FInal Fantasy XI

[GiMpY-wAnNaBe]

August 01, 2003 - Like the recent Star Wars and upcoming Warcraft-based online RPGs, the wildly popular Final Fantasy series is finally getting an online treatment courtesy of Final Fantasy XI. The game's already been covered extensively in earlier previews but it's been awhile since we visited that realm, so we've decided to provide a bit of context for you to celebrate the weekend. If you have indeed just crawled from under your rock, Final Fantasy XI's online presence is big news. Not only is it the first massively multiplayer online game in the series' history, it also happens to be the first persistent world game to function across two platforms, in this case the PC and PS2.

Remember the days when everything used to be okay? The Sentient Jewel who banished the darkness of the void and gave birth to the first gods seemed to have everything all figured out. Things went great for a long time but, as you might expect from a Final Fantasy game, things don't always stay great. Eventually the first gods slipped into a peaceful slumber and the shadows began to rally. Now in the 863rd year of the Jewel, the Shadow Lord and his army of beastmen have launched an assault on the world of Vana'diel.

In opposition to the Shadow Lord stand three nations -- the Republic of Bastok, the Kingdom of San d'Oria and the Federation of Windurst. These three nations are now competing with the approaching beastmen (and, if they have any sense, with each other) to gain control of the various lands of Vana'diel. Each player adopts a role within one of the three nations and earns rank and prestige according to their exploits.

The Republic of Bastok is home to mighty industries and surrounded by a harsh and rocky wasteland. The adaptive Humes and robust Galka make their homes here. The magically adorable little big heads known as the Tarutaru live with the cat-like Mithra in the woods of the Federation of Windurst. The forceful and noble Elvaan make their home alone in an imposing castle high in the wooded mountains.

The basic jobs from Final Fantasy V are reproduced here. (There are other jobs to be discovered as you play the game, but only five are available to starting players.) Warriors, as any fan of roleplaying games ought to know, serve as your physical forces in battle either taking the fight directly to the heart of your foes or merely shielding their own party from attacks by the enemy. Monks also fill a primarily physical combat role, choosing to use their own bodies as their weapons.

Two magic schools are represented by three different jobs. White mages are the healers and protectors of the party, Black mages are the firepower masters, and Red mages fall somewhere in between -- not too bad at some things, not too great at anything. Finally, the Thief is, well, I suppose I don't have to explain everything to you. You can switch between jobs under certain circumstances and you'll eventually also be able to choose a second job to supplement your first.

Those of you who are familiar with most MMOs should recognize the general pattern in Final Fantasy XI. You begin as a bit of a novice in a world of ever increasing conflict. A variety of errand-based or extermination missions advance you through the game's varied story arcs and success brings you wealth, status and power. As you rise in ability, you're given the option to expand your range and explore even more of the world. And you're doing this in real time with other players in a brand new Final Fantasy universe. For fans of the series, that's definitely enough. But there's more to this than just matching the content with the format.

The larger game here is driven by Conquests. But to understand that, you have to understand Signets. And to understand Signets? That's right, you have to understand locations. Okay, locations are, well, just that -- locations. The world is divided up into numerous locations, and the locations are subdivided into areas. These locations and areas are filled with monsters and (presumably) other players. You're free to wander through these areas at your leisure -- assuming you're not being chased -- and whomp up on pretty much any monster you think you can take. I promise not to use the word location again in this preview.

But if you're just doing that, you're not living up to your potential. What you need is a Signet and you can probably have one cast on you somewhere in your starting town. This Signet functions a bit like a letter of marques did during the European wars of colony and exploration. It basically authorizes you to attack the enemy for the good of the state. In Final Fantasy XI terms, this means that you can begin to exert control over the locations you fight in.

Now you can start to understand Conquests. The lands of Vana'diel can change hands a number of times, going from one player group to another, or, once enough player characters have been killed, even passing completely into the hands of the beastmen. If that happens, hopefully the players from the three other nations can set aside their differences until one of them is back on top. Nations gain control by having the highest amount of experience earned among players under their Signet. Once one player nation gains half the territories on the map, the other two player nations are automatically forced in to an alliance against them.

You want to gain control of these regions to improve the overall well being of your people. Your country will get more goods and resources and will even be able to use the newly controlled zone to launch attacks into neighboring zones. To protect against invasion, outposts will be spread along the borders to protect regions controlled by your nation. Sentries will stand watch here and can even place Signets on uncommitted characters. Your regions will also contain your merchants.

So that all sounds well and good, right? Right. Except that selfless acts like that isn't really my style. I'm in to the good of the community, sure, but I want mine too, right? Right. Fortunately the game rewards what might otherwise be considered an act of true altruism, by offering up some choice loot -- in crystal form no less. You get these crystals for winning battles in areas not controlled by the beastmen and you can trade them in with town guards and border sentries for all kinds of necessary items. (You'll also be able to buy items outright from the other vendors and merchants in your regions. Look for unique items from conquered regions to be sold in your capital city.)

Players who focus on the Conquest game won't be missing out on perks like rank either. While other players are running missions and quests, Conquest players of rank 2 and higher can trade in crystals for rank promotion. Higher ranks mean better access to items in shops. Higher ranks mean more missions from mission vendors. Higher ranks mean you can lord it over your punk friends who posted that video of you on the Internet.

Though I myself am not a fan of the peaceful life, apparently Final Fantasy XI offers something to do besides kill things: energy-filled crystals can be synthesized in to any number of items; ore can be mined from the earth to fashion exquisite jewelry; fish can be harvested from the lakes and rivers; culinary skill can be exercised in the creation of tasty dishes. Since none of that has anything to do with stabbing a giant bee, let's move on.

Individual combats are of the click and watch variety (that'd be push and watch on the PS2) but you do have the option to throw in special moves from time to time. All combat builds up your tactical points. Once your points pass a certain level, new moves based on your weapon type become available. These abilities, such as double-strike, can, if timed right, be combined with the special abilities or spells of other characters in powerful combo attacks called skillchains and magic bursts

Should you find you've bit off more than you can chew, you can always use the disengage command to pull out of combat. Technically, this just won't work on a monster that's faster than you but in that case you can at least cry for help and hope someone comes along to save your sorry butt. Failing that, you'll probably die. Once dead you can either wait to have a friend (or a really, really magnanimous enemy) resurrect you or you can just reappear next to your last home crystal, and with a hefty experience penalty to boot!

And so there you have it; a little bit of FFXI info to whet your whistle with. Though we have yet to play the fabled beta disc that's in circulation by lucky testers all over the world, we can only hope to get our hands on it sometime soon. Sporting five races and three different nations, there's definitely a lot to be uncovered. We hope to bring you more on Final Fantasy XI over the coming months.

--IGN

this game is lookin good, hey darkmaster, do you have the beta disc for this awsome game yet??