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Final Fantasy XI Online now online

By Tim Surette, GameSpotPosted Apr 19, 2006 6:35 pm PT

Square Enix launches first Xbox 360 MMORPG worldwide; PlayStation 2, PC FFXI Treasures of Aht Urhgan expansions also live.

While scientists debate whether the physical universe is expanding or collapsing, there's no doubt about the Final Fantasy XI universe. The Square Enix game took a huge leap today, welcoming in a new platform as well as a new expansion for previous users.

Final Fantasy XI Online for the Xbox 360, revealed as Microsoft's big announcement at last year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, is now available in stores worldwide. The next-gen version features high-definition graphics and does not require an Xbox Live Gold subscription to play online--those with Silver memberships have full access to online play and upcoming downloads. However, users will still need to pay a monthly fee of $12.95 for their first character, plus $1 for each new character.

The addition of the 360 makes FFXI the first "triple-cross-platform, triple-region" massively multiplayer online game, according to Square. In addition to the Xbox 360, FFXI is available on the PC and PlayStation 2 in North America, Japan, and Europe.

Treasures of Aht Urhgan, an expansion pack for FFXI, was also made available today for the PlayStation 2 and PC (all available expansions, including Treasures, were included in the Xbox 360 version of FFXI). The add-on features adventures in the land of Aht Urhgan, as well as two new modes, besieged and assault.

Final Fantasy XI Online for the Xbox 360 is rated T for Teen and retails for $49.99. The Treasures of Aht Urhgan expansion pack for the PS2 and PC is rated T for Teen and has an SRP of $29.99. For more information, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

91 Comments

  • FFdreamer

    Posted Jun 3, 2006 2:10 pm PT

    Pfft. All the complaining, This game rocks, after you get used to it.

    Until you have played it for over a year, and are decently leveled in it (ex. 60+ on at least 1 job) then dont complain, you cannot make accusations on a game you do not own, OR did not play long enough to fully enjoy it.

    These games require monthly fees, because of bandwidth usage and updates,ect. Hell, do the math, if there are 1 million FFXI players, @ 13$ a month, they make 13m$ a month off this, and it helps them fund their company during production time (new games) I dont care about the online fee, this game rocks, and with a few easy edits, you can make it look like a next-gen game with a decent system. (at least on pc )

    The extra 1$ a month doesnt matter either, because you get 75x18 levels for the base fee, and an additional 75x18 levels per extra dollar. lets see.. compare that to WoW's 70x1 x 9 with no swiching

    And dont even bother comparing it to guild wars, its structured different as someone said, there are some gathering spots in GW yeah, but its mainly party oriented, ex. you cant really walk out into the world and find other people, you need to be in a town. FFXI and WoW are different from that, and FFXI in particular has an incredibly long storyline and you really shouldnt be all that bored ever because it takes about 6 months AT LEAST to max out one job from the start, and sure maybe the 4 year veterans have enough Gil to afford to level in a week or 2, but that takes a LONG TIME to do ^^ You wont get bored, and you can always have a mule or 2 to level if you do somehow get bored not to mention they are always adding new things to the game, such as Chocobo Racing sometime soon, and more PvP ^^

    So, dont diss this game, and dont complain about the fees because this game is targeted for 13+ and most people playing it are at least 15, and if you have just about ANY kind of job by then, at least most people do, then the fee is like 2 hours of work tops with a decent salary. So wow, 2 hours of your time for a MONTH of play. not too bad, and definately more affordable than most stuck up brats think.

    As for the death penalty, its really not that bad, i mean EXP loss is really a lot more favorable to me than in other MMORPGs (ex. Runescape: where you lose all but 3 items on you when you die, valued at Shop Price, not player, not most really rare items are valued at 1$ shop price so your screwed out of months of work if you die accidentally, or forgot to put something up) whereas once you get to a decent level, getting the EXP back isnt really hard, sure, 1-10 are the most boring levels, and it really doesnt get awesome till 30+, but past that its an awesome game, and differs from many other games out there right now. Actually i like the EXP loss because it encourages you to keep alive, but at least its not like Everquest ^^

    All in all, quit the complaining, i mean 360 users even get this in HD, and 13$ is cheap compared to other MMOs of the same QUALITY ^^

    I own this game, i love it, and it has a lot of potential for expansion, which they are always adding, (cant wait for chocos! )

    The only downfall of this game would be:
    1. the World swiching is a bit of a pain
    2. some worlds have RMTers (real money traders) and some Botters, but then again most if not all MMOs have some form of this

    Buy it, play it for a year and then tell me it sucks but at least try in that year lol, youll always have something to go do ^^

    As for the lookdowns on the attack interface and stuff not being native to a FF feel, i think its really nice after you play with it, and it even worked its way kind of into the FFXIII role of gameplay, and i believe FFXII's as well, it actually gives it more of a realistic feel to it rather than your screen shattering and you go into a pre-setup battlefield, its more Realtime

  • Tuffg

    Posted Apr 21, 2006 12:25 pm PT

    I just bought it not realizing you needed a credit card. I found out 15 minutes into the registration process! I'm kinda angry right now cause i can't return it. i could trade it in and get GRAW or something

  • AL13NK1LL3R

    Posted Apr 21, 2006 10:20 am PT

    i want to play huxley. i not going buy other mmo games just this game. and guild wars

  • miiiguel

    Posted Apr 21, 2006 3:09 am PT

    12.95 per month is a lot of cash. Check me out.
    I'm sure the service provided should be paid, as this is a work-in-progress item, but my DSL ISP charges just a bit more than this, and they have to do the update, and the reactive/proactive stuff a poster refers as the justification for this absurd.
    5Eur would be understandable.

