Ultimate Fantasy XIV Fanfest London 2023 - Sq. Enix Hosts A Memorable Occasion Packed With Issues To See & Do

To have fun the launch of Ultimate Fantasy XIV‘s upcoming growth Dawntrail – and coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the launch of FFXIV 2.0 A Realm Reborn – Sq. Enix lately held the London Fan Pageant 2023. Earlier than I’m going any additional, I need to lengthen my due to the effective of us at Forty Seven and Sq. Enix for offering me with a ticket to the occasion this 12 months; tickets had been very restricted and locked behind a lottery, although if you happen to had been unable to see the occasion in particular person it was streamed free on-line for everybody to take pleasure in.

The stream lined every little thing besides the 2 concert events on the finish of the evening. Final Fan Pageant the occasion was absolutely digital and you might pay to see the concert events; I feel this may have been a pleasant option to have once more for this 12 months’s Fan Pageant, so possibly this will likely be an choice for a future occasion.

The largest fear I had concerning the occasion was the queue instances, as they’ll typically be fairly tough at these occasions. Nonetheless, I discovered this 12 months, even with my fear concerning the tickets, entering into the occasion gave the impression to be comparatively bother free. I used to be anticipating that folks may decide up the ticket the day earlier than the conference, and easily have it scanned to realize entry. Luckily, I discovered that although the road to get in was fairly massive, navigating around the excel centre moved at a reasonably respectable tempo and I feel almost everybody was capable of get in for the keynote. This was an excellent signal for issues to come back for the occasion.

The road formally began at 8am BST, with the doorways purported to open an hour later, although it appeared like resulting from how lengthy the road was they had been slowly letting folks by means of the principle gate a bit earlier, which was good to see. There was a bag verify to undergo each time you went out and in the occasion; once more this was welcome and gave everybody peace of thoughts with reference to venue security. As soon as contained in the occasion, it was gorgeous and so properly deliberate out with loads of house to stroll round even with the quantity of folks that had been there. You by no means actually felt squashed or claustrophobic, which is one thing I at all times fear about particularly these days after all of the well being issues we have now simply gone by means of – private house is necessary.

One of many massive causes for the Fan Pageant is the brand new growth bulletins, and Sq. Enix had a beautiful arrange this 12 months with an excellent quantity of incapacity seating to assist folks who want it to take a seat down through the varied panels. As at all times there was a reside letter, strolling with Yoshida-san, and the always-impressive cosplay stroll. I feel my favorite panel this 12 months was the PvP panel with Lythi and Rookuri. Rookuri is likely one of the main pillars within the Ultimate Fantasy group and Lythi has finished so many cool esport occasions that there was a lot good vitality coming from the stage that even if you happen to disliked PvP, likelihood is you walked away with a need to provide it a shot. Hell, a good friend despatched me a textual content message through the PvP panel saying he’s going to be doing extra PvP now.

The venue was break up up into totally different areas primarily based on the sport, akin to Thanalan, La Noscea, and Black Shroud. Thanalan for instance had a Gold Saucer space, with totally different actions akin to bowling, and a bomb dodging mini recreation. This was in all probability one of many prime three highlights for me: You stand on an enormous flooring display screen panel, which was break up into sections, and also you then needed to transfer round for a short while earlier than bombs seem on the display screen and blow up the panels. I didn’t final lengthy nevertheless; RNG was not blessing me, however after the bombs exploded the ground disappeared on the display screen and you would need to bounce or step throughout to remain on a protected platform. Nonetheless, you weren’t allowed to shuttle in the identical space. After all, being a Ultimate Fantasy occasion there have been Chocobos concerned with the Chocobo Racing mini recreation. Right here, you needed to throw balls into holes, which might transfer at a sooner tempo relying on the color of the Chocobo.

Every space actually did really feel distinctive, and I don’t know anybody who had sufficient time to have the ability to do all of the totally different actions on the occasion, which is an effective downside to have. When it comes to points of interest, Black Shroud was a beautiful forest-style space with archery; it included a gathering/crafting recreation during which you needed to discover sure elements to craft a meals from a card that you got as you entered the world for the exercise. A few of these had been group-based duties that you might both include your pals to do or use responsibility finder to compete with random folks within the queue. The queues for many of those video games appeared to maneuver at a reasonably quick tempo and I don’t assume there was an enormous situation with any of them. A few of the extra well-liked ones akin to Archery and Axe Throwing took a bit longer than others however this was resulting from giving directions and security recommendation to attendees. That is completely affordable, as you need to be certain everyone seems to be protected and having essentially the most enjoyable they’ll. I heard the employees in command of archery had been additionally in character which is beautiful to see.

I feel the one situation that I heard about from others was that the crafting occasion had run out of gold cash. Everybody received one coin of their bag, and you’ve got the prospect to buy as much as 9 extra to have 10 cash. These cash would allow you to then craft sure issues akin to a bracelet, keyring or a pouch. Sadly, the occasion ran out of them on the primary day. Personally, it might have been good if that they had applied methods to earn the cash at no cost, together with internet hosting totally different occasions across the venue. Moreover, as a few of them had leaderboards it might have additionally been good if folks received rewarded with a coin or two for being within the High 3, maybe. Having mentioned that, this may even be a ache holding monitor of who received what so I perceive why they didn’t go down this route.

Should you discovered the venue a bit annoying and wanted a break, the organisers added a quiet room to take a load off. I used to be getting a bit exhausted by the top of the primary day so I went in for a short while, and was happy to search out it had some enjoyable music and good seating. The one situation I had was the door was saved open, letting in noise from outdoors. It wasn’t too unhealthy however it isn’t precisely tremendous quiet. In the event that they do that once more, which I recommend they do, that they preserve the door shut if doable or possibly have a quiet room barely outdoors the venue.

General the occasion was in all probability the very best Fan Pageant they’ve ever hosted. I’ve been to 3 totally different Fan Festivals previously, and this newest occasion had extra general mini video games, was higher organised and employees had been extremely useful. I might have favored to have seen some rewards be earned from doing actions around the occasion, although you do nonetheless get free stuff for attending. It could have been cool to have quests to get some free items whilst you had been there. Nonetheless, as at all times this occasion is at the beginning concerning the group, and there was a lot love and laughter available this 12 months. I received to fulfill some outdated associates and made loads of new ones alongside the way in which.

Should you take pleasure in Ultimate Fantasy XIV and even the Ultimate Fantasy franchise usually, I actually do advocate making an attempt to go when the subsequent Fan Fest rolls round. On the finish of the day, although it’s technically about asserting new content material for FFXIV, Fan Fest is in actuality only a room filled with like-minded folks gathering to speak concerning the issues they love, and lengthy could it proceed.