Final Fantasy’s next MMORPG.

At this year’s E3, Square-Enix showed off a mix of in-game and CG of it’s new jaw dropping MMORPG. As the audience sat stunned the hearts of FFXI fan’s everywhere raced with adrenaline. FFXI had it’s short comings, and to the masses it had many, but FFXIV is SE’s chance to make amends with thousands of players. In the eyes of the players who still remain and those who left but are still attached to FFXI this could be the chance to make right the many wrongs and capture back a large share of the MMO market from the MMORPG giant Blizzard.

Final Fantasy XIV is being developed on the Crystal Tools engine, the same engine FFXIII is being developed on. So we can look forward to graphics on par with, if not, better than FFXIII. This should capture a large play base that complained, “FFXI’s graphics are bogus and outdated.”

FFXIV will be released worldwide in four languages: English, Japanese, German, and French. It is said FFXIV will initially be exclusive to the PlayStation 3 and Windows PC, but Xbox 360 and other computer platforms are not out of the question as of yet.

The game takes place in a land called Eorzea on the world of Haiderin. Haiderin seems to be a world very similar to Vana’diel due to it including all five allied races native to Vana’diel: Hume, Galka, Elvaan, Mithra, and Tarutaru, yet it is noted that Eorzea is not located in the world of Vana’diel. This dismisses the possibility of the FFXIV story being related to FFXI in anyway. Eorzea is land of mighty dragons and great flying machines such as the famous airships.

Produced by Final Fantasy I, II, III and XI’s Hiromichi Tanaka. Directed by FFIX and XI’s Nobuaki Komoto. Art direction by FF Taxtics and Vagrant Story’s Akihiko Yoshida. Music done by Smile Please Co., Ltd. the production company of Square-Enix composer Nobuo Uematsu. The first complete Final Fantasy score since Final Fantasy IX.

On the very limited gameplay information side, it has been stated that unlike Final Fantasy XI, this game is geared more towards the casual player AND the hardcore, whereas FFXI was designed with the sigular hardcore audience in mind. Thus, doing away with the necessity of large team based… everything, and placing more emphasis on exploration, a theme similar to FFXII.

Concept Art

Be sure to vist the teaser site here for the video, screenshots and music.