A video and screenshot tour of FFXI's Wings of the Goddess expansion
Late last week we had the opportunity to get a hands-on look at the most recent expansion to the venerable MMO title Final Fantasy XI. Wings of the Goddess was released to excited Taru Tarus and enthusiastic Galkas in November of last year, but the new content is still being explored by the several hundred-thousand strong playerbase. Featuring two new jobs and an intriguing story arc that ties the present of Vana'diel to its war-torn past, Wings is easily the most ambitious project the Square/Enix development team has delivered to the online space. While it hasn't been as well received as some previous expansions, it's nonetheless a watershed moment in the game's history.
The reason? The FFXI developers are reaching out to the community, both inside and out of the game. Don't play Final Fantasy XI? Don't worry – we haven't in a while either. That's why we went on this tour, to experience the newest and greatest the gameworld had to offer. While talking to the developers was great, nothing can compare with seeing the sights and trying out the two new classes firsthand ... and did we ever come back with spoils! We have descriptions of playstyles for both of the new classes, details on the newest Campaign-style collaborative combat gameplay, dozens of screenshots, half a dozen videos, and one very special cinema featuring a certain cat that might be very familiar indeed ...
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Our introduction to the Wings of the Goddess content began with a trip back in time, through the mysterious cavernous maw ...
Our avatar for this portion of the journey was to be a Scholar (SCH), one of the two new jobs introduced with the expansion. A support class through and through, the Scholar is something of a 'Red Mage on steroids'. The SCH class features both "Light Arts" and "Dark Arts", both sides of FFXI's magical spectrum. This diversity, and the ability to change between your proficiency in the two magic schools on the fly, makes the job ideal for standing at the back of a party acting as johnny-on-the-spot. Participating in the heaviest parts of the battle from afar, the Scholar actually offers a role in-game very different from the similar-seeming Red Mage.
Before we had the chance to fully explore the gameplay style of the SCH, though, we were whisked away to the Taru Taru homeland of Windurst. The developers gave us a chance to walk around the zone known as Windurst Waters for a moment, to reacquaint ourselves with these (once familiar) stomping grounds. A peaceful and idyllic area, Waters acts as a shopping hub for the city, as one of the most centrally located zones. After only a few moments had past, we were plucked by developer magic back through the cavernous maw into the past. What awaited us there was both shocking and inspiring.
The image of Taru Tarus going to war, the site of a very young Ajido-Marujido still studying to be a mage - for whatever flaws the expansion might have, these fantastic story moments were well worth the price of admission. For - not the first time - it struck home with us how powerful the in-game cutscenes FFXI uses are. The opportunity to see your personally customized character interacting with Vana'diel movers and shakers on an even playing field is fantastic. Just as in Guild Wars (which also uses this technique) it gives you a newfound respect for not only your character, but your accomplishments in the gameworld.
Once passed the Chocobo honor guard, our demo SCH explored the ruins of a devastated Windurst Waters. The maws deposit you in a time smack-dab in the heart of the Crystal War, and the normally idyllic town setting shows the worst of that. NPCs everywhere had saddening personal tales to tell, buildings were burned out or in shambles, and on the edges of the zone beastly Yagudos roamed. Right there in the city, attackable mobs attempting to pick off the few remaining citizens. It was enough to make us want to hit something. So, with the assistance of a whole party of skilled adventurers, we went off to do just that.
In combat, the Scholar had an almost overwhelming number of options. In addition to flipping between the two magical disciplines, utilizing a fantastic array of spells, the SCH has several job-specific elements so-far unseen in the game. Most notable are the Helix and Storm spells, two classes of castings that allow the learned character to manipulate the game's weather. Helix spells, dark manifestations, utilize the weather to inflict damage over time debuffs on opponents. Casting Cryohelix in a cold zone, for example, would inflict substantial penalties to opponents. Storm spells, on the other hand, are White spells that apply beneficial weather effects on party members. Many enemy abilities are affected by the ambient environment, and giving the SCH control of that situation gives his party a tactical advantage.
The developers also attempted to elaborate on some of the classes more subtle elements, such as the mana-juggling ability Sublimation. That option allows your HP to be converted into MP and then saved, available as an untapped reservoir should the spellcaster have need of it. They also talked up the recent changes to the Scholar class, newly patched-in elements that address much of the at-launch frustration about the Scholar's role. With the improvements in place, the Scholar comes much closer to what it was originally intended to be: a response to frustrations and needs that the developers have seen coming directly from the community.
