Famitsu: How Eden's Promise Was Made! (1/2)

Message From AkhMorning

As part of our vision for future content on AkhMorning we are looking to expand our horizons with coverage of various overseas media to bridge together the information between regions and to help enhance the global understanding and appreciation of FFXIV.

This article is our tenth translation article of overseas interviews. It is unofficial and all rights to the source images, assets and written content belong to Famitsu and SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. respectively.

For ease of legibility with the article’s length, the source media has been omitted but can be found in the official article link below.

If you have any feedback, please contact us at feedback@akhmorning.com.

It is with great pleasure we bring to you our translation of:

The Interview With Developers of “Eden’s Promise” (Part 1)

An In Depth Look Behind The Production Scene Of Eden’s Final Series, As Well As Learning The Bosses’ Origins!

Source Article

【【FF14】『暁月のフィナーレ』開発者インタビュー第2弾 魔法宮殿 グラン・コスモスに登場する騎士ついてのエピソードも

Famitsu Article Staff

Final Fantasy XIV (henceforth referred to as “FFXIV”), the massive multiplayer online RPG developed by Square-Enix, continues to grow at an unprecedented rate, currently experiencing a growth surpassing 22 million registered accounts※ worldwide. Among all the content released and offered by this game, High Difficulty Raids in particular attract significant spotlight and attention from players. Therefore in this third interview that casts the spotlight on high difficulty raids, Famitsu conducted an interview with the developers who worked on Eden’s Promise, the final tier of the Eden raid.

※ Including accounts from Japan, North America, Europe, China and Korea. Free trial accounts are counted as part of that statistic as well.

Disclaimer: this interview was conducted with all the safety measures and precautions taken in mind. This includes wearing masks outside of photoshoots, social distancing between members was practiced, along with measures to prevent infection being strictly adhered to.

With the release of the highly anticipated final raid tier, Eden’s Promise, that followed after Eden’s Gate and Eden’s Verse for the game’s third expansion, “Shadowbringers,” Famitsu has conducted the interview with developers that were involved in the raid tier.

This interview will cover many topics of interest, such as the inside story of the mechanic development as well as the origin behind the boss, so we hope this article will provide you with the information you want to know about the raid. However, please be aware that this article will contain many spoilers for Eden’s Promise, so proceed with utmost caution.

Furthermore, Famitsu also included a list of battle contents developed by five of the developers who participated in the interview, similar to the previous interviews. Looking at it gives an idea of the developers’ preferences and tendencies in content development, and if you’re a Hikasen (the Japanese nickname and shorthand for “Warriors of Light”), you may find yourself strangely amused by the list. We’d like for you to check out the list of previous work done by them.

Eden's Promise Designers

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa Battle Content Director | JP | Square Enix
Seishiro Hata
Seishiro Hata Battle Content | JP | Square Enix
Banri Takahashi
Banri Takahashi Battle Content | JP | Square Enix
Takashi Kawamoto
Takashi Kawamoto Battle Systems | JP | Square Enix
Kazuto Yoshihashi
Kazuto Yoshihashi Battle Content | JP | Square Enix
Famitsu
Famitsu

Masaki Nakagawa

Lead Battle Content Designer.

In charge of the Eden series raid as the leader of the Monster team involved in the creation of battle content. Designs battle content in addition to team coordination, and was involved in the design for Eden’s Gate 2nd floor and Eden’s Verse 1st floor (planning). Referred to as as Nakagawa in this interview.

Seishirou Hata

Battle Content Designer.

In charge of Eden’s Promise 1st Floor. Referred to as Hata in the interview.

Banri Takahashi

Battle Content Designer.

Worked on Eden’s Verse 1st floor (Implementation, Adjustments). In charge of Eden’s Promise 2nd Floor. Referred to as Takahashi in the interview.

Takashi Kawamoto

Battle Systems Designer.

Worked on Eden’s Gate 1st floor. In charge of Eden’s Promise 3rd Floor. Referred toas Kawamoto in the interview.

Kazuto Yoshihashi

Battle Content Designer.

Worked on Eden’s Verse 3rd floor. In charge of Eden’s Promise 4th Floor. Referred to as Yoshihashi in the interview.

