Finally, after a journey full of foot-pain and long-agonizing walks, players of Final Fantasy XIV will at long last get the opportunity to own and ride… a chocobo! A teaser screenshot in the upcoming additions to patch 1.19 shows players riding chocobos as mounts. I don’t understand what took Square Enix so long to add the oh-so-loveable yellow birds that players have seen in the many past Final Fantasy games.

In addition to mounts, patch 1.19 boasts a whole lot of new content that increases the level of convenience. Players will have 3 new forms of transportation; rental chocobos, Grand-Company issued chocobos that you can call at anytime, and linking of the 3 city-states via airship travel. With the transportation in FFXI being so great, you’d figure all this stuff would’ve been implemented from the start of FFXIV. Players will also get to experience new Grand-Company quests and supply runs that allow for company ranks and different exclusive exchangeable items much like city rank in the previous MMO. This might mark the return of outpost warp.

New low-level dungeons will also be implemented to aid in low-level grinding and treasure chests will be randomly dropped by monsters that may contain potions. Also, stronghold areas for the beastmen will be implemented as well. Aside from the content, further adjustments started in patch 1.18 will be made, such as AI actions by monster groups, further adjustments to enmity calculations, and a revamp to weapon skill animations.

This upcoming patch 1.19 holds many surprises for FFXIV fans much like 1.18 did. And with the addition of the “My Little Chocobo” system (subject to change), which could suggest chocobo raising and breeding, life is slowly getting easier and a lot more fun for my fellow Eorzeans. It definitely means something about the game when the local Gamestop brings the price of the game from $24.99 back to $49.99.