Recently, a snow sculpture from 2018 that was dedicated toFinal Fantasy 14made its way into textbooks across Japan. Some pictures from the textbooks were taken and shared across social media, and fans ofFinal Fantasy 14were quick to point out where and when the sculpture was made, as well as the context behind the sculpture’s subject.Final Fantasy 14recently released Patches 6.3 and 6.31 within two weeks of one another. The first of the two included the bulk of the content, such as new main story content, job balance updates, and some quality-of-life updates to existing features. On January 24,Patch 6.31 forFinal Fantasy 14was released, which brought the Omega Protocol (Ultimate) raid into the forefront. Some of the game’s top raiding teams are still working on taking down the encounter at the time of writing, with a few of them briefly reaching the third phase of the encounter.RELATED:Final Fantasy 14 Could Be Adding a Level SquishWhile the Omega Protocol may invoke memories of theStormbloodexpansion, its predecessorHeavenswardwas the focus of the snow sculpture that recently made its way into textbooks. On Twitter,Aitai Kuji CEO Audrey Lamsamstated that the snow sculpture in question was originally built in Sapporo in 2018 for the 69th Sapporo Snow Festival. It depicted theHeavenswardexpansion’s climactic battle between Estinien the Azure Dragoon and the shade of the great wyrm Nidhogg, one of the expansion’s main antagonists. Their battle took up a majority of the sculpture, which also featured the game’s Mothercrystal in the center.
Though Nidhogg wasamong the First Brood of Dragons on Eorzea, his shade haunted the nation of Ishgard for centuries and served as one of the major plot points withinHeavensward. The sculpture that memorialized an unforgettable moment inFinal Fantasy 14will now live on in the textbooks of Japanese social studies students, as shown by pictures taken by Japanese Twitter users. According to one user, the snow sculpture was featured at least three times in a textbook, which featured pictures of both the sculpture and the onlookers that were at the 69th Sapporo Snow Festival.
WhenFinal Fantasy 14expanded its free trialin 2020, it included the entire story of bothA Realm RebornandHeavensward, including the battle with Nidhogg. Though no snow sculptures like the one in Sapporo are in the game, prospective players that want to experience the battle with Nidhogg for themselves can do so at no cost.
Final Fantasy 14is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5.