The Motivation And Pressure That Comes With Being A Warrior Of Light

Seishiro Hata: Battle Content Designer
Seishiro Hata: Battle Content Designer
Famitsu
Famitsu

Both Nakagawa-san and Kawamoto-san introduced themselves in our Eden’s Gate interview, while Takahashi-san and Yoshihashi-san did the same in our Eden’s Verse interview, so allow us to cut their self introduction short.

However, since Hata-san is a newcomer to the interview series, we would like you to give us a short introduction, as well as your background and how you got here.

Seishiro Hata
Seishiro Hata

I joined the team back during June, 2018. It was right after Patch 4.3’s (Under the Moonlight) release.

Previously I worked as a planner for a certain smartphone app, but as time goes on I thought it would be time for me to delve into game creation and I’ve been wanting to create various games, at the same time being a long time ongoing player of FFXIV, so I thought I’d apply for the position as the member of FFXIV development team.

The rest was history and I got accepted into the team…

Famitsu
Famitsu

The phrase “I got accepted” comes up really frequently in this interview series, doesn’t it? (laughs)

As one would expect, I may disagree with the choice of word used, or rather, I just think you were being modest…

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

Sure he may say that, but he was really passionate during the interview. (laughs)

Everyone laughs

Famitsu
Famitsu

So what was the first task you worked on after joining the team?

Seishiro Hata
Seishiro Hata

Initially I worked on The Forbidden Land of Eureka, specifically the Notorious Monsters on Pyros.

Famitsu
Famitsu

And you gradually got used to creating battle content from that point on.

Since you were also in charge of various other content, what was the most memorable among them?

Seishiro Hata
Seishiro Hata

The most memorable one would have to be The Cinder Drift. Since that content was my first involvement in Trial related content, I thought I’d go all out by creating an image that I’ve never thought possible before, like including the scene where the Dalamud falls and so on.

Famitsu
Famitsu

So what is Nakagawa-san’s impression of Hata-san as the leader of the group?

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

He’s the type of person who is capable of handling anything skillfully. As the conversation about Eureka was mentioned earlier, Hata was also involved in Hydatos as well, and he was in charge of creating Art & Owain, the first boss players face in “Baldesion Arsenal”.

Art & Owain is a special boss that requires players to split into two groups and defeat both at the same time. During the development process, we had to write up some complicated specifications for it, but Hata proved to be more than capable in handling it.

Other than that, he was also in charge of the quest battle against Sapphire Weapon, a special quest where you fight while boarding a robot.

Even though he had no prior knowledge and had to deal with various issues, he was able to provide a highly polished and complete work. Because of this, I felt that Hata is a highly skilled game designer.

Masaki Nakagawa: Battle Content Lead
Masaki Nakagawa: Battle Content Lead
Famitsu
Famitsu

Did you utilise the experience you gained from your previous job in this area?

Seishiro Hata
Seishiro Hata

Since it’s a completely different field, it feels more like I had to learn everything from scratch.

Though I wouldn’t say the experience I gained from my previous job wasn’t useful…

Famitsu
Famitsu

And from there, you finally earned your first involvement in raid design.

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

That’s right.

While he indeed worked on various content, raid design is a completely new horizon for him.

Famitsu
Famitsu

What was your mental state when you found out you were assigned to work on raids?

Seishiro Hata
Seishiro Hata

I thought, “So it has finally come to this”.

Since I am a FFXIV player myself, I played almost every raid content that’s released in the game so far, but the excitement of having solved mechanics that came from the raid, as well as the satisfaction of successfully overcoming hardships that comes from raiding really left a lasting impression in my game experience.

So when it was confirmed that I’ll be the one to design raids, I questioned myself whether I could deliver the same impact I experienced myself as a player to other players here, and it made me a little uneasy at first. But, if I am to be in charge, I thought I might as well face it and work on the plan with the spirit of leaving a mark behind.

Famitsu
Famitsu

It’s definitely the aspect of “I’ll do it, because I’m a Warrior of Light myself” in play, isn’t it?

Next, I’d like to know the story behind the selection of members and the level assigned.

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

When the plan to work on the last 4 floors was still a blank slate, Kawamoto raised his hand and said, “I would like to work on the 4th floor.”. I’m a big fan of people who are passionate about their work, and seeing him volunteer made me really pleased.

