FFXIV devs heed players’ requests to become Kirito from SAO when making Viper

The Final Fantasy XIV developers answered players’ requests to become a cool dual-wielding sword character such as Kirito from Sword Art Online by introducing the Viper job in Dawntrail.

Final Fantasy XIV’s Dawntrail is right around the corner. Introducing a new MSQ, raids, locations, and jobs, it’s shaping up to be one of the biggest expansions yet. Among the new jobs is melee DPS Viper — who is the answer provided by Square Enix to all those dual-wielding sword lovers out there.

Viper is a class that builds up over time, using their rotation to increase gauge until eventually spending it to unleash fast-paced devastating combos that make them one of the flashier DPS on the roster.

This is exactly what the devs had intended, as Viper was the answer to many players’ requests to play a dual-wielding character within the MMO, similar to Kirito from the anime Sword Art Online.

In an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, director Naoki Yoshida explained that players were keen to see the next melee DPS be a dual-wielding swordsman to differentiate from the previously released Reaper and Samurai.

“We received a lot of feedback from players around the world that if we were to implement another melee DPS, they would want to have a job where they could use two swords,” the dev explained.

He went on to say many players had recalled one particular character as inspiration; “It was often that they would provide an example, like Kirito from Sword Art Online.”

Of course, Kirito is considerably more powerful than the rest of the cast in Sword Art Online, so Yoshida and the team had to focus on the idea of increasing strength for players to truly get immersed in battle.

“For Viper, we thought about showcasing that sensation of becoming strong and for the player to become focused on their actions and getting absorbed into battle. And that was a challenge for us to consider.”

Final Fantasy XIV’s Viper will be released with the Dawntrail expansion on July 2, with early access starting on June 28, 2024.