Wark Digest #98 - Step Forward, Step Back
Welcome back to the Wark Digest, your weekly newsletter of new developments in the Final Fantasy universe. I’m Chris, aka Hoogathy, and this week we take a break from hunting easter eggs in Hatching-Tide to celebrate (and scratch our heads over) the Pixel Remasters’ now-confirmed release on console.
This week’s newsletter is 1362 words, a 7-minute read.
FFXIV Easter
Kicking things off with a quick seasonal note: if you’re feeling the Easter/springtime vibes this weekend, don’t missing the Hatching-Tide event in Final Fantasy XIV, if you haven’t already completed it. This year’s festivities include an intimidatingly awesome Tonberry costume, but you only have until Monday morning, April 10, to earn it before the event ends. Head to Old Gridania to embark on the questline.
Pixel Remasters Are Coming In Hot
Well, we finally have a release date for the console edition of the Final Fantasy I-VI Pixel Remasters, and they’re coming in faster (and more fully featured) than we may have been led to believe last week.
What’s going on:
Square Enix announced the new editions will arrive April 19, just 12 days away!
Much like the Steam/mobile versions that are already available, all six games can be bought digitally in a bundle, or individually, and will launch as standalone titles (so you can more accurately track your playtimes and trophies)
In a pleasant twist, a few quality of life updates were announced as well:
Adjustments can be made to the rates of random encounters, as well as the spoils gained from battles (EXP, AP, and gil)
Soundtracks can be toggled from original to remastered in-game
A new “pixel-based” font can be chosen
Preorders are available now for Switch owners, while those who buy the games on PlayStation will receive a bonus PS4 theme and avatar for those games
There’s no confirmation yet if these upgrades will also be made available for the Steam or mobile versions
Likewise, there’s been no change on the Square Enix Store as of this writing; the physical editions remain on Waiting Lists
What we thought:
The release date is very close, but certainly better than the nebulous note sent to preorder holders last week
Further quality of life updates are an unexpected but pleasant surprise, as we assumed they would simply port the Steam version to consoles as they were
I had absolutely no qualms with the original font, but the new font is admittedly more accurate or fitting to the games’ aesthetic
These changes demonstrate that Square Enix was listening to fans’ input… which makes it all the more frustrating that there’s been no change on the physicals
Keeping the collector’s edition limited? Sure, fair enough (though NA fans still should have had more notice)
However there’s no reason to withhold the regular editions from release through the likes of GAME or GameStop
Will the Steam versions receive these updates as well?
All told, it feels like SE is taking a step forward and immediately backtracking, or dragging their feet at least, when it comes to this straight-forward release; Square giveth, and Square withholdeth
What’s next? As of April 19, it will be possible to play FFI-XII on PS4 and Switch, along with many of the spin-offs—and that’s a pretty cool feeling. The 2D games have received so many handheld ports/remakes, it’s easy to forget they were originally console experiences, so there’s a certain sense of homecoming in seeing them come back to our living room TVs properly for the first time in 20 years.
No Stranger to Steam
Speaking of new releases, Stranger of Paradise arrived on Steam yesterday, as promised last month. It comes at the game’s new lower price, with optional deluxe edition and season pass upgrades for those who want to experience the trio of unique DLC scenarios. To commemorate the occasion, Tetsuya Nomura released this new artwork of Jack in his armoured chaos glory.
FFXIV Live Letter Plots a Course for 6.4
Just days after promoting FFXVI at PAX, Naoki Yoshida swapped his producer hat for his director hat for another FFXIV Live Letter. This edition detailed the upcoming 6.4 patch, “The Dark Throne,” and you may have heard the sound of Blue Mages everywhere rejoicing.
What’s going on:
In a bit of a surreal moment, outgoing CEO Yosuke Matsuda and (assumedly) incoming CEO Takashi Kiryu appeared on the stream—the latter showing off his FFXIV-branded guitar and talking about playing the game with his wife
Patch 6.4 will arrive in late May, bringing the usual Main Scenario Quests
This will include a new Dungeon (The Aetherfront) and trial (The Voidcast Dais, in Normal and Extreme), while the Tataru’s Grand Endeavour side story continues
Those who like a challenge can brave Anabaseios, the culmination of the Pandæmonium raid series, or the new Trial Containment Bay Z1T9 (Unreal)
Those who like the chill island life instead will find various quality-of-life improvements in Island Sanctuary
There’s also a smattering of small QoL updates, and a new PvP season
Later in patch 6.45, Blue Mages will get some overdue love—with their level cap raised to 80, they’ll also get new exclusive gear and targets to hunt down
What we thought:
Kiryu’s appearance had some “how do you do, fellow kids” energy and the talk about supporting FFXIV is a little hollow, but… at least there’s an effort to get him involved? CEOs can simply coast from their ivory towers, so even a token effort to make him seem connected is a somewhat positive sign (or is it a cheap attempt to curry favour before more NFT talk? I digress)
Normally at this point in the expansion life cycle, we’d be dealing with the fallout from the previous patch’s grand finale and starting to truly ramp up for the next
However the atypical structure of Endwalker makes this patch feel… different—not in a bad way, and the change made sense for this point in the story, but I would be happy to see a return to the old status quo for the next expansion
Speaking of which, it feels like we’re getting very close to that expansion, even though it won’t arrive in 2023; likely we’re have a better idea of what’s in store in July, when the first of three Fan Fests goes down in Las Vegas this July, followed by patch 6.5 around October
What’s next? Patch 6.4 will also expand Trust support for Stormblood, making more dungeons possible with a party of NPCs. To coincide with this, those who own the Final Fantasy XIV Starter Edition can get the Stormblood expansion for free for a limited time.
Around the Union
With the vague “Winter 2023” release window a little more than half a year away, we’ll likely start to hear more on Final Fantasy VII Rebirth very soon—making this a great opportunity to take stock and explore “Everything We Know So Far” about the FFVII Remake’s second installment!
As teased last issue, we had a very important and serious video for you all on Saturday: “The Complete Evolution of Belts.” It may come as a shock, though, to learn that this was, indeed, our April Fools’ video. Check it out regardless, as we had a lot of fun cooking up this gag—and judging by the results of a community poll, about 70% of our community wants to see a proper take on this subject someday, so, y’know… stay tuned?
Lastly, we explore a prominent fan theory in “Is Squall Dead? Exploring the Crazy Final Fantasy VIII Theory!” It may not be what the creators explicitly intended, but for years the idea has caught our attention, and it’s one of the more interesting fan theories out there. Come along on the ride with us, but just don’t talk about Squall in the past tense.
Now you’re up to speed! From the whole team at Final Fantasy Union, thank you for subscribing. Please let us know what you think of our coverage, and what you’d like to see covered in our weekly installments. As ever, if you’ve enjoyed our work, please share it with your friends!
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Until next time, kupo!