Even so, Kawamoto only had experience working on the first floor of Eden’s Gate and he doesn’t have any experience working on the 2nd and 3rd floors, allowing him to work on the 4th floor might be a little bit too much for him to bear, so I had him work on the 3rd floor for Eden’s Promise.

In fact, considering the positive remarks left by the players after the 3rd floor became publicly available, I would say he really delivered and his passion is genuine.

Famitsu
Famitsu

Kawamoto-san, why did you raise your hand to work on the 4th floor?

Takashi Kawamoto
Takashi Kawamoto

I thought, since we’re here already, I’d like to try and challenge myself with content I’d never done before.

I also thought of wanting to volunteer myself early and take charge, so that I can work properly on a task rather than getting caught up last minute with an urgent schedule. (laughs)

Takashi Kawamoto: Battle System Designer
Takashi Kawamoto: Battle System Designer
Famitsu
Famitsu

I remember you mentioned having to often take on work when there was not enough manpower during our Eden’s Gate interview. (laughs)

Takashi Kawamoto
Takashi Kawamoto

Well that, too. That’s why I thought of volunteering myself early. (laughs)

The reason why I volunteered for the fourth floor is because, well, if I were to bring my hands up, I might as well go big. That’s what I thought.

Famitsu
Famitsu

Ultimately you were assigned to work on the 3rd floor, what were your thoughts at that time?

Takashi Kawamoto
Takashi Kawamoto

I was glad actually. I actually thought I was going to work on either the first or second floor here, so it surprised me to learn that I’d be handling the 3rd floor.

As a project, I do think it’s important for junior members of the Monster Team to accumulate more experience and under such circumstances and context, I was surprised to know such a veteran like me would be given the task here.

Famitsu
Famitsu

Looks like we have Takahashi-san who worked on the 2nd floor, and Yoshihashi-san who worked on the 4th floor, continuing from their previous work on Eden’s Verse.

What was the intention behind having the both of them continue work for this tier?

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

Since Takahashi-san worked on the first floor during Eden’s Verse, while Yoshihashi-san worked on the 3rd floor, at that point it was already decided that they will work on Eden’s Promise as well.

I wanted them to utilise the experience they got from working on Eden’s Verse and put it to use on Eden’s Promise.

Famitsu
Famitsu

If I recall correctly, it’s the format where each floor is a step up.

Banri Takahashi
Banri Takahashi

I’ve since received a lot of feedback for the raid battles as well as the quest battles I’ve worked up to that point.

So on Eden’s Promise 2nd floor, I utilised all of this as references for the second floor of Eden’s Promise, and eagerly moved forward with the project.

Banri Takahashi: Battle Content Designer
Banri Takahashi: Battle Content Designer
Famitsu
Famitsu

It definitely shows in your work. You certainly were aware of the feedback from your previous works.

Banri Takahashi
Banri Takahashi

As mentioned in our previous interviews before, I think the the most interesting thing about FFXIV is the aspect of party members facing hardships together and experiencing the sense of accomplishment that comes with using their combined strength to overcome those challenges.

Since this is Shadowbringer’s final raid tier, we had to be very well aware of that fact when trying to express that aspect well.

Famitsu
Famitsu

How about Yoshihashi-san who worked on the 4th floor then?

Kazuto Yoshihashi
Kazuto Yoshihashi

Considering that I worked all the way from the planning stage of the raid battle for Eden’s Verse 3rd floor to its release, I was surprised by that decision and thought by working on the fourth floor it would allow me to accumulate further experience.

Since that floor concludes the entire Eden raid series, in addition to receiving such wonderful design from Tetsuya Nomura on the boss, Eden’s Promise during the planning stage really made me feel pressured, and that was what I remembered during that time.

Famitsu
Famitsu

The fourth floor is also a stage which tends to attract a high degree of attention.

Kazuto Yoshihashi
Kazuto Yoshihashi

As for the rest, since countermeasures against COVID-19 were implemented the moment the task is proceeding well under way, it made me feel uneasy when I work at home, or rather I worked on the task while thinking “Will I be fine…”, so I was anxious.

Since I have a lot of staff members in the Monster Team, starting from our leader Nakagawa, that I can discuss things with, whenever I start worrying on whether I can create interesting ideas I would make the use of the chat tools and voice out to initiate discussions with other members.

