As acclaimed as Final Fantasy 14 has been, especially the new Shadowbringers’ expansion, getting from A Realm Reborn through to Heavensward can be taxing. Thankfully, as per the 53rd Live Letter from the Producer stream (translation courtesy of Bayohne on the forums), Square Enix will be condensing the base game’s main scenario quest. This change will take place in patch 5.3, which is still a ways off.
Along with making the base story “more compact”, the development is also working on a New Game Plus system. Details are still pending as to what the latter will do but it’s also coming in patch 5.3. As for the upcoming patch 5.1, it’s confirmed to have the first part of the highly anticipated NieR: Automata crossover raids, “YoRHa Apocalypse”.
The development team also teased that a “special guest” would be on the next stream to talk about YoRHa Apocalypse. Considering that NieR director Yoko Taro is designing the raids, it wouldn’t be all that strange to see him. Stay tuned for more details and updates in the coming weeks.