Final Fantasy XI

Square Enix fans will finally be able to end their candlelight vigils and take down the online petitions early next year when Final Fantasy XI ships for the PlayStation 2. The game, which has been out in Japan for nearly a year now, is a massively multiplayer online RPG set in a persistent world in the Final Fantasy universe. Final Fantasy XI is something of a landmark title for Square Enix and the PlayStation 2--it marks both the first online effort from Square Enix and the first online entry in the Final Fantasy series. We've been spending some time with the game during its beta-testing phase and are pleased with its progress.

Square Enix will offer players a rich world to explore.

Before you can play the game, you'll need to install the PlayStation 2's hard drive, which is pretty straightforward--you simply unwrap it and slide it into the PlayStation 2's expansion bay. Once the hard drive is in, you'll have to power up your PlayStation 2 and install the utility program on a memory card. The hard drive utility disc also features the latest DVD driver for the PS2. Once the drivers are loaded you'll be able to see the hard drive in the PlayStation 2 browser. Once all that's sorted, you'll have to install the PlayOnline viewer, which is the portal for playing Final Fantasy XI. After that's installed, you'll be able to set up your connection settings (PlayOnline supports dial-up and broadband connections), connect to PlayOnline, and get an account. When all that's squared away, you can install FFXI to the hard drive, which is where the game will be running from, and hop into the game. The whole setup process is straightforward but a bit on the lengthy side. The one thing to note is that Sony of America, which is publishing FFXI in the US, hasn't revealed the exact details on the pricing structure for the game. The PC version requires players to buy a PlayOnline account, which lets them create one character in FFXI. We expect that FFXI on the PS2 will follow a similar structure and have comparable fees, but nothing has been revealed so far.

You'll find a wide variety of locales in the game.

Once you fire up the game, you'll be in more-familiar territory. Final Fantasy XI takes place in the world of Vana'diel, a magic land with a colorful history. A little over 20 years ago, the people of Vana'diel waged war against the forces of evil to protect the powers of the world's crystal. The war turned out pretty well, and the land remained peaceful for quite some time. However, recent events have brought about the return of evil to Vana'diel. The notable feature of Vana'diel is that, like the gameworlds in many PC online RPGs, it will be persistent, meaning that hundreds of players will be able to interact with one another throughout all the game's areas, even when you yourself are not logged on.