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Final Fantasy 14 used FF11’s infamous boss to aura farm
Final Fantasy 14's Echoes of Vana'diel raid series pays tribute to Final Fantasy 11 by having its infamous, near-unbeatable boss Absolute Virtue killed off in seconds during an opening cutscene. The moment appears at the start of Windurst: The Third Walk, the final chapter of the FF11-inspired alliance raid series, and was designed to demonstrate the power of the raid's first main boss, Shantotto, rather than to serve as a fight in its own right.
Battle content designer Masayoshi Ishikawa told Famitsu (translated by GamesRadar) that showing Shantotto destroy Absolute Virtue instantly was "the cherry on top" of introducing her as a formidable black mage, given constraints on how tough an opening boss can be. He confirmed Absolute Virtue could have been made an actual boss fight instead, but the monster already features as a boss within FF14's Stormblood-era Baldesion Arsenal in Eureka, unlike in FF11 where early encounters with it could famously drag on for almost 30 hours and remained unbeatable for three years until Square Enix issued tips and eventually nerfed it.
In short
- FF14's new raid briefly revives FF11's infamous 30-hour boss Absolute Virtue
- Shantotto kills it instantly, showcasing her power as the first boss
- Designer confirms it could have been a real fight, but wasn't
Explained simply
Final Fantasy 14 is the latest version of Square Enix's long-running online role-playing game, whilst Final Fantasy 11 is an older predecessor from the 1990s that still has an active player base. The newer game has recently introduced a raid series that celebrates Final Fantasy 11 by featuring characters and story elements from the earlier game.
Absolute Virtue is a boss monster from Final Fantasy 11 that became legendary amongst players for its brutal difficulty. When the game launched, the creature could take nearly 30 hours to defeat and no players managed to overcome it for three years until the developer released guidance and eventually made it easier.
Final Fantasy 14's raid series includes a cutscene where Absolute Virtue is instantly destroyed by another character, Shantotto, rather than being presented as a boss battle for players to fight. The game's designers chose this approach to demonstrate Shantotto's exceptional power, and the game already features Absolute Virtue as an actual boss encounter elsewhere.