Game No. 168
Title: Final Fantasy XI
Developer: Square
Platform: PlayStation 2
Release Date: May 16, 2002 (Japan)
Comment: The eleventh main entry in the Final Fantasy series marked Square's first stab at adapting the franchise formula for a massively multiplayer online context. Although the game's basic concept originated with series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, game design was led by Hiromichi Tanaka. Tanaka looked to III, the last Final Fantasy title he had assumed design responsibilities for, in his search for a gameplay foundation to elaborate upon. The game marks a first among MMORPGs in that it was the first title in the genre to achieve cross-platform play, allowing owners of the original PlayStation 2 release and the subsequent PC version to meet in-game. Additionally, it became a cross-generational game four years later when it saw a release on the Xbox 360. Largely met with approving nods by critics upon its original release, XI has, according to Square representatives, become the most commercially profitable installment in the series due to its monthly subscription fee, despite that its combined sales (including expansions) across different platforms has peaked short of every main title put out before it since VI. An enduring title, XI was the last game on the second PlayStation to have active online servers, lasting until March 2016. Yet this shutdown has not signaled the end of this online community, as servers are still running for the PC version. While the game has received five expansion packs, this article is delimited to the original core release.
Taking place in the fictional world of Vana'diel, the main plot line begins two decades after an armed conflict known as the Crystal War, during which a demonic spirit called the Shadow Lord and his minions of so called Beastmen laid waste to the realms. Initially, the three major political powers of Vana'diel, the Federation of Windurst, the Kingdom of San d'Oria, and the Republic of Bastok, attempted to combat the Shadow Lord's invasion independently, but the numerical superiority of the Beastmen left their armies with an ever increasing number of defeats and rising casualties. Realizing that this situation would soon become untenable, the three nations decided to put aside their differences to unite under one banner against their common foe. The alliance eventually emerged victorious, thus throwing players into the political aftermath of this costly struggle.
While still containing several familiar ingredients, gameplay mechanics have been subjected to a range of alterations due to the title's massive multiplayer direction. As with previous entries, there is a main quest to pursue rounded out by various side quests. Advancement throughout the main quest leads players to gain rank, bestows them with item rewards, and unlocks new areas for them to explore beyond their chosen home nation. Side quests net players with assorted rewards and fame among NPCs. Increased fame will in turn unlock new ways to interact with said NPCs and additional side quests. Additionally, both main quests and side quests yield monetary rewards. There are also various instanced activities in which up to sixty four players may partake in cooperative PvE battles to achieve certain predefined objectives and obtain rare loot. Furthermore, there are two types of PvP activities. The first is called Ballista and involves players competing for the highest score whilst engaging in an artillery-based castle siege. The second is named Brenner and reportedly plays out like a game of Capture the Flag. Periodically, the game throws events, often in the form of festivals with different underlying themes. These festivities last for a limited time span and may grant assorted rewards for those who participate. Returning into the mix is a selection of minigames, among them fishing and gardening.
As this installment features no predefined player characters, it is to a greater extent up to players themselves to shape their play style by utilizing the title's character creation system. First off, players must choose which of the game's five races they wish to play as: the Elvaan, the Hume, the Galka, the Mithra, and the Tarutaru. Each race comes with its own preset strengths and weaknesses. Players may further determine their character's face, hair colour, height, sex, what Job they should pursue, and which of the three nations they swear allegiance to. A reworked variant of the Job system, last seen in V, has been incorporated into the game. Initially, players may choose between six basic Jobs. When players reach level 30 and accomplish a requisite quest, nine advanced Jobs become available. Players can also switch between Jobs as they see fit by entering their houses or by interacting with Nomad Moogles. Each Job comes with its own unique abilities, spells, and passive traits. While abilities and traits are gained automatically as characters raise experience levels, spells can only be learned by first obtaining magic scrolls. Both abilities and spells come with cooldown periods after use, and the latter deplete magic points whilst also requiring the player to stand still for the duration of the spell casting. A new addition to the Job system is a form of dual-classing called Support Jobs. This feature becomes available upon reaching level 18 and allows players to enhance their characters with a secondary Job, along with some of its abilities, spells, and traits. Yet, it should be mentioned that Secondary Jobs cannot be raised beyond half the experience level of a primary Jobs.
