Final Fantasy 14 deals with some heavy topics and themes, the narrative becoming darker and more emotional with each passing expansion. Endwalker hit hard for me in particular, and I’ve written before about how it offers the perfect depiction of depression. After experiencing such a poignant conclusion to the Hydaelyn and Zodiark story, Warriors of Light have since enjoyed lighter content updates in a much deserved break after saving the entire universe.
Regardless of how heavy the main scenario quest might get, FF14 still offers a sillier side that is wholesomely charming, funny, and downright daft. This isn’t just in the main story either, as some of the game’s best content is the optional comical side quests that you might accidentally end up missing entirely.
You can’t think of funny FF14 content without the poster boy of comic relief coming to mind — Hildibrand. Pursuing this quest line has the player getting involved with inspector extraordinaire Hildibrand Manderville and his sidekick Nashu. We were gifted this hilarious storyline back in A Realm Reborn, and I’ll never forget stumbling across the Fallen Corpses Writhe in Style FATE before realising it was part of the quest line, and staring bemusedly at the zombies standing around posing Hildibrand-style.
We’ve since seen Hildibrand disguise himself as a bride, get involved with series staple Gilgamesh, and repeatedly tangle himself up in seemingly straightforward tasks he manages to goof up in typical Hildibrand fashion. But this content isn’t just some of the best that FF14 offers because it tickles our funny bone — it also provides a wealth of coveted rewards, such as emotes, glamours, and minions.
The enduring popularity of this comical content has seen the Hildibrand Adventures continue over the years, with Heavensward, Stormblood, and Endwalker patches adding even more Hilibrand hijinks, as well as additional sought-after rewards, such as the Manderville relic weapons. Though Hildibrand is the best-known comedic figure in FF14, plenty of other weird and wonderful questlines will bring a smile to your face.
Shadowbringers gave us the unforgettable Great Serpent of Ronka, and any quests that involve its derpy little face, from the Protectors of the Wood to the Qitari daily quests, are well worth completing. Not to mention, you can get an adorable mount and a slither of minions of our favourite little snake buddy. In fact, a few of the tribal daily quests have quirky little moments, with the Moogle and Namazu tribes being top of the list for offering hilarious yet cute little storylines. It seems to be that if something adorable is involved, the comedy will soon follow, as the Delivery Moogle quests are much the same.
If I’ve learned anything from playing Final Fantasy 14, it’s that the community is always up for a laugh. It’s why we got overly attached to low-poly grapes, laughed at ‘La Hee’, offered up endless memes about ‘This is Thancred’, and became obsessed with finding sound bites of our favourite characters’ voice actors in other gigs. After all, who could forget Estinien in Subway?
While much of what we cling to is a happy accident or discovery that just happened to warm our hearts in the right way, there is so much carefully crafted comedy content to be found within the game. Don’t forget to embrace the silliness by tracking down the quirkier quest lines — and bagging yourself some sweet loot in the process — your Warrior of Light deserves some humour in their life.