Final Fantasy XI is an outstanding entry in a series that is nearly twenty years old. The Final Fantasy series was created by the Japanese company Square Co. in 1987. At the time Square were in a difficult position, as they had focused on making games for the Nintendo Famicom Disk System and this format had become unpopular. The company was eager for success and saw great potential in the role-playing genre. Final Fantasy was their attempt to make a new kind of role-playing title.

Final Fantasy came out in Japan at the end of 1987. It was excellent, offering a fresh and original role-playing experience. Final Fantasy’s strength was that it had a strong narrative that ran throughout the game. This made it very compelling and helped it to capture people’s interest. It was an enormous success and launched what would become a hugely popular franchise. It would lead to Final Fantasy XI and beyond.

Final Fantasy XI has continued the sense of innovation that is expected of this series. A highly ambitious game, it saw the franchise move into the world of online gaming. Final Fantasy XI is a massively multi-player online role-playing game. It is also unique as it is playable on both consoles and PCs, all of which connect to the same game servers. This has made it the first cross-platform title of its kind.

There was great curiosity about Final Fantasy XI before its release in 2002. Images and previews of the game captured people’s attention. A special bonus disk was included with the release of Final Fantasy X, containing a trailer for the game. Its creator Square Enix also held beta tests for the game to gather players’ feedback and improve it. This allowed them to handle any concerns that people had and fine-tune it.

Final Fantasy XI has established itself as a major presence in online gaming. It sold well, building up more than 500,000 subscribers by January 7 2004. There were almost a million game characters active within this time period. It was well received, enjoying many positive reviews from the game press. It was crucial in building up Square Enix’s Play Online service and more than fulfilled their hopes for the title.

Final Fantasy XI is a truly great game. It has combined the creativity and innovation that is the hallmark of Final Fantasy with a state of the art online gaming format. It is an amazing experience and has taken the series in a new direction. It will continue entertaining people for a long time to come