Final Fantasy XIV originally launched in late 2010 to much negative criticism due to it being released with numerous game breaking problems and overall heavily flawed design. After admitting their mistakes, developer and publisher Square Enix made the risky decision to take down the servers two years after launch and re-release the game after working on it extensively and overhauling the game’s systems. Releasing in August of 2013, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has entirely succeeded where its previous iteration failed.
Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida helmed the team for the redevelopment of Final Fantasy XIV, and spent approximately two and a half years from planning to release in order to rebuild the game. Unfortunately, the process could have been started and completed earlier if not for the outdated and laborious programming choices made during initial development. Still, this did not deter them, as the fate of Square Enix’s prized franchise rested on their shoulders.
The first chance members of the public could really get in and play was during the first phase of Beta testing which started in February 2013, with three more phases following till a month before launch. These phases provided the team with crucial information in order to best tailor the game in order to avoid a repeat of last time, and there definitely won’t be a third attempt at revival. As word spread following the first phase, subsequent phases saw more and more people as both the number applying for Beta increased, and more access emails were being sent out.
By the fourth Beta phase, the servers saw 150,000 users logged in for the final test before early access began a week later. This caused early problems and needed an increase in servers and a very in-depth look in order to combat the newfound errors that were preventing players from logging in and crashing upon entering new zones. With this error cropping up so close to realize, a few waves of worry seemed to emanate in the crowds now awaiting early access, as potential server problems at launch could spell very bad news.
Early Access began August 24th for those who had pre-ordered the game, and server issues were almost instantaneous. Popular servers that were used during previous Beta phases were the first to be filled, along with every other North American and European server, forcing some to move to the Japanese servers entirely while waiting an open slot. Sever restart after restart was issued during the first week, along with a barrage of patches designed to combat the reoccurring problems from test phases as well as new ones. Digital sales had to come to all but a halt as Square Enix decided to stop all sales of the game until these problems were resolved, realising that further increasing the population was impossible and would only exacerbate the current problem.
A week later things were a bit more stable, though players were understandably left with a bit of a sour taste in their mouth. Free game time was given to all current players equal to the week of problems they had, as a sign of goodwill and an attempt to show appreciation for sticking with them through the initial rough patch. New servers were introduced in the subsequent weeks too, and the population spread out with most server issues disappearing thanks to the hard work of the development team that never seemed to sleep during launch.
Early history aside, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is prospering, having just released its latest patch: 2.1 – A Realm Awoken. This introduces a new 24 man raid, Free Company (Guild) Housing, a Player-vs-Player arena, a random Dungeon roulette, harder versions of the existing Primal fights and low level dungeons, and an in-game barber. All of these things are beneficial, with the last one being a personal favourite, and will serve to address some of the concerns early level capped players expressed upon reaching level 50. I myself was one of those players, though I attribute that to my love for the series and the desire to want to see more of it and for it to succeed rather than stagnate.
Looking towards the future, some details about 2.2 have surfaced, revealing planned additions of more Primal fights (think of them as very powerful gods whom primitive races sacrifice to) and individual player housing. It’s exciting to see the game flourish as Final Fantasy has a rich, longstanding lore behind it, and even though both XI and XIV are offshoots of that, it doesn’t make it any less interesting.
There’s a story line that leads you through the game as you level up all the way from 1 to 50, culminating in a series of mostly well designed boss fights and wrapping up the current timeline with a neat little bow. It admittedly did start to drag around the middle levels, but most levelling experiences in an Online game tend to do so around then so it’s understandable, though I would’ve liked to have seen more to help offset that. The ending was extremely fitting with that of any other game from the Final Fantasy universe, and though I may not play it as much as I used to, it will leave a good lasting memory.
Releasing a game such as this one, whose combat is that of the “Tab Target” variety – characterised by use of hotkeys, and the stereotypical use of the Tab key to cycle through enemies – was risky considering the shift in the genre towards Action combat. It’s a breath of comfortable air in a way, as it offers a much-needed break away from Action combat, and spices otherwise boring combat with ground targeted abilities to help facilitate movement and keep things interesting.
The Starlight Celebration is currently ongoing within the lands of Eorzea (the game’s playable continent) and is Final Fantasy XIV’s take on a Winter event that most games now have. Be sure to check it out if you’re at all interested, as it ends on the 31st of December. There’s a delightful Snowman costume to be gained, and who doesn’t like costumes?