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This Week in Games - Final Fantasy Readers Digest

One thought came to mind when the Switch 2 came out last year and it was "Can this run FFXIV?" and "would this be the first MMO on a Nintendo system?".

Speaking of classes, Evercold and update 8.0 will introduce new play styles for old classes; players will be able to choose between "Reborn" versions of their characters and "Evolved" versions, which feature new abilities and mechanics.

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Speaking of classes, Evercold and update 8.0 will introduce new play styles for old classes; players will be able to choose between "Reborn" versions of their characters and "Evolved" versions, which feature new abilities and mechanics.

This may be a stupid question but is this a good or a bad thing? I only started playing a few months ago (just finishing up the post ARR story) and I'm worried about playing through the whole game with one play style and then having to learn everything all over again in 8.0 (I know it's a choice but obviously they want people to play evolved)

It’s worth noting that just because Steam says a game is unsupported on Steam Deck doesn’t mean it actually is. I’ve been playing through the Trails series and Trails in the Sky SC is marked as unplayable due to the cutscenes at the beginning and end of the game supposedly consistently crashing the game on it, but the game didn’t crash once for me.

^I would also bookmark ProtonDB since that website has useful commands for games that might not work out of the box for the Steam Deck and Linux. I usally assign the magnifying glass tool to one of the back buttons for games with small text. I also use my Deck as a small Linux Desktop Computer when I travel and browse the internet with it. Gotta say I thought when I pulled the trigger 3 months after it launched I thought I was buying a future paper weight but boy was I wrong. Install Dr Robotnik's Ring Racers on Desktop mode for a really fun (for free!) time.

The other big thing I hear is helpful on the Steam Deck is macros, using the steam input to make macros can make a lot of computer games playable in handheld that wouldn't work well on a controller. You can put those macros onto the touch pad and use it like a quick access wheel for your commands, which can be a life saver when your game expects you to hold down multiple keys to select all your troops in an RTS or other games with complex controls

If I'm not mistaken, FFXIV had a PlayStation 3 version, so in theory I think the original Switch could have run FFXIV, and in regards to MMO on Nintendo consoles, I believe Dragon Quest X was an MMO and it was a Wii exclusive for many years, but it was never released outside of Japan so don't think people knew about it. Also, I don't if Phantasy Star Online counts as an MMO, but it got a GameCube version.

This may be a stupid question but is this a good or a bad thing? I only started playing a few months ago (just finishing up the post ARR story) and I'm worried about playing through the whole game with one play style and then having to learn everything all over again in 8.0 (I know it's a choice but obviously they want people to play evolved)

As far as the separate sub for FFXIV, that is MS and Nintendo getting their cut. Xbox need you to have the online version of Game Pass, which neither Sony nor Nintendo requires and Nintendo requires the separate sub. The truth of the matter is that the cost of the game itself is never worth running an MMO server indefinitely which is always extremely expensive. PlayStation gets a pass and is included with PC with no other subscriptions because they got in on the ground floor and benefit from the game's original subscription, but if more consoles want to run it then the options for paying for those servers is to tack on a separate requitement like Xbox, increase everyone's price to cover the new server for Nintendo, or the current model of giving you a discount for a separate sub but leaving the original price alone. I do think it is dumb you need two for cross play, but I also think it makes sense compared to how pissed players would be if they all got a price hike to cover Nintendo's slice of the MMO pie. The costs of running a game like this are massive and nobody is going to do it for free.

FF14 fans cheering at hearing they're dropping PS4 support only to groan that Switch 2 is going to be the next shackle to the game.

Even if there wasn't a Switch 2 or PS4 version to account for, the game would still need an upper limit to its graphics because not everyone playing FF14 has a top-of-the-line gaming PC for showing off every last pixel on the squapes. A not-insignificant population of FF14 players are homemakers playing the game on laptops, and so Square has to make sure the game can still run on that older hardware so that homemakers can still enjoy the dulcet tones of Urianger speaking in cursive.

That's just the nature of MMOs. Even in its prime, something like World of Warcraft had to account for a good chunk of its millions-strong player base being otherwise-laypeople who were playing the game on potatoes. Its just not feasible to expect your entire player base to have cutting-edge tech to play your PC game--just ask Capcom. That kind of thing will kill your game dead before its out of the starting gate.

Basically; FFXIV's userbase doesn't clamor over details models or draw distance, they care about what next crazy event there's gonna, what Hildibrand's latest adventure is, and FASHION (and if you're really sick, the housing market). I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of PS4 players going over to the Switch 2 considering how fast it's been selling.