Mini-Review: FFXIV All Saints’ Wake Event

The All Saint’s Wake Festival is here, and this year Square-Enix has gone above and beyond! Head over to the Mih Khetto's Amphitheater in Old Gridania to join the Continental Circus. The circus is planning a haunted manor for this All Saints’ Wake, but the Adventurer’s Guild Investigator senses something is amiss. He asks you to volunteer to help with the event in hopes that you’ll be able to observe the circus performers more closely and report back any mischief. For your first task, travel to each city-state to gather a particular material needed for the haunted manor. Tasks like this are pretty standard for any FFXIV event, and while it sometimes can feel tedious to have to teleport around to so many locations, the quirky cutscenes at each definitely make up for it.

Where this event differs from previous seasonal events is that there is actually an instance within the event! Once you gather all the necessary materials, you actually get to go inside the haunted manor! This part of the event is initiated the same way you would a dungeon. Talk to the harlequin guide in either the amphitheater or the Acorn Orchard to queue for the instance. You’ll have a standard light party and there are no class or level requirements in order to join.

When your party enters, you’ll be given a set of tasks to perform, each requiring you to locate certain items within the manor. There are enemies wandering around who will aggro you, but being spotted does not initiate a fight. Instead, you’ll find yourself magically transformed into a pumpkin for a few seconds if you cross an enemy’s path. This will lower your party’s sanity meter, which replaces the hp in a sense. Upon completion of the instance, you’ll receive a special seasonal clothing item, but there are other rewards such as a minion that you can find as well. 

All in all, the instance is a lot of fun and definitely worth participating in. The addition of an instance to a seasonal event was definitely a welcome surprise, and I can’t wait to see what Square thinks up for the next event!

Geektified Score: 9/10 

By: Katlyn Ashe