In an inteview with Inverse, Square Enix has provided insight into the development of Echoes of Vana’diel, the latest alliance raid in Final Fantasy XIV. This crossover with Final Fantasy XI marks a significant collaboration between the two MMOs, featuring familiar bosses and lore from Vana’diel.
Planning for Echoes of Vana’diel began in Winter 2023, alongside the development of Dawntrail. According to lead battle content designer Masaki Nakagawa, the Battle Content team first determined the four bosses, while the Scenario team initially focused on Dawntrail before shifting to the raid’s storyline. The Final Fantasy XI development team played a key role in reviewing the original concept, ensuring that in-game text, NPC dialogue, and boss scripts remained consistent with FFXI’s lore while allowing for FFXIV-specific elements.
“Many of the past Final Fantasy titles have strong sentimental value for both fans and us developers, so we all tend to have high expectations for content based on those games. And when we set out to create something that meets those expectations, the overall content inevitably becomes quite substantial in size.”
During early brainstorming, the team considered unique level design concepts, including having each alliance start in different FFXI locations like Ronfaure, Sarutabaruta, and Jeuno. However, these ideas were ultimately cut as they weren't realistic with the available development resources and also the system-related limitations.
The raid's narrative was structured to appeal to both longtime FFXI players and those unfamiliar with the game. The Scenario team introduced the character Alxaar, an adventurer who helps connect Vana’diel and Eorzea.
“Our goal with the EOV scenario is to draw the attention of those unfamiliar with FFXI and pique their interest in playing the game. To achieve this, we featured the various commonalities between FFXI and FFXIV to make Vana’diel seem more approachable for those who haven’t experienced it. We also introduced Alxaar, an adventurer, to tie the two universes together.”
Nakagawa explained the process behind designing boss fights, starting with conceptual themes before implementing battle mechanics. The first boss, Prishe, was designed to reflect her personality through exaggerated visuals, incorporating moves like Auroral Uppercut and Knuckle Sandwich. The second boss, Fafnir, was designed as a large, powerful dragon, with attacks such as Hurricane Wing and Dragon Breath.
“Before deciding the battle mechanics for EOV, I began by coming up with the themes and concept for each boss fight.”
The team compared the Echoes of Vana’diel raid to Return to Ivalice, which had a different development approach. Return to Ivalice was a collaboration with Yasumi Matsuno, who personally wrote the plot, while Echoes of Vana’diel was developed internally as part of FFXI’s 20th anniversary.
“We have a strong desire to treasure the FFXIV universe and the titles we crossover with, so whenever we incorporate an element from another title, we carefully deliberate on which aspects of their lore to incorporate and how the elements of their universe should be integrated with the universe of FFXIV. This I believe will remain true for any other crossovers we may have in the future.”
Nakagawa also stated that while alliance raids provide an effective structure for large-scale crossover content, the team remains open to exploring new content formats in the future.
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