Since the end of the Stormblood expansion almost 3 years ago, many fans of Final Fantasy XIV have been waiting for the popular quest line featuring a crazy master detective to continue. However, there is no sign of it in Endwalker either. MeinMMO author Irina Moritz finds this very unfortunate.
Like almost all Japanese RPGs, Final Fantasy XIV has its silly moments. They serve to lighten the often overly serious atmosphere and give players a moment to breathe. Whether it involves helping drunken, swearing dwarves build tanks or smelling stinky Chocobos.
But none of them can match the delightful absurdity and delicious silliness of the Hildibrand quests. The quest line revolves around the infamous master detective Hildibrand Helidor Maximilian Manderville, who (sometimes more, sometimes less voluntarily) travels the land and (sometimes more, sometimes less independently) solves difficult cases.
He is accompanied by his loyal assistant Nashu Mhakaracca and plenty of bombs. Time and again, he crosses paths with our player characters and draws us into his adventures, which span the base game “A Realm Reborn” and the two expansions Heavensward and Stormblood.
Throughout the episodic stories, you also get to know the entire Manderville family, all of whom collectively have a screw loose:
As can easily be seen in the video, the quests are characterized by their quirky humor, slapstick, and exaggerated facial animations. They are essentially the comedy corner of FFXIV, where developers let loose and were able to write lots of nonsense from their souls.
The Hildibrand quests have been expanded with each addition, with new ridiculous adventures and rewards added. Sometimes the detective traveled to Ishgard, sometimes he ended up in Kugane.
But since the Shadowbringers expansion, which was released in July 2019, there has been no trace of new Hildibrand quests. Fans only received a small cameo appearance in the dungeon “Battle for Norvrand.”
Only when you’ve lost something do you realize it was important
You would think that a side quest line has little relevance for the game and no one would miss it, but that’s not the case. Hildibrand is deeply rooted in the DNA of FFXIV and was already a highlight for many players in the failed 1.0 version.
Especially back then, during the rather dark times when it was not quite clear whether FFXIV would even continue, the quests were a breath of fresh air and a source of amusement. The devs could let loose in the quests and try out ideas that didn’t fit into the rest of the game.
But the most important thing is that despite the silliness and ridiculous facial expressions, the Hildibrand quests have a lot of heart. I still remember having a brief “Oh” moment while playing the ARR quests that convinced me right away.
In one of the first stories, there is a little girl who has lost (and broken) her strict mother’s valuable vase. She is scolded by her mother and sent to search for it, even though it could be dangerous for her.
Hildibrand offers to help the girl. It was a small gesture, but it immediately revealed a lot about his character and the core of the quest line. The endeavor ended up going rather poorly and was filled with lots of nonsense, but hey, it was genuinely kind of him, and in the end, everything turned out well.
That was the moment when the quest line won me over. It wasn’t just about making the silliest face and ridiculing the characters, but it contained beautiful, albeit simple messages wrapped in a lot of humor. And I appreciate that not only in games but in all media (a shoutout to the Discworld books).
These little messages run throughout the entire quest line and made it more than just a brief diversion for me. But above all, they fit perfectly into the overall concept of FFXIV, whose main story repeatedly poses difficult moral questions and conveys messages to the players.
Originally, Hildibrand wasn’t really that important to me. I did enjoy playing the quests and used them as filler content during longer update breaks, but it wasn’t something I looked forward to eagerly with each patch. That changed dramatically in Shadowbringers.
While other quests, such as the wild tribe of dwarves, lightened the serious and dark story of Shadowbringers, I repeatedly found myself searching for the Hildibrand quests in the content previews.
It honestly distressed me at times that they were stopped. They were always a staple of FFXIV, and now they were gone.
Will Hildibrand return in Endwalker?
Currently, there are few signs that the quests featuring the crazy detective will return in the near future. Typically, the FFXIV team announces new content well in advance. This way, players always know what to expect in the coming months.
The Hildibrand quests were also previously noted on the special pages for the respective patches, so players knew right away: “Ah, a few weeks after the patch release, there will be something new about Hildi.”
In fact, the devs have hardly said a word about the master detective since the release of Shadowbringers. Only here and there have there been hints and comments that he isn’t gone forever but is “taking a break.”
And I find that very sad. With the Hildibrand quests, FFXIV lost a piece of its soul that brought joy to many fans even before the reboot of 1.0.
But who knows, maybe there will be good news for Hildibrand fans in February. Director Yoshida announced that a major producer stream is expected next month, in which the future of FFXIV will be presented.
They will talk about update 6.1 and further patches leading up to the next expansion 7.0:
