Greetings, this is Voltenyne from the Community team!

I'm here with a special feature on the Echoes of Vana'diel alliance raids, which have finally reached their conclusion in Patch 7.5 - Trail to the Heavens!

Our journey began with a single message from Mamook, from which memories of two realms were intertwined in an adventure unforeseen.

▲ Or for some of us, perhaps our adventure had already begun the moment we saw our young old friend in the Patch 7.1 artwork!

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■ A journey of two travelers from a realm beyond

In between the fierce battles with Sareel Ja, Prishe and Alxaal were journeying around Tural. Here's two places where they could be spotted!

▲ Prishe and Alxaal gazing out over the sea of Tuliyollal from the pier.

▲ What do you think they thought of Solution Nine?

If you've already completed the quest line, you can use New Game+ to retrace the duo's travels across the continent of Tural!

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■ Roused to battle by Alxaal's voice lines!

In the middle of the fierce battle, many adventurers were likely jolted alert--or even reassured--by his shouted line, "A comrade is in trouble! Someone heal them!" and by how dependable he felt in that moment.

Here are the voices for Alxaal in each language!

JP: Shoya Ishige
EN: Will de Renzy-Martin
FR: Hugo Brunswick
DE: Jochen Drechsler

Thanks to their wonderful performance, the intensity and drama of the battle were heightened all the more!

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■ Behind-the-scenes interviews!

FINAL FANTASY XI Producer/Director Yoji Fujito

Q: In this instalment of Echoes of Vana'diel, could you tell us about any particular points the FINAL FANTASY XI team was especially careful about, or anything memorable from working together with the FINAL FANTASY XIV team?

Fujito: From the very start of the planning process, we were consulted on many different points. On the FFXI side, we had three members supervising production: myself, and Game Designers Yamazaki and Watanabe. One thing we were especially careful about was ensuring that the world of FFXI would not be directly affected by the events that take place in Echoes of Vana'diel.

FFXI's lore and game structure weren't designed with collaborations in mind, so external influences (including other collaborations, in this case) could have major implications for the story and lore we've built up over the past 24 years.

If those aspects of the game were affected, then every new external influence could lead to having to restructure the story all over again, so the story and lore were something we absolutely had to protect.

We emphasised this concern in our discussions with the Scenario team, which they addressed by establishing a core story premise for Echoes of Vana'diel: a "read-only" status in which Sareel Ja observes Vana'diel and brings forth manifestations. This rationalisation allowed the content of Vana'diel to be freely used within FFXIV, even altered, without feeling out of place.

The biggest part was having that firm agreement regarding the story premise from the start, then from there, I think the FFXIV team's memories of FFXI were steadily channelled through careful, diligent work and ultimately blossomed in a major way as Echoes of Vana'diel.

Q: What were your honest impressions after seeing Vana'diel's locations and characters recreated in FINAL FANTASY XIV's technology?

Fujito: I was awestruck by just how faithfully and gorgeously everything was reproduced. Personally, I even thought this was what FFXI would look like in HD.

Since FFXI was originally developed for the PlayStation 2, its in-game environments are designed with clever use of environmental effects and textures; for example, terrain is often used to obscure distant scenery. But even those points of ambiguity were recreated with precision; in fact, so much so that I found myself questioning if that's how it was in the source material. If anything, there may have been more recreations that I asked to have removed because they were too faithful.

Characters were also faithfully created, especially their equipment, so adventurers who cherished them in FFXI wouldn't feel like something was off.

A quarter of a century has passed since FFXI's original release, and even if technology has come a long way since then, creating faithful replicas that don't feel out of place still requires human intervention.

The fact that this aspect was achieved with such high quality was truly wonderful.

▲ Windurst Walls as recreated in Echoes of Vana'diel.

So the two teams worked hand-in-hand to make this crossover possible: the FINAL FANTASY XI team's thorough supervision and dedication to 24 years of history, and the FINAL FANTASY XIV team that rose to meet the challenge! Thank you, Mr. Fujito!

FINAL FANTASY XI Composer Naoshi Mizuta

Q: An arrangement of "Vana'diel March" was used at the end of the Shinryu battle. Could you tell us about the thoughts behind the music and any stories from its creation?

Mizuta: In the proposal document from the battle designer in charge, they explained their ideas for the encounter and why they wanted to include the melody from "Vana'diel March," and their vision and passion were very apparent to me.

It motivated me with a strong desire to respond to their passion the best I could; and moreover, to compose a memorable track that would leave an impression with players who experience the encounter.

Q: Is there anything you'd like to say to our players who enjoyed Echoes of Vana'diel?

Mizuta: I composed this piece with the desire to do everything I possibly could to make the final battle of Echoes of Vana'diel the finest it could be. If there was even a single moment that resonated in your hearts, I would be very happy.

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I imagine many adventurers had old memories rushing back when that familiar tune rang out in the exhilaration of battle! Thank you very much, Mr. Mizuta!

I hope you enjoyed this little recap of Echoes of Vana'diel! If your adventures alongside Alxaal and Prishe have you itching to see more of Vana'diel, maybe it's time to begin your adventures in FFXI!

See you again in the next blog!

Voltenyne
- Community team