So, as is the usual with me, when I see some piece of news the interests me, I gauge whether or not I can wring out about four or five paragraphs of talking on it before I decide whether or not to write about it or keep it in mind if I'm going to do a news dump post, or a post with just a couple pieces of news. The latter case happens usually when my initial reaction is 'no, I can't write about this alone', which is exactly what happened today. So, of course that piece will be the -second- thing I write about here, as I went on a search for other Final Fantasy Related news and found something I can also talk about.
It was just said yesterday that there are even -more- plans for Final Fantasy XIV, including cellphone, Vita support and a possible 360 version which line up perfectly with the plan I would've done to make Final Fantasy XIV successful. Okay, I lied. I lied a lot, just there, since my plans have, well, nothing to do with mimicking WoW even further than it's suggested they might. Specifically, the Cellphone/Vita support would come in the form of being able to access your inventory, arrange purchases and manage auction house sales while not sitting in front of your PC or playing FFXIV on your PS3, which, as you might have guessed from how I prefaced it is something WoW has near-verbatim. (At least if a friend of mine who just got out of WoW is to be believed since he had said app) Not, you know, actually playing the game on your Vita, as it's been suggested might happen with FFXI, but being able to micro-manage equipment. That's....that's great.
The article also outlines, as I said, the possibility of a 360 version, insomuch as it seems like Squeenix really really wants to make a 360 version -now-, but they want to 'focus' on the PS3 version first. Now, I'm not the expert here, but I can't see this ending with a PS3-exclusive launch (for consoles) any more unless Microsoft flat-out refuses to let them make the game for the 360. Which, I don't see them doing unless Squeenix's 'promise' to focus on PS3 first means that the 360 version would come out later, in which case, well...there's something of a history there, unless the mentioned Policy only relates to Live Arcade stuff and not on-disk releases. However, I cannot think of one game that's launched first on the PS3, only to later show up on the 360, so it very well might be that much of a blanket.
I'm...not exactly sure which way this one's going to turn out, in all honesty. As Squeenix, you want FFXIV on as many things possible to cast the widest money net as you can make, and after FFXIII's strong sales on both the PS3 and the 360, it's reasonable to think that the game will be bought on both. However, I'm sure we all remember the 'outcry' and the 'betrayal' of everyone after FFXIII was announced as being Multi-platform for launch and doing the same thing again with FFXIV (as I suspect they might 'have' to do) this far after all these 'promises' and the like...it just sounds like a recipe for further disaster which is the exact thing the game does not need at this point. Then again, this is Squeenix, and a possibility to do something incredibly dumb and damaging, so I think the writing's on the wall already.
But onto the good news and the important news, which is the Final Fantasy Type-0 news. A few new details were just announced today, and include Chocobo breeding, Split-Party dungeons and Multiplayer, which, well as the comments to the article say, just make a great game sound greater already. I'm sure we all have -some- fond memories of Breeding Chocobos in Final Fantasy VII before it inevitably became a chore, so to be able to relive that, hopefully in a better, more refined way likely breeds (heh) more excitement. It does in me, at least, as there will be, apparently, several different breeds of Chocobos you can get, so it kind of sounds like the old experience on the surface at least.
Also mentioned in the part about the Chocobo system is a reminder that, hey, the game has a World Map or an Overworld, depending on what you used to call them in the days of yore. As if there weren't enough reasons to mark out for the game, yeah? I would imagine the different breeds would, like Final Fantasy VII's chocobos, be able to navigate different terrains differently, though I hope it wouldn't be as black and white as it was then; where Yellow Chocobos could hardly go anywhere, black ones could traverse more, etc. etc. Maybe even if it were as simple as altering the speed at which you could travel on certain breeds through certain terrain, rather than just outright going invisible wall on you. Still, I'm sure I won't mind when I'm running about on the World Map because I'll simply be enjoying the fact that there is a World Map too much to care.
The Dungeons mentioned seem like a neat addition as well; if just for the gimmick that goes along with them. You may or may not know that Final Fantasy Type-0 has the whole Three-Character Party system going on, which allows you to quickly switch off to a teammate if you should feel the need to. Well, the dungeons take advantage of that mechanic by, well, invalidating it for the entirety of them, meaning that you'll have to split up your party to explore it. I don't know if this means you'll go through it all one at a time, so you sort of go through it three times, or if it'll be more like you pick which character you want to control and you can support your two teammates somewhat, depending on how the dungeon is set up, until you all three reach the end. Or maybe you just pick one person to run through it and the other two sort of magically appear at the end. I don't know, but still, it sounds cool.
Multiplayer is worth mentioning, of course, even if my excitement for that kind of waxes and wanes. Basically, when you beat a mission in the main story, you'll be able to take it into MP and do it again with friends. (I would imagine this is on top of -other- MP missions, of course) On the one hand, this game is looking like a game that's set up for some Phantasy Star Portable 2-esque multiplayer which is good, but on the other hand, the single-player draw is so very there and so very gripping, that I'm not sure if I'll -want- to invest in the MP beyond playing with a friend or two every now and again. I'm sure when it comes out, though, I'll end up splurging and playing MP all the time anyway, since it'll be -fun- and I'll likely be doing it on the Vita (for one reason or another) so I'll be able to take advantage of Party for even more fun. Now to wait some more for the details about the inevitable Western Release to figure out just what form it'll come over in.
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