More Final Fantasy XI details revealed

GameSpot has learned further details on Final Fantasy XI for the PlayStation 2. As previously reported, the game takes place in the world of Vana Dir, where swords, sorcery, and technology coexist. More than 20 years ago, humans and monsters fought a battle. The land has remained peaceful until recently, as an evil presence is starting to cloud the land of Vana Dir once again.

The character selection allows players to choose the race, sex, and job of their character. It has not been revealed whether the job system will follow the style of previous games in the Final Fantasy series. One of the races is called the "hume," which is basically the human form, either male or female. There will also be nonhuman races to choose from. Aside from player's characters, NPCs also exist in the game, partially to move the story along.

The PC version of the game is being developed concurrently with the PlayStation 2 version. With a North American release planned, the game will include language support for both Japanese and English. Currently 65 percent complete, the PlayStation 2 version of Final Fantasy XI is scheduled to enter the beta-testing phase sometime this winter in Japan.