Kazuto Yoshihashi: Battle Content Designer
Kazuto Yoshihashi: Battle Content Designer
Famitsu
Famitsu

It’s not easy to ascertain the condition of others physically when working remotely, so I understand that anyone will have to be careful when asking for advice. Even then, setting up web meetings just to discuss issues can be a bit of a hassle on its own. (laughs)

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

I know, right.

In the case of the Monster Team, we allocated 30 minutes of free talk for our remote meeting once every week. During that time, we refrain ourselves from talking about work and really just chat leisurely. The purpose of doing this for our meeting is to reduce our stress and foster creativity through conversations.

Takashi Kawamoto
Takashi Kawamoto

Oh, is that so!

Famitsu
Famitsu

Ah, since Kawamoto-san is from the Battle System team, this might be his first time hearing about it. (laughs)

So the Battle System does not have the same thing set up?

Takashi Kawamoto
Takashi Kawamoto

Our team uses company-wide communication tools to chat with each other. Like we usually chat about when the game will be on sale, or “there is something like this on the news*, and many others.

The major reason our team doesn’t set up sessions like this may be due to how we don’t have many people in our team.

Eden’s Promise Bosses Heavily Reflect Requests Made by the Scenario Team

Famitsu
Famitsu

In our previous interviews, you mentioned that decisions are made by Nakagawa-san and the section leads, and then followed by the producer and director Yoshida-san (Naoki Yoshida), right?

So was the format similar this time as well?

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

This time, we paid close attention to what the scenario team wanted to do with the tier, and thought of how to make it happen.

Famitsu
Famitsu

Of course, the bosses are decided basically through the scenario, but the scenario this time brought a much greater weight than usual, didn’t it?

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

That’s right.

First of all we had the scenario to awaken the Darkness aspects of the land. When it comes to Darkness we thought of The Cloud of Darkness, so the decision to use her as the first boss was made, as for the decision to use Shadowkeeper, it was decided at the request from the Scenario team.

Initially, we had that fear of having difficulties trying to differentiate The Cloud of Darkness and Shadowkeeper since both of them share the same Darkness elemental in terms of its theme, so we advised them to give that idea a review before proceeding.

Famitsu
Famitsu

Oh, to think that happened.

So it seems the battle team sometimes rejects requests when needed.

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

Of course that can happen. If we proceed with any lingering concerns, it becomes difficult to work on the battle and will result in major negative impact to the overall quality of the battle content.

Eden's Promise 1st Boss: Cloud of Darkness
Eden's Promise 1st Boss: Cloud of Darkness
Famitsu
Famitsu

It seems to me that all the skills in the first and second floor have the word “Darkness” attached all over. (laughs)

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

Though this wasn’t actually the case, but to put it in extreme that seems to be the case. (laughs bitterly)

However, there was a strong request to let the Shadowkeeper appear on the 2nd floor, and so we had to work and think of how to differentiate the image of Darkness.

In the end, among all the ideas we presented, we thought if we can attach some specifications on the aspect of “Shadow” on the 2nd floor, we could create a change out of it.

Famitsu
Famitsu

Was Takahashi-san, the one who’s in charge of Floor 2, aware of these exchanges that took place?

Banri Takahashi
Banri Takahashi

Nope, this is the first time I’ve heard of this. (laughs)

But I know well that Nakagawa can adjust the battle according to what we think it’s easier for us to create, so we have full confidence and faith in his ability.

Eden's Promise 2nd Boss - The Shadowkeeper
Eden's Promise 2nd Boss - The Shadowkeeper
Famitsu
Famitsu

Next we’ll move on to the 3rd boss “Fatebreaker”, how was the decision to use this boss made?

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

The 3rd floor too was created with the request from the Scenario Team, and the concept proposed to us was “the being that would most strongly come to mind for Ryne”. So we thought, it has to be Thancred, and we proposed it to the scenario team and no objections were raised on that.

Since we made the 4th floor of Eden’s Verse to revolve around Ryne as the theme, the sense of achievement gained from having that idea work well was important in that decision factor.

Eden's Promise 3rd boss - Fatebreaker
Eden's Promise 3rd boss - Fatebreaker
Famitsu
Famitsu

Indeed, the level of combination of story and battle aspects in Eden’s Verse floor 4 was amazing.

