Final Fantasy XIV E3 preview

Expectations can be a dangerous thing – especially when the event flies so low under them. Such was the case with the floor showing of Final Fantasy XIV.

This was a meeting by appointment only and while there was hands-on, it was plagued with a slow connection speed that yielded lag which made scanning the environment with mouse movements basically a nightmare. In all fairness, the game was barely beyond the alpha stage and some bumps are to be expected. But when the 30-minute appointment starts late, actual hands-on time is preceded with a five-minute overview, there was a reboot and then a power outage, the whole of the experience was under a cloud.

FFXIV looks a lot better than Square Enix’s other massively multiplayer online FF game (that would be XI), but there are elements that were part of the XI that have come over to XIV. Player classes are very flexible – coming down to the weapon being held – and there are gathering and crafting classes thrown into the mix.

Not too much else can be said about it, though. A quick look at the character creation system was nice, but running around a field, hacking up Sea Bats and oversized birds is not conducive to actually getting a feel for the game. And that’s a pity.