Final Fantasy 14 Has Taken A Big Step Toward Being Solo Friendly

Closing Fantasy 14’s newest replace, Rising Gentle, sees the conclusion not simply to the epic Endwalker storyline, but in addition to some of the formidable tasks the event workforce has undertaken prior to now few years. Due to mentioned challenge, gamers can now solo each necessary dungeon alongside Closing Fantasy 14’s foremost story.

Sadly, that doesn’t fairly imply one can play via the whole lot of the story with out having to sometimes group up with different gamers.

What You Can (and Can’t) Solo in Closing Fantasy 14

Ever because the begin of the Shadowbringers enlargement, there’s been an ongoing challenge to make it so that you could workforce up with a celebration of NPCs as an alternative of gamers to beat each required dungeon in Final Fantasy 14‘s foremost storyline. As of Patch 6.5: Growing Light, this has been accomplished, with all 54 of the sport’s necessary 4-player dungeons now solo-able.

That is nice information for individuals who love world-class RPGs however are much less keen on multiplayer video games. If, nonetheless, you’ve heard which you can now play via your entire story of Closing Fantasy 14 solo, that’s not completely true. There are nonetheless a number of 8-person trials all through every of the sport’s expansions, and so they all require you to group with different gamers.

The sport additionally has three necessary 24-person raids to take care of, and it’s value declaring that the solo-friendly dungeons are solely ones which are a part of the principle story. Whereas that’s nonetheless 300+ hours of content material, there are nonetheless a great deal of dungeons which are a part of the sport’s facet quests — a lot of that are simply as important to FF14’s lore as the principle story.

Ought to Gamers Be In a position To Play Closing Fantasy 14’s Whole Principal Story Solo?

The primary story of most MMOs may be performed completely solo nowadays, and given how Closing Fantasy 14’s narrative has been so lauded over the previous few years, it’s little surprise the workforce at Sq. Enix would finally make their recreation much less reliant on having to workforce up with others.

The genre-wide transfer to accommodate gamers who don’t wish to partake in group-based content material is a considerably contentious one. Does it dilute the MMO expertise? Eh, arguably. However Closing Fantasy 14 has at all times been extra of a themepark than a sandbox, so it’s a recreation that’s completely suited to solo-friendly programs.

There’s at all times going to be an urge for food for contemporary Closing Fantasy tales, however that fandom may not essentially really feel comfy with having to group up with different gamers. Getting chucked into a gaggle with a bunch of randoms may be anxiousness inducing, and becoming a member of a guild can include its personal set of pressures.

At worst, these gamers can now play via (most of) Closing Fantasy 14’s foremost story in their very own completely happy little nook of Eorzea, blissfully ignoring everybody else round them. They don’t want to fret about letting down their dungeon group in the event that they mess up throughout a boss struggle, and if their playtime is restricted, they will bounce out and in when they need and benefit from the story at their very own tempo.

At greatest, they may come to really feel comfy within the recreation in any case and combine themselves extra brazenly into the group. Some may argue that preserving at the very least the principle story’s 8-person trials as group-only content material would assist funnel them into this, however certainly a participant will in the end select themselves whether or not or not they’re going to go down that path. Would it not not be extra helpful for Sq. Enix to have the ability to promote Closing Fantasy 14 as fully solo-able with none concessions?

Let the gamers come of their tens of millions.

Why Closing Fantasy 14’s Solo-Pleasant Future Is Nice for Everybody

Personally, I’m a giant fan of the Obligation Help system’s implementation in Closing Fantasy 14.

It values my time, and the NPC AI is strong. My response occasions aren’t the very best, so figuring out that I can simply keep on high of certainly one of my NPC teammates to keep away from assaults as an alternative of getting to maintain observe of the whole lot else taking place on the display is a boon.

If nothing else, it’s a a lot better means of studying a dungeon’s mechanics than watching a YouTube information or dying repeatedly in a gaggle. Some evenings I simply wish to play the sport by myself; listening to a podcast whereas I grind out the sport’s all-important endgame currencies. Obligation Help solely provides to the sport, taking nothing away within the course of.

Plus, from a enterprise perspective, it’s a transfer that is sensible. Opening the sport as much as an entire new viewers forward of the Xbox launch is a smart determination, and with the Dawntrail enlargement set to kick off an entire new story arc for the primary time in 10 years, why not make the sport as engaging as attainable to the widest pool of potential gamers?

Certain, these solo gamers may not be actively contributing to the in-game group. But when their subscription charge helps to maintain the sport alive and kicking for one more decade, then that’s a plus for everybody.

Now which you can solo all of the dungeons in the principle story, it appears solely pure that growth will transfer on to creating the sport’s different necessary group content material solo-able subsequent. It’s not been introduced but, however I’ve bought my fingers crossed that this can start in subsequent yr’s Dawntrail expansion. Till then, there’s by no means been a greater time to leap into Closing Fantasy 14.

Have solo dungeons satisfied you to take a look at the sport? You should definitely learn our top 10 tips for beginners information to get you off on the correct foot. Don’t neglect to additionally tell us how you’re feeling in regards to the recreation’s implementation of future solo content material within the feedback part down under.

In regards to the writer

James Crosby

James is a contract author for Twinfinite, usually protecting new releases and dwell service titles. He has been writing about MMOs since 2015, and has printed a ebook about Star Wars Galaxies.