In Final Fantasy XIV, there have recently been ongoing discussions – of all things concerning the story, for which the game is actually celebrated. Now the Director and Producer says he wants to put the player characters back in the spotlight and give them cool moves.
What does Naoki Yoshida say? In an interview with PC Games N, Naoki Yoshida, the Director and Producer of Final Fantasy XIV, talks about wanting to focus more on the player and their character in the game:
When it comes to expressing the unique role of players as heroes and showcasing really cool cutscenes and scenes where we can convey a true “hero experience” and highlight the “strength of the hero,” we want to pay more attention to this aspect in the future.
In Patch 7.3, there is a scene that strongly puts the player character in the spotlight. There are even class-specific animations that have brought a lot of joy to subscribers. At the same time, however, Yoshida emphasizes that the team cannot create these special animations for every patch. Just the information that the player character is supposed to be back in the spotlight could bring joy to the community.
Story Fans vs Story Skippers – A Tough Balance
What moves have brought joy? Without spoiling too much: In the main quest of Patch 7.3, which concludes the story of Dawntrail, there is a pretty epic scene. The Warrior of Light, the player character, blocks an attack from a powerful opponent.
The special thing? In response to the block, the Warrior of Light attacks during the cutscene, and each combat job available in the game received its own animation for this. Such a thing has not been seen in the game before.
Yoshida says that they will not always manage to incorporate these sequences into the main scenario. But when it makes sense and the idea fits, they would consider it. The team has reportedly received particularly positive feedback from players who are very enthusiastic about the story.
For those who, on the other hand, cannot connect much with the main quest, it has been more unpleasant: Story Skippers
do exactly that – they skip the story and do not read it. However, in this sequence, they were forced to do exactly that. For the development team, it is difficult to find the right balance between story players and those who just want to play the new, difficult battle as quickly as possible.
What was the feedback on Dawntrail in general? Since the release of the current expansion Dawntrail in July 2024, there has been ongoing negative feedback from players. Of the biggest points mentioned were the comparatively weak main story, the poorly written NPCs, and the fact that the player’s character took on a only
mentoring role for the first time.
With Patch 7.3, which was released in early August 2025, the story of Dawntrail is now officially completed. On Reddit, players are currently discussing whether the expansion was really that bad. The consensus is that while Dawntrail does not reach the highs of Shadowbringers and Endwalker, it is by no means a fundamentally bad expansion.
FFXIV: If you come from a 10/10, it feels like a 3/10.
Other MMOs: If you constantly get a 6/10, it feels like a 9/10.
Alongside this good news for the story fans among Final Fantasy XIV players, there were also general news about the future of the game. Naoki Yoshida announced, among other things, that his team wants to rethink the different types of content and audiences and shift development for the MMORPG: Fans have long demanded that Final Fantasy XIV break out of the usual structure – now the director hints at just that