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

By the way, we created the 3rd floor boss, Fatebreaker, in a rather extravagant manner than normally when we place our orders to the art team, the person assigned for the job will take over and work on the designs, but since we were able to utilise larger costs for the art side, we had the team conduct competitions amongst themselves.

Artists who were available contributed around 10 to 15 different design ideas and patterns, and had their artwork laid across our meeting room, and had Yoshida and other leads to participate and exchange opinions on the designs.

Famitsu
Famitsu

So you mean, there were actually various Thancreds (Fatebreaker) laying around.

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

That’s right.

There were a lot of designs made. Like Thancred riding a white horse, Thancred using Allagan weapons, or even Thancred who sports Griever (one of the bosses in FFVIII) features in design.

Famitsu
Famitsu

Even when the decision on which skills would Thancred use wasn’t decided, the artists would just design them as they please.

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

The artists had their fun, of course, and we found many inspirations among the designs given. So we are really happy with it.

Famitsu
Famitsu

What is the decisive factor that made the team settle on the current design?

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

Purely because it was cool, would be the biggest reason behind the choice. Also, there is that snake-looking familiar flying around that evoked an image of Ranjit, and having elements other than bosses like them made it easier to create mechanics and create battles around that concept.

Yoshida also commented that “Aside from Thancred, Ryne also understood well that Ranjit’s tough love for her is a form of kindness” and he commended the idea of integrating that aspect into the design of Thancred that merged with Ranjit.

Kawamoto also thought it would be easier for him to have both elements of the gunblade and the familiar to work with.

Takashi Kawamoto
Takashi Kawamoto

I am greatly thankful for your consideration here. Thank you. (laughs)

Eden's Promise Developer Team
Eden's Promise Developer Team
Famitsu
Famitsu

Finally, we’ll move on to the 4th floor.

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

For the 4th floor, we’d already decided that Tetsuya Nomura-san would be the one to draw the boss artwork for the final floor of the Eden series even before the release of Shadowbringers. Yoshida was the one who made the request, and it was in a relatively early stage that we obtained the design for both Gaia and Eden’s Promise.

So the development team got to look at the character designs for the both of them, while the scenario and battle team worked on to build up and retrofit the details into both the scenario and the battle.

Gaia - CHARACTER DESIGN: TETSUYA NOMURA
Gaia - CHARACTER DESIGN: TETSUYA NOMURA
Eden's Promise - CHARACTER DESIGN: TETSUYA NOMURA
Eden's Promise - CHARACTER DESIGN: TETSUYA NOMURA
Famitsu
Famitsu

So that happening was the reason why Eden Prime appeared on the first floor of Eden’s Gate.

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

That’s right.

We had Eden Prime appear right at the beginning, and then the boss who is deeply related to Eden to appear at the final battle of the series. With that, we relayed to Yoshida that this is how we want it to be done.

Famitsu
Famitsu

So only the beginning and the end was decided.

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

However, the appearance of Oracle of Darkness who appeared during the latter half of the fourth floor wasn’t decided on that point.

To begin with, we weren’t fully decided on whether or not to split the battle into 2 parts during the development phase for 5.0.

Famitsu
Famitsu

Since the 2-part battle format wasn’t used in Eden’s Gate and Eden’s Verse either.

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

As a result of various considerations through looking at all the player’s feedback for Eden’s Gate and Eden’s Verse, we’ve decided to utilise the 2-part battle structure for Eden’s Promise.

Famitsu
Famitsu

And I remember the moment when Eden’s Promise was released to the public and knowing that the Oracle of Darkness appearing at the latter half of the battle gave me a sense of satisfaction.

Oracle of Darkness, the boss available only on 4th floor Savage
Oracle of Darkness, the boss available only on 4th floor Savage
Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

Among the feedback given for Eden’s Gate and Eden’s Verse, we heard people say, “I want to fight FFVIII’s Ultimecia!”.

The good thing about FFXIV is that we listen to our player’s voice even after everything is decided, and then make detailed adjustments from there.

Since we had voices asking for that, we proceeded to debate with Yoshida about whether it was possible to have Ultimecia as the boss for the 4th floor.

Famitsu
Famitsu

So it was considered.

