FFXIV Berlin Fan Festival Reveals Bastion Job, FFVII REMAKE Raid
The FFVII REMAKE collaboration raid marks a rare full-supervision partnership between the two development teams, with the remake's scenario and design leads directly involved, signaling a deeper crossover than typical raid collaborations.
Key Facts
- The new tank job Bastion will be implemented in the Hakkin no Wanderer expansion, scheduled for release in January 2027.
- The Nintendo Switch 2 version of Final Fantasy XIV will release on August 4, with free service for about one month after release.
- The new 8-person raid BEYOND THE LIFESTREAM is a collaboration with the FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE series, with scenario by Motomu Toriyama and design supervision by Tetsuya Nomura.
- The Evangelion collaboration alliance raid Ghosts of Desire will include Mahiro Maeda as a special guest artist and designer.
- A new battle difficulty will be added between Normal and Savage, with Normal clear rate around 85% and Savage around 14-20%.
Reporting from 1 source: 4Gamer.net.
Square Enix held the FINAL FANTASY XIV Fan Festival 2026 in Berlin on July 25 and 26, where the keynote speech delivered a wave of new information for the MMORPG. The new tank job Bastion was unveiled, a main tank that fights with a weapon called Magakou, which combines a shield, melee weapon, and ranged weapon on both arms. Bastion will be implemented in the latest expansion Hakkin no Wanderer, scheduled for release in January 2027. The keynote also announced a new 8-person raid collaboration with the FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE series, titled BEYOND THE LIFESTREAM, with scenario by Motomu Toriyama, supervision by Kazushige Nojima, and design supervision by Tetsuya Nomura. The Nintendo Switch 2 version of FFXIV will release on August 4, with free service for about one month after release. Other details included a new battle difficulty between Normal and Savage, a rebuilt buddy chocobo system, and the Character Action Skins system. The Evangelion collaboration alliance raid Ghosts of Desire will feature Mahiro Maeda as a special guest artist and designer.
- Bastion starts at level 90, with job quests beginning in Limsa Lominsa. Only Evolve Mode will be added as a new action mode in the expansion.
- The Fourth World's setting was detailed: survivors escaped frozen ground onto five giant airships called continent ships. The first town, Falgarz, sits inside the water continent ship Naglfar, and a walkthrough of the fire continent ship Flinghorni was shown.
- Main quest progression in Patch 8.0 lets players choose the order of objectives, which can change episodes. A new balance system will smooth level differences during matchmaking.
- Character Action Skins let players swap general actions like Teleport and job-specific actions. General Action Skins arrive in Patch 8.0, Job Action Skins in Patch 8.1. Players can also toggle race features like Lalafell and Viera black noses, Miqo'te war paint, and Au Ra horn shapes.
- Auto-movement for quests is planned within the Patch 8.x period, with route data volume still uncertain for the 8.0 launch.
- The new difficulty between Normal and Savage introduces Season Gear, which can be grown to near Raid Gear performance. Savage remains accessible without it.
- Regional free matchmaking tests in Japan begin after a 24-hour maintenance on October 12, before rolling to North America, Europe, and China.
- The rebuilt buddy chocobo system lets two players bring chocobos into dungeons as supporters in Patch 8.1, with a full growth system revamp in Patch 8.2. Existing ranks carry over.
- BEYOND THE LIFESTREAM releases in Patch 8.01. The Gold Saucer mini-game Keybound Brawler, a typing game with FFVII-themed questions, arrives October 28 during Patch 7.56.
- The Collector's Edition includes a Yoshitaka Amano box, a Reaper figure, the Valhalla Odin mount from FFXIII, and the Kottle tribe as the new friendly tribe.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.