Final Fantasy XIV

Gameplay

Final Fantasy XIV is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) in which the player controls a customized Adventurer’s avatar from one of the five playable races. Each race has two tribes, and all but two allow for the selection of male or female characters. The avatar can have their eye and hair color, facial features, and skin tone customized, and features such as birthmarks and scars can be added. Their chosen tribe, along with their chosen patronity, affects their stats and elemental attributes. ^[2] The game’s opening is chosen. ^[3] Two different types of questsare available for players: story quests, which are unlocked as characters accumulate experience (EXP) and raise their experience while unlocking new abilities; and Levequests (leves), side quests accessed through the Adventurers’ Guilds. Leves are broken down into multiple types, focusing on gathering or fighting. Levequests are associated with particular non-playable characters (NPCs). As the player completes levees, they gain favor with three different factions and unlock new abilities, with rewards only coming from the NPCs within the factions who issued the quest. Gaining favor also unlocks a new type of level called levee action, which depletes a character’s favor when completed. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Compared to Final Fantasy XI , where party-based gameplay is forefront at all times, the gameplay in XIV is adjusted so that players can go for longer periods without joining a party. ^[5] There is no auto-attack option, with each action requiring a manual input while an enemy is targeted. Each action uses up a stamina bar. ^[4] Through defeating monsters, crafting items, and completing quests, accumulate players EXP which, when a certain threshold is reached, automatically increments the player’s level. The player’s level affects such attributes as HP (health / hit points), MP(magic / mana points), and the number of abilities available to them. ^[6]

Under the Armory System, a character’s equipped weapon or crafting tool, determined the player’s character class , Allowing Them to switch roles at will. ^[6] Some classes are associated with a particular starting point. ^[2] [5]Classes are divided into four disciplines: Disciples of War, masters of physical combat; Disciples of Magic, practitioners of the magical arts; Disciples of the Hand, crafters and handymen who synthesize and repair items; and Disciples of the Land, who gather from the environment. Certain abilities learned under one class can be used. The Job System (a post-launch addition) builds on the Armory System for Disciples of War and Magic. In exchange for restricting the range of equitable abilities from other classes, players gain access to powerful skills, magic, weapons, and armor. These Jobs, based on classic Final Fantasy character jobs , are more suited to party-based combat. ^[2][7]

Synopsis

Setting and characters

Final Fantasy XIV takes place in a high fantasy setting. The main location is Eorzea, a continent on the larger planet Hydaelyn: this contrasts Final Fantasy XI which uses one name to refer to the entire world and its regions. ^[8]Eorzea is broken up by three main powers: the forest nation of Gridania; the desert-based Ul’dah sultanate; and the thalassocracy of Limsa Lominsa, Eorzea’s dominant maritime power. ^[9] [10]Other important locations include the scholarly city-state of Sharlayan and the Garlean Empire, a hostile northern city with highly developed technology. Five years before the start of the game, the Garlean Empire invaded the land of Ala Migho, but was prevented from conquering Eorzea by the attacks of the ancient dragon Midgardsomr and his dragon hordes. In response to the Empire’s threat, the three nations of Eorzea reform the Grand Companies, which combines the cities’ military and economic assets. The Grand Companies attracted people from all walks of life, who take the mantle of Adventurers. ^[11]

The player is a customizable Adventurer avatar taken from the five main races of Eorzea. The playable races are the human -like Hyur ( ヒューランHyūran ) , the elf -like Elezen ( エレゼンErezen ) , the PHYSICALLY-Imposing Roegadyn ( ルガディンRugadin ) , the diminutive Lalafell ( ララフェルRaraferu ) , and the feline Miqo’te ( ミコッテMikotte ) . ^[12] [13]Playable Roegadyn and Miqo’te are gender-locked to male and female respectively. ^[14] Aside from these races are the Beastmen, tribes who worship ancient gods called the Primals, which require aether-rich crystals and one’s presence damages the planet. ^[11]