While acquisition and merging of items has played a central role in the series since the beginning, it has apparently been brought even more to the fore with this entry by way of a crafting system. Items can be obtained through activities as diverse as combat, digging, harvesting, lumbering, and mining. They can subsequently be combined into armour, food, and weapons through a mechanic called Synthesis, where they are fused together with elemental crystals. Players can also opt to trade items in the game's player based economy by buying and selling them in auction houses. Yet, the developers have reportedly also taken precautions to prevent economic inflation by incorporating services that serve to eliminate Gil, the series' recurring currency, such as fees charged for auctions, item storage, and transportation.
As with other features, the battle system has undergone substantial revisions. The Conditional Turn-Based Battle system has been scrapped in favour of a real-time combat system, where players engage in PvE confrontations by approaching roaming monsters and the like. This departure from the utilization of random encounters as a core facet of combat would become a staple of future main entries in the franchise. Items, spells, and special abilities remain important aspects of confrontations, but a pair of new mechanics has been added to accommodate the new multiplayer dynamics. First off, once a member of a party attacks a given monster, said part lays Claim to it, thus ensuring that players outside of the party cannot steal a kill. Second, as individual party members inflict damage upon a given monster, it will build up Enmity towards them. Consequently, monsters will direct their strikes against that particular party member which has amassed the highest amount of Enmity. A party may consist of as few as two and as many as six players. Parties can be further expanded into Alliances by linking up to three parties together, thereby allowing a possible grand total of eighteen players to join forces. Parties allied with one another are able to aid each other whilst fighting monster which either party has laid Claim to. The Overdrives of X have been discarded in favour of another new take on Limit Breaks called Weapon Skills. As with previous variations, the system requires one to fill a gauge. This can be accomplished by dealing out or receiving the necessary amount of damage, thus acquiring Tactical Points. Any value exceeding a hundred of these allow one to execute a Weapons Skill, whose nature is determined by the given player character's Job, weapon, how filled the aforementioned gauge is, and the character's skill with the equipped weapon. Furthermore, Weapon Skills can be chained together by multiple party members in so called Skillchains, thereby increasing the damage inflicted to foes. Also, Skillchains can be strengthened even further should someone cast a magic spell with appropriate timing, thus unleashing a so called Magic Burst.
The original PlayStation 2 release of Final Fantasy XI has sold approximately 320,000 copies internationally. I have been unable to locate sales figures for the original PC release, but statistics for the first Xbox 360 issue of the title are readily available and gives figures landing around 190,000 copies in worldwide sales. The game appears to have been met with a generally favourable critical reception. Recurrent praise has been leveled towards the sheer amount of content included within it, along with its potential for further development by way of expansions and content patches, factors that have led critics to estimate that the product could keep dedicated players occupied for years. Yet, certain facets appear to have divided reviewers. The graphics, for instance, were lauded for the detailed character models, extensive draw-distance, and overall texture quality, but at the same time frequently criticized for inconsistent framerate. Likewise, the new real-time battle system was met with enthusiasm regarding its collaborative Skillchain mechanic, yet also disapproval for its largely automated nature. Additionally, the title's suitability for newcomers to the MMORPG genre has been called into question, with some examiners pointing to the lack of tutorials as a major potential disincentive for such players. However, others have pointed to the various activities players may engage in that necessitate team work, maintaining that these should serve to encourage a relatively helpful community. Nevertheless, the most severe objections have arguably been directed towards the monthly subscription fee. While such measures constituted a common business model for MMOGs at the time of XI's release, critics have cited this particular aspect of the game to present prospective consumers with a potential deal-breaker, especially when coupled with the time investment required to develop player characters and explore all Vana'diel has to offer.
