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Final Fantasy 14's next major patch comes out 8th December

And it's got Emerald Weapon.

Final Fantasy 14's next major patch comes out 8th December, Square Enix has announced.

Patch 5.4, titled Futures Rewritten, starts a new chapter in the story following the finale of the Shadowbringers main scenario questline.

Of note: the patch introduces the PC and PlayStation MMO's own take on the Emerald Weapon from Final Fantasy 7. Fans of that game will remember Emerald Weapon as a superboss who roamed around the bottom of the sea in the legendary JRPG. Hands-up if you couldn't resist the temptation to pilot the submarine into the thing the first time you saw it, triggering a fight, and then died? Just me?

Here's a reminder for how it looks in Final Fantasy 7:

Watch on YouTube

And here's Emerald Weapon in Final Fantasy 14. In the MMO, Emerald Weapon is a warmachina codenamed Emerald.

Here's the official blurb:

"Chronicles of a New Era - The Sorrow of Werlyt Updates - Players can continue their attempt to thwart the Empire's warmachina development project alongside Gaius after vanquishing the Sapphire Weapon. However, newly unearthed information alludes to another foe lurking in the shadows: The Emerald Weapon.

"New Trial: Castrum Marinum - With the existence of a warmachina code-named 'Emerald' confirmed, it falls to Warriors of Light to spearhead a pre-emptive strike before this menace can be unleashed upon the world. Players can challenge Emerald Weapon in both normal and extreme difficulties."

The addition of Emerald Weapon into Final Fantasy 14 means the MMO now has both Final Fantasy 7's superbosses knocking about. Final Fantasy 14's take on Ruby Weapon (the harder of the two, if you ask me), went live earlier this year.

The trailer, below, goes into detail on what patch 5.4 offers.

Watch on YouTube

Meanwhile, producer and director Naoki Yoshida announced a livestream for a Final Fantasy 14 announcement showcase event set to take place on 6th February 2021. Square Enix did not hint at what may be revealed during the show, but the fact it's been announced over two months in advanced suggests it'll be significant. A new expansion, perhaps?