Massively tours Final Fantasy XI's latest version update
Not too long ago, we were taken on a tour of moogles and mayhem by the developers over at Square-Enix as we got an inside look into Final Fantasy XI's July version update. There's a lot of meat to this update as it includes everything from Ninja job changes, new blue mage spells, more item augmentations, campaign quests, expansions to Moblin Maze Mongers, and their newest mini-expansion pack, "A Moogle Kupo d'Etat!"
Our hands-on is set to cover all of these new additions, so let's waste no more time here on the front page. On to moogles and more!
Your moogle and you -- an adventure for the ages
Where else should the tour begin than with our intrepid mog house moogle and his quest to repair a broken down mog house. This introduction to "A Moogle Kupo d'Etat" sets the scene for the things I got to witness. Upon returning from gathering all of the supplies to fix the house, my moogle was overjoyed with how well the repairs had gone. He was bouncing up and down in glee until a letter from the Mog House Union dropped out of the air and into his hands.
In the cutscene, he ripped open the letter and began reading excitedly, only to find that the union wished to disavow his actions... in awkwardly poor sentences and spelling. While the moogle began to panic, making up excuses and wondering why his boss was acting so strange, the letter exploded with ghosts, ghouls, spirits, and mayhem in general. The letter was a curse!
However, the letter wasn't all bad, as the back of it strangely advertised a curse removal service! Apparently Professor Shantotto has gotten into the de-cursing business, and it was her that I was next directed to visit.
Sadly, that was the only taste I got to have of the brand new expansion, but I will say that the cutscenes are extremely cute and a lot of fun. There's a very apparent playfulness with this new adventure line, which is a nice departure from the "serious business" aspect of Final Fantasy XI.
Moblin Maze Mongers Mania!
If there was one feature of FFXI that I really didn't get to look at before, it was Moblin Maze Mongers. However, in the middle of this media tour, I actually got to get my grubby little hands on this feature of the game, and I was really impressed by it.
Moblin Maze Mongers is a mode where you get to select what you want to do. If you want to go in and smash up a bunch of monsters, you can make a maze for that. If you want to go in and defeat one giant monster, you can make a maze for that. But, if you're me, you can go in and lead around a young moblin hero and help him to defeat a beat threatening the village. That's right, you heard me.
This version of the maze is called the actualization team. Instead of relying on you or your party to defeat monsters, you get to lead around the young hero Chaperix and help him save his village. Chaperix does all of the work for you when it comes to defeating monsters -- you just need to make sure he doesn't get in over his head. However, this is more than just an escort quest -- it's like playing a version of Warcraft III where you have to level up and guide your hero.