Plot

Beginning in one of Eorzea’s three main states, the player character awakes to the echo, a power granting them the ability to see the past. ^[4]The Adventurers are presumed to be in the forefront of the world by the Garlean presence, led by the Garlean Legatus Gaius Van Baelsar, and the Beastmen’s attempts to hoard the crystals and summon their primals. Eventually, a greater threat is brought to the attention of the nations by the Sharlayan scholar Louisoix Leveilleur: another Garlean Legatus named Nael Van Darnus is using arcane magic and technology to summon Dalamud, the planet’s second moon, down on Eorzea to purge the Beastmen and Primals whom the Garleans hate as violent pagans. With the help of Garlean defector Cid nan Garlond, the Adventurers discover that Nael has set a beacon for summoning Dalamud in the new fortress of Castrum Novum. While each nation makes individual attempts to storm the fortress, they are repelled. Faced with this,^[11]

Now united, the nations, aided by Adventurers, successfully stormed Castrum Novum and destroyed the beacon. Nael, insanely committed to his plan, makes himself into a second beacon. But it is defeated by the Adventurers, Dalamud has gone forward to the end, or so, Louisoix proposed a final desperate plan: to summon the Twelve, Eorzea’s guardian deities, and return Dalamud into orbit. The Adventurers pray to altars dedicated to the Twelve across the land, then rally with the armies of the Eorzean Alliance to fight Nael’s legion on the Carteneau Flats, the predicted impact site of Dalamud. In the midst of the battle, Dalamud disintegrates and has become a prison for the Elder Primal Bahamut. Enraged after its imprisonment, Bahamut begins laying waste to Eorzea. After the attempt to summon the Twelve Fails,^[11]

Development

Planning for Final Fantasy XIV began in 2005, four years prior to its official announcement. At the time, It was codenamed “Rapture” ( ラプチャーRapuchā ) . Whereas it would have been decided that MMORPGs would be more important than spin-offs, the team was worried that the final product would be too radical for the main numbered series. ^[8] The main staff included multiple developers Who we HAD Worked previous entries in the Final Fantasy series: producer Hiromichi Tanaka HAD ACTED as the original producer for Final Fantasy XI and beens Involved in multiple early Final Fantasydirector Nobuaki Komoto was director for XI and had been part of the staff of Final Fantasy IX , Yeako Sato had been the main scenario writer for XI , and Akihiko Yoshida had previously been art director for Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy XII . The game’s logo and some other artwork was designed by Yoshitaka Amano . ^[6] [8]

The game’s story, primarily written by Sato, was based on a central narrative complemented by side-stories. The setting and the gameplay were decided upon before Saturn was brought along with Eorzea’s main rentals in a certain way. The story is one of the main races of Eorzea and the Beastmen, with the Garlean Empire acting as a third force. The placement of the Garlean Empire to the northeast of Eorzea was not intended to simulate a real-world location. ^[15]The game’s logo, designed by Amano, was designed around the importance of weapons and the concept of a wheel: the “wheel” in question was a wheel of adventurers, their comrades and friends for support. ^[6]

For his work as a art director, Yoshida needed to work on a single project. While the game world was created around a high fantasy aesthetic, it was meant to be realistic and encourages exploration. ^[16]Hydaelyn, including its relationship with other planets, ecosystems, climate, and geography. This was done to promote a sense of realism. They would not seem to be repetitive. After the environment was created, the architectural, cultural and religious elements of the world were incorporated into the environment. City and machine designs mixed metallic and natural materials to create a sense of wonder and familiarity for players. ^[17] The game’s five playable races were directly based on the initial five races of Final Fantasy XI, with design adjustments to reflect the new setting. The developers also created two different tribes, as opposed to the single tribe set-up present in XI . Characters’ movements were primarily developed using motion capture , though the recorded movements were then adjusted so they would be sharp and distinctive. Much work was invested in creating emotes, character movements chosen by the player to represent a specific mood or emotion previously used in XI . To create realistic expressions, a character artist ^[12]For the monsters, the evolution of the skin, the skin and the skin. ^[18]

