Patch 7.4 has entered Final Fantasy XIV and brought some exciting new features. And one new content is so good that MeinMMO editor Alex simply can’t get enough.
What content are we talking about? With Patch 7.4, the raid series of Dawntrail around the Arkadion came to an end in Solution Nine. The last 4 new raids were introduced and are definitely impressive. As a long-time extreme raider, I naturally had to jump in on patch day to see what awaits us in January when the hard modes become available.
So: Grabbed the raid group and off we went! And we were anything but disappointed. Because what unfolded before us in the next 2 hours was a pure fireworks display of emotions and fun. So much so that after our first run, we had to jump in again, even though we had already collected the weekly rewards, and we realized: These raids definitely rank among the best in the MMORPG.
You can also get a brief impression of the raids in the trailer:
A successful finale for the Arkadion
What was our experience? Already in the first of the four new raids, we noticed the rocking and captivating new soundtrack. Raids in FF14 often have really good music, but the new tracks resonated with us even more than the previous ones. They represent one of the great strengths of this raid tier.
This impression continued in Raids 2 – 4 and culminated in a song that is currently stuck in my head and plays on loop alongside my work. Because in Raid 4 you can listen to the song ‘Everything Burns’, which was created in collaboration with Tom Morello, the guitarist of the band ‘Rage Against the Machine’.
You can listen to the song here:
The drive generated by the music also continues in the fight design and mechanics. The fights are fast, chaotic, snappy, and yes, they forgive little mistakes. Casual players may encounter some difficulties here, but nothing that can’t be mastered with a little patience and brainstorming.
Familiar formulas cleverly wrapped
The mechanics are, as always, based on the well-trodden, typical FF14 formula – however, they are wrapped and combined so cleverly that they feel fresh and new. Every fight had so many moments where we simply had to laugh, felt overwhelmed, and yes – even had to literally tank the floor collectively to restart the whole thing multiple times. A situation that hasn’t happened to us in several years.
The previous raids in the Arkadion were good and fun, but not more or less than, for example, the Eden series from Shadowbringers or the Pandaemonium from Endwalker. From our perspective, they were simply solid, with a slightly higher level of difficulty than before.
However, these last four raids of Dawntrail surprised us so positively that they have brought back the motivation and passion for the game that had somewhat faded during the expansion.
Just this achievement leads us to almost call the new raids the best in the game. Added to this are the really well-executed and fun concept, the very different arenas and designs, and the rocking soundtrack.
But the patch also brought some new features that are slowly but surely bringing back the fun of the game. For example, it is now possible to combine the armor pieces of all classes and glamor them over the equipped gear, so it feels like there are endlessly new possibilities for cool outfits.
Additionally, a strategy board for groups was introduced to facilitate planning for challenging content. Whether we will use it for our savage raids in the future remains to be seen. Yesterday, we primarily used it during waiting times to play chess or Tic-Tac-Toe in giant format. Apparently, we were not alone in this, as some posts on x.com show.
Have you played the new raids as well? Are you as excited as we are? Feel free to share in the comments. For my part, I am relieved because my previous experience with Dawntrail was rather disappointing, and improvement is now slowly becoming apparent. Because before, I had to ensure that FF14 remained exciting for me: Final Fantasy XIV currently forces me to do something I haven’t had to do in nearly 10 years: I need to change my gameplay behavior
