At the opening keynote for the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival in Frankfurt, Germany, director Naoki Yoshida revealed enough new information about the upcoming Stormblood expansion to make anyone’s head spin. Details revealed include the dynamic new opening theme for Stormblood titled “ Revolution,” the new Samurai job class, a new city called Kugane, a new area called Othard and even a new housing district, Shirogane.
Previously, Yoshida explained, “The main concept is getting Ala Mhigo back into Eorzean control from the Garlean empire.” Now we get to see some of the details on how and where that will be happening. And it turns out Ala Mhigo is not the only city that needs our help: Doma needs help as well.
Trailer
First things first, check out the jaw-dropping cinematic trailer for Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood below:
The trailer shows a duel between the Warrior of Light and the Lady in Red, zooming in and out of stunning visuals that reveal the epic cliffside on which they fight. Later we get a look at the world map where we are drawn east towards the continent of Othard, specifically the new city of Kugane.
In Kugane, we see members of the occupying Garlean Empire chase down a samurai, a new job class revealed today. The camera pans out to reveal a hawk flying up to Yugiri, who is in the company of a samurai named Gosetsu. Yugiri will be returning as a major character in Stormblood. As for Gosetsu, we’ll be introduced to him in Patch 3.5: The Far Edge of Fate – Part II in March.
Now that the world map has been expanded to show all Three Great Continents, with Aldenard to the west, Ilsabard to the north and Othard to the east, the expanded map will be included in the Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood Collector’s Edition.
Also, Nobuo Uematsu is back to compose the main theme, “Revolutions.” According to Uematsu, the song is more powerful than “Answers” and “Dragonsong” and is meant to represent both the weakness and strength of humanity. Susan Calloway will be returning to sing the expansion’s theme.
Samurai Job Class
Samurai is a melee DPS that uses katana to fight. There will be no associated class to level beforehand, same as in the Heavensward jobs, and like Red Mage, you begin at Level 50.
Samurai will “single-handedly deal massive damage” using “Iai” techniques and other methods of traditional Far Eastern swordsmanship. Abilities include mastery of the three forces of “Sen”: “Setsu” (Snow), “Getsu” (Moon), and “Ka” (Flower). Samurai store energy in their katana and unleash it in special attacks.
Samurai job quests will begin in Eorzean areas, just like the Red Mage. This means players can unlock this job before they reach the new expansion content. According to Gamer Escape, there will be no third job class for this expansion.
In-game animations for the samurai are below:
New City: Kugane
Kugane is a port town located on the island chain of Hingashi, in the Far Eastern areas of Eorzea. While references have been made to Hingashi in past games, this is the first time players can visit a city in that land. Kugane is only open to trade vessels and violent acts within town walls are strictly prohibited. The reasons for Kugane’s strict isolationist policy have yet to be disclosed.
Check out footage of the new city, Kugane, below:
New Residential Area: Shirogane
Shirogane is the next housing district in Stormblood. It won’t be immediately available to players, however, because the team wants players to focus on combat and story before fiddling with housing plots. However, they do plan to add plots in the new area and a feature that allows you to move your current estate to the new Shirogane district.
On top of that, players can enjoy twice as many furnishings in their estate, whether it be small, medium or large. However, those still using a 32-bit operating system may not see all the furnishings.
Check out footage of the new residential area, Shirogane:
New Areas: Othard
Oh boy, oh boy. The new areas in Othard look incredible. We get to check out The Ruby Sea, a wide inland sea rife with pirate activity that also happens to be where the Kojin beast tribe live.
The Kojin are traders who will deal with everyone and basically just rock out collecting treasures with powerful deities, believing that unique gods reside in all things and enjoying the results of their skilled mercantile efforts. The Kojin revere one god above all others: The Lord of the Revel, Susano, who is an original primal like Ravana and not a summon from another Final Fantasy game.
We also saw new dungeons (including one Yoshida commented looked like a ship graveyard) and an area called Yangxia where Doma is located.
This is one of the cities players will liberate in Stormblood. Another new location is the Azim Steppe, a wide plain where the Au Ra tribes live.
Check out footage of new areas to explore in Othard:
Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood has a release date of June 20th for Windows PC, Mac and PlayStation 4. Square Enix will end PS3 support for Final Fantasy XIV once Stormblood releases. Are you excited for all the Stormblood goodies we’ve just been gifted? Feel free to discuss the new Stormblood reveals in our comment section below.
