RIP Final Fantasy XIV Long Live Final Fantasy XIV
I must confess I know essentially nothing about Final Fantasy XIV, as FF has become one of those game series I'll cross the street to avoid. I do, though, admire both the relative honesty and the steely-eyed resolve in Square acknowledging that MMO spin-off FF XIV was such a screw-up that it had to be killed off - with plans to relaunch it as 'A Realm Reborn' and what they claim is tantamount to a brand new game. As is Square tradition, there's an overwraught, highly technically accomplished cinematic to commemorate the end of FF XIV's existing world. It's a certainly a dramatic way to announce that all your characters are getting wiped.
So what happens after the apocalypse?
I hope the same fate befalls whoever chose that music.
Later this year, Final Fantasy XIV becomes Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, which is being described as an enormous revision and a concerted effort to win back the jaded. Here's another barrage of CGI teasing that, followed by some in-game footage of the new version.
That looks like an MMO, alright. Quite a pretty one too. Another soundtrack that makes me want to kill myself, of course. Tell you what looks quite impressive - the highly flexible character creator, which looks as thought it could be the City of Heroes of games about child-faced people with hairdos that make them look like lagomorphs.
OK, that's enough videos for now. This goddamn coffee won't drink itself, after all. Find out more about the rebornening of realms right here.