Month: February 2021

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Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy 14’s PS5 version will go into Open Beta on April 13, 2021, and will feature 4K resolution support, faster loading times, and “significantly improved frame rate.”

There will be two modes – one for resolution and one for framerate – and it will be released on the same day as Patch 5.5.

FINAL FANTASY XIV is coming to PlayStation 5, with an open beta planned to launch on Tuesday, April 13, 2021!

Watch the trailer in high resolution on YouTube!
https://t.co/cN6FFzAXN7 pic.twitter.com/Ozls8lTuff

— FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) February 6, 2021

Players who have a Final Fantasy 14 service account that has a registered license for the PlayStation 4 version will be able to download and play the PS5 Upgrade Edition at no extra cost.

Final Fantasy 14 is available on PS5 via backward compatibility, but this version will be fully optimized for Sony’s latest console.

The PS5 version of Final Fantasy 14 was announced alongside the reveal of the latest expansion, Endwalker, that will be released in Fall 2021.

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Not only will Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker take players to the moon, it will also bring to a close the story that began with A Realm Reborn.

There will also be two new jobs, including a healer job called Sage, a level cap raise from 80 to 90, and “massive new areas” waiting to be explored like the imperial capital of Garlemald, Thavnair, and the city of Radz-at-Han.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

The missions for the second set of pins celebrating Mario’s 35th anniversary have been available for some time, but your chance to obtain the pins based on such games as Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario Odyssey may be over unless you have completed expired missions and purchase Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury.

Nintendo recently updated the list of missions for Mario’s celebration, adding a handful of new tasks to complete to be eligible for the second pin set. However, many of the previous missions have since expired and can no longer be completed. You’ll need to complete 14 missions plus purchase the upcoming Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury for a total of 15 out of the 22 missions before receiving a code for the Wave 2 pins.

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This likely means that most people looking to obtain the newest set of pins won’t be able to, as the most you’ll be able to complete is 12 of the required 15 missions. As of 2/05/21, completing 14 missions is impossible unless you have already completed at least two missions that are no longer available. These include: Splatoon 2 Splatfest Online Challenge, NintendoVS Challenge Cup, BoxLunch’s Super Mario must-haves on Boxlunch, Tetris 18th MAXIMUS CUP, Super Mario Maker 2 Ninji Speedrun Online Challenge, and Super Mario Kart Tour event.

Bear in mind, two of the missions require having purchased Super Mario 3D All-Stars and playing Super Mario Bros. 35, the latter which requires a Nintendo Switch Online paid membership. So, if you are interested in the pins, you’re potentially on the hook for two $60 games plus a $20 membership.

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If you are one of the lucky few who are still in the hunt, be sure to check out our Wiki page explaining how to get the Super Mario Bros. 35th anniversary pins. We’ve got a step-by-step breakdown of each mission to help you complete as many as you can!

For more Mario, check out our final preview for Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury where we dive deeper into the new Bowser’s Fury mode ahead of its February 12th release date.

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Matthew Adler is a Features, News, Previews, Reviews, and Wikis writer for IGN who is very sad that he can’t get this new set of Mario pins. You can cry with him on Twitter @MatthewAdler and watch him stream cry on Twitch.

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During the Final Fantasy XIV announcement showcase, the next expansion for the MMORPG was revealed through a teaser trailer–it’s called Endwalker and it’s set to launch in Fall 2021. You can watch the trailer from the livestream below (be aware that there may be spoilers in the trailer).

The trailer shows the Warrior of Light (your character) walking on the moon of your realm followed by the map of Eorzea being burnt. You then see core character Alisaie fighting against what looks to be a dragon-like monsters as the world around her burns. Her brother Alphinaud, who’s representing the expansion new Sage healer Job, and the Warrior of Light show up to join the fight. There are also teaser shots of the new villain overlooking a flame to represent new “Final Days” and you see returning villain Zenos as well. It appears that the world of Hydaelyn is a lot more than just an Earth-like planet from these shots. The final shot returns to the moon to reveal the new representation of the Warrior of Light who is now a Paladin.

