Today Square Enix broadcasted the sixth installment of the Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Letter from the Producer Live webcast, starring Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida as he responded to quite a few questions from the fans, read by Community Manager Toshio Murouchi.
Square Enix President and CEO Yoichi Wada also attended for a moment at the beginning to specify that while he’s leaving his position (apparently he’s still going to work for Square Enix), nothing will change for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, as Yoshida-san already stated a few days ago.
Besides responding to the questions Yoshida-san displayed quite a few pieces of artwork for the game (that you can see at the beginning of the gallery at the bottom of the post) and traveled the housing zone of Limsa Lominsa, and the areas around both Limsa Lominsa and Ul’dah. You can also find quite a lot of screencaps of these in the gallery for those that missed the event, since it was streamed at the usual ungodly hour for a large part of the western world.
I have to say that the housing zone looks absolutely lovely, just like the ferry port that will let us travel between the two city-states. The overhaul of the area is definitely fantastic, and I can’t wait to see it in the actual game. Of course the initial sequence reproducing the opening of Final Fantasy VI with a green-haired Terra-like hyur riding a Magitek armor (including the appropriate but remade music track) was also quite unforgettable.
But without further ado, below you can read all questions and answers, with the official translation courtesy of the FFXIV community team.
Q1: In 1.0, the battle music changed based on what area you were in. Are there any plans to do something similar in ARR?
A1: In ARR, each area is tied to a certain musical instrument. While the battle music will be the same, it will have a different feel to it because of the different musical instruments it will be played on.
Q2: For Beta Test phase 3 you’ll be introducing PS3, as well as Ul’dah and Limsa Lominsa, but are there other elements that will be added?
A2: We are planning to add free companies, guildhests, expanding FATE, early stages of the main story, and more dungeons.
Q3: Could you tell us any new information about the specs for the Armoury (Referred to as the “Armoury Board” previously)?
A43: I thought about if there was anything I could tell you, but basically I had to decide between ease of understanding and convenience, and since I decided on convenience the explanation is going to get quite difficult. To give you a simple idea, it’s like a single macro switch. We’d like you all to try it out in Beta Test phase 3, so please be sure to try it out.
Q4: Are there any plans to implement open world content other than FATE?
A4: While FATE will be the only open world content, there are plenty of aspects of FATE that we have not released. Please stay tuned!
Q5: Could you show us any other limit breaks other than the meteor?
A5: While the limit break system will be available from phase 3 of the Beta Test, we’re currently working on a FF-like trailer to highlight the limit break system. Please stay tuned
Q6: Could you show us how Coerthas and Mor Dhona look in ARR?
A6: Both Coerthas and Mor Dhona will be high-level areas in ARR. You will be able to feel the destruction of the Seventh Umbral Era and the presence of the empire. In addition, the weather will change drastically as you get closer to Ishgard. You will also be able to find dragons within the dungeons.
We are planning to release a trailer in the future so please stay tuned!
Q7: It was mentioned before that we could design linkshell and free company crests by putting together different segments, but can you show us what kind of options there will be?
A7: [Showed an image of the various crests]
After the questionnaire Yoshida briefly introduced a promotional stage event that will be held during Nico Nico Chokaigi between April the 27th and April 28th, featuring a collaboration between Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn and Windows 8. The Event will include a customized booth to showcase the game, miqo’te make-up sessions and the introduction of one of the voice actresses. Yoshida-san will also be present together with Masayoshi Soken, that will compose music on the spot.
If you’re wondering about the identity of the voice actress in this picture, she’s the extremely popular Rie Tanaka that originally lent her vocal cords to one of the Female Miqo’te voices in the first installment of Final Fantasy XIV. You’ve probably heard her before in a multitude of anime series like Gundam Seed, Air Gear, Hayate no Gotoku and many others. Looking at this picture, showing a rather thick script for A Realm Reborn, we can see her autograph on the top right, with the character name hidden by tape, so we can pretty much guess that she’ll play a major role in the new game.
Update: Thanks to youtube user BionicXraided you can now watch the full recording below. Enjoy!