I can’t tell you the number of times, hours into a FFXIV session, I’ve suddenly realised with great despair that I’ve forgotten to eat any food. This realisation usually comes in the middle of a dungeon, much to the annoyance of my party members who then watch me stop directly in the middle of a fight to tuck into some mutton stew (look that 3% EXP boost is more important than the lives of my friends and I’m happy to admit that). Although eating a “dodo omelette” in real life is unlikely to do much to your critical hit rate, it has at the very least now been made possible in a rather unlikely book reveal.
The Ultimate Final Fantasy XIV Cookbook was announced this week as a wonderful new piece of official merchandise. It’s been written by Victoria Rosenthal, a “video game home cook” and blogger who has previously authored official cookbooks for Fallout, Destiny and even Street Fighter. Each recipe is tied to a particular region of Hydaelyn and comes with a short section of commentary inspired by the lore behind the video game. You can find out more about how Victoria created the book in her own blogpost on the process here.
The book features over 70 recipes from FFXIV’s vast catalogue of fantasy food, each with simple step-by-step instructions, dietary notes and a difficulty level to give you an idea of the complexity of the recipe. There’s also an exclusive foreword written by the producer and director himself, Naoki Yoshida. Whether you’ve always dreamed of trying Coffee Biscuits for yourself or like me you’ve got an addiction to buying rather niche video game book tie-ins: FFXIV has you covered.
The Ultimate Final Fantasy XIV Cookbook is due to be released on the 9th of November 2021 and is available to preorder on the Square Enix website and most bookstores.
Armada Gaming 