The last few weeks have not been easy for Final Fantasy XIV players. Long login lines and server issues ensued from the Endwalker expansion’s overwhelming popularity. Square Enix has temporarily halted sales of the game, removing the Starter and Complete Editions from the market. While this was going on, some low-poly grapes remained motionless in the breeze. They’re jagged and wonderful, and they’re going about their business. Until their blockiness was photographed and made public. The grapes became the talk of the town, to the point where they were smoothed out in the most recent patch, much to everyone’s dismay.
It wasn’t supposed to end like this. The grapes were blocky, yes, but they had a certain charm. Just look at the Low Poly Videogame Foods account which highlights such cubic treats. FFXIV’s grapes shared the same innocence. They were dorky and crystalline until patch 6.01 showed up, which has now fixed an issue that reduced their polygon count to “alleviate system memory usage in the area”. The result is that their hard edges have now been rounded off and players haven’t been the same since.
Lots of tributes have been pouring in for the grapes. Perhaps the most moving of which is the footage below, which shows some bros taking the time out of their busy schedule to pay their respects.https://www.youtube.com/embed/AFU6ZXgEai4?autoplay=0
Others envisage a new opening jingle, honoring the fallen fruit.
Some say the grapes left us with one final plea, before they were lost forever..
Even Final Fantasy XIV’s official Twitter account paid tribute. The good news is that the patch only seemed to have smoothed out the grapes in Labyrinthos, and eagle-eyed players have spotted the same old blocky ones over in Wineport. Yes, there are some that still remain.