With a grasp of what the Scholar class was capable of in-hand, we moved on to the other new job presented in Wings of the Goddess: the Dancer. The Dancer (DNC) is a unique class, a wholly new approach to job-building for the FFXI team. She's a spellcaster of sorts, but instead of using up MP Dancer abilities expend TP - a sort of combat energy that builds up naturally over the course of a fight. All players can use this TP to do relatively rare weapon-based attacks, but DNCs are constantly tapping into this resource as a fight progresses. What's new for the team is what this TP can be applied to, and what these abilities add up to. In essence, the Dancer is a front-line support member. In fact, the DNC is a support class that can Tank.
Even more unique for an FFXI class, this essentially means that the DNC is a class that can effectively solo. By engaging in combat with monsters and then expending TP, the dancer can sustain herself (and any party members) through their unique combination of special Abillities. The base moves for Dancers are Waltzes and Sambas. Sambas are 'offensive' in nature, drawing resources away from opponents and transferring them to the Dancer. Waltzes, instead, translate TP into healing or status-removing energies. Between the HP drain of a Samba and the actual healing of a Waltz, Dancers are more effective than any other class at keeping themselves up throughout a fight.
In a group battle this becomes even more varied, as the large amount of TP available allows the player to make use of additional class Abilities called Steps and Flourishes. These extend the actual dances that the player can use, setting up unique chains that the Dancer can pull off all by herself. The sequence is essentially fight, gather TP, use Waltzes/Sambas, then do a Step. Steps inflict status effects on your enemies, put primarily they set up opponents for the Flourish. Flourishes are actually the second to last step, as generally they set up one final attack or Ability use to truly decimate the opponent. One begins a deadly skillchain collaboration with other party members, for example, while another turns the next use of a weapon Ability into a devastating hit. All of these components add up to a character class that not only can solo and string together chains ... but is actually fundamentally intuitive to play! Given that FFXI is a title well known for its eccentricities and quirks, the simplicity of design and graceful playstyle are welcome departures from the Vana'diel norm.
With the Dancer's moves under our belt and time winding down, the developers lead us to one last challenge: the Campaign battle.
Campaign battles are a relatively recent addition to Final Fantasy XI, and again speak to the focus Square's developers are putting on addressing the needs of the community. They're a smaller-scale take on the Besieged gameplay format, a vast monsters vs. players event that was added in the Treasures of Aht Urhgan expansion. Instead of the huge numbers of players and monsters required in that gameplay style (which only takes places three times per day), Campaign battles are small-scale skirmishes between your avatar, a small group of other players, and a similarly-sized nasty bunch of beast men.
Players have latched on to this gameplay style because it's a form of instant-action never really explored in the game's past. These combats are frenetic and rewarding chances to get together with other players and just let loose. Almost every element of participation is rewarded with XP and money, so these Campaign battles are fantastic ways to level up. The developers describe players who have been using this combat component as a way to test out new jobs, to fully explore the game in ways they may not have had the opportunity to do in the past. Recent updates to the Campaign have made what was already a very hard experience all the more challenging - beast men and adventurers now clash in epic battles that really evoke the conflict of the Crystal War era.
This blogger's previous experience playing FFXI was apparently a boon to the party, as our Dancer and her companions won the day in their short campaign skirmish. Apparently a number of other walkthrough recipients were not so lucky. With the beast men in full retreat and our guide's precious time almost up, we had the opportunity to explore one more surprise. A familiar face, wholly out of place in this online environment, but very recognizable nonetheless. [Warning: this video could be considered a spoiler. Watch at your own risk.]
We walked away from our FFXI tour with a huge amount of respect for the game's new development vision. This blogger personally played quite a lot of Final Fantasy XI back in the day, and still uses a Taru Taru as an avatar. The difference in tone between the Vana'diel of three years ago and the Vana'diel shown in Wings of the Goddess is striking. WotG features a legitimately soloable class, a hectic combat style that takes all comers without being confusing, and a story arc that places characters right in line with some of the biggest names in the FF universe. It's nothing like the rigid, very much old-school tone of the game at launch in North America.
If Square/Enix keeps this up, who knows? Perhaps once again they'll reach new heights with their increasingly venerable but still highly popular Massively multiplayer game. Who says you can't teach an old Taru new tricks?
