Update 5.5: Death Unto Dawn
Update 5.5 will add the third chapter of the YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse, specifically the NieR-inspired alliance raid. The update, titled Death Unto Dawn, will be the first of two parts. Creators Yosuke Saito and YOKO TARO have been working closely with Square Enix the past year in bridging the material already in FF XIV with their fan favorite Nier: Automata. The new alliance raid will be The Tower at Paradigm’s Breach. The scenario of the raid will revolve around Fandaniel and Telephoroi’s attempt at recreating the Final Days using the aforementioned tower:
Watch the trailer in high res on YouTube: https://t.co/wmJehfHGXD pic.twitter.com/OzuRYOzYd1 — FINAL FANTASY XIV (@FF_XIV_EN) April 2, 2021 Other additions will be the Unreal Leviathan trial, continuation of Sorrow of Werly, and The Diamond Weapon Trial. Fans of the Final Fantasy franchise (particularly Final Fantasy VII) will recognize the latter as a nod to the infamous boss fight with Diamond Weapon, one of the hardest battles in the original FFVII. The Diamond Weapon Trial will take place on The Cloud Deck, with both Normal and Extreme difficulty choices. More implementation of the Trust System introduced in the Shadowbringers expansion will be added as well. This means more opportunities for team ups with NPCs, which is great news for players who prefer adventuring in FF XIV solo.
Playstation 5 and Other Minor Inclusions
Aside from the in-game story content, Final Fantasy XIV’s Update 5.5 will also bring with it the anticipated Playstation 5 open beta. Final Fantasy XIV Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida reported the player base for the game has reached 22 million and that they are looking forward to further increasing that number with the beta for the Playstation 5. The PS5 open beta will feature support for 4K HD resolution, DualSense haptic feedback, increased frame rates, and significant performance enhancements that would make it distinguishable from the PS4 version. Update 5.5 will also add improvements to high-level crafting, new special achievements, more options for Explorer Mode by allowing up to Level 70 dungeons for exploration, a new instrument for the Performance action, more mounts, and adjustments to Job Class skills. The full details of the changes will be released by Square Enix as the launch of Update 5.5 approaches.
Road To Endwalker?
Update 5.5 for Final Fantasy XIV seems to also hint at the direction the game will go with the upcoming expansion titled Endwalker. The Endwalker expansion will reportedly raise the level cap from 80 to 90 and bring new playable classes. Could the current iteration of the MMORPG version of the Final Fantasy franchise be making way for a brand new world? With Final Fantasy XIV just 2 years away from its 10th anniversary of Realm Reborn (which to many is the true sequel to Final Fantasy XI after the disastrous initial launch of Final Fantasy XIV), such speculation may not be far off. Final Fantasy XIV is available for play on Playstation 4 and Playstation 5, Mac, and Windows PC platforms. FF XIV Update 5.5 is scheduled to go live on April 13, 2021.
