The Final Fantasy 14 Fan Festival began with a bountiful amount of information involving the latest expansion, Endwalker, and the future of Final Fantasy 14 as a whole. Starting with a two-hour keynote led by series director Naoki Yoshida and lore developer Michael-Christopher Koji Fox, the pair engaged with the audience tuning in to the live stream several features that fans will be able to look forward to.
Some of the major features discussed was the main city-state in Endwalker, Old Sharlayan, as well as other locations including the Near-Eastern regions of Thavinir and Radz-at-Han. The much discussed "Moon" region was also featured briefly, given the name "Mare Lamentorum." Just before the end of the keynote, Naoki Yoshida teased one more surprise for viewers who stayed until the very end of announcements, a surprise that was two years in the making.
The minute and a half trailer featured the existing Viera race, added alongside the Hrothgar race in Shadowbringers, with a distinctive difference in that the Viera are males. Prior to the reveal, the Viera race was exclusively female, with their male counterparts notably absent from the main game and as a playable race. Male Viera do exist in the Final Fantasy 14 lore as protectors of the forest, remaining largely absent from the public eye from their female counterparts.
While male Viera are more aligned to being protectors of their home, providing a behind-the-scenes role to other Viera, fans have requested the choice for a male Viera since the original Viera was announced prior to Shadowbringers. The second race that was announced, Hrothgar, was also a gender exclusive race, limiting players to creating male Hrothgars even though female Hrothgar exist once again in the Final Fantasy 14 lore.
Naoki Yoshida has expressed years prior that due to constraints with the game engine and the design team, the Viera and Hrothgar races were to be gender-exclusive due to limitations. However, in the three years since Shadowbringers' release, advancements in the game engine as well as achievements made possible within the PS5 engine allowed the designers to find a way to create a new race altogether.
Yoshida also confirmed the inclusion of a playable female Hrothgar race in the future, however due to time restraints involving the release of Endwalker, players will only be able to experience one race at a time beginning with the male Viera. The connection between the development team and its fans continue to strengthen as the team continues to make the "impossible," possible.
Final Fantasy 14 is available on PC and PS4, with a PS5 beta currently live. Endwalker will release on November 23rd, 2021.