It’s been a very long time since I played FFXI, and even that was just another of my “passing through” MMO experiences. I used to play it on the PC, while my husband played on the PS2. The platform-common servers were a fantastic idea, and I find that having it on the Xbox 360 is a good way to initiate even more console gamers to the world of MMORPGs and possibly connect them with friends who already play on other platforms. Especially now with this special edition.
Final Fantasy XI: Vana’diel Collection 2008 is a neat bundle that packages the original game with all major released expansions thus far: Rise of the Zilart, Chains of Promathia, Treasures of Aht Urhgan and the most recent Wings of the Goddess.
Not wanting to make this review exceptionally big, I’ll try to go over the main points of each expansion briefly, since we already have an FFXI review here.
Rise of the Zilart introduced new areas to explore and battlefields, extended quests, secondary classes and jobs, more spells and several new items. The new jobs, Samurai, Ninja and Dragoon, became obtainable through quests and gave the players more variety in the way of fighting.
Chains of Promathia was a mission-based expansion where players had to complete certain goals to be able to unlock most of its features, but players were able to travel to several new areas without completing missions. New areas, more NPCs and plenty of equipment were added to the existing continent. The Promyvion missions were the core of the story, revealing the existence of an evil god with plans to destroy Vana’diel, while the sequence of these events was presented through cutscenes.
Treasures of Aht Urhgan brought a whole new continent to adventure in (instead of expanding the existing land with new dungeons), plenty of quests, many new treasures and three interesting jobs: the versatile Blue Mage job that allows players to use abilities by analyzing monsters, the gamebler/pirate Corsair and the Puppetmaster with its automatons.
Besieged and Assault missions were also added, where you would group up with other players to fight the collective beastmen or do whatever task is required (escort mission, rescue, clearing dungeons and more).
The Vana’diel collection also includes the new Wings of the Goddess expansion (which can also be purchased as a single add-on). This time the plot takes the players back in time and into the Crystal Wars, the event that shaped Vana’diel as we know it.
As usual, new jobs are added, the Dancer and the Scholar, which were two of the most used magic classes in the allied forces during the war. The Scholar can use spells from two schools of magic (Black and White) simultaneously while the Dancer uses powerful steps to charm enemies.
The newly introduced Allied Campaign system lets players participate in larger scale battles and explore special dungeons. The campaign system is sub-divided into four categories: Campaign Battles (territory control), Campaign Ops (short missions against the Beastmen Confederate, Headhunting (recruiting freelance NPCs temporarily) and Tactical Assessment (gathering information). A Campaign Arbiter may issue you Allied Tags so that your performance in battle is assessed. This will reward you in the end with experience and/or Allied Notes, which you use to purchase new equipment and supplies.
Plenty of new monsters have been added, things you have never seen before but that existed before the continent was what it is now (including earlier versions of Beastmen), which is an interesting concept. There are many new quests as well, but most of them are aimed at higher-level players, so this isn’t really an expansion for the beginner.
There is also a neat feature that lets you have guests over at your Mog House. You can finally invite some friends over for a little chat by the fireplace and show off all that furniture you’ve worked so hard to collect.
Now, as far as looks, I expected to see a much better version of FFXI this time around. The graphics still seem the same as they did on the PS2 years ago, and seriously, for an Xbox 360 game and running it on high-def, it all seems somewhat fuzzy. And I still can’t adjust to the controls on the console version either, even if I have a USB keyboard plugged in there and all.
However, if you enjoy FFXI and have an Xbox 360, there’s plenty of content to go through – if you have the time to invest in it – in the Vana’diel Collection 2008. Besides, it’s great value for the money, since you’re getting the game and four full add-ons for a bit less than $50. If you already have the other expansions and a high level character, Wings of the Goddess is available separately for $29.99, and the Campaign system will definitely be worth your while.
Fans of FFXI have here something to look for as a Christmas gift. It’s only a shame Final Fantasy XI: Vana’diel Collection 2008 doesn’t come with a little collectible item of some sort. Now that would be rael treat!
Special thanks to Dana Whitney and Square Enix for providing a copy of this title.