Final Fantasy Community

Final Fantasy XIV Teases New Expansion, Upgrades Free Trial, and Comes Soon to Switch 2

2026-04-24T22:24:08Z

Posted by: althea_valara

I'm going to try to put this under category spoilers, so those that don't want to read about a certain thing won't have to. I'm also going to TRY not to use the name of the expansion except for in the first spoiler, but I profusely apologize if I miss editing it out elsewhere.

First: the last announcement which is also a big one: the game will be coming to Switch 2. There's still testing to be done, but it sounds like the anticipated launch date is August of this year.

Second: The free trial is being upgraded to include the entirety of the Shadowbringers expansion. I am SO EXCITED for all my Free Trial friends, because Shadowbringers is +chef's kiss+.

Now, onto the spoilers:

New Expansion name and its theme, plus anticipated release date

Let's start with the Teaser Trailer for the next expansion of the game. Version 8.0 has been named Evercold, and will be bringing us to the 4th reflection come January 2027. Here's the teaser:

We've been told that the Fourth is a world ravaged by ice, but many of the screenshots and concept art we saw suspiciously lacked any such ice--something Producer Naoki Yoshida and his translator Christopher Koji Fox were eager to point out.

Dawntrail was the start of a new story arc for Final Fantasy XIV, and it firmly takes root with Evercold. This arc's theme has now been revealed as the "Godless Realms Saga".

New (non-playable, I think) race

Also teased was a look at one of the new races, a bipedal, short-statured cat-like race. Definitely more cat-like than the existing Mi'qote and Hrothgar. I am pretty sure these are NOT playable at this time, but I was busy taking notes... pretty sure it's just a race we'll meet.

Upgrades to gear progression system

The main theme going forward is "Bringing the game to the next level". They talked about the stagnation of doing the same thing over and over, such as farming tomestones, along with accounting for player feedback and the shifting gameplay styles of today's players and current lifestyes. Their aim is the build on systems they already have, but evolve them into something fresh and exciting.

One of the biggest changes will be to the tomestone system. Currently, it features daily rewards and encourages players to log in daily for max benefit. Going forward, the game will be shifting to a weekly reward system, along with two completely new user interfaces.

In the first interface, you'll get a list of weekly missions to accomplish. These can be duties or other activities in game. Some will only be allowed to run once during that week, such as Main Scenario Quests; other activities will be repeatable. Succeeding in a mission gets you activity points.

The second interface is a new gear upgrade system. Although it wasn't entirely clear from the images and explanations, it sounds like you'll be able to use your activity points in this new interface to upgrade your gear.

There's been feedback from the players over the current tomestone system and feeling left out if a player could not reach the 450 tomestone weekly cap. The developers are taking this into consideration, and may implement the ability to return to the previous week's missions in this new system--provided all missions for the current week have been cleared.

Shift in update release schedule

Also announced: the move to a "Season" system of upgrades. Before anyone panics, this is NOT a new subscription fee, but rather just a way of grouping like content to be released, with the aim of having more frequent updates so there is less of a lull between patches.

Job Leveling & iLevel changes

The job system will also be getting some changes. While there will still be the ability to level all jobs separately (up to the new level 110 cap), there will now be a system where you can "reflect" your highest iLevel gear onto a different job. This means that if want to join a Savage raid but do not have the job you need leveled yet, you'll still be able to go provided you have at least one job at the iLevel requirements. Additionally, this will lessen the need to gear out several jobs, although those options will still be available for players who enjoy doing so.

Action glam, perhaps?

There's also a new "character action skins" system, that sounds like players will be able to choose between different stylized actions for certain abilities. Unfortunately, we have to wait for Berlin's Fan Fest for more info on this. It sounded to me like... glamming your abilities so you can be more flashy, but they really didn't say much about it.

Character Creation Customizations upgrades

Additionally--and to much cheering--upgrades to the character creation customizations were announced, including color pickers for eye color, hair color, and skin tone, as well as shadowing around the eyes and layering of facial paint. There will also be an option to toggle on/off pieces of gear-not the entire piece but a subset of it. An example was shown of heavy armor that had its pauldrons, sash, and skirt removed. Another example showed the Isle Explorer's gear without its backpack.

NEW JOBS!

