Final Fantasy XI

It?s Final Fantasy and it?s massively multiplayer? Instant gold machine!

EsperQuest
You might not know this, but Square?s massively multiplayer installment in the Final Fantasy series will come to the PC a few months before its PS2 release, and GamePro recently got a chance to tool around in the beta version of this trippy-cool fantasy.

Final Fantasy XI invites you to explore the world of Vana?diel, where you can create your own character from among FFXI?s five races: the humanlike Humes, the elflike Elvaan, the small and cute Tarutaru, the Mithra catgirls, and the beefy Galka. As you search the countryside for adventure and magical crystals that enable you to create your own powerful items, you?ll also discover new Jobs (as in Final Fantasy Tactics) that give you a chance to further customize your character.

License To Print Money?
Final Fantasy XI is, in keeping with Final Fantasy tradition, almost completely different from any previous game in the series, and it?s downright original compared to the upcoming slew of EQ heartbreakers due out in the next year. This sort of originality can be both good and bad because while it?s refreshing to play a game with a new premise you?ve never seen before, the decidedly alien controls and gameplay style in the beta version could make getting into the game quite difficult, even for MMORPG veterans. Given the game?s lengthy beta stage, however, the controls will likely be smoothed out by launch.

PC Is Bettaru?
The beta version showed some clear problems with porting the game to the PC from the PS2, the most obvious being that PS2 graphics look simply horrible on a respectable PC. The environments looked grainy and jaggy as if there wasn?t much optimization done for the PC at all. More options for anti-aliasing and higher resolutions would help immensely. Still, combat was peppered with all the requisite FF flair, making mindlessly killing stuff more impressive than in most other MMORPGs out there.

While the PC MMORPG market is beginning to look really crowded, FFXI ought to have the name recognition and the hype to put it over the top. Whether or not American PC MMORPG fans will embrace the title is anyone?s guess, but FFXI?s PC version could give the old standbys a run for their money.

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