November 2023

This week on the Eurogamer Newscast, we share our warp pipe dreams for Mario Kart 9, as the final wave of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC gets its release date.

Nintendo has elongated the lifespan of its Wii U Mario Kart creation to last the entirety of the Switch era - and now we've reached the point where pretty much every track from the series worth playing has been crammed inside. So what's next, if Nintendo can't simply go bigger? Fresh ideas are needed, we feel.

When will the Mario Kart series get a course creator? Is this the time - so that Nintendo can hand over some creative control to the community, and run the game as more of a live service platform? How about changes to the game's characters, with special abilities to make different racers feel unique? And what about the idea of turning Mario Kart into more of a Nintendo Kart, with additional crossover franchises? Joining me to discuss are Eurogamer's Ed Nightingale, Victoria Kennedy and Liv Ngan.

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Earlier this year, HBO's The Last of Us successfully brought developer Naughty Dog's critically acclaimed and fan-favorite PlayStation exclusive to life on the TV screen. Its Season 1 premiere was HBO's second-largest debut since 2010, and its second episode broke records, too. Roughly three weeks after the premiere of the series, HBO revealed The Last of Us would be getting a second season. And now, thanks to a new Deadline report, we know it will start shooting next year and premiere sometime in 2025. 

Deadline learned this at a New York news event, where HBO boss Casey Bloys reportedly told press that Season 2 will head into production early next year, aiming for a 2025 premiere. Unfortunately, that's all Bloys said about the season. But, as noted by Deadline, series co-creator and executive producer Craig Mazin revealed earlier this summer pre-strike that the team was already able to get some work done, adding that the first episode was already written. 

Yoshimi Yasuda, the designer for Lollipop Chainsaw, posted more information on one of the proposed changes to how RePop will play. One of the new elements in consideration is an increase in chainsaw speed in accordance to your current combo.

As Juliet hits an enemy consecutively, she can increase her combo level. Yasuda and the other members of the development team are planning on adding in a feature where the chainsaw speed will increase along with that level. She’ll also be able to earn coins in this fashion. Yasuda has not mentioned what you can use these coins for. 

There has been a mixed response to the change on Twitter. Some people think that there should be a default speed increase anyway. Others focus more on the gameplay screen itself. Some users complain that it’s too cluttered and difficult to see what’s going on.

The Genshin Impact Special Program debuted on November 3, 2023 and included three Primogem codes ahead of 4.2. As usual, people have one day to redeem the codes to get 300 Primogems, in addition to other in-game items.

As is customary, HoYoVerse shared three codes over the course of the presentation. These come up during breaks when discussing new characters, events, world additions, and other updates. Each code gives 100 Primogems and one other kind of item. However, there is a limit. People either can claim them until the items run out or November 3, 2023 ends, whichever comes first.

Here are the Genshin Impact Special Program Primogem codes for 4.2. 

Here are the three codes you can claim today. All told, you can get 300 Primogems, five Hero’s Wits, 10 Mystic Enhancement Ores, and 50,000 Mora. As a reminder, one pull on the banner costs 160 Primogems.

• NTQP2KPEJMUH: 100 Primogems, 5 Hero’s Wits

My Time at Sandrock is a situation where if you played My Time at Portia on the Switch, you have some idea of what you’re getting into. The general concept behind the game and its world is inviting and intriguing, but the technical issues get in the way.

Sandrock is something of a dying town. Few people live there. Water is scarce. Not to mention both My Time at Pathea and My Time at Portia are life sim games set after an apocalypse, with people rebuilding. The player character is a new builder who is working for the Commerce Guild to help build up the town and assist the community. That means starting from scratch, making a name for yourself, and becoming a pillar capable of creating almost anything. 

In Genshin Impact Version 4.2, players will be able to pull for two new Fontaine characters, Furina and Charlotte. The two will make their playable debuts in the gacha, and there will be a story quest for Furina as well.

In the lore, Furina is the Hydro Archon of Fontaine. Meanwhile, Charlotte works as a reporter for The Steambird, which is a newspaper company. Both of them have had prominent roles in either the Archon Quests or an event. Charlotte had the honor of being the first Fontaine character the Traveler met.