  • PatatPoil

    Posted Apr 20, 2006 11:32 pm PT

    Who the f*ck cares about last gen or not, people still enjoys old school Nintendo games. I still play DOS game frequently and enjoys it. I'm not saying that cuz I don't have next gen hardware, my PC is pretty much up to date and I own a 360 (which I like) and planning to have a rev when it comes out later this year... Though at this point even WOW can be considered last gen game... And mmm let me think... HA! there are like 5,000,000 people out there playing right now... That said, have a nice day

  • lord-azrael

    Posted Apr 20, 2006 9:24 pm PT

    yeah,yeah lets all pay 49.99 and then another 12.99 a month to play a last gen game,Not

  • HitokiriEmmaSan

    Posted Apr 20, 2006 8:08 pm PT

    ATTENTION ANYONE COMPLAINING ABOUT MONTHLY FEES:

    They're there for a reason. That reason is to pay for bandwidth and server maintenence. If you don't like it, play single player games; don't complain about it.

    Some bring up the argument that you could get multiple single player games for the price of an MMORPG in a year. I'm sure you could. But, MMORPGs are updated continually with new content, as well as continual bug-fixes. You're most likely going to play an MMORPG a lot more than you would a single-player game.

    Those of you comparing GuildWars to other MMORPGs. Stop. The game architecture is very different. A huge majority of the game is instanced, which makes it unlike MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft. The way GuildWars is set up in an online sense would be closer to an FPS game, even closer still to a few Korean Online games such as GunZ or WarRock.

    There is another economic setup which, from my expreience, works fairly well. I'm referring to something you may have seen if you play a lot of Korean MMOGs. Cash Shops. The actual game is free, but you can pay for special items. A lot of times, these items may have a little extra use, but they are usually more for just show. This ensures that people with money don't get an unfair advantage.

    Now, to return to my opening point, stop complaining about monthly fees. You go out and buy hundreds of servers, pay for multiple terrabytes of bandwidth per day, pay people to maintain the servers and pay people to create new content for a game for free. See how you like it.

  • unoalien

    Posted Apr 20, 2006 7:38 pm PT

    monthly fee?!?!?!?! f?#ck that !!!!!

  • thomasonfa

    Posted Apr 20, 2006 6:16 pm PT

    I just wish that system platforms wouldn't take the same road as PC with the monthly fee. But if they want to charge me monthly a bigger price reduction is going to have to take effect. I would pay $20 for the game and THEN I could consider paying a fee to play. With FF being $50 I will not see me online.

  • dawg49

    Posted Apr 20, 2006 3:59 pm PT

    i dont know what the problem is that companies have to bribe the players in order to play one of their MMO's. I find it nothing short of a waste of time and thank god that one of the games in the genra which is guild wars doesn't cost a penny to play a month and that right there I can deal with but 12 to 13 bucks a month is totally unreasonable to play a darn game.

    Games are games and the more people keep buying into it by paying a monthly fee to play their products then the more you all convince them to keep the fee's up and running.

  • hepcat00

    Posted Apr 20, 2006 3:27 pm PT

    crazy....i was going to buy it 'cuz i love square and all their games but no way am going to pay a monthly fee for a game that's already bought and paid for, PLUS already pay fee for XBL. when does ffxii come out again? i'll get that.

  • AncientDozer

    Posted Apr 20, 2006 3:12 pm PT

    It's a MMO. Get off your high horses, you dopes. Expect to pay so they can operate and update the damn servers. And stop blaming Microsoft because it isn't them doing the charging. Otherwise you would be required to pay a GOLD membership, too. However, free silvers can play this game no problem. So, yeah, be thankful you aren't required to own a Gold to play it.

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Apr 20, 2006 2:42 pm PT

    wat a stupid fee....just like wow

  • Legendaryscmt

    Posted Apr 20, 2006 2:38 pm PT

    Wasn't that also the worst FF game? DUR!

  • tbolt_88

    Posted Apr 20, 2006 11:28 am PT

    have fun wit ur final fantasy..not my type of thing but still cool that its on 360

  • ArgoSmekkie

    Posted Apr 20, 2006 11:12 am PT

    One another game I won't buy......

  • samekila

    Posted Apr 20, 2006 10:58 am PT

    microsoft is not the one charging for the game

  • BronzeWarrior

    Posted Apr 20, 2006 10:42 am PT

    Come on Microsoft how 'bout a "free" mmorpg.

  • santana4064

    Posted Apr 20, 2006 10:12 am PT

    its $12.95 a month, thats $155.40 a year, and this is Just for one game........ i'm dissapointed, i'm not getting it

  • SithLordKiller

    Posted Apr 20, 2006 9:41 am PT

    man...i don't want to pay the monthly fee, but i've been convinced to get the game...dammit.

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