This title probably comes as a surprise to no one at this point as the Endwalker delay was announced at last night’s Live Letter. But if you haven’t heard the news, now you have!

I admit that I didn’t expect a delay, but I also wasn’t surprised that there was one. Seeing that they were already pushing hard to get everything in place due to Covid throwing off work schedules and everything else that’s going on in these times, a two week delay is really not a bad pushback.

It puts the release at December 3 for early access and December 7 for actual release. Dropping the game right before the Christmas holidays (rather than the week of Thanksgiving) may work out better for a number of people in the end.

For those of us (like myself) who had time off set up to go – I’ll be a little sad that the week I had set aside to play the game (thanks to extra Thanksgiving days off) isn’t going to be. But seeing that poor Yoshi-P was nearly in tears to tell us about the delay, I can’t be mad. He was so worried that we would be disappointed and lose trust in the team, which did not look to be the situation at all based on Twitch chat.

Anyhow, it’s a bummer. But if it makes the game a better and more stable release – especially in the face of the population boom we’ve had lately – I hand it to the team to know what is best for Endwalker.

Live Letter Highlights

We did get a shiny new trailer, however!

A lot of interesting things to see in there.

We also got a bit more information on what they’re doing with various systems in the game, such as big PvP changes, crafting and gathering updates, and the new housing lotteries. Oh, and they said any glamour dresser/plate changes will be looked at probably about 6.1 – but they have heard our cry.

One thing that really caught my interest was the Character Calling Cards (tentative name). Based on descriptions within the Live Letter, these will be customizable profiles that you can create within game for your character. Other players will be able to view your card, and you will be able to unlock new cosmetics and customizations for your card through content in game (not just PVP).

This is so, so, so cool, and will be great for the RP community! Not only that, but it’s another type of reward that players can work towards (decorating your card) that feels like it won’t take all that much effort to continue to build assets for. Or, at least, not the same amount of effort that it does to make, say a piece of 3D armor or a mount.

Other things excited me quite a bit:

• Being able to Gpose while playing an instrument
• Spearfishing mini game
• New female Viera hair (for those who were hoping for it)
• Achievement UI rework – looks quite nice!
• And I’m curious about this Immersive Gamepack for 3D sound

Finally, I was quite excited to see the new set of Tomestone gear is based off of Final Fantasy IV designs! Woot! This might be the first time I actually collect several sets of Tomestone gear for glamour purposes.

Sadly, we didn’t get any word on Island Sanctuary. Though Yoshi-P addressed the fact that we were requesting information about it, and said that they would deliver this later.

Also, All Saint’s Wake is pushed back until sometime next year. At that rate, I’m not sure why they don’t just hold it for next Halloween. It’s going to be weird having a spooky event in the middle of March or something. Ah well.

To sum it up – the delay is a bummer, but I’m just as hyped (if not more) for what’s to come! This also gives me more time to finish up all the things I wanted to do before the expansion dropped. Ironically, I just said yesterday that I’d probably not get another character through Shadowbringers, but now that could be a possibility.

NOTE: Make sure you take a good look at all your characters and job levels! Once Endwalker drops, if you are in the middle of leveling, all of your XP for that level will roll back to zero. So, for example, if you are level 50 on an alt, halfway to level 51, you will lose that XP. The best thing to do is just push through that half level to get to the start of 51, and you won’t lose anything.