Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival in Frankfurt - Keynote Summary: Samurai, Othard revealed

By Tony Garsow on February 18, 2017 at 7:59 AM

This year’s Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival in Frankfurt, Germany has kicked off and the opening keynote with director/producer Naoki Yoshida pulled no punches.

We’ve got a summary of the keynote below for all the major details that dropped. Have a look:

Stormblood

The extended, final opening for Stormblood was shown, which features the duel between the Warrior of Light and the Lady in Red. Later, it cuts to the world map where we are taken east word into the lands of Othard — specifically the city of Kugane. Here we see the occupying Garlean Empire chase down a new character garbed in red. The man is a samurai, and makes quick work of them before the camera pans out to reveal the cityscape. A hawk flies along the streets and up to a waiting Yugiri, accompanied by another samurai named Gosetsu.

The world map has been expanded to show the Three Great Continents: Aldenard in the west, Ilsabard in the north, and Othard in the east. This map will be included in the Collector’s Edition of Stormblood.

Nobuo Uematsu will return to compose the main theme, which is called “Revolutions.” He says this song is more powerful than Answers and Dragonsong and is meant to represent the weakness and strength of humanity. He also describes Susan Calloway as the voice of Hydaelyn, which is why she will return yet again to sing the expansion’s theme.

We will not be liberating just Ala Mhigo, but Doma as well. Yugiri will return as a major character in this expansion, and Gosetsu will be getting an introduction in Patch 3.5: The Far Edge of Fate – Part II in March.

New Job: Samurai

Samurai is the newest Job you will be able to take on in Stormblood. It is a melee DPS (damage dealer) that uses katana as weapons. Like the Heavensward jobs, there will be no associated class to level beforehand. Like Red Mage, you will start at Level 50, though this seems to be a tentative decision by the team at this point.

The Samurai will engage enemies up close with their katana and “single-handedly deal massive damage.” They will learn “Iai” techniques and other traditional Far Eastern swordplay. Your abilities will involve the mastery of “Sen” and its three forces: “Setsu” (Snow), “Getsu” (Moon), and “Ka” (Flower). You will store energy in your katana and unleash it in special attacks.

Also like Red Mage, the Samurai’s job quests will begin in Eorzean areas, so you can actually unlock this job before getting to the new expansion content. The job will also favor Strength-based gear.



New City: Kugane

The port town of Kugane is on the island chain of Hingashi in the Far Eastern reaches of Eorzea. It has a strict isolationist policy and only open to trade vessels. Violent acts are strictly prohibited within the town’s walls.

New Areas: Othard

We were shown several new locations in Othard including The Ruby Sea — an inland sea that is home to the Kojin beast tribe. They are skilled traders who will deal with all races, and have built comfortable settlements under the sea. They believe that unique gods(kami) reside in all things.

They are collectors of treasures housing powerful deities. However, the Kojin revere one god above all others: The Lord of the Revel – Susano. This will be an original primal to Final Fantasy XIV like Ravana, not a summon from the series past.

New dungeons were shown, one that Yoshida thought looked like a ship graveyard.

Another new area we were shown was Yangxia — where Doma is located. This is one of the cities we will be liberating in the Stormblood expansion. The Azim Steppe is an expansive plain that is new to Final Fantasy XIV; it’s where the Auri tribes live.

New Housing District: Shirogane

Shirogane will be the next housing district in Stormblood. However, it’s not going to be open right away because the team wants you to focus on the story and battle content and not worrying about housing plots. Once the time is right, they will add plots in the new area as well as a feature to move your existing estate to the new district.

Players will also be able to enjoy double the amount of furnishings able to be placed in an estate — that goes for small, medium, and large. One catch though: if you’re still using a 32-bit operating system, you should look into upgrading or all the furnishings may not appear.

Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood arrives on June 20th (tentative) for Windows PC, PlayStation 4, and Mac.