While many gamers are still working through Final Fantasy XIV's most recent major update, the developers have decided to let everyone know that even more action-packed goodness is on the way. It looks like the next expansion for FFXIV will be called "Stormblood," and we've even got a rather fantastic announcement trailer to share, too.
Judging by this early look at Stormblood, it seems like Square Enix wants the next expansion for Final Fantasy XIV to be every bit as epic as this year's Heavensward.
The new trailer begins with a lovely flyover through what appears to be a monk temple. Continuing up, we see a woman dressed in red showing off her serious skills in kickassary. There's also a gruff-looking dude meditating on the outstretched finger of a massive statue, who gets in on the action when the lady in red invites him to spar via an attempted kick to the face.
What's great about this trailer is that Final Fantasy XIV usually puts a strong focus on the magics of the realm. Usually these trailers are full of bright and beautiful spells being fired off but, instead, this Stormblood teaser moves more like an anime, featuring two characters throwing some seriously heavy punches and kicks. The duo even charges up for their final attacks as, down below, it looks like the city they hail from is preparing for war.
It sounds like Stormblood will be shooting for a launch date around one year after Heavensward, with "early summer 2017" promised as the screen fades to black. I know we don't have much to go on here, but it certainly seems like the martial professions will be receiving some extra TLC once this next update rolls out. We're also eager to get some extra details on what, exactly, will be going on in the story.
With this announcement comes a bit of good news and a bit of bad news for gamers on last gen consoles. We're hearing that Stormblood is planned as the last expansion to support players of Final Fantasy XIV on the PlayStation 3. Then again, assuming whatever comes next follows the same trend, that means those folks can expect to be enjoying their game for a good year and a half before feeling like an upgrade is needed.
Also, it sounds like Square Enix will be allowing folks gaming on the PS3 to upgrade to the PS4 version of Final Fantasy XIV hassle-free, which is always nice to hear from games that straddle the generation gap.
To those readers playing Final Fantasy XIV, we'd be interested in hearing how the game is treating you these days. Also, does this Stormblood teaser get you excited for the next expansion? Let us know in the comments below.