We know that Charlotte is a Cryo character and she’ll be a four-star unit. Judging by the shape of her Vision, she will likely be a Pneuma-aligned character. Meanwhile, as the Hydro Archon, we know that Furina will be a five-star Hydro character. Due to her being an Archon, she defaults to an Ousia alignment, but can swap between it and Pneuma as she fights and uses abilities. That in turn changes her attacks.

Phase 1 event wishes will feature Furina and Baizhu as the five-stars, with Charlotte as one of the focus four-star characters on the banner. Cyno and Ayato reruns will appear in phase 2 of 4.2.

During the special program for Honkai: Star Rail, we learned the release date for version 1.5 is November 15, 2023. It also gave information on upcoming events and banners.

There will be a World 8 in Simulated Universe, which will be a permanent feature in the game. Yanqing will be the final boss in this world, and it will also introduce new Planar Ornament sets.

Version 1.5 will also introduce Penacony, as the characters will visit for a festival. Everyone will return to the Xianzhou Luofu for Huohuo’s story quest. As for game content, we’ll be able to access a new Stagnant of Shadow (which will provide the materials for Hanya), as well as new Caverns of Corrosion.

As for story content, Version 1.5 of Honkai: Star Rail will have a Companion Mission for Argenti. During the event, he’ll face off against the Astral Express team, but the program didn’t mention if this fight will be a playable one. He is one of the new playable characters in the next patch. Other than Argenti, Version 1.5 will debut Hanya and Huohuo. Argenti and Huohuo will be the 5-stars, and Hanya will be the 4-star.

During the Honkai: Star Rail Version 1.5 special program, we got to see some of the new characters who will appear in the upcoming patch. HoYoVerse had already revealed the designs, elements, and Paths for Huohuo, Argenti, and Hanya.

Argenti will be a 5-star Physical Erudition. His Skill can deal Physical damage to all enemies. Meanwhile, his Ultimate changes depending on how much Energy he uses. When he consumes a little, he deals damage to all enemies. When he uses them all, he deals more damage, and he can deal additional damage to a random target. He has a very simple kit in that sense.

Huohuo will be a 5-star Wind Abundance character. Her Skill can restore HP to a single ally and adjacent teammates. This makes the order of your party important. Her Ultimate can regenerate Energy as well as increase ATK for the whole party. Once her tail possesses her, she can restore HP passively at the start of each ally’s turn.

As part of the November 2023 livestream for the 1.5 Special Program, three more Honkai: Star Rail Stellar Jade codes appeared. All of them can only be claimed either until November 3, 2023 ends or the codes run out.

The content of the codes are the same as usual. Each one, when redeemed, gives you 100 Stellar Jades and some items that can be used to improve characters or items. It ends up only being enough for one pull on the gacha, however, since a single try is 160 Stellar Jades.

Here is the full list of new Honkai: Star Rail Stellar Jade codes from the Special Program 1.5

Each code must be redeemed one at a time to get the Stellar Jades and other items in-game. Once you do, they’ll appear in your Honkai: Star Rail inbox for you to claim.

•  HT8BX7JL89Z7 – 100 Stellar Jade, 5 Traveler’s Guides
•  6B9BFPK58Q3T – 100 Stellar Jade, 4 Refined Aether
• JB9BE7K5RQY3 – 100 Stellar Jade, 50,000 Credits

During the Special Program for 1.5, HoYoVerse confirmed Honkai: Star Rail Simulated Universe World 8 will appear. It will be the most challenging one following its launch.

With the Simulated Universe Worlds, players tend to need to complete certain Trailblaze Missions and the prior World to gain access to new ones. So while the exact details aren’t available yet, we do know at least that someone will need to complete World 7 before unlocking World 8 Difficulty 1. If it follows the same pattern as Worlds 6 and 7, then the layout should involve 13 areas that gradually get more difficult, with two Elite enemy fights ahead of Respite areas, then a Respite area before the World’s final boss. Note that this is the first new World added since 7 in 1.2 back in July 2023.

