Well, here we go. The servers are down for maintenance, to come back up in 11 hours at the time of writing, and then the grand finale of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn will be officially underway. I’m excited.
Before the Fall is the official name for patch 2.5 for Final Fantasy XIV’s wonderful reboot A Realm Reborn, and it brings the main story that launched back in August of 2013 to a close… almost. Actually, tomorrow’s release is just the first of three parts to the finale which is going to unfold over the course of the next three months, ultimately leading into the official expansion pack Heavensward, which is estimated to arrive sometime around April. (Just in time for my birthday!)
Why am I excited? Well, aside from the fact that Final Fantasy XIV’s ongoing story has actually been very good, it’s also the first time I’ve played a game like this through one of its transitional periods from “vanilla” to “expansion”. I played a bunch of World of Warcraft back in the day, but it wasn’t until Wrath of the Lich King was out that I actually made it to the level cap, and by then I already had two expansions worth of content to work through owing to the fact I had played it somewhat sporadically rather than with any great sense of commitment. Final Fantasy XIV, by contrast, is a game that I’ve been playing since its beta period back in 2013, and have been in love with ever since — partly due to the fact that it’s simply a very good, very well-designed game (for the most part, anyway — everyone who plays has at least one thing they’d change if they had the choice!) but also due to the fact I’ve been lucky enough to have a regular group of people to play alongside, many of whom have been there since day one.
That sense of camaraderie, of having been through things together, of having “seen some shit”, can’t be understated. We may just be people scattered around the world playing a game together, but we’ve done a lot of different activities together. We’ve struggled from level 1 to level 50; we’ve put an end to Ultima Weapon’s reign of terror; we’ve flattened the Primals of the land several times over; and we’ve started (or, in some cases, finished) to discover the truth behind elder Primal Bahamut and the fallen moon Dalamud. We’ve gathered legendary Relic weapons and powered them up through numerous lengthy and demanding quests; we’ve (well, I’ve) spent more time than strictly necessary putting together the perfect “look” to go adventuring with; we’ve crafted thousands upon thousands of metal ingots, meat pies, magic potions and deadly weapons. It hasn’t always been easy, it hasn’t always even been fun, but a core of us have stuck together through thick and thin and forged some close friendships as a result. And, of course, this happened.
This is, I’m aware, the third Final Fantasy XIV post I’ve done in a row — and with the patch launching tomorrow I can pretty much guarantee there’s at least a couple more still to come. What that should tell you is what an entertaining and fun part of my life it’s become over the course of the last year and a half or so; at this stage, it’s more than just a video game: it’s an activity I can enjoy with friends, and one I hope I can continue to enjoy in this way for many years to come.
Twelve bless you, Yoshi-P; you’ve done the Final Fantasy name proud and created an experience pretty much unlike anything else I’ve ever enjoyed in all of gaming. Here’s to many more years of adventuring.