Haven't replied in a while but I've still been playing daily, keeping up with the events and getting my account stronger. Figured I'd recap the last couple months and talk about the ongoing anniversary event...
The last time I posted was just before they introduced Vincent, along with Chapter 7 of the FFVII story progressing through Gongaga, Cosmo Canyon, and the return to Nibelheim, including boss fights with Gi Nattak and Lost Number.
Vincent launched with his default costume, Mournful Former Turk, and two original costumes: Bouncer Gear from the Gear Exchange and Stray Dog from a Limit Break banner:
We also got Guilds, which added Guild Bonuses that improved other aspects of the game, most notably materia synthesis, as it reduced the required synthesis mats and greatly improved the odds of getting higher rarity materia. The guild I created, Ragnarok (named for the 13th SOLDIER Division as described in DC Multiplayer Mode), is currently level 45 and has been landing around rank 300 in the ranking battles.
Next was a new Summer Fireworks event with three new costumes: Citric Dress for Aerith, Formal Attire for Vincent, and Passion Mermaid for Tifa:
This was shortly followed by Dark Attire for Sephiroth, and Entrapment Gown for Lucia:
We next got Chapter 4 of Crisis Core, which covered Zack meeting and going on his first date with Aerith and teaming up with Angeal and Sephiroth to repel the Genesis invasion and protect Hojo.
Followed by a rerun of the FFIX event, with the original gear and weapons slightly buffed and a new weapon for Cait Sith, the Quina Megaphone.
And then we get the anniversary countdown and the anniversary itself, which came with several quality of life improvements and lots of free goodies, and is still ongoing.
The most significant new feature is the addition of Ultimate Weapons, a new class of weapon that goes into a special equipment slot for each character and gives them a powerful U.C. Ability that doesn't cost ATB but instead has a limited number of uses and a charge/recharge time. Unlike other weapons these can't be overboosted, only leveled up, so there is no need to get duplicates.
There's an Ultimate Weapon version of each character's default weapon (IE Ultimate Buster Sword) that can be obtained from an exchange shop for a currency that can be obtained by completing event stages and missions. Currently there's enough to get two of them, and soon should be enough for a third.
There are also more powerful Ultimate Weapons that can be obtained extremely rarely from draws, which will be released less frequently and featured across multiple banners. There is a pity mechanic -- a currency you get for doing 10 draws -- but it seems they're really meant to be rare lucky pulls and not something that you can reasonably target unless you're a mega whale.
Currently the only banner Ultimate Weapon is Sephiroth's Genji Blade, which was featured for the first three banners of the anniversary. The next will be Cait Sith's HP Shout, starting from the next banner.
As for the anniversary event itself, it's Bahamut themed, with an event story that involves Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, and Yuffie encountering a pure white version of Bahamut Arisen called Bahamut Alba, and getting pulled into a Portal. There they arrive in the past and meet a Cetra named Chakiya, the leader of a tribe of Cetra called the Dragonmaster Band that was protected by a pure white version of Bahamut called Bahamut Orta, which she summoned and bonded with. It appears that the Dragonmaster Band came into conflict with humans from Wutai, and over the course of many battles, Orta's fury grew, and Chakiya sealed him away out of fear. However, his fury manifested as a separate incarnation, Alba, and began to rampage, blaming the Cetra and humans for disrupting the flow of the Lifestream and endangering the planet. Chakiya puts the party through trials to test their strength and then enlists them to help defeat Alba, giving them Bahamut-themed weapons and armor to help them. The climax of the story hasn't been released just yet.
To go with the story are the four Bahamut-themed costumes and their matching weapons, on Limit Break banners: Bahamut Garb for Cloud, Bahamut Mantle for Yuffie, Bahamut Robe for Aerith, and Bahamut Suit for Tifa:
There's also a new anniversary illustration by Lisa Fujise to go with it:
And also some new merchandise / anniversary campaign prizes with some new Lisa Fujise art:
And also versions of the key character art for Cloud in his Murasame Gear, Sephiroth in his Shinra Formal Uniform, Tifa in her Lifeguard Gear, and Aerith in her Prism Dress:
Finally, we've gotten word that the next Story update should be the start of the next episode of
The First SOLDIER, which will introduce Young Angeal, who is expected to eventually be added to the roster of playable characters.