As expected, two new jobs are coming with this expansion. These will be a tank and a physical ranged DPS, and both are unique to Final Fantasy XIV. No hints of what the DPS might be, but as for the tank: producer Yoshi-P showed off his t-shirt which featured Rhitahtyn, the former enemy who uses two shields.

Battle system changes

Along with the new jobs is an overhaul of the job system in its entirety. They are introducing two new "modes". The 21 non-limited battle jobs available through Dawntrail will have access to the Reborn Mode, which is pretty much the actions and rotations we're used to but with some tweaks. Along with Reborn Mode, they are introducing Evolved Mode, which will simplify button press combinations while featuring the individuality of each job. Reborn and Evolved Mode will be available for the 21 jobs that exist today, and you'll be able to freely switch between modes outside of combat. Starting with this expansion, all new jobs released will only feature Evolved Mode. It was stressed that this mode is NOT to be considered an "easy mode", but will still be challenging to play. Care will be taken so that both modes can freely clear all content, but some content might be easier with one mode or the other.

Quality of Life and other shorter updates

Next, they announced some quality-of-life updates. One goal is to improve player experience in field areas, like more dynamic content so you can truly master those areas - while also working on making sure areas remain stable, aka no issues with too many debuffs crashing the servers. They're also going to add even more guidance to questing, with more info on this coming in Berlin.

Some quicker updates include:

Treasure Hunts, FATEs, and the Hunt are all sticking around with new updates - looking to evolve though to make them more interesting. An example was less FATEs popping in a zone but with more dynamic content for completion.

Instanced Dungeons will number about the same as in past expansions. They showed concept art for four currently in development.

There will be new gear and crafting recipes, as expected.

New threats - some vague concept art was shown, but they stressed they couldn't show us too much because of spoilers.

Theme for the 8-player raid to be released in Berlin

There will be PVP Updates, but not detailed

Duty Support System will be updated in 8.0. People are asking for option to enter dungeons in pairs - more details coming in Berlin

Normal Raid Tiers announcement

Other bigger announcements include a new tier of the 8-person raids. Currently, players clear Normal raids about 85% of the time, and Savage about 20%. The developers feel this is too big a discrepancy, so they will be introducing a third tier falling between Normal and Savage. The goal is to allow more players access to gear progression but still keep the challenge for the hard-core players.

Alliance Raid Theme Announcement

The theme for the Alliance Raids has been announced - it's a crossover with Evangelion, tentatively titled "Ghosts of Desire". Unfortunately I had to go pee during this so I missed most of the info on it. Hey, it was a LONG keynote!

System Requirements

The only system requirements update announced is the phasing out of PlayStation 4 around patch 8.3. We were told we still have two years to save up for a PlayStation 5. The developers worked hard with Sony to make Evercold playable on PS4 at launch, but they are running out of hard disk space for the game, so going forward PlayStation players will need a PS5.

Changes to queueing system and Party Finder

Players will now be matched REGION-WIDE, so folks will no longer be limited to matching on their logical data centers only. So all of North America can be matched with each other. This applies to Party Finder as well.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaand I think that's everything!

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Final Fantasy Kiss Battle is back for 2026!

2026-02-13T15:48:43Z

Posted by: althea_valara

FINAL FANTASY KISS BATTLE 2026
FINAL FANTASY KISS BATTLE 2026
FINAL FANTASY KISS BATTLE 2026

Yes, that's right, the Kiss Battle is back! The premise is simple: folks leave a prompt, others fill those prompts. The fill MUST include a kiss of some kind - your interpretation of what that means is open! And this is not just for fanfic - fan art is welcome, too!

COME PLAY WITH US!

FINAL FANTASY KISS BATTLE 2026
FINAL FANTASY KISS BATTLE 2026
FINAL FANTASY KISS BATTLE 2026

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FFXV Fandom Event Round Up - August Edition

2025-08-15T14:10:22Z

Posted by: reclaimingvox

Happy Mid-August everyone, sorry for posting again but wanted to update y'all! Here's a round up of the ffxv fandom events going on and coming up that I hope y'all don't mind me sharing. FFXV Zine News (Bsky is the best resource for people to use for up to date news as the lovely mod there reblogs news constantly. If anybody knows of any others please let me know?

( FFXV Fandom Events )

I'm not as up to date with FFVII news but here's one which I know is coming up.