The game’s cutscenes were first drafted using a storyboard, then when the sequence of events had been finalized, in a digitized format. Lighting and environmental effects were then put in place. ^[19] One of the most challenging sequences to create the opening real-time cutscene for the Limsa Lominsa story route: The giant sea snakes are each individually animated. ^[18] The game’s opening film was produced by Visual Works, Enix’s Square in-house CGI development company. ^[20] All the in-game models were first created in a high-resolution form using a 3D sculpturing program, then readjusted so they could appear in the game with a lower polygon count but equivalent graphical quality. ^[18]Another large part of creating the characters is their accessories: to help with this, the team developed a multi-layered development system. A technique dubbed “polygon shaving” was used so two sets of equipment could be designed to look different while using the same model data. Another function dubbed “reshaping” was used to adjust the shapes of equipment and accessories. The third element, dubbed “SSD-file”, enabled the adjustment of the “materials” equipment was made off, so its color and texture could be changed. Rather than relying on a single image design, which would have been impractical for the hardware, the team would take basic art and used Photoshopto add subtle changes to each. It was then passed down to the modeling team, who used the same sculpting process while using the polygon count low. ^[21]

The game’s engine was Crystal Tools , a specially-created middleware engine that was also used in Final Fantasy XIII . So it would be compatible with the game’s specifications, the team customized the engine to suit their needs. ^[8]In the end, the game has been engineered to be unsuitable to the needs of the game, rendering its internal structure “broken”. ^[22]The game is up for business with many problems. According to a later postmortem, the team developing the game had an unhealthy obsession of graphical quality over gameplay that was neglected, then reinforced by the company’s then-outdated development methods. A cited example of the focus on graphics was a flowerpot, which had as many polygons and lines of shader code as a player character. This high graphical quality means that compromises needed to be made; for example, the number of players present on-screen at any one time to be limited, the wide-scale commonality of MMORPGs. ^[23]This issue also impacts the game’s environments; to save on the memory space, the team needed to reuse environmental features and textures on a regular basis. ^[24]Another problem was that the team lacked experience in developing MMORPGs, a problem that had also been eliminated. Final Fantasy XI , but had been successfully overcome. With this in mind, the team Were still using the mindset used development During the sixth generation console , qui couldn’t hold up under the Increased staff and resource needs for seventh generation development. A third major reason was the company’s belief that the game’s problems could be patched after the initial launch, compounded by the lack of an overall plan for how to deal with them. ^[23]

Music

The music for Final Fantasy XIV was composed by Nobuo Uematsu , a regular contributor to the music of the Final Fantasy series. ^[6] Originally contracted to create the ending theme for XIII , Uematsu accepted the request by the XIV team to work on the game, leaving XIII ‘ s theme song to be composed by Masashi Hamauzu . ^[25] Having only Contributed A Few tunes to Final Fantasy XI , XIVwas Uematsu’s first full-time work on an MMORPG. In spite of this, it had not been finalized, and had had considerable creative freedom in the team’s vision for the game. For the battle themes, he used a mix of orchestral and rock pieces. He worked on XIV at the same time as working on the Last Story , a video game from original Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi . ^[26] [27] During the time XIV was active after the initial release, other composersMasayoshi Soken, Naoshi Mizuta , Tsuyoshi Sekito and Yamazaki Ryocontributed to the score. ^[28] Soken acted as the game’s sound director, and would take over the composition of its relaunch. ^[29] The game’s theme song, “Answers”, was composed by Uematsu and sung by Susan Calloway, who was selected by Uematsu after hearing her rendition of previous Final Fantasy theme songs. ^[30]

Multiple albums featuring music from XIV have been released. Two mini-albums, Final Fantasy XIV: Battle Tracks and Final Fantasy XIV: Field Tracks , were released on September 29, 2010. ^[31] [32] A full album, Final Fantasy XIV – Eorzean Frontiers , was released on September 1, 2012 as a single album and three mini-albums. ^[28] A Blu-ray album featuring all music from the original version of XIV , Before Meteor: Original Fantasy XIV Final Soundtrack , was released on August 14, 2013, two weeks prior to its relaunch. ^[33]