Oh my god, it’s November. Don’t ask me how or why. I don’t make the rules and I have no answers. What I do have, however, is a solid list of game recs for your weekend.

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Super Mario RPG, the remake of Square Enix’s 1996 2D pixel art classic, will be out on Nintendo Switch on November 17. The charming-looking turn-based game sees Mario and Peach join forces with the dastardly Bowser to stop a mechanical creature named Smithy from destroying the Mushroom Kingdom. Going off some early…

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Much has already been said about the woeful state of Metal Gear Solid Master Collection: Volume 1. The idea is certainly enticing on paper: for £50/$60, Konami promises us seven main entries in the series in one package for current-gen and last-gen consoles plus PC.

The content here is not the issue. We get the PS1 classic MGS, with the VR missions pack included, we get MGS2: Sons of Liberty and MGS3: Snake Eater, with enhancements from the later Substance and Subsistence versions. And to sweeten the deal, there's the MSX2 releases of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, while both NES Metal Gears make a rare appearance too for a series collection. That takes us from the series' inception in 1987 right up to MGS3 in 2004, with room for a Master Collection Volume 2 to expand beyond that.

There are omissions of course, but it would have been enough if each game had been ported to current-gen consoles with the love and attention they deserve - but sadly, this isn't the reality. Regardless of which platform you buy the Master Collection on, and despite some admittedly nice extras on the front-end, this release could and should have been so much more.

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Activision and Xbox have teamed up to release full screen ads for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on the console's homepage, which players have since heavily criticised.

As shared by multiple users on social media, the ad in question pops up when players boot up their Xbox. "Fight against the ultimate threat," the screen proclaims.

It then suggests you perhaps buy the game ahead of its full release later this month (as a reminder, you can play the Campaign early if you pre-order). Your three options are simply "Buy Now", "Get the Vault Edition Upgrade" and, mercifully, the option to "Exit" away from this ad and get on with what you actually booted up your Xbox for.

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I've been thinking a lot about realism recently - in part because I've been playing an awful lot of Football Manager 2024 (probably a lot more than I really needed to for the review, but keep that between us), and FM is nothing if not an attempt to make very fake looking football feel very real.

It's also a very specific kind of realism, though, a kind we don't always get in games. Or maybe a kind we do get quite often, but don't always value as much, or talk about as much, as the other kind. Typically we think of realism, I've found, in two ways. One is appearances, which is natural for a medium that's as visual as anything, and also utterly infatuated with raw graphical progress: how realistic are Naughty Dog's animations? How close a recreation of downtown Düsseldorf is this, from my bird's eye view in Flight Simulator? How taxing on your graphics card is Geralt of Rivia's hair?

This one's at the front of my mind too because, skipping ahead to next week, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is on its way, with the campaign already live for some. For all its faults - of which the CoD games will always have a few - the faces of this new Modern Warfare trilogy are extraordinarily good. Industry-leading good. Industry-leading faces! Only in video games, and maybe modelling agencies?

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Target often holds a buy 2, get 1 free sale on video games, and another one is about to begin ahead of Black Friday 2023. It runs November 5-11, 2023. [Thanks, Wario64!]

This isn’t just a game-limited sale. It covers a number of forms of media. So the pages in the official ad note books, puzzles, and “activities” like children’s crafts would be included. As is typical for such deals, the lowest-price item is the one that will be free. The only “exclusion” mentioned is Cards Against Humanity products.

A number of games also appear in the ad, as examples of the sorts of titles that do qualify for this offer. Here’s the full list:

• Assassin’s Creed Mirage (PS5)
• Avatar: The Last Airbender - Quest for Balance (Switch)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (PS5)
• FC 24 (PS5)
• Final Fantasy XVI (PS5)

Good Smile Company announced a Fullmetal Alchemist Nendoroid Doll of Edward Elric. It’s early in development, so only the announcement image appeared with official character art.

Here’s the official announcement. It only shows standard art of Ed. He’s wearing his regular uniform and red coat. This suggests that when the Nendoroid Doll is released, we’ll see it in the full three-piece outfit as well. 