//FF7 Fandom Event//
Strifesodos Week - October 6th - 12th (Ao3 Collection)

//Zines//
Final Fantasy Gents Zine - Preorders Open until September 7th (Bsky, X)

Have a happy Rest of Summer! 💚

(X-posted to ffxv & finalfantasy)

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FFXV Fandom Events

2025-06-23T13:33:56Z

Posted by: reclaimingvox

Hiya! My name's Meadz and I'm new to the comm. FFVII was my first game back when it came out (yes I'm old) and FFXV is my primary fandom these days. On that note I hope y'all don't mind me promoting some fandom events in the FFXV coming up?

( FFXV Fandom Events )

It's lovely meeting y'all!

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I hope this is allowed

2025-06-08T02:37:09Z

Posted by: grimmrow

Name: S.C
Age: 30+
How you got into the FF games: I played the Pizza Hut Demo of FFVIII. Best. Time. Ever.
Fave female char: usually all of them, there's no one I don't like but have a soft spot for Tifa Lockhart, Selphie Tilmitt, Aerith Gainsborough, Lightning Farron, Yuna, and Rinoa Heartilly.
Fave male char: I love them all, but have a soft spot for Seifer Almasy, Zack Fair, Reno and Cloud Strife.
Fave all time char: All of them darn it.

so, I'm offering commissions for final fantasy (and kingdom hearts) fanfic. I'm looking for patreon subscriptions or dreamwidth points (preferred to be honest) I love a lot popular FF fandoms, but also other fandoms. However I won't mention what other ones here. so, if you could head over to this post I'd appreciate it. You don't have to pay me dreamwidth points until the fanfic itself is completed.

I'm hoping to build back up a writing habit and hone my writing skills like I used to have awhile back. Eventually after many Final Fantasy and other fics, I'll be ready to write and publish an original novel. ^_____^

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TACTICS TACTICS TACTICS TACTICS TACTICS

2025-06-04T22:31:44Z

Posted by: althea_valara

Yes, Final Fantasy Tactics is coming to multiple platforms on September 30th!

Caves of Narshe news article: https://www.cavesofnarshe.com/news/article/its-finally-here-the-ivalice-chronicles/

Square Enix official blog: https://www.square-enix-games.com/en_US/news/final-fantasy-tactics-the-ivalice-chronicles

There will be a collector's box full of goodies.

I am very hyped, because I have long wanted to play Tactics but lacked a method to do so (I do own the iOS version, but my phone is small and I can't see it.) I'm just trying to decide which platform to get it on. I could do PS5, original Switch, or Steam. DECISIONS!

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Alphinaud meets Alphinaud!

2025-05-23T21:44:53Z

Posted by: althea_valara

I've posted about this before, last year but it bears posting about again now since there's a whole PC Gamer article about it: Colin Ryan, the English voice actor for Alphinaud in FFXIV, has been streaming the game over the past year (with a few months break to be on stage). Last weekend, he finished patch 2.55 of A Realm Reborn and started Heavensward, which means he heard himself in game for the first time. His reaction? ADORABLE:

I've caught most of his streams live, and I gotta say they are well worth watching. As a voice actor, he knows SOME of the story but not all of it, and it's a delight to see him put two and two together and something suddenly makes sense to him.

You can watch him on Twitch at https://twitch.tv/iamalphinaud

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three-year Square Enix "reboot" thoughts?

2025-05-15T01:51:35Z

Posted by: althea_valara

So Square Enix has announced plans to sorta "reboot" the company over the next three years, here's an article:

https://gameranx.com/updates/id/538134/article/square-enix-outlines-plans-for-a-three-year-reboot-and-it-includes-cancelling-games/

There are several key takeaways:

The plan is to focus on "Quality, not quantity".

Because of this, some games in the works have been cancelled. I haven't heard of any Final Fantasy-related titles being cancelled, but the Kingdom Hearts Missing Link mobile game has been abandoned.

It sounds like they are going to explore multiplatform releases.

I'm cautiously optimistic about these plans. I'd much rather have an excellent game than have a release for a release's sake. I also think multiplatform might be a good direction to go in. I mean, I'm very happy with my PS5 because it has more games I'm interested in than an Xbox X|S does, but (a) I did largely buy the PS5 so I could play FFXVI at launch with all my friends, (b) more fans of Final Fantasy could only be a GOOD thing IMO, so bring on the multi-platform!

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Kiss Battle? Kiss Battle!

2025-02-17T15:47:45Z

Posted by: althea_valara

FINAL FANTASY KISS BATTLE 2025

Come play with us!