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

The conclusion we ended up with was that Gaia and Ryne, as well as Eden, are the characters of focus for the scenario in the Eden series. So having Ultimecia to suddenly appear as the boss may not necessarily provide any value in terms of presentation.

To release something that we didn’t agree with for the sake of fulfilling the player’s request definitely doesn’t mean it’ll turn out well, and doing so will end up being really disrespectful to the developers who created FFVIII.

That’s why we decided to utilise and make use of the original character aspect, and went with the Oracle of Darkness in the end.

Famitsu
Famitsu

I remembered that, during the announcement of “Shadowbringers”, Gaia’s illustration was announced along with the Eden series.

What struck me there was the hammer that Gaia wielded on hand. I remembered that, at that time, Yoshida-san commented that “FFXIV doesn’t have a hammer as a weapon, but I want to make use of it in Eden’s Promise.”.

Did this mean the Oracle of Darkness started using the hammer from that point onwards?

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

The usage of the hammer itself was reflected in the scene where Gaia rescued Ryne from being trapped within the ice in Eden’s Verse 4th floor. But for the 4th floor of Eden’s Promise, we actually wanted the Oracle of Darkness to use a staff and not a hammer when the initial draft of Oracle of Darkness’ design was created.

However, since we found out from the estimates that the modeling for Oracle of Darkness will end up really cost intensive to begin with, the time frame required to create a staff weapon as well as new animations to accompany that would have been too tight for us to realise it.

Considering the initially released artwork had Gaia wield the hammer, and the hammer animation was already created for Eden’s Verse 4th floor, we thought we can just use that instead.

Cutscene for Eden's Verse Floor 4, Normal Version. The animation created for this scene was used as the base for the Oracle of Darkness.
Cutscene for Eden's Verse Floor 4, Normal Version. The animation created for this scene was used as the base for the Oracle of Darkness.
Famitsu
Famitsu

Didn’t expect to hear the story behind this. (laughs)

Now, we’re about to wrap up the conversation about Eden’s Promise in its entirety, so I’d like to know if there is something the team paid attention to in terms of the difficulty or the battle animation sequence when working in the production for the conclusion arc of the Eden series?

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

As we mentioned just now, we’ve created the 4th floor Savage as a 2-part battle out of clear direction of what we were trying to aim for, and had quite a debate with all the related members before settling with our decision.

In terms of the overall raid, since our overall direction is to have the difficulty gradually go up as players progress on the raid series, we made the adjustments with that in mind so that players will feel that Eden’s Promise will be the most challenging tier in that series.

As I mentioned this before in our previous interviews, we consider it important to not make the raid battles difficult right after releasing a new expansion, making the barrier to entry as low as it can be, as well as fostering the interest of raiding amongst the players. From there, players can experience the essence of “FFXIV battles” - By spending time progressing gradually in high difficulty content, players can achieve that sense of accomplishment after overcoming it.

Therefore we adjusted the difficulty level aiming to set it to its limit for Savage content. The lion mechanic players experience in the fourth floor of Savage is a stepping stone into what can be considered as the Ultimate difficulty…

Famitsu
Famitsu

Allow us to hear this in detail in our latter half of the interview. (laughs)

Anyway, I suppose your thoughts on raiding have been consistent so far, and this is no different.

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa

With the large amount of feedback we obtained from Eden’s Gate and Eden’s Verse, as well as the expanded feature implemented on the target cycle and its sise, we did everything we could to make sure that each job could progress without issues, such as expanding the target circle sise to be bigger than before, and make it possible to attack from the edge of the safe zone when handling mechanics.

We also consulted members that are not in charge of the development of this raid and had them provide their opinions during play testing and balance adjustments, much more frequently than before, and we reflected their opinions into our content as much as the time allowed.

These efforts, I believe, have led to the result where many of our players enjoyed Eden’s Promise.

Famitsu
Famitsu

This wraps up the first half of our interview. The latter half of the interview which will be released in near future will touch upon further details on each floor in Eden’s Promise, so please look forward to it!

Content Credits

In this article, we are listing out the assigned content of the 5 interviewed developers. This will also disclose the creators who worked on the adventuring foray content, “Zadnor”, that was added in the latest patch 5.55 update!