It was announced at the same time as the new Cardcaptor Sakura Nendoroid Doll.

There are a lot of standard Nendoroids of characters from the series already. For example, in addition to the Elric brothers, there are Nendoroids of Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, and Envy. Each of these are based on their standard appearances from the anime and manga.

To offer more insight into what we can expect from the new FFVII Ever Crisis Zack and Glenn banner, Square Enix and Applibot showed a live wallpaper and trailer. Both focus on the Zack Black Hound gear people can acquire.

First, here’s the FFVII Ever Crisis in-game wallpaper video. It shows Zack in the Black Hound outfit. To fit with the werewolf motif, he’s in front of a full moon and occasionally howls at it.

As for the FFVII Ever Crisis Zack teaser trailer, it shows him in costume while using his new Black Whiskers weapon’s C. Ability. That’s Swirl Drop. It is a non-elemental attack that also lowers defenses.

Good Smile Company announced it is working on a new Cardcaptor Sakura Nendoroid Doll. The figure is so early in development that there’s only concept art and no prototype yet. 

Here’s the company’s official announcement. It shows Sakura Kinomoto in her school uniform. She’s also holding the Dream Staff. Both that and the uniform style suggest this figure will be based on the later Clear Card arc appearance of the character. 

This will be the first Nendoroid Doll figure of the character. Sakura and supporting cast members like Tomoyo appeared as standard Nendoroids, however.

Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher: Nacon
Developer: Teyon
Release: November 2, 2023
Rating: Mature

RoboCop: Rogue City is likely the best game the action hero has ever starred in. That bar isn’t tough to hurdle, but the adventure delivers plenty of thrills for fans to be excited about. This narrative-driven first-person shooter has a loving reverence for the films and a good understanding of its protagonist, swinging for the fences with a lengthy original story, fun references, and plenty of enjoyably cheesy humor. Unfortunately, like the franchise’s vision of Detroit, Rogue City is very rough around the edges, resulting in a flawed hero but one that’s ultimately entertaining to patrol with. 

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, not to be confused with the 2011 game of the same name, doesn’t officially launch until November 10 on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. But if you preordered the game you can get early access to the single-player campaign, which contains a total of 15 missions.

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It doesn’t feel like it’s been three months since Larian Studios freed Baldur’s Gate 3 from its Early Access shackles and unleashed its huge Dungeons & Dragons epic on the world. In that time, it’s quickly become the highest-reviewed game on Metacritic this year, making it a likely shoo-in for Game of the Year…

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Fresh footage as well as a playable prototype of a cancelled Daredevil game have appeared online.

Known as Daredevil: The Man Without Fear, this prototype was initially conceived all the way back in 2004, but the full game was never released. It has since come back into circulation, however, with the prototype being shared online by an anonymous developer who worked on it almost 20 years ago.

You can find this Daredevil prototype, along with several screenshots, over on Hidden Palace. According to the notes included with the prototype, The Man Without Fear was being developed for the PC, PS2 and Xbox, and was set to be a "third-person beat 'em up" style game.

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Way back in June 2021, noted technology leaker kopite7kimi posted a detailed picture of Nvidia's T234 processor, revealing for the first time that Nintendo would be receiving a customised variant, dubbed T239. In the two years that followed, a wealth of overwhelming evidence has essentially confirmed that they were right. The T239 is an advanced mobile processor, based on an octo-core ARM A78C CPU cluster, paired with a custom graphics unit based on Nvidia's RTX 30-series Ampere architecture, combined with some backported elements from the latest Ada Lovelace GPUs - and with an all-new file decompression engine for fast engine. It also supports Nvidia's console-specific graphics API, all but confirming that it's destined for the next generation Switch.

In this piece, we'll talk about the various evidence that links the T239 with Nintendo and we'll also be taking a look at the closest equivalent mobile GPU in the graphics space, downclocking it to ultra-low frequencies in an attempt to get some kind of handle on what a low-power Ampere-based graphics core can offer, whether ray tracing is possible and just how important DLSS upscaling could be for a second generation Nintendo hybrid handheld/console. We'll also see whether our analysis marries up with any of the sparse information gleaned from the Gamescom showing of Switch 2 to select developers.

