Since yesterday’s blog topic kind of bummed me out, I am electing to instead choose joy for today’s entry. And few things give me as much joy as seeing an MMORPG’s expansion get revealed, which goes doubly so for one that I’m playing. Thus I was watching the Berlin Fan Fest for Final Fantasy XIV with some pretty keen interest. Even if I had to get up at Awful O’Clock in the morning to watch live. Overall, the event had some surprises, a couple of minor letdowns, and some expected yet still delightful things to unveil. And so, despite the fact that this iron has well and truly cooled, and with a nod to Aywren’s recent blog post on the subject, here are my thoughts about what was showcased a couple of weeks ago. Read more: Final Fantasy XIV’s Berlin Fan Fest 2026 Through Wolfy’s Eyes Naturally, I have to react to the Bastion, the gunshield-wielding tank class that’s coming to the game once the Evercold expansion arrives. Admittedly, this isn’t my vibe purely from an in-character standpoint, but I also will say that I am looking very forward to seeing this bad boy in action. And, of course, I’ll very probably level one up myself after I’ve moved through the expack’s story quests. I think the thing that stands out the most to me is how the T-Shirt of Hinting that Yoshida wore during the NA Fan Fest was so directly on the nose. Personally I had expected gunshields but also presumed they would be the physical ranged DPS class that’s yet to be revealed. Still, this is definitely a unique and wholly FFXIV addition to the class roster. The rest of the presentation sort of fell into a middling but still happy bucket for me. The new massive airships that will serve as the zones we visit through the MSQ all look super impressive, the level scaling tech that will be utilized for several initial dungeons and story zones is most welcome even if they’re all basically funneling to the same point in the storyline, and the customization options look nice, particularly the action animation replacements that will come down the pike. And will doubtless be in the cash shop. But then I’m likely going to buy some up anyway so I certainly cannot throw stones. As far as the two raids are concerned, I’m generally ambivalent to one and intrigued by the other. Evangelion has always been a frustrating anime to deal with (particularly its most ardent fans), so I’m not what I would call extremely enthused about its arrival or how the square peg will be hammered into the round hole, but I’m also not that surprised by it either, so being reminded of its arrival with more logos and a name I’m supposed to give a toss about did nothing to move that needle. Conversely, the Final Fantasy VII raids have my interest. I’m not a ravening fan of this particular entry into the series, but the remade pieces of the RPG have been genuinely fantastic and I was already looking forward to Revelation’s arrival. So consider me on board with this one, even if I also feel like it’s likely going to be a bit shoehorned. When the NieR raids were added, everything was on the table, let’s all be honest with ourselves. Finally, the surprises, all of which were definitely pleasant ones: Typing of the Dead: Eorzea Edition is such a brilliant addition to the Gold Saucer, my character is absolutely going to rock the hell out of the Tifa outfit, being able to enter dungeons as a duo with chocobos is really freaking awesome, and I’m looking forward to what they plan to do with related chocobo breeding and training. And, of course, I’m with Koji; I want my butt slider. As much as I was happy about what was said, it’s what wasn’t said that splashed a bit of cold water on the event. Not knowing more about the weekly activities feature and how its seasons will work was a bit of a bummer, and not getting more information about what Evolved Mode will be did suck quite a bit, especially as it relates to things like some of my favored classes and how main tanks and off-tanks will work. Of course, we’ll be seeing a four hour-long presentation about Evolved Mode. As Yoshida flatly intoned, “Yaaaayyyy….” Even so, this was a great event with fun reveals and enough carrot for me to chase after until the next one in Tokyo. The end of October definitely feels like a long way away, but before I know it, Spooky Christmas will be back once more, and ideally with it will come more substantive details about the character progression updates. Until then, I’ve got a Gunbreaker to kit up.