Square Enix announced today that Final Fantasy XIV will get patch 5.4, called Futures Rewritten, in early December. And the publisher said the massively multiplayer online game will be backwards compatible on PS5, with faster load times as a result of the next-gen hardware’s faster SSD.
FFXIV will also apparently be able to make use of the PS4 Pro display settings when played on PS5. That’s not quite the next-gen upgrade that some games seem to be getting, but shorter load times will certainly come in handy for an MMO with as much globe-trotting as Final Fantasy XIV.
Meanwhile, the Futures Rewritten update adds a bunch of new stuff to the current Shadowbringers expansion, including a new main quest, the next chapter in the “ Sorrow of Werlyt” questline, and a new raid dungeon in the Eden raid series called Eden’s Promise.
Here are the patch’s other notable additions:
- Emerald Weapon added to time trials.
- New Matoya’s Relict dungeon that can be played as a group or solo.
- Unreal Trial for level 80 heroes with new prizes.
- Increased level cap, new equipment, and additional spells for the Blue Mage job.
- An Explorer Mode for travelling around the world and snapping pictures without having to worry about enemies.
- Violins will now be playable instruments.
- New limited -time Triple Triad tournaments.
- The completion of repairs to the Holy See of Ishgard.
- New 24 and 48-player battles as part of game designer Yasumi Matsuno’s ongoing Save The Queen scenario.
- Tweaks to PvE and PvP actions, Ocean Fishing, Doman Mahjong, and treasure hunt dungeons.
The latest chapter in the Save the Queen questline will arrive ahead of all this stuff on October 13, when patch 5.35 goes live. That patch will include a new battle and location to explore. It’s a lot. Despite some patch delays earlier in the year as a result of the covid-19 pandemic, it sounds like Final Fantasy XIV is set to finish out the year strong.