During Final Fantasy XIV’s Tokyo Fan Festival Keynote, director Naoki Yoshida had a lot of news for us, including a new race, the Hrothgar, also known as the Ronso, a first look at The First, and plenty more. Here’s everything you need to know.

There’s no doubt that when Naoki Yoshida, or as the fanbase adoringly refers to him as Yoshi-P, says that Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers is just a little over three months away, that he’s being completely serious. When he also says that, it means he has a lot of news in store for us to hear about, and last night was no exception.

During last night’s keynote event, he did confirm quite a few things we’d been waiting to hear about including a new job reveal, another gender-locked race, and even a first look at some of the story that will unfold before us; including why players are becoming Warriors of Darkness.

Introducing the Viera and the Hrothgar

As with any expansion, it seems that Yoshi-P and the teams at Square Enix aren’t ones to hold back by any means. Due to this very fact, they didn’t hide any hints about what Yoshi-P would announce during the opening Key Note for Final Fantasy XIV’s Tokyo Fanfest keynote for 2019.

Alongside the Viera comes the Hrothgar, who are also called the Ronso (as in Khimari Ronso from Final Fantasy X), which are a new playable race that will be released alongside the Viera when Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers launches this July for PC and PlayStation 4.

The Hrothgar will be exclusive to the male gender while the Viera will be a female-exclusive race, bringing forth the ability for fans to recreate fan-favorite characters such as Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age’s bunny-eared female Fran and Final Fantasy X‘s Khimari Ronso of the Ronso tribe.

Both will feature their very own and unique customizations that players will get to go through when they create or re-create their characters with a Potion of Phantasia.

You’re a Warrior of Darkness who will fight to restore balance to a mysterious world called “The First”

The story of Shadowbringers is a very deep one just from what Yoshi-P revealed during his opening Keynote speech. To keep things easy to understand, the story will take place in a new and mysterious world called “The First,” which has succumbed to an imbalance of Light and Dark.

Because of this imbalance, players will explore the First World and the realm of Norvrandt, one of the last bastions of life in the First World. The story will see players become a Warrior of Darkness, seeking to restore night and save one of the worlds from the Flood of Light.

This new mysterious world will seem familiar, but somehow rather different. Due to the collapse around them, society is much different than that of Eorzea as many have fled, living in reckless abandon as the world about them dies to light and monstrosities prey upon the weak.

But this is only one of the many worlds created by the goddess Hydaelyn when she shattered.

A Lalafel beast tribe… The Dwarves.

Yup, there’s a new one, and this time they’re called The Dwarves. Since The First is a completely different world from the one we’ve come to know and live up to this very point, you might be a bit surprised to learn that every race has their very own name, which includes our little favorite guys and gals, the Lalafels.

This new variant of the Lalafels, as you might guess, excel in mining, metallurgy, and well, it looks like you Disciples of the Hand may want to get a bit more practice in as these guys and gals might put your skills to the test.

Those looking to explore through the town run by The Dwarves, you might want to stick with being a Lalafel as all their buildings are Lalafel size, which will leave those of us eyeballing the Viera and the Hrothgar out in the cold when the rain begins to fall.

New normal and alliance raids revealed

Among expansions comes new end-game content to be explored. This content pertains to high-end Duties, Raids, Trials, and even Dungeons for players to explore. The latest two revealed come in the shape of Normal (8-man) and Alliance (24-man) raids that will both feature their own unique designs.

The latest high-end raid content will feature new and challenging bosses designed by Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy series veteran, Tetsuya Nomura, for the new raid called “Eden”, which will see players take on new fantastical creatures, and many more (more to be revealed soon).

Along with the new Eden raid comes “YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse”, a cross-over event with famed Nier: Automata director Yoko Taro. The new raid will feature cross-over content from his previous game including encounters, weapons, and even armor themed around B-52 and company.

New Primal called ‘Innocence’

Along with the raids comes a brand new Trial duty where players will face down against a creature that has basked in the oversaturation of Hydaelyn’s late by the name of Innocence.

While we only know Innocence is angelic by design, we don’t know much besides that, and the reveal for Innocence left us wondering what else is waiting for us just around the corner.

New Game+

Those looking to revisit your adventures might just get to do that as Yoshi-P and the team has revealed New Game+ for Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers. Doing so will allow you to take on your long-forgotten journies so that you may get to once more revisit the stories that made you fall in love with the game.

This time, at your current level and with your gear that you have equipped. It has not been outlined how this will affect overall progression if at all or if a New Game+ just allows for missions to be replayed at any given time.

A new town and a brand new zone. Meet Lakeland and Eulmore

One of the big things about The First is the fact it’s a unique setting compared to the others we’ve experienced before in Final Fantasy XIV since it relaunched as A Realm Reborn just six years ago. Since then, we’ve seen magnificent places such as Ishgard, Doma, Mog Home, and even Ala Mhigo.

Now, we’re moving on and we’re going one step further. We’re going to an entirely new world that’s built around one of Hydaelyn’s Shards, a Crystal Tower. Here in the first, the world is different from our own, zones, as you know, have become oversaturated by Hydaelyns light, leaving it void of Zodiark’s darkness, causing an imbalance between the two.

One of these areas we get to visit is Lakeland, a small area nestled just outside of one of the capital cities you’ll get to meet in The First. This zone comes to life through the use of purples to help show the lack of darkness within this world and is a rather beautiful offset to its name. While one might wonder where water is, don’t fret, there’s plenty of it and it’s already hinting that we could expect some water-themed enemies while questing about.

There’s the official tease for Lakeland and it’s amazing music just above. Those looking for a brand new town can expect to visit the town of Eulmore, one run by the rich that neglect the poor.

This town may seem rather reminiscent to that of Ul’dah, but with chubby Mi’qote running the show.

Last, but not least, the jobs: Dancer and Swordbreaker

During the Fanfest Keynote, Yoshi-P wasn’t shy going back over the previous released Swordbreaker Job, which will serve as the games fourth tank and one that’s themed around the adventures of Squall and Seifer from Final Fantasy VIII. The class will utilize the Gunblade, which gives it an entirely new tank on the well-established weapon.

Alongside it comes the Dancer job, a ranged attacker that can buff friendly players while debuffing the enemies before them. The class was highlighted by the use of a Viera, showing off her talented skills as a gypsy-like dancer. For those wishing for another caster class, it looks like you’ll be waiting on that Geomancer a tad bit longer.

Just remember to get out your Thanvarian outfits and get ready to make your bunny ears bounce! You can even check out the full FFXIV Tokyo Fan Fest live stream reaction at the 2hr mark down below!

What are you most excited about that’ll be featured in Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers this July? Let us know in the comments!

About the Writer(s):

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the borders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter or Facebook.

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