Fans of Final Fantasy XIV are soon going to have a new enemy to take on later this month, straight from the iconic world of Final Fantasy VII: the dreaded Ruby Weapon. Square Enix just announced a new patch for their hit MMORPG earlier today, which promises to bring in a whole new array of content and updates to the ever-evolving online experience, including a fight with the colossal superboss ahead of the Final Fantasy VII upcoming remake in April.
Added as an optional encounter in the International releases of Final Fantasy VII, the Ruby Weapon is awakened to protect the Planet following Sephiroth’s activation of Meteor during the second half of the game. Cloud and his party can choose to confront the creature via their trusty airship, the Highwind, in the sands surrounding the Golden Saucer theme park, where it proves to be a formidable opponent with its extremely high defense, status effect-inducing tentacles and ability to knock party members out of the fight. Now, it appears this bio-mechanical menace is making its way to the world of Eorzea, where players will be able to take it on in MMO combat.
Eurogamer first covered the news of the new boss battle, also including a YouTube video from gaming news site Twinfinite of Final Fantasy XIV Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida and Square Enix Global Community Producer Toshio Murouchi taking on – and ultimately losing against – the Ruby Weapon in a new trial called “Cinder Drift.” This was all part of Square’s Final Fantasy XIV Letter from the Producer Live event, which was used to unveil the game’s upcoming 5.2 patch, titled “Echoes of a Fallen Star,” which is set for release on February 18. Interested players can check out the video, in Japanese, below:
Since its rocky release in 2010, Final Fantasy XIV has evolved and expanded itself in the form of a 2013 relaunch and several expansion packs, eventually becoming regarded as one of the best MMOs in recent memory. Its latest expansion, last year’s Shadowbringers, introduced a new NPC “Trust System,” new Gunbreaker and Dancer jobs, and two new playable races: the rabbit-eared Viera of Final Fantasy XII fame, and the lion-like Hrothgar.
It’s possible that Square Enix is looking to build further excitement for the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Remake release by including a boss from the original game, and this is certainly exciting news for fans of both it and Final Fantasy XIV. The Ruby Weapon was a cool and challenging enemy back in 1997, and it looks even larger and more intimidating when rendered in XIV’s engine. It towers over the player character in the gameplay footage above and looks to be quite the challenge to any would-be Weapon hunters as it seems to destroy the opposing player with ease. Players will be able to face off against this metal titan when Final Fantasy XIV’s 5.2 update is released on Tuesday, February 18. Hopefully, they’ll have better luck than Yoshida and Murouchi.
More: Everything We Know About The Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Sources: Eurogamer, YouTube