Bandai Namco announced it is going to be more strict about Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker suspensions starting next week. The initiative will roll out alongside a November 7, 2023 patch for the game.

The company clarified that it will be cracking down on people who violate the Terms of Service for the multiplayer game. In its official statement, it cited five specific sorts of activities that will merit suspensions. Two fall into the illegal sales and purchases categories, as the company doesn’t allow people to trade or sell accounts or have illegal in-game purchases. That could result in account and data transfer suspensions. 

The other three involve altering the way the game is played. Specifically, Bandai Namco cited that there will be more Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker suspensions for people who use bugs or tools to cheat or attempt to hack the game to gain access to things or make themselves stronger.

From time to time, Square Enix shares FFVII Remake soundtrack songs online, and the latest to show up is “Collapsed Expressway.” It can be heard in the background during Chapter 9. 

As a spoiler-free refresher, FFVII Remake Chapter 9 takes place once Cloud met Aerith and is working as her “bodyguard.” She’s helping him travel to a different area of the slums, and the two take a Collapsed Expressway shortcut to reach Sector 7 again. Part of that involves working mechanical arms to clear the way and dealing with enemies. (You can also encounter Johnny down there as well.) 

Because of that, the music video shared on the official Japanese social media account for FFVII Remake for the “Collapsed Expressway” soundtrack song shows Aerith beside Cloud as he works a mechanical arm. She’s waving to it as he moves it.

Here's the FFVII Remake "Collapsed Expressway" song video:

The latest season for Epic Games' battle royale is titled Fortnite OG, and the theme this time is time travel. The current season, which is 5 of Chapter 4 and the 27th one overall, will feature a selection of items from several older seasons. The store will also feature a rotation of classic skins and a new, shorter battle pass.

The first phase, which is playable now, will feature items and locations from the original Fortnite Season 5 from Chapter 1. This includes fan favorite locations like Tilted Towers, gadgets like the Grappler, and vehicles like the shopping cart. Then on November 9, 2023, November 16, 2023, and November 23, 2023, new phases will begin featuring seasons 6-10, bringing more new items from those respective seasons and removing some older items.

You can watch the new season trailer below:

The anime-inspired action-RPG Genshin Impact will get a pretty substantial update later this month that introduces two new playable characters, an expanded region to explore, and a couple of formidable bosses waiting to beat the brakes off you.

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Overwatch 2’s new tank hero will be playable this weekend, at least that’s what a post on the Nintendo eShop says.

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Taimanin RPG Extasy is a turn-based gacha RPG in which players unlock new warriors to fight demons and criminal syndicates in a horny sci-fi future. The game’s been live in Japan for years, but only recently came to the rest of the world, and it’s already facing its first major crisis: an outbreak of “gem debt”…

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For being a role-playing game based on 5e Dungeons & Dragons, Baldur’s Gate 3 is notoriously horny. Regardless of mythical race, gender, or social station, many of the game’s alluring party members are willing to at least spank you, and because of this, BG3 has a thriving and official sex speedrun category. For a…

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If you've ever paused mid-slaughter during a game of Vampires Survivors and thought to yourself, 'Yes, but what's my motivation?', you'll want to ready yourself for the minimalist survival RPG's next free update. As per studio Poncle's latest development update, a new story driven, lore-infused Adventures mode will soon be on the way.

Poncle has teased Adventures before, describing them as a remix of content adding a bit of extra "flavour" through new stage progression and descriptions. Now though, via the medium of FAQ it's gone into considerably more detail, explaining Adventures are essentially self-contained miniature story campaigns - some available as part of the base game, others tied to specific DLC - that'll follow the game's cast of Survivors on a series of "wacky sidequests."

