them. All that stated, this function remains to be in its infancy, so solely time will inform how a lot the group warms as much as it.
Third, Into the Mist provides a brand new technique to entry numerous instructions like emotes, job units, and vogue gadgets with out taking over hotbar house or digging by means of menus. Fittingly known as the Command Panel, it is a devoted window with as much as 100 slots so that you can place continuously used instructions which you’ll be able to then simply pull up with both a devoted button or a hotbar shortcut. For controller gamers particularly, this gives the choice to maneuver the extra utility-oriented instructions they could have on their hotbars to a separate location, thereby liberating up precious hotbar house for extra job actions.
And at last, Into the Mist offers the Obligation Help therapy to 2 of Ultimate Fantasy XIV’s most hated dungeons: Dzemael Darkhold and Aurum Vale. The previous fully modifications how the ahriman boss works (goodbye, purple mild of security) and eliminates the necessity to stand on magitek terminals to open numerous doorways, making one late room within the dungeon a lot much less annoying. The latter removes just a few of the annoyances within the numerous trash mob rooms and modifications how the debuff-cleansing fruit works throughout the first and third bosses. Most of those changes don’t considerably alter the id of those two dungeons however somewhat streamline issues to permit for quicker and fewer hectic runs. The ahriman boss in Dzemael is probably the one exception. As annoying because the outdated mild mechanic was, it was not less than distinctive; the brand new model of the combat is completely forgettable.
And that’s actually patch 7.4 in a nutshell: a fairly good expertise throughout, with just some nitpicks right here and there. Into the Mist’s principal story is a bit mild on setup however offers a wholesome dose of nostalgia and heartfelt feelings. The Arcadion finale is a bit lackluster within the story division however wonderful in relation to the precise fights. And there are some great quality-of-life updates, together with one or two head-scratchers. I do hope that patch 7.5 lays extra groundwork for the upcoming 8.0 enlargement, however by the point you’re studying this, I’ll be neck deep in Savage prog, so I’ll produce other issues to fret about for just a few months. Within the meantime, let’s sit up for Fan Fest and see what the previous couple of Dawntrail patches convey us!
