Final Fantasy 14‘s new Keybound Brawler minigame has some significant issues, according to players. The new minigame was only introduced in Final Fantasy 14 on October 28, but the problems began right away.
Final Fantasy 14 is collaborating with Final Fantasy 7 in a variety of ways, beginning with the Keybound Brawler minigame. In 2027, Final Fantasy 7 will get its own raid in Final Fantasy 14, but before that happens, the Keybound Brawler minigame is giving players an opportunity to unlock a bunch of Final Fantasy 7-inspired cosmetics, a minion, mount, and more. Players have already expressed frustration due to the Final Fantasy 7 cosmetics being gender-locked, but these new issues are making it significantly harder to unlock them at all.
Keybound Brawler Has Problems
Keybound Brawler, a Typing of the Dead-like typing minigame, puts parties of four players up against three waves of enemies. Unlike standard combat, players need to type the words displayed on-screen in order to defeat enemies, put up shields, and win the match. Players are now reporting rampant issues, including cheating, players that barely contribute, and a strange selection of words that are difficult to type with a standard US keyboard. These issues are making it harder for players who are contributing normally to earn enough currency to unlock the prizes they want.
Cheating particularly seems to be a chronic problem with the new mode. Keybound Brawler requires high accuracy and speed in order to succeed at the game, but players have reported instances of phases ending within seconds due to players automatically writing and submitting every word as they appear. While high-speed typers can certainly fire off several words in rapid succession, instantaneous typing is an entirely different matter. Unfortunately, some have noted that cheating tools have been shared online, which even allow for users to choose how quickly their character enters words, and give the opportunity to occasionally mistype in order to reduce the risk of being caught by GMs or reported.
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The words and sentences in Keybound Brawler are largely taken from Final Fantasy 7, which include some difficult things to type. However, the inclusion of words that use umlauts, like “doppelgänger,” has particularly tripped up players. Typing the word without the umlaut as “doppelganger” isn’t accepted, so players either have to use a keyboard code to enter it manually, or write it out as “doppelgaenger.” No explanation is offered in the minigame’s directions as to what players should do if they encounter one of these words, resulting in some players getting stuck.
Keybound Brawler won’t be a permanent addition to Final Fantasy 14‘s Gold Saucer, and will disappear with the release of the Evercold expansion. However, the developers have indicated that they will bring it back occasionally, similar to how other crossovers have worked. Hopefully, the developers are taking these problems into consideration and will figure out a way to improve upon the minigame before that happens. In the meantime, players can report those who don’t seem to be participating at all or are clearing waves faster than should be possible.
- Released
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August 27, 2013
- ESRB
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Teen / Blood, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Engine
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Originally the Crystal Tools engine, but currently it’s a custom engine using parts of the Luminous Engine.