Adventures unlock at set points during the main game or their associated DLC, and feature a unique progression path that'll see players starting from scratch (main game unlocks won't be affected) using a specific character and item set-up as they attempt to complete a series of custom challenges with a limited arsenal. Those challenges might, for instance, require players to survive a certain amount of time or kill a set amount of enemies, and there'll be bits of lore text forming a mini story arc along the way.

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At Blizzcon 2023, Activision Blizzard announced the Diablo 4 expansion Vessel of Hatred, with the DLC set for 2024. It will arrive around the end of next year.

There are few exact details about the first expansion at the moment. Activision Blizzard released a first trailer. It spends under a minute teasing things to come. No characters are shown. Only environments appear. However, Mephisto acts as a narrator for the whole thing while Zakarum prayers can be heard, suggesting the choice we gave up is making him stronger.

Here’s the full video. At the very end of it, the “late” 2024 release window comes up along with the logo for the add-on.

When I first read the summary for Thirsty Suitors, I imagined it would be a South Asian version of Scott Pilgrim, only you're fighting your own evil exes. But as soon as I booted up the game and stepped into a Jala's inner world, skateboard in hand and a Thirstsona quiz badgering me about my love life after every grind, I realized I was going to be in for a wilder ride. Despite its short length, it made a far deeper impression on me than the majority of longer AAA games I'd played this year with its clever writing and memorable battle system.

Bandai Namco released the first chapter of the Prelude novel introducing the events of the Tales of Arise Beyond the Dawn DLC. The prelude novel is comprised of three chapters, and chapters 2 and 3 will be available at a later date.

The Tales of Arise Beyond the Dawn DLC Prelude novel is available in English through the Tales Channel+ website. Chapter 1 is titled Two Who Remain the Same, and it stars Rinwell and Law as protagonists. The chapter is approximately three pages long, and it includes accompanying images, as well as an option to read alongside background music.

Two more chapters of the Tales of Arise DLC Prelude novel are set to release at a later date. The second one is titled Two Open to Change and it will follow Kisara and Dohalim. Meanwhile Chapter 3 is called Two Who Want to Change and it will focus on Alphen and Shionne.

Bandai Namco recently revealed the opening theme song of the Tales of Arise Beyond the Dawn DLC. It is titled “We Still” and is performed by Kankaku Piero.

Today, during Blizzcon 2023, Blizzard gave us an early look at Diablo IV’s first expansion, Vessel of Hatred. The upcoming expansion will feature a new class and will be out next year.

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Blizzard announced three new Overwatch 2 heroes at Blizzcon 2023’s opening ceremony, and while Mauga, the next tank hero, is playable in the game this weekend as part of a test period to everyone, the company also showed off two other heroes planned to launch in 2024.

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With this year's BlizzCon now firmly underway, Blizzard has been whipping up the crowds with a bunch of announcements during its Opening Ceremony, including initial details on Diablo 4's first expansion. It's called Vessel of Hatred and it's due "late" next year.

Vessel of Hatred - said to still be "super early" in development - continues the story of base game antagonist Prime Evil Mephisto, and introduces a new region to Diablo 4: the lush jungles of Torajan, last seen in Diablo 2.

Blizzard isn't saying much more about Vessel of Hatred just yet but it does tease that it'll feature "new ways to play", "new evils to vanquish", plus a new class never before see in the Diablo universe. There's also a (not especially informative) teaser trailer to accompany the news.

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In a recent Q&A, Square Enix shared some details about the development and creation of the the Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood expansion. The information was shared to celebrate the inclusion of the Stormblood expansion into the FFXIV free trial.

In regards to Ala Mhigo, senior story designer Banri Oda said that the setting of the city is inspired by Istambul, since both are located at the junction of two civilizations, and have acted as geopolitical strategic points throughout their history. However, in terms of aesthetic, Ala Mhigo draws inspiration from the Agra Fort, or the Red Fort, located in the Indian city of Agra.

Lead background artist Yoshiki Takanashi revealed that producer and director Yoshi-P asked for the Kugane Tower to be climbable. At one point during the development of Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood, players were sharing screenshots online of possible climbable parts of the tower. Because of this, the developers made sure to make the climbing spots inconspicuous to make it more challenging.