This is a prompt challenge where all fills must have some kind of kiss in them. It's always fun to see what people come up with for prompts, and the fills in past years have been wonderful. Come join the party!

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finalfantasy @ 2025-01-19T18:47:00

2025-01-20T02:54:23Z

Posted by: cielsosinfel

Hello, hello, first time posting here!

I just read an amazing article (from about a month ago, but I didn't see it shared here) about the effort to reverse-engineer and preserve the Japan-exclusive 2004~2007 mobile game, Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII (one of the earliest spin-offs Squenix launched as part of its Compilation of FFVII project, focused on the Turks.) It seems like the project is currently on pause, though it sounds like they got a significant chunk of the game running already!

The Before Crisis crisis: How hackers are rebuilding the lost Final Fantasy VII mobile game piece by tiny piece

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Phoenix Down - A Final Fantasy Exchange

2025-01-10T10:14:56Z

Posted by: phoenixdown_mod

Link: DW comm || AO3 collection || Tagset

Description: Phoenix Down is an exchange for all Final Fantasy fandoms, open to fic writers and artists alike.

Schedule:
Nominations open: 14th Feb 9PM UTC
Nominations close: 21st Feb 9PM UTC
Signups open: 22nd Feb 9PM UTC
Signups close: 1st March 9PM UTC
Assignments due: 9th April 9PM UTC
Collection reveals: 16th April 9PM UTC
Authors reveals: 23rd April 9PM UTC

Changes for 2025

Minimum work requirements are one complete fanfic of at least 500 words, or one nice sketch of original art, digital or traditional, on clean, unlined paper.
The tagset has been carried over from the 2024 round

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Final Fantasy XIV Mobile game announced!

2024-11-20T04:06:43Z

Posted by: althea_valara

What the title says. *points upward* And here's the official trailer. *points downward*

Official News post on FFXIV's Lodestone Site

Here's the official site but it appears to be slammed right now.

My opinion? Cautiously excited. I have played mobile games in the past and loved them, including Star Ocean: Anamnesis which was a multi-player mobile gacha. I really enjoyed that one, for the most part, and had some really good times excelling at battles in it. But then, I also had some really horrible times trying the hardest challenges and throwing my hands in the air when people sent stickers telling me off for how I was playing.

That was a few years ago, and I'm sure mobile games have changed now so it will be interesting to see just what they do with this one.

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Heads up, Dawntrail Fans! VAs come to Chicago!

2024-10-22T22:20:12Z

Posted by: althea_valara

EDIT: I just checked the con's guest list, and GUESS WHAT? Javier Prusky, the voice of Bakool Ja Ja, will be attending as well! 😍 TWO GREAT VOICE ACTORS, ONE CONVENTION.

Original post:

Sena Bryer, who plays Wuk Lamat in Final Fantasy XIV's Dawntrail expansion, will be coming to Chicago for Con Alt Delete, an anime convention happening December 20th to 22nd this year!

Link to her Bsky post

Con Alt Delete's website

I haven't been to a convention in ages. I may try to catch this one, because I love what Sena did with Wuk Lamat. Thought I'd pass the word on, in case anyone else is interested!

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FFXII WEEK

2024-08-11T20:00:35Z

Posted by: sleepyquail

Links: Tumblr | ao3 collection
Description: A week long fan event for FFXII!
-> x3 sets of prompts per day
-> art, fanfic, meta, gifs, edits, playlists, everything welcome!
-> no rules, feel free to interpret the prompts any way you wish

Schedule: 9th-15th September

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"Tour Tural" website launched!

2024-06-26T20:36:49Z

Posted by: althea_valara

HEY WARRIORS OF LIGHT! Are you finding yourself restless, bored, and lost while FFXIV is in its long maintenance? Well, check this out:

https://tourtural.finalfantasyxiv.com/

It's full of fun stuff to read, and is sure to bring a smile while we wait... and wait... and impatiently wait... for Dawntrail to launch.

