There has been quite a bit of information coming out of Microsoft this week. Helix devkits coming next year, changes being made to entice developers, Copilot coming to Xbox, and more. It could fill all of this week’s Wayward Roundup easily. So, with that in mind, I decided not to mention any of that and focus on more interesting things.
Final Fantasy XIV finally gives us Beastmaster hope
At the time of posting, the latest FFXIV Live Letter occurred yesterday, and I could not be happier. Well, back when they revealed the Viper class, I was literally bouncing around in excitement, but this is also good. Patch 7.5 is titled Trail to the Heavens and will launch on April 28th, bringing the usual story, Dungeons, and Trial. That is always secondary, however, to the extra goodies each patch brings.
In this case, PvP series 11 will be kicking off, with a new Crystaline Conflict arena, the Archeia Harmonia. A lot of people don’t, but I love the PvP here. Housing is getting a welcome upgrade with increased limits for furnishings, yet no announcement on the internal house size change that’s been swirling around. Also, the Armoire is being expanded to accommodate more items, which is cool. All this is rubbish, though, compared to the look we got at the Beastmaster class.
I can’t wait for Beastmaster. This will be another limited job like Blue Mage, and will be capped at level 50, but I don’t care. Beastmaster will arrive later in the 7.5 roadmap, sadly, but when it does, you can start taming creatures in the wild, add them to your Bestiary, and then summon three of them to help you out. It will be so cool. Now all we need is for Square Enix to steal that pet Pokémon-type minigame that WoW has, and I shall be so happy.
Falcom announces final Trials game
We are starting with something that is both good and bad. In the March 12th copy of Weekly Famitsu, Falcom has said that they will announce the final entry in the very long-running Trials series during the company’s 50th anniversary. That will be in 2031. The game will release in 2032, which is incredibly annoying, and I hope they move up development. You can’t end your longest-running series on your 51st year when the 50th is right there. Come on.
I am getting mixed feelings from this, besides the timing issue. Trials is one of the longest-running series with an overarching narrative, so it will be a shame to see it end. On the flip side, we can finally play through the whole story, which will be quite exciting. Besides, we still have remakes and remasters. No chance Falcom fully walks away from this cash cow.
Resident Evil Requiem will receive Story DLC
To the surprise of exactly zero people, Resident Evil Requiem has been a phenomenal hit. If you put Leon Kennedy in a game being all good-looking, it will shift copies. Simple maths. Happily, it appears we shall be getting more out of this game, as confirmed by director Koshi Nakanishi. This includes a photo mode, probably used 90% on Leon, a mini-game coming in May, and a story expansion to follow.
Whilst this is no doubt an exciting idea, it does somewhat irk me. There is no way they did not have these ideas during development and then put them aside for DLC, and that really annoys me. Developers holding back content just to make more money is gross. I love that we may get more Leon story, but that angle casts a bit of a shadow over it for me.
Matt Selman adds fuel to the fire of a The Simpsons Hit and Run revival
Try not to get too excited, but it appears that the stars are aligning for a remaster of The Simpsons Hit and Run. If you didn’t play it, you must. It is a family-friendly GTA clone of sorts set in Springield, and one I would choose to play over GTA 5 every day of the week. It is also one that we might see return. Note, I do say might, as it is not announced, but the groundwork may be getting laid.
I mentioned in the Wayward Roundup two weeks ago that the original developer, Radical Entertainment, is back as Radical Games. And now, Simpsons executive producer Matt Selman did an interview with People, saying “never say never”, and “we know they want it, so that’s good.” You know what we could do without? More Simpsons episodes. I would wager there is more excitement for Hit and Run than another season of the show. Give the people what they want!
RuneScape membership now costs more than WoW and FFXIV
RuneScape has been on its Path to Restoration for a while now; however, the developers might have just undone all their hard work. Jagex has announced yet another price hike, and this one could put them out of contention for players. You now have to pay £10.99 a month to subscribe, which is higher than both WoW and FFXIV.
One month of WoW is £9.99, whilst my beloved FFXIV’s lowest tier is £7.69, and all that does is limit your total characters to eight. And you don’t even need eight; one character can learn every job and class. Personally, my FFXIV membership does cost about £20.00 per month cause I wanted all the extras, but I have a problem.
Even on the 12-month plan, RuneScape is only cheaper than WoW by about £10.00. And both FFXIV and WoW have much more interesting things to do than RuneScape. The Grandfathered membership fees for RuneScape are staying, but that will not solve the biggest problem Jagex has.
That is their falling retention rate. They might keep those on legacy plans, but if you aren’t on that, this increase might push you away. And even more, if you are a new player, what does RuneScape offer over WoW and FFXIV? Not much, really, and now it costs more than both. It is sad to say because it was a big part of my childhood, but I believe this is going to hasten the decline of RuneScape.
