Today, during a Letter from the Producer Live broadcast, Final Fantasy XIV Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida and Global Community Producer Toshio Murouchi were joined by Legendary Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy Tactics Director Yasumi Matsuno to present the first information on update 4.1.
First of all, we learn that patch 4.1 is going to be titled “The Legend Returns,” and it’s going to be released in early October.
The update is going to include the continuation of the main scenario quest, new sidequests (including more for Hildibrand), new beast tribe quests focused on the Kojin, a new instanced dungeon titled the Drowned City of Skalla, a new primal battle (Shinryu extreme mode).
Below you can see the first screenshots of the new dungeon and of the new primal battle.
We’re also getting new PvP content titled “Rival Wings,” which is a 48-man training battle between two teams of 24. It will include Illuminati mechas. This will actually come in patch 4.15.
The battle system will be updated with older alliance raids to be added to the duty roulette. Alliance size will also become unrestricted.
The Lost Canals of Uznair will get new maps leading to deeper levels. New monsters and treasures will of course be included.
The adventurer squadron feature will be updated, and you’ll be able to bring your squadron in dungeons. Of course the NPCs won’t be as strong as other players. Level cap will be increased and glamours will be unlocked at level 51. Squadrons will get their own limit break.
Housing will get an update with the availability of plots in Shirogane. People will be able to relocate from their old plots and to swim in housing areas. A pool will be added to the Goblet and a stream to the Lavender Beds.
Of course, crafters and gatherers will get their own new goodies, including a new client for custom delivery. Beast tribe currency and venture scrips will be moved to the currency menu, freeing up some inventory slots.
The “Perform” system is going to be added, allowing bards to play instruments note by note, with new instruments and sounds to be added gradually patch by patch.
Alliance raids will be made cross-world, alongside custom PvP matches, friend lists and /tell, letting players communicate across servers. More “big” cross-world features will come in 4.2 and 4.3.
New content will be added for those who want extreme challenges, it will be defined “Ultimate.” The first of those challenges will be The Unending Coil of Bahamut (Ultimate). The reward will be a weapon, but the item level won’t be higher than that granted by Omega Deltascape Savage 4.0. The design will be different, and completion will grant a token so that you just need to do it once to get the weapon you want. There is no increase in the maximum item level in update 4.1.
The update’s key artwork was showcased, featuring characters that definitely look like Ramza and Delita from Final Fantasy Tactics.
Return to Ivalice will be the new alliance raid written by Yasumi Matsuno with bosses designed by Keita Amemiya.
More artwork related to the raid and the design of a boss were revealed, and you can check him out in the gallery below. Matsuno-san actually shown a picture of the raid as a tease on his smatphone. The city shown is Rabanastre from Final Fantasy XII.
Part of Ivalice will be implemented in a way within Final Fantasy XIV, located in Dalmasca, north of Othard, where you can find Rabanastre. It’s basically going to work as a sort of theme park within the game. The team working on it is made by big fans of the game sets in Ivalice, so they’re working very hard to recreate the atmosphere and characters carefully.
We get the set list of the upcoming concert that will be hosted in September in Tokyo. Yoshida-san will actually present the concert, that will not include music from Stormblood. A special music box will be sold for the occasion, alongide a conductor moogle plushie and keychain, a special gift bag and a music CD.
At Tokyo Game Show there will be a Feast tournament and a New Players’ Corner. We can also see the merchandise that will be sold at the show.
Last, but not least, we get to see the equipment set created from the design content, the rewards for high ranked players in The Feast, and one outfit that will be made available only for female characters in the Mog Station today.
If you want to hear more from Yoshida-san himself, you can check out our recent interview from Gamescom. You can also check out our review of the latest expansion, Stormblood.