中川誠貴氏 Masaki Nakagawa: Battle Content Lead

Masaki Nakagawa
Masaki Nakagawa Battle Content Director | JP | Square Enix

Dungeons

  • Pharos Sirius
  • Hullbreaker Isle
  • The Sunken Temple of Qarn (Hard)
  • The Lost City of Amdapor (Hard)
  • Sohr Khai
  • The Burn (Mist Dragon)
  • The Heroes’ Gauntlet (Spectral Berserker)

Trials

  • A Relic Reborn: The Chimera
  • A Relic Reborn: The Hydra
  • The Bowl of Embers (Ifrit)
  • The Howling Eye (Garuda)
  • The Whorleater (Leviathan)
  • Akh Afah Amphitheatre (Shiva)
  • The Chrysalis (Ascian Nabriales)
  • Thok Ast Thok (Ravana)
  • Containment Bay P1T6 (Sophia)
  • The Royal Menagerie (Shinryu)

Higher Difficulty Raids

Alexander

  • Alexander Midas 1 - The Fist of the Son (Ratfinx Twinkledinks)
  • Alexander Midas 3 - The Arm of the Son (Quickthinx Allthoughts)
  • Alexander Creator 3 - The Heart of the Creator (Cruise Chaser)

The Bend of Time: Omega

  • Omega: Sigmascape 3 - Sigmascape 3.0 (Guardian)

Eden Series

  • Eden’s Gate 2: Descent (Voidwalker)
  • Eden’s Verse 1: Fulmination (Ramuh - Planning phase only)

Alliance Raidss

Crystal Tower: Syrcus Tower

  • Scylla
  • Glasya Labolas
  • Amon
  • Xande

Crystal Tower: The World of Darkness

  • Angra Mainyu
  • Five-headed Dragon
  • Cerberus
  • Cloud of Darkness

Void Ark

  • Irminsul and Sawtooth
  • Echidna

The Weeping City of Mhach

  • Ozma

Dun Scaith

  • Scathach
  • Diabolos
  • Diabolos Hollow

Quest Battles

All quest battles from 2.0 to 4.0 will not be listed in full due to the sheer number of involvements.

Involved in over 100 quests starting from patch 2.0 to 4.0.

Other

  • The Forbidden Land of Eureka series
  • Faith (Trust) System AI - The base
  • The Bozjan Southern Front

成志朗氏 Seishiro Hata: Battle Content Designer

Seishiro Hata
Seishiro Hata Battle Content | JP | Square Enix

Dungeons

  • Amaurot (The First Beast)
  • Paglth’an (Magitek Fortress)

Trials

  • The Cinder Drift

Higher Difficulty Raids

Eden Series

  • Eden’s Promise 1: Cloud of Darkness

Alliance Raids

YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse - The Copied Factory

  • Engels

Quest Battles

Main Story Quest Battles (5.0)

  • Legend of the Not-so-hidden Temple
  • A Feast of Lies

Chronicles of a New Era - The Sorrow of Werlyt

  • Sleep Now In Sapphire

Other

The Forbidden Land of Eureka: Pyros

Notorious Monsters:

  • Leucosia
  • Askalaphos
  • Dux

Elemental Conflicts (Bunny FATEs):

  • We’re All Mad Here
  • Uncommon Nonsense

The Forbidden Land of Eureka: Hydatos

Baldesion Arsenal:

  • Art & Owain

Elemental Conflicts (Bunny FATEs):

  • Drink Me

The Bozjan Southern Front

Critical Engagements:

  • To Kill It With Fire (Peerifool)
  • The Final Furlong (Spartoi)
  • Castrum Lacus Litore (Adrammelech)

Skirmishes:

  • Unicorn Flakes

Zadnor

Critical Engagements:

  • A Familiar Face (4th-make Hashmal)
  • Head of the Snake (Menenius sas Lanatus)
  • Taking the Lyon’s Share (Lyon the Beast King)
  • The Dalriada (Saunion)

高橋万里氏 Banri Takahashi: Battle Content Designer

Banri Takahashi
Banri Takahashi Battle Content | JP | Square Enix

Dungeons

  • The Tam-Tara Deepcroft (Hard)
  • The Dusk Vigil
  • Sohm Al
  • The Aetherochemical Research Facility
  • The Fractal Continuum (Hard) - Motherbit, The Ultima Beast
  • Malikah’s Well