New Jobs

After the trailer, director and producer Naoki Yoshida went to much greater detail about what you can expect from FFXIV Endwalker. The first of which was the two new Jobs–one healer and one melee DPS. The trailer shows Alphinaud sporting the new healer Job–it’s called Sage and uses a set of floating aether-infused knives called Nouliths (a wild Gundam reference for those who are aware). It’s said to be a barrier-focused healer, similar to Scholar. Sages will start at level 70 with no required class prerequisite, but you need at least one other Job at level 70 and you must own the Endwalker expansion.

No details were given about the new melee DPS job, although it will be revealed in May during the digital FFXIV Fan Fest.

What We Know About The Story

Yoshida-san explained the story setup and emphasized that Endwalker is a finale and conclusion to the current FFXIV story arc–an ending to what we know as the world of Hydaelyn, which has been going on since the very beginning of the game. He also said that things would come full circle, describing it as “a new dawn” for the story.

This will be FFXIV 6.0, and as players know, the story usually continues after the expansion. However, Endwalker will have a full conclusion to the conflict between Hydaelyn and Zodiark, and the emphasis on the moon gives us a hint as to where FFXIV goes from here. Yoshida-san emphasized that this is not the end of FFXIV, however. FFXIV 6.1 is already being planned, and will begin an entirely new story separate from what has been built since 1.0 and 2.0.

As a setup for Endwalker’s story, the announcement showcase included these statements:

“What were the Final Days that brought the mighty ancients to their knees? To uncover myriad secrets–of Hydaelyn, Zodiark, and deeper mysteries still–the Warrior of Light embarks on a journey to the moon.

“The long-awaited conclusion to the tale of Gods light and dark!

“Curiouser and curiouser…burning questions remain!

“What brought about the Final Days?

“What became of Hydaelyn and Zodiark?

“What will be the Garlean Empire’s fate

“What is Zenos’ and Fandaniel’s aim?

“What is to be found on the moon?”

In Shadowbringers, we saw what the “Final Days” were for the Ascian people, but that may come into greater focus with Endwalker–there have been many allusions to burning the world down ever since the final scene of the 5.3 story. In artwork shown later in the announcement showcase, Garlemald is basically left destroyed and desolate. If you played up to the end of the 5.4 story, you see why this might be the case.

Although Zenos and Fandaniel are featured in this teaser trailer, and that their motivations will be made clear, Yoshida-san said not worry about having a disappointing final villain–Endwalker is said to have a complex story with many surprises. Judging from the biological-organic environments below the surface shown in artwork and the trailer, we’ll find out the true nature of the planet.

Some New Features

Of the new features coming to Endwalker, the level cap is increasing to level 90, as expected. It’s also said to feature “massive” new areas–the new artwork features a lush jungle-like environment with a colorful bustling city in the sky called Radz-At-Han. It’s said to have a similar in size to Eulmore from Shadowbringers. It’s located in the region of Thavnair, which is near FFXIV’s version of Dalmasca. It has a tropical climate and a different culture from the rest of the world’s regions.

It was also confirmed that one of the major regions you’ll be in is Garlemald, the heart of the Garlean Empire. It is absolutely destroyed in Endwalker, however. No further details about it were given.

Concept art for new dungeons was also revealed, all of which were quite different in design. One featured a great ancient-style structure with the environment burning around it, another featured that biological-organic style with alien-like flesh and bone structure making up the environment, and another was a sterile high-tech Garlean facility.

Fans of of Final Fantasy X will recognize a new enemy featured in this expansion: Anima, which has been recreated for FFXIV by the original designer.

Another high-end 8-player raid series was teased–it’s called Pandaemonium, and the artwork features the likeness of the old Ascian adversary, Lahabrea. It will tell a unique and separate story for FFXIV as well.

A new 24-player alliance raid was confirmed. It is said to provide several answers to lingering mysteries about the world of Hydaelyn, which may mean that it’s not going to be a crossover raid series (unlike Stormblood with Final Fantasy XII and Shadowbringers with Nier Automata).

The Trust system, which lets you take core characters into dungeons as AI companions in place of real players, is getting an update–Estinien, who was first introduced in Heavensward, will be an ally of the Scions and available in the Trust system. As for the reason he’s included, we’ll have to see what happens in the story.

