Final Fantasy XIV Patch 7.3 The Promise of Tomorrow impressions — In Memoria

Even though I enjoyed Dawntrail, I’ve been pretty negative about the patches so far. Part of that, admittedly, was burnout on the game and life in general. However, I do stand by my opinion that the game hasn’t had much direction after Endwalker’s finale. It’s been throwing a lot at the wall to see what sticks, and while some of it has none of it has felt fully cooked, to continue the food metaphor. This goes for both the story and the gameplay, as the former has been meandering and unfocused while the latter is either too general to appeal to anyone or so focused on a single subsect everyone else gets left behind. We had that weird tangent with Koana before diving back into Alexandria’s relationship with death, and a lot of hardcore raids before the focus shifted to this expansion’s weapon grind with Occult Crescent. It’s been a weird time to play Final Fantasy XIV, but, having played through the latest patch, things are finally looking a bit brighter.

To be honest, the Final Fantasy IX references have been what’s carrying me through the post-Dawntrail MSQ so far. I liked new Sphene, Wuk Lamat is still great, and Calyx was a fun villain to hate, but I really wasn’t invested in any of the goings on. Thankfully, 7.3 starts off strong and keeps that momentum through to the end, taking what was some pretty weak buildup and instead using it to get at the heart of this plotline: the characters. The Scions are here, but they’re not the focus; it’s all about Sphene growing back into her role as the queen, Wuk Lamat’s promise to Endless Sphene and her fervor in serving her people, and the pair’s thematic opposition in Calyx. Throw in the Necron section of Final Fantasy IX’s finale but again for good measure and you’ve got yourself a pretty interesting tale. Despite not being invested in events prior to this patch, I found it quite compelling. The cutscene direction feels like a step up from what we usually see, with a healthy amount of Depth of Field, tons of voice acting, and some great, bespoke animations.

The dungeon and trial are both excellent as well, though that’s an area Dawntrail has never really failed in. I think they’ve found a good sweet spot of complex mechanics and allowing you the time and space to figure out what they do before combining them. It’s never overwhelming, but still challenging. I especially loved the second dungeon boss, which splits the party up to fight four bosses individually, something I don’t think the game has ever done before. 

Before the dungeon though is where the real highlight of the patch is. There’s a small instance where you’re investigating a facility, and you get to solve a series of puzzles to progress! There’s a surprising variety to them too despite the limited methods of interaction. There are plenty of hints, highlighted in red text, if you need a bit of help too. I would love to see more of this in quests in the future, it’s a ton of fun.

Outside of the MSQ, the second part of the Final Fantasy XI crossover Alliance Raid series is here. I found the raid itself to be back on the overwhelming and difficult side of things, but that could just be due to the number of players. The fights themselves are interesting, and I was able to figure out most of the mechanics at least. Having now played a bit of XI, it’s cool to see locations from that game in higher fidelity with XIV, particularly the main square of San d’Oria. I also appreciated the voice acting, as it can be difficult to read dialogue and pay attention to the fight at the same time. Still, I’m enjoying the story and it’s a nice reminder that I really do need to go back to XI at some point.

There’s also Inconceivably Further Hildebrand Adventures, which is once again hilarious sprinkling just enough out-there comedy and slapstick to be entertaining without being overdone. Nashu and detective Hardboiled make for a fun pair this time around, especially with the Warrior of Light getting in on the wacky action and gags. As always it’s basically just a series of cutscenes, but it’s fun.

Outside of quests and other content, there’s been a big update. Something I’ve been complaining about for a long time, something very important. Hats! I’ve been harping on the fact that Viera couldn’t wear most headgear for over five years and finally, finally my prayers have been answered… kinda. A ton of hats and other headwear will now show up on Viera and Hrothgar characters, but not everything. Viera also have the option of an ear toggle, as in if their bunny ears will still show up when wearing hats, but some hats will hide the ears regardless. This includes one of my favorites, the Non La, which is a bit disappointing. I will say, this does feel like too little too late for Viera given that it took them around the same amount of time to even be added to the game in the first place, but I do appreciate that the developers took the time and effort to do this. 

The hats that do work look great, especially with the added feature of bangs now showing up on certain headgear (which works for all races). I used the free Fantasia included in this patch - available from a moogle in Old Gridania - to switch to Hrothgar, and hats look great on them too. I hope eventually everyone can have all the hats and that it doesn’t take another half a decade, but baby steps. Maybe someday we’ll have all the hairstyles too.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with Patch 7.3 during this month’s free login campaign. After a lengthy period of burnout I feel ready to enjoy the game again. It certainly helps that the MSQ felt a lot tighter this time and that there’s a slightly larger variety of things to do. I’m still not exactly sure where the story is going, but I can see a bright future once more.