Trials

  • Battle on the Big Bridge (Gilgamesh)
  • Battle in the Big Keep (Gilgamesh, Enkidu)
  • Kugane Ohashi (Gilgamesh, Yojimbo)
  • The Great Hunt (Rathalos)
  • Minstrel’s Ballad: Hades’s Elegy (Hades)

Higher Difficulty Raids

Eden Series

  • Eden’s Verse 1 - Fulmination (Ramuh, from implementation to adjustments)
  • Eden’s Promise 2 - The Shadowkeeper

Alliance Raids

YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse - The Copied Factory

  • Serial Jointed Command Model

YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse - The Puppet’s Bunker

  • The Compound

Quest Battles

5.0

  • When It Rains

5.3

  • Faded Memories

5.4

  • The Great Ship Vylbrand

Beast Tribe Quest Battles

The Pixies:

  • As the Heart Bids

Gunbreaker Job Quest Battles (Shadowbringers)

  • Hired Gunblades (Lv. 60)
  • Steel Against Steel (Lv. 70)

Other

The Forbidden Land of Eureka: Hydatos

Notorious Monsters:

  • Stegodon
  • Molech
  • Piasa
  • Frostmane
  • Leuke
  • Ceto

Zadnor

Critical Engagements:

  • Lean, Mean Magitek Machines
  • The Dalriada - And the Flames Went Higher (Sartauvoir the Inferno)
  • The Dalriada (Diablo Armament)

川本貴志氏 Takashi Kawamoto: Battle System Designer

Takashi Kawamoto
Takashi Kawamoto Battle Systems | JP | Square Enix

Dungeons

  • The Tam-Tara Deepcroft (Hard)
  • The Dusk Vigil
  • Sohm Al
  • The Aetherochemical Research Facility
  • The Fractal Continuum (Hard) - Motherbit, The Ultima Beast
  • Malikah’s Well

Trials

  • Battle on the Big Bridge (Gilgamesh)
  • Battle in the Big Keep (Gilgamesh, Enkidu)
  • Kugane Ohashi (Gilgamesh, Yojimbo)
  • The Great Hunt (Rathalos)
  • Minstrel’s Ballad: Hades’s Elegy (Hades)

Higher Difficulty Raids

Eden Series

  • Eden’s Gate: Resurrection (Eden Prime)
  • Eden’s Promise: Anamorphosis (Fatebreaker)

Quest Battles

Tank Role Quest Battles (Shadowbringers)

  • The Hardened Hearts (Level 76 Quest)
  • To Have Loved and Lost (Level 80 Quest)

Other

  • The Hall of the Novice
  • Deep Dungeon: The Palace of the Dead (Only on monsters, Bosses excluded)
  • Deep Dungeon: Heaven-on-High (Everything except the boss Hiruko)
  • Masked Carnivale (22 stages out of all 31 stages released thus far)

The Bozjan Southern Front

Critical Engagements:

  • Rise of the Robots (Mark XIII-X Magitek Laborer)

吉橋和登氏 Kazuto Yoshihashi: Battle Content Designer

Kazuto Yoshihashi
Kazuto Yoshihashi Battle Content | JP | Square Enix

Dungeons

  • Amaurot (The First Beast)
  • Paglth’an (Magitek Fortress)

Trials

  • The Cinder Drift

Higher Difficulty Raids

Eden Series

  • Eden’s Verse: Iconoclasm (The Idol of Darkness)
  • Eden’s Promise: Eternity (Eden’s Promise, Oracle of Darkness)

Alliance Raidss

YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse - The Copied Factory

  • Hobbes

Quest Battles

Main Story Quest Battles (5.0)

  • The Oracles of Light
  • Full Steam Ahead (Play as Thancred)

Other

The Bozjan Southern Front

Critical Engagements:

  • Lyon: The Beast King
  • Lyon the Beast King and Dawon

Zadnor

Critical Engagements:

  • The Dalriada

Closing Words From AkhMorning

We hope you really enjoyed the translated first part of “How Eden’s Promise Was Made!”.

As always a big thank you to Iluna and to our newest addition Chiela for working so diligently on the article.

Part 2 is in the works, and is almost twice as long with more information revealed about the rationale behind the raids and their mechanics. Please look forward to it!

Let us know what you think about this segment in the comments below.