Island Sanctuary is an all-new feature in Endwalker, described as a way of “slow living” where you’ll do things like raise animals and cultivate open land on a deserted island. It won’t just be for crafters and gatherers and will be geared toward all players.

FFXIV 6.0 will add a new residential area to expand housing opportunities. This time it’ll be in Ishgard as a way to tie into The Firmament and Ishgard Restoration content. Actual housing won’t be available until patch 6.1, but players can look at plots at the start of 6.0.

A ton of other additional content will come with FFXIV 6.0 such as more role quests, crafter and gatherer quests, Gold Saucer updates, small-scale PvP battles, a new tribe called the Matanga, and more.

Battle System Changes

A few tweaks are lined up for the core battle system in FFXIV. First is the downscaling of values and damage numbers in combat. Through the expansions, damage and attack potency has gradually increased as players got more powerful. However, downscaling is said to help with calculations and prevent overflow and bugs in the backend. Changes will be proportional as to not change how the combat system functions.

This is also said to help with calculations for enmity, which could prevent problems for Tanks. The number crunch will consolidate the flying text for damage numbers and scale down the HP pool for bosses along with everything else.

The changes will come with how player levels and stats increase from level 51 to 80, essentially squeezing the rate at which players get more powerful, which means enemy effectiveness will scale accordingly. Experience points values will be compressed along with the experience points required to level up as well.

Lastly, belts are being removed from the game entirely at the start of the 6.0 update–it’s an armor gear piece, which was actually already removed from your character’s appearance. The 35 inventory slots from belts will be allocated to weapons and rings (15 slots each) with the leftover five being held for the future.

Data Center Travel

Currently, FFXIV players can travel between different servers within their data centers, but not to other data centers. However, the data center travel system that’s coming to FFXIV in the future will allow for these from different data centers to meet up and create parties, though there will be some restrictions.

PlayStation 5 Version Coming

While FFXIV is playable through backwards compatibility, a PS5-specific version is coming soon. It’ll be in open beta starting April 13 this year, and will feature 4K resolution, faster loading times, more detailed visual effects, and an improved frame rate. There will be two options, however: full native 4K resolution or a higher frame rate mode with 1440p resolution. Continual updates to graphics and performance will come out in future patches.

Players who have a registered license for the game on PS4 will be able to upgrade and access the PS5 version for free. No further details were given for how the process will work.

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Apex Legends may be getting something like a campaign in Year 3. Respawn’s battle royale game came close to having something like that with Quest, which initially was a collection of PvE missions in Season 5 before transitioning to comics in Season 6. However, that transition wasn’t a part of Apex Legends’ original roadmap, and Respawn is “not done” with expanding on its interactive storytelling in the battle royale.

“We’ve got many developers here that would have loved to continue doing something like [Season 5’s Quest],” Apex Legends game director Chad Grenier told me as we discussed the battle royale’s transformative second year. “The problem is, well we did the Quest and then we had a lockdown.”

The COVID-19 lockdowns transitioned Respawn into a working from home structure, which forced the studio to rethink how to expand on Apex Legends in Seasons 6 and 7. New content became an issue of priority, and it was decided that the priority of Quest was to deliver on story, not story-focused missions. As such, the mode transitioned into comics–something easier to program into a game than a brand-new campaign. But Respawn hasn’t given up on including interactive storytelling in its battle royale.

“A lot of those people [who worked on Season 5’s Quest] have moved on to work on things for future seasons, to tell a story and bring some new, cool things to the game,” Grenier said. “So, we’re not done doing things like that. We’re always innovating and trying to push things forward. And we’ve got a lot of people on the team that loved doing things like that. So, yeah–I think you’ll be surprised with future stuff coming out.”

Whatever it is, we’re likely to see it sometime in 2021, so during Seasons 9, 10, or 11. In a blog post, Grenier wrote that “later this year, [Respawn] will launch new ways to play the game that take us beyond battle royale,” which suggests Apex Legends won’t just be a multiplayer-focused battle royale game by the time Year 3 ends. Perhaps Quest will be rebooted and once again become a PvE campaign. We’ll just have to wait and see. For now, at least, Season 8 continues the trend of telling Quest’s story through comics.