1863: Gold Saucer

Final Fantasy XIV patch day today, and with it comes the introduction of the Manderville Gold Saucer, a much-anticipated addition to the game that is heavily inspired by the similarly named locale from Final Fantasy VII.

And they’ve done a great job! Gold Saucer has plenty of activities to participate in — although I with they’d have put in a Final Fantasy VII-style Battle Square with increasingly challenging handicaps — and lots to aim for. Only trouble is, it gives a game that is already bursting with content even more long-term goals for people to fret over — though for a game designed to be played over the long term, I guess that’s not really an issue.

Highlights so far are, of course, card game Triple Triad, last seen in Final Fantasy VIII, and the chocobo racing, which is far more fun than it has any right to be. The best thing about these two attractions is that even low-level players can enjoy them — you only have to have reached level 15 to go to the Gold Saucer, which is a nice change from a lot of the other content that has been released over time, which is primarily aimed at endgamers.

Triple Triad is a simple card game in which two players face off against one another on a 3×3 grid. Drawing from a hand of five cards each, players take it in turns to place cards in one of the cells on the grid. Each card has four numbers corresponding to its four edges. If you put down a card next to another card and the facing edge “beats” the card that is already there (i.e. it’s a higher number), then you take control of the other card. Whoever has the most cards under their control when the grid is filled is the winner. There are numerous other optional rules, but the basic game is simple to understand, hard to master and extremely addictive — thanks in part to the collectible aspect of it, with cards coming from beating NPCs, beating specific bosses in dungeons and numerous other sources.

Chocobo racing, meanwhile, is implemented similarly to Final Fantasy VII. You don’t directly control the chocobo so much as encourage it to do things; you can make it accelerate, which costs stamina, and determine its horizontal position on the track; you don’t need to worry about steering around corners, however. You can pick up Mario Kart-style items to help yourself or hinder your opponents, and special tiles on the course can likewise help or hinder you. It’s immensely competitive and a whole lot of fun, with progression completely separate from your character’s main levelling. It’s practically a whole metagame in itself; I’m looking forward to exploring it in depth.

The other attractions are fun, too. Simple timed button-press minigames see you hitting things with hammers and punching Gilgamesh in the face, and “Gold Saucer Active Time Events” (or “GATEs”) take place regularly and involve large numbers of players at one time doing everything from platforming challenges to stealth missions and dance competitions. There’s a lot to enjoy.

I’m happy that Gold Saucer has ended up being a lot of fun. It provides some welcome relief from the grind elsewhere — particularly at endgame — and has the scope to develop further in the future. For now, I’m looking forward to expanding my Triple Triad collection and rising through the ranks of the chocobo racing leagues… yeah, this game still has its hooks in me as deeply as ever.