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Phoenixdown Exchange - 2 Pinch Hits needed ASAP

2024-04-17T11:19:53Z

Posted by: phoenixdown_mod

phoenixdown_ex is a fic and art exchange for all Final Fantasy fandoms.
We are currently needing 2 PHs to open the collection on time. The deadline for those pinch hits is April 18th, 9 AM UTC (countdown) (extensions negotiable)

PH#3 - Final Fantasy V (art, fic), Final Fantasy XII (art, fic), Final Fantasy XVI (art, fic)

PH#8 - Compilation of Final Fantasy VII (art, fic), Final Fantasy VII Remake (art, fic), Final Fantasy XVI (art, fic), Vagrant Story (art, fic), Final Fantasy XV (art, fic)

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Colin Ryan is playing FFXIV!

2024-04-17T01:55:31Z

Posted by: althea_valara

Yes, you heard that right: Colin Ryan, the English voice actor of Alphinaud in Final Fantasy XIV, is now playing the game himself--and streaming it! His first stream was yesterday! I watched most of it, and it was sheer and utter delight.

Here's his channel: https://www.twitch.tv/iamalphinaud

And here's an adorable clip of him reacting to the Scions of the Seventh Dawn reveal in Ul'dah.

He was obviously having a great time and really enjoying the story, which made him a joy to watch. I figured I'd post here in case anybody else was interested in watching him too!

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New TCG looking for deckmakers and mods!

2024-03-17T01:59:36Z

Posted by: tally

Hi all! I'm posting about a new video game community here on Dreamwidth!

Is anyone familiar with virtual trading card games? There's colors_tcg on Dreamwidth for example, and there are games like Sakura and Sidequest on their own sites!

But what I really wanted was a video game TCG here on Dreamwidth...so I've been making one! The community is at ggtcg and we've got a nice website up and running. Feel free to poke around!

We're not open yet though...what I'm looking for are mods and deckmakers!

I thought to ask here in particular for deckmaking! As we don't have any Final Fantasy decks yet! And ideally we'd want a decent variety of decks before we open. :D

And of course, if anyone wants to do more than make decks, we'll also need more general mods! Mods do stuff like the following:

running services like masteries, currency shop, level ups, etc.
running the weekly and biweekly games
modding the discord (if we decide we want one)

If you're interested in making decks, or maybe being a mod, or just want to ask some questions, feel free to join the mod community at ggtcg_mods where we can all talk together and do some planning!

( I'll put some details on the game under the cut! )

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Phoenix Down (A Final Fantasy Exchange) - Nominations Open!

2024-02-15T03:28:56Z

Posted by: phoenixdown_mod

Nominations are now open for phoenixdown_ex! You can nominate here on AO3!

Nominations will stay open until February 22, 2024, 9PM UTC (countdown)

The guidelines on how to nominate can be found here.

Any queries regarding nominations will be posted to the dreamwidth community.

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New FFVII Rebirth trailer from The Game Awards

2023-12-10T10:41:23Z

Posted by: winter_doggo

Definitely some interesting moments in there :]

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DFFOO announcements

2023-11-29T04:53:02Z

Posted by: ajora

Hi, I don't know who plays DFFOO here, but it's shuttering at the end of February of next year in both GL and JP versions.

Info: Twitter announcement

Announcement posted from Joshua from SE Global in the DFFOO discord server

Just thought fellow players should know.

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A new Final Fantasy exchange for fanworks is coming in 2024

2023-11-27T20:50:38Z

Posted by: phoenixdown_mod

Link: DW comm|| AO3 collection

Phoenix Down is an upcoming fic and art exchange for all fandoms in the Final Fantasy franchise.

Full schedule under the cut:
( Read more... )

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So This Happened (Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis)

2023-11-24T04:31:23Z

Posted by: kalloway

Ever Crisis is having a collab with FFIX right now, with one of the draw bonuses being really great costumes.

Including a young Sephiroth in a Kuja-inspired rig.

( more under the cut )

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a bevy of VII Rebirth news ~

2023-09-15T04:42:47Z

Posted by: taichara

Because boy howdy did Squenix drop a pile of details, screencaps, interview and a shiny new trailer today ahaha ~

Articles:

FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH launch date and preorders revealed!

A closer look at FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: developer interview reveals fresh gameplay details as new trailer debuts at State of Play

And the fresh new 3 minute trailer, packed with Some Shit[tm] if I do say so myself:

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(icons) final fantasy vii: ever crisis

2023-08-28T03:52:11Z

Posted by: tinkaton

30 Final Fantasy VII icons (Ever Crisis Artwork)
Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Aerith, Red XIII, Zack
larger icons (250 x 250 px) can be found on my tumblr

here @ tidemakers

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