Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker tells a story about the impending end of the world. The developers explain in an interview how the Corona pandemic changed the story of the expansion.
This happens in Endwalker: The Endwalker expansion was particularly special for FFXIV on several levels. In this addon, a storyline was concluded that the developers had started over 10 years ago.
It tells the story of the impending end of the world, where people are overwhelmed by despair and turn into terrible monsters. Alongside their allies and friends, it is the players’ task to stop this catastrophe.
At the same time, the development of Endwalker fell right in the midst of the Corona pandemic and the associated lockdowns. To avoid infection, many developers had to quickly move their work to home office, and Square Enix was no exception.
The experiences of the pandemic and isolation led story writer Natsuko Ishikawa and lore master Banri Oda to adjust the story of Endwalker.
“It felt too optimistic”
The developers say: The director of FFXIV, Naoki Yoshida, reveals in an interview with IGN that work on the story of Endwalker began in early 2020. In March of that year, the World Health Organization declared the Corona outbreak a global pandemic, leading to lockdowns and drastic travel restrictions in many countries around the world.
[…] If you were to ask me whether these things that happened in real life overlap with those in the game, I would say yes. That is very true. There are various moments when that happens. […]
Lore Master Banri Oda
When the first waves of Corona arrived and we experienced our first lockdown, the world was confused and in panic. That was when I started introducing the first changes to the complete story of Endwalker. When I thought of the original version of the story and imagined it being played by people who had experienced this global pandemic, it felt too optimistic. It felt like it did not reflect reality.
Scenario Writer Natsuko Ishikawa
Apparently, the original version of the story of Endwalker was a more positive one than the one that was published. The adjustments made by Ishikawa regarding the story seemed to be associated with the depiction of the end of the world. It closely resembles a virus in Endwalker.
People who are overcome by despair turn into monsters. This, in turn, drives other people around them to despair as well, causing them to transform too. It’s like a disease that spreads faster the more people are affected.
It was not my intention to describe and depict the pandemic as it is. I just imagined that the people playing our game would feel the effects of the Corona virus. People can understand how fear spreads and recognize that those are terrifying events. We have taken this into account in the depiction of the scenes [in Endwalker].
Scenario Writer Natsuko Ishikawa
Isolation was also a theme that the developers addressed in the addon. The composer Masayoshi Soken speaks of a moment at the end of Endwalker when the player character is alone and his friends, who supported him along the way, are far away from him.
This moment should capture the lonely feeling of the lockdown that many people felt when they could not visit their friends and family for many months.
In the game, there is a moment when you are physically separated from your allies you traveled with before. However, you can still feel them. It should convey the feeling that even though you cannot see them […], you can still perceive their presence. And you know they are still watching over you. […]
I think it describes the situation with the pandemic very well. We have this game, and although people are not physically next to each other or can see each other, they are still connected. They can still share an experience together.
Composer Masayoshi Soken
Meanwhile, work on FFXIV has returned to its usual rhythm. The developers release a new content update about every 4 months, with the latest one set to come out on January 10.
Even the fan festivals, which only took place online during Corona, are returning to their physical form. Fans in Europe, the USA, and Japan will celebrate their favorite MMORPG on-site in 2023/24 and look forward to the announcement of the next addon.
