One of my favorite game franchise is Final Fantasy. Back in 2004 Square Enix released FFXI, the first MMORPG iteration of the long standing series. The game was revolutionary and beautiful, but it lacked many of the attribute that could of made the game a big hit in the US. The lack of solo play and group centric content was a deal breaker for the casual gamer, who flooded over to the newly released World of Warcraft.

Don't get me wrong, FFXI was a great game that surely delivered the full FF experience. The game was full of interesting classes, great quest and outstanding graphics. but in the end it was not enough to keep people coming back for more. Of course Square Enix (SE) has learned from their mistakes. FFXIV improves on the drawbacks that its prior iteration had. For one the game has both group and solo content. FFXIV is also doing away with the tedious process of leveling. Instead they have come up with a Skill based leveling system. Release date for this game is not set on stone yet. SE has confirmed that it will ship in 2010, and thats about as much info as they have cared to give us. I expect that we might see this game show up around October or November, about the same time that FFIX came out back in 2004. According to Square Enix FFXIV will simultaneously be released for both PC and PS3 unlike FFXI which had a 3 month gap. If you are a FF fan or like deep enveloping plots, then I suggest you give this game a try. I think this is going to be one of the hottest MMORPG for 2010 and rightfully so.

For more info on the game check out the following links:

http://www.ffxivcore.com/index
http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/
http://www.square-enix.com/na/
http://www.eorzeapedia.com/

Ffxiv