Release

XIV was first hinted at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) when Square Enix announced that they were developing a new MMORPG, showing it off using a tech demo. The demo included aesthetic elements similar to XI, such as races from Vana’diel.^[34] In 2006, rumors emerged that Square Enix was developing a direct sequel to Final Fantasy XI, but further details remained unknown.^[35] During the next few years, contradictory reports were issued as to what platforms the game was being developed for: the platforms listed varied from the game being an Xbox 360 exclusive, to being for PlayStation platforms, to being for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 (PS3) and Windows platforms.^[34][36][37] XIV was officially announced at E3 2009 for PS3, then for Windows. After its official announcement for those platforms, it was stated that a port to Microsoft hardware was under consideration.^[38] Despite negotiation with Microsoft concerning an Xbox 360 version of the game, the two companies were unable to agree upon the use of Xbox Live, as Square Enix wanted a shared server across all platforms and Microsoft would not give them the full access necessary to implement this. Because of this disagreement and the consequent extra manpower needed to develop a version separate from the other two platforms, development on the Xbox 360 version was stopped.^[39]

According to Yoichi Wada, then-CEO of Square Enix, XIV was being planned as a serious rival to successful western MMORPG World of Warcraft.^[40] The game was developed primarily for Windows, and was then ported across to PS3.^[41] XIV was originally scheduled for simultaneous release on Windows and PS3 in 2010, but the PS3 version was delayed into 2011. This was explained as due to it taking longer than expected to make the adjustments needed so the game could fit within the console’s limited memory.^[42] The game did not use the PlayOnline service used for XI. This was explained as being due to the marked decrease of content on the service. Instead, they would migrate to a new service that still allowed cross-platform gameplay, including the use of a universal Square Enix ID that would allow players to play from wherever they left off.^[6] In October 2009, the game’s Beta release was announced as being only for Windows.^[41] First print runs of the PS3 version of Final Fantasy XIII contained a bonus code for the PS3 version of XIV for a special in-game item.^[43]

Due to earlier recurring issues with mistranslations related to news updates, the team decided not to implement forums in the original release, instead hearing player feedback through fan sites and unofficial forums. Also because of mistranslation fears, dedicated teams in each of the game’s release regions would gather feedback and transmit it to the development team.^[44] The game’s first closed Alpha test began on March 11, 2010. It was available only to veteran players from XI.^[45] During alpha testing, the team used player feedback to find out key problems with the game, such as limitations on graphical adjustments making the game run at a slow frame rate.^[46] The open Beta test was originally scheduled to begin on August 31, but was indefinitely postponed due to the discovery of critical bugs in the game.^[47] The Beta test eventually went live on September 2, running until the game’s release later that month.^[48] It was later stated that more time should have been given to fixing bugs during the Beta period.^[24] The game released on September 30, 2010, six months prior to the PS3 version’s projected release date of March 2011. A Collector’s Edition was released on September 22, allowing owners to log into the game from that date. The Collector’s Edition, which was decorated by artwork from Amano and Yoshida, came with bonus items including a DVD featuring a behind-the-scenes documentary, a security token, a case for the game’s box, and a decorated tumbler.^[49] The game was released with text in Japanese, English, French and German, while the spoken dialogue in cutscenes was English in all versions.^[6][50]

Reception

GameRankings and Metacritic respectively , garnering scores of 50% and 49/100 by aggregate sites . ^[51] [52] Computer and Video Games said “Eorzea is a beautiful world with huge potential for vast adventures, but it’s just a shame that this first trip into it is such a mis-step”. ^[53] 1UP.com said that “playing [ Final Fantasy XIV ] is playing with a toy stuck in a plastic bag: it can be fun for you and you can get the general idea, but you can not appreciate the full experience “, stating that future updates would rectify this issue. ^[4] IGNsaid that “Much of the promise of the combat system and the extent to which it is being exploited, unfortunately, it’s not a world worth visiting. ^[57] GameSpot , in addition to warning players away from the game, said that ” Final Fantasy XIV is a notable entry to the genre but only for what it lacks”. ^[55]During its debut week in Japan, the Collector’s Edition reached #2 in the PC games charts behind Civilization 5 and ahead of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.^[59] In the UK charts, the game debuted at #10 behind multiple other games including F1 2010 (#1), Halo: Reach (#2), Civilization 5 (#4) and Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (#7).^[60] By November 2010, the game had sold 603,000 copies worldwide.^[61]

GameTrailers was so critical that it was “released before it was finished”, calling it “[a] broken, incomplete mess”. ^[3] PC Gamer called the game “a shallow, slow, grind-heavy MMO crippled by a horrible interface and nonsensical player limitations”. ^[58] GameSpy was again highly critical, saying that “barring a complete overhaul of the user interface, the fight, the player interaction mechanics, the progress system, and the layout of the world itself, [ Final Fantasy XIV ] is unlikely to ever be fun . ” ^[56] Eurogamersaid that while the game would appeal to some players, they would be prepared for ” Final Fantasy XIV , because Square Enix has not yet got its head around its own players”. ^[54]

