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Platform: PC,
PS2
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Final
Fantasy XI: Chains of Promathia
Like
any successful MMORPG, Final Fantasy XI is getting its latest expansion
pack in the near future. Those
playing the game, or interested in giving it a try, should find quite a
bit to keep themselves busy.
What
is particularly nice about Chains of Promathia (CoP) is that it is
striving to give players across a wide range of levels something to sink
their teeth into. This
quite the welcome departure from other MMORPGs on the market where
expansions often time wind up being fan service for players with high
level characters. In
CoP, there will be a number of new zones to explore, with new mobs to
attack. This couldn’t
come soon enough with some of the crowding in certain zones that “The
Herd” likes to follow on their path to level 75.
It will be wonderful to see more viable alternatives to the
Elshimo jungles, Garliage Citadel, and other notoriously train-ridden
zones. The real question
will be how many players will want to take advantage of these new zones
for leveling, abandoning the current hot spots.
As it stands there are already a number of viable alternate
levelling zones in FFXI (ie. Going to Buburimu instead of Valkurm, or
Battalia instead of Yutungha); however, it is like pulling teeth trying
to convince people to come to these zones because they are so used to
following a very distinct path while leveling their jobs.
Then again, FFXI gets its European release when CoP comes out in
North America, so this new influx of characters will necessitate the use
of new zones to accommodate this. Hopefully, current players will adjust their leveling patterns too when this inevitable surge happens.
There
is also quite a bit being added to the game’s mythology with this
expansion pack. Gamers will
see the addition of some new deities, as well as this strange emptiness
that is lurking across Vana’diel.
What gamers may be particularly excited about is the return of
Bahamut. Not only are deities a new addition to the cast of FFXI,
there will be a handful of new NPCs, as well as a large number of new
mobs. In terms of mobs,
what has been shown so far ranges from goblins (there’s actually an
entire goblin city being added to CoP), as well as other standard
enemies. What types of HNMs
(Hyper Notorious Monsters) may be added, are unknown.
The
one area that is particularly vague at this point is specifics on what
changes and additions are being made to the various jobs available in
the game. There have been
some whispers as to what may happen (such as Area of Effect attacks
wiping out a ninja’s Utsusemi), but Square-Enix has been staying
pretty tight-lipped as to what to expect for job adjustments. For
an expansion pack that is so heavily anticipated, Square-Enix is staying
surprisingly quiet on the details of CoP.
The strange thing is that it seems to be working to their favor.
With all of the speculation going on across the Net, it is
building up the hype very quickly. Mr. Nash (September
3, 2004) |
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