FINAL FANTASY XIV
Some slick new tech marks Final Fantasy’s return to online…
It’s been nearly seven years since a Final Fantasy game made its way to the PC. When FFXI, the previous MMO in the franchise, was released in 2003, we gave it an Editor’s Choice award for its “beautiful 3D world, deep character system and innovative combat options.” But that was in a pre-WOW world, so how is Square Enix planning to have its new MMO, Final Fantasy XIV, make a splash in the online community this 
time around?
The game plan is to leverage the impressive graphical power of the Final Fantasy XIII engine to make FF XIV’s graphics some of the most striking we’ve seen in an MMO to date. I lair flows naturally, and first-rate cut scenes integrate your character seamlessly into the world. There is also some technical wizardry behind FF XIV’s complex instancing mechanics—when you accept a quest, the appropriate enemies are spawned for everyone in the world to see, but only you are able to engage them. This technique eliminates kill-stealing without the awkward problem of players appearing to be swinging at nothing but air. It does have the side effect of introducing enemies that won’t react to your presence, but the trade-off looks like a good deal.
Like FFXI, characters in FFXIV aren’t restricted to a single role or class. Instead, switching your primary weapon (while out of combat) automatically changes your”class.” The different roles (18 announced so far) are broken down into four categories: War (i.e. fighter,monk, archer), Magic (casters), I land (crafters) and Land (gatherers), and are leveled individually. Combat plays like a hybrid of turn-based and real-time, marked by limited ‘nobility and long global cool downs; in the preview, the player was able to use an ability every four to seven seconds. That’s an agonizingly long tine for twitch gainers who are used to spamming attacks every second, but it could be the perfect fit for those looking for combat at a in more relaxing, controlled pace.
Release 2010
Some slick new tech marks Final Fantasy’s return to online…
It’s been nearly seven years since a Final Fantasy game made its way to the PC. When FFXI, the previous MMO in the franchise, was released in 2003, we gave it an Editor’s Choice award for its “beautiful 3D world, deep character system and innovative combat options.” But that was in a pre-WOW world, so how is Square Enix planning to have its new MMO, Final Fantasy XIV, make a splash in the online community this 
time around?
The game plan is to leverage the impressive graphical power of the Final Fantasy XIII engine to make FF XIV’s graphics some of the most striking we’ve seen in an MMO to date. I lair flows naturally, and first-rate cut scenes integrate your character seamlessly into the world. There is also some technical wizardry behind FF XIV’s complex instancing mechanics—when you accept a quest, the appropriate enemies are spawned for everyone in the world to see, but only you are able to engage them. This technique eliminates kill-stealing without the awkward problem of players appearing to be swinging at nothing but air. It does have the side effect of introducing enemies that won’t react to your presence, but the trade-off looks like a good deal.
Like FFXI, characters in FFXIV aren’t restricted to a single role or class. Instead, switching your primary weapon (while out of combat) automatically changes your”class.” The different roles (18 announced so far) are broken down into four categories: War (i.e. fighter,monk, archer), Magic (casters), I land (crafters) and Land (gatherers), and are leveled individually. Combat plays like a hybrid of turn-based and real-time, marked by limited ‘nobility and long global cool downs; in the preview, the player was able to use an ability every four to seven seconds. That’s an agonizingly long tine for twitch gainers who are used to spamming attacks every second, but it could be the perfect fit for those looking for combat at a in more relaxing, controlled pace.
Release 2010
