The Final Fantasy 14 Tokyo Fan Festival was held at Odaiba, Tokyo, going from Christmas Eve to Christmas day. TFF is dedicated to fans of Final Fantasy all over the world and consists of mini games, cosplay, and information on the new Expansion Set.

On the first day of TFF, Naoki Yoshida(aka Yoshi-P) delivered some information on the Red Mage, new raids, and the underwater activities of the new expansion during his interview with the public media.

*Related article: Information on STORMBLOOD revealed at Tokyo Fan Festival

 The last Fan Festival was held at Las Vegas. Do you feel different from the last one?

Both festivals made me feel nervous, but I feel a little more at ease this time because I get to reveal more information on the new Expansion Set. Also, I guess I was able to introduce the festival more smoothly because it was held in my home country.

What is the main theme of this festival?

TFF is one of the steps leading to patch 4.0, the first step being the Las Vegas Fan Festival. Frankfurt Fan Festival, which will be held in Feb, and Part 2 of The Far Edge of Fate (patch 3.5) will also work as progress towards patch 4.0, so I think we have made a good start.

What percent of Patch 4.0 was revealed today?

About 50%, I guess. The rest will be quite astonishing.

Was the biggest feature that was revealed today the Red Mage?

Yes. After the Vegas Festival, we thought we should reveal more information to our fans, so we decided to reveal the Red Mage first. New jobs are always exciting to hear about.

But why the Red Mage?

I once said that we would add more jobs that "look like the jobs in Final Fantasy", one by one. Of course, everyone has their favorite job in the Final Fantasy franchise, but we thought Red Mage was a job we just couldn't leave out. In addition to that, players all around the world were asking us to add the Red Mage, so we did not hesitate to add the Red Mage to FF14. Actually, this was decided a while ago.

One of your slides said that there will be more new jobs. Will you reveal more information on new jobs in the future?

Of course. You can look forward to it.

You are wearing a Spiderman shirt. Is that like a hint for the next new job?

No. [smiles]

The Final Fantasy franchise will be celebrating its 30th anniversary soon. How is that related to FF14?

We would like to take further steps, instead of staying at where we are. FF14 is not complete yet; there are more features that I want to add to the game, and challenges I want to complete. STROMBLOOD will be the first celebration of Final Fantasy's 30th anniversary. Of course, I hope for more titles like STORMBLOOD next year, but for now, I want to launch STORMBLOOD as a celebration.

Return to Ivalice seems very different compared to previous raids, since experts from various fields were recruited in the development of Return to Ivalice.

Yes it is. A lot of people in the game industry love FF14 and want to be part of its development. We call these passionate experts "special guests". I believe that these experts will work towards the same goal: a new and better Final Fantasy.

Can we play Return to Ivalice right after the launch of patch 4.0?

Unfortunately, no. The raid will be available with the 4.1 patch, but we will start promoting the raid before the 4.1 patch.

When will the information on Return to Ivalice be revealed?

I cannot tell you the exact date, but it will not take long. I believe most parts of it will be revealed with the launch of the 4.0 patch, but the exact schedule for the 4.1 patch will not be revealed beforehand.

The Red Mage uses rapiers and magic crystals. Is the rapier for melee attacks?

I would say yes, but cannot give you details on that. That is actually a hard question to answer. [smiles]

Where is the slot for the Magic Crystal?

Rapiers and Magic Crystals are separate weapons, but they will work as a single item. They will be equiped together in one main slot. There won't be any problems like "I have a rapier but no crystal!"

What kind of role will Red Mage have?

Red Mage will be a main DPS character.

Dragon Knights are absolutely necessary in all parties. Will the Red Mage be like that too?

It depends on the rest of the members of the party, so it is hard to answer yes or no to that question. It is a new job, so we plan to make it fascinating enough for everyone. New characters in MMORPGs are OP in many cases, but we are trying to keep the balance between characters.

It is kind of surprising to find out that the Red Mage will be a DPS character, because I thought it might be a healer.

Originally, Red Mage uses both black magic and white magic, but we decided to make "the FF14 version" of the Red Mage. Since we already have Black Mage and White Mage in FF14, the original version of Red Mage would be nothing new.

What kind of magic will "Red Magic" be?

I can't answer that right now. Making clear distinctions among White, Black, and Red Magic now might cause confusion later. We are still in development, so it is too early to be answering this kind of question. I might be able to reveal details on Red Magic later, perhaps at the end of April.

We are looking forward to the collaboration with GARO. Should players start saving some points?

Yes. If you start saving your points now, you can probably buy some items right after the beginning of the collaboration event. No money required, you just need points. So I think it would be better to get the items you like first.

Are there any more features in GARO, special emotes for example?

There are no emotes in this collaboration. It would be good to include some, but I thought that might be too much. You can get PvP equipment through this collaboration, and it will go on longer than the last collaboration with Yokai Watch, so you should probably take your time and try to collect all the items.

Flying was certainly a big part of A Realm Reborn. Is swimming and/or diving a big part of STORMBLOOD?

Flying was just a mode of transportation in ARR, not a requirement. There will be some moments in the main storyline where you need to dive, but other than that, swimming and diving is not required. Think of it as a form of entertainment, and we will continue to develop the contents you can enjoy underwater.

Will there be new residential areas or underwater cities in Limsa Lominsa?

Umm... I'm afraid I cannot answer that question. If I say yes, some people might think it's unfair that only Limsa gets underwater cities. However, I am considering it, so I won't say no to underwater cities.