Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Opening Movie Released

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Square-Enix has just released what the Lodestone is calling the opening movie for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Check out the official prologue for ARR!

This video actually starts with the awesome finale cutscene of FFXIV 1.0, with Eorzea under attack and the secret of Dalamud revealed. After that scene (around the 5:45 mark), the movie cuts to the reborn realm where our heroes were transported, with their chocobo mounts conveniently waiting for them.

The movie doesn’t add much to previous trailers, but it sure makes me excited to start exploring the new Eorzea right along with them.

Oh man that end there, the victory theme being sung. ALL THE FEELS. All the feels.

That was... wow. Just... wow.

This is really indicative of how much talent that there still is at Square Enix and how horribly mis-managed it has been for so long now. From the cinematics that have been released during his tenure to the way he has revisited older content from the series from the Crystal Tower to magitek armor, Yoshi-P is proving to be something really special within the company. People who love Final Fantasy, whether they're fans of the MMORPG genre or not, are overwhelmingly wowed by these things.

It makes me wonder if maybe Yoshi-P is indicative of what Final Fantasy really needs--a changing of the guard. Final Fantasy XIV showed significant improvement when they moved away from Tanaka--who has been with the series for years. Maybe what could really produce another single-player Final Fantasy experience that really wows people is to pass along the IP to new blood within the company. They can bring not only new ideas, but new ways to celebrate the old ones.

You know, Zach, you bring up a really good point. A fact that is really easy to miss is that Yoshi-P turns 40 this year! (Yeah I know he looks like 25.) He's been doing great work behind the scenes at SE for quite some time (he was a lead designer for DQX also). Compare that to Sakaguchi who directed FF1 when he was 25. I think this might be indicative of some kind of "old guard"-ism in the Japanese games industry. All the big names in Japan are super old now. Miyamoto. Inafune. Matsuno. Kojima. Even "upstarts" like Suda51, Fumito Ueda, and Akihiro Hino are in their 40s already. It's probably a combination of lack of indie scene in Japan (aside from dojin games which are of questionable legality and almost never land publishing deals) and a culture of paternalism where young designers are nurtured for a little too long. Compare this to "budding" Western developers: Jenova Chen (age unknown, named "top 35 innovators in the world under the age of 35"), Markus Persson (33), Derek Yu (30), Kim Swift (30), Jane McGonigal (35), and Sean Vanaman (under 30). Inafune was probably at least partially right when he said Japanese games are dying. They're not dead yet, but they will be when all the old talent (sadly) departs for the afterlife because there isn't enough new blood to infuse. So here's to Yoshi-P and all his younger colleagues! Hope there's many more where that came from!

The part about the "reborn" realm actually reminded me a lot of the opening cinematic of Final Fantasy III on the DS, with the crystal tower and the heroes riding through the green land on chocobos. I approve of this, of course. The more FF III the better.

As for the point Zach brings up, I find myself agreeing. I personally wouldn't mind if the guy who's in charge of XIV now would make the next single-player FF. I think it would turn out to be great.

Guys, guys, you just wouldn't believe how happy my balls are right now. They were so tired of riding the fence.

Another good cinematic, although it was never going to better the impact that End of an Era had because conclusions are always have more impact than introductions. Still, a high quality piece and I'm looking forward to Beta.

I've always had that kind of feeling that Ouch! has had, mostly because Final Fantasy prides itself on renewal and being different in every game. If you want to be different in every game, having variation in the people making the games can go a long way. Maybe not every game, of course, and some people can last longer than others, but new blood is something I always believe in and most of the times that EoFF has brought in new staff it isn't because we've desperately needed the help but rather because of the desire for new and fresh perspectives.

I just think a lot of stagnation in the series is not due to a lack of talent (Square Enix clearly has that in abundance), but rather due to lack of perspective at the highest levels. I think it's time to let fresh eyes take a front seat with the series. Final Fantasy has a wealth of history and tradition to play off of, and I think Yoshi-P demonstrates how a fresh pair of eyes can really build something new and wonderful out of familiar materials.

While Square-Enix doesn't lack in talent overall, it does lack in talent and freshness in certain areas - particularly surrounding the story area of their games. I imagine this is, however, dictated by the producers and directors which you rightly pinpointed in that same post.