Critics agreed that the game’s graphics were good, enjoyed Uematsu’s score, and several praised the concepts behind the job and leveling systems. Alongside this, unanimously how was the gameplay pace, its convoluted interface, bugs and glitches, and the slow pace of the story. It was a great disappointment both as an MMORPG and a mainline entry in the Final Fantasy series. ^{[3] [4] [53] [54] [55] [56] [57] [58]} Later on, as part of an interview regarding the game’s later development, 1UP.com commented that subsequent patches and overhauls had turned the game into something more playable. ^[62]

Post-release

The release of the game sparkled immediate backlash player in addition to its negative critical reception. Some of the controversy was produced by the game of unusual gameplay features for the genre. The main complaint by the players was the user interface, followed by problems with the performance and aspects of gameplay. ^[24] [63] The initial 30-day free trial was extended to new players before the game. ^[64]In December 2010, it was announced that Tanaka and Komoto had been removed from their positions as producers and directors, with Tanaka taking full responsibility for the game’s problems. The PS3 version was indefinitely delayed from its original March 2011 release date, with Square Enix saying that it would not be possible for the platform to be fully compliant with the Final Fantasy series. Subscriptions for the Windows version were also suspended indefinitely. ^[65] [66]

The position of producer and director was taken over by Naoki Yoshida , a member of staff at Square Enix who had previously worked on the Dragon Quest series. ^{[66] [66] [67]} Among these were other staff changes: Akihiko Yoshida became lead scenario concept artist, Hiroshi Takai was appointed lead artist, and Akihiko Matsui became lead combat system designer. ^[66] Yoshida’s main priority is to make the game playable after the poor launch and subsequent reaction. ^[68] Through subsequent patches to the game, multiple graphical and gameplay improvements were made: among the most notable were the addition of a job system, personalchocobos , a revamped battle system, greater customization options for gear, and multiple new dungeons and bosses. ^[62] Yoshida also introduced the official Final Fantasy XIV forums in order to obtain feedback and suggestions, and stated that it would be a high priority. ^[69]During this period, XIV and XI were taken offline to help with energy conservation in the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami . They went back online, but they did not find their online services. ^[70]Due to the earthquake, a planned and partially-developed Primal Primal Titan was cut and replaced by the Primal and Associated Beastribe’s links with the power of earth in this context. ^[71]

The team was not fully integrated into the existing structure and was already critically flawed. This meant that, in order to save XIV , the whole game needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. The decision to launch a new version of a reboot have INSTEAD of a whole new title Was driven by the need to regain trust player, qui Was felt Would not be done by just scrapping XIV . ^[22] [62] The original story planned for XIV Was changed to build up Reviews towards the end of the original game’s life, with new boss battles being white Introduced leading up to the final storyline. ^[71]The “Seventh Umbral Era” storyline was used as a story-based reason for the radical changes coming to the game and its landscape. ^[62] In the run-up to this, the game has been reduced to a number of other aspects of the game. a negative reaction for players. ^{[72] [73] [74]} The final revision of the game was put out on November 1, 2012. After a final in-game battle Where all XIV players Were Invited, the servers Were closed down on November 11. ^[75]

Legacy

The flawed release and poor reception of the game had a heavy impact on Square Enix: citing XIV among other reasons, the company reduced its projected income for the year by 90%. ^[76] At the 2011 Tokyo Game Show, Wada issued an official apology for the quality of the game, saying that “the final fantasy brand [had] been greatly damaged”. ^[77] The company and development team eventually decided to rewrite the current version of XIV , rebuilding it from the ground up. ^[22] This rebooted version, initially titled Final Fantasy XIV 2.0 , began development in April 2011. ^[78] The rebooted version was released in 2013 asFinal Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn , and has been positively received by critics and players. Yoshida, commenting on a later interview, stated that Realm Reborn was just the first part of the game after the release of XIV , predicting that the process would take a long time. ^[22]