Wrap Up Final Fantasy XI by Putting its World into Final Fantasy XIV
Bridging the two games would be the most elegant ending
In the long, long ago of late 2003, I bought Final Fantasy XI from Best Buy. I went home and installed it, and promptly lost days on end playing it. I loved all my time I spent in the game, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Time moved on, and so did I. World of Warcraft supplanted Final Fantasy XI, and then eventually, Final Fantasy XIV supplanted WoW. Right now, I’m eyeing the next expansion for WoW, but I’m still enjoying XIV. However, I still get emails concerning XI. It’s still going, and because of this, I think the way to eventually close XI up would be to put Vana’Diel into XIV.
Hear me out, this could be done a variety of ways. First off, we don’t really have an entire grasp on the entire “planet” or “star” or whatever we’re on. We know we’re on the Aldenard continent. However, we’ve traveled to the Othard continent in-game for the expansion Stormblood (highly underrated expansion, if you ask me). By this, we know that there are multiple continents on this...sphere. For the sake of simplifying XIs entrance into the geography, we could just pull in the Quon continent, which was the major continent for everything in Final Fantasy XI, it would give players access to all the major cities, and even the smaller areas.
This solution would work out and create a more broad sense of the world. However, let’s say that we want to go another path. A path that has been utilized already in FF XIV.
Since we traveled to the “star” of Norvrandt, why couldn’t Vana’diel be presented in a manner like this? I doubt that Square Enix wants to keep on sending us to different worlds, with the emphasis returning to the conflict between the empire and the Eorzean Alliance, but still. I feel we’re hitting a crescendo with The Garlean Empire at this point, so looking forward, to future expansions, one can ask “Why not?” The layouts/ideas exist already in another game, so the execution is what would need to take place.
Who wouldn’t want to see the cities of Vana’diel in the quality that is Final Fantasy XIV’s engine? It would be amazing to see the kingdom of San d’Oria (my home city) in all its glory with updated imagery. I think it would also welcome those that never wanted to leave Vana’diel into Eorzea. A way to tell those that while their old home is gone, it’s definitely not forgotten.
I know this would be a massive undertaking, but I think the rewards are there. An increased player base, a returning one, and new areas for current players to explore. A chance to immortalize the world of XI, a highly successful MMO, into the latest incarnation. While unlikely, it would provide for some incredible nostalgic moments and meetups that span almost two decades.
Final Fantasy XI is beloved by most who played it, and with time moving on, it would be wonderful for Square Enix to give those players their home when the game finally closes its gates. For those serving under the banner of Bastok, Winhurst, or San d’Oria, a new world would await them. It wouldn’t be the first time the two games have crossed paths.
Would you want to see Vana’diel in Final Fantasy XIV? Let me know!
