First Look at Gridania in Final Fantasy XIV’s Alpha

[Raistlin]

Square Enix just released a new video featuring the city-state of Gridania in the alpha version of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Check it out!

The video features characters in the alpha version of ARR running through Gridania. According to a community rep on the official forums:

The city-state has taken on an all-new look that features everything from a refurbished aetheryte plaza to cuddly delivery moogles! We really wanted to liven up the mood of the entire metropolis, so we focused on bringing the surrounding environment to life by adding babbling brooks, lush foliage, and a dynamic populace. You'll also notice that the names of unique landmarks appear on screen as you explore.

Were they were successful? Gridania was my starting city, so I have a soft spot for it, and I think it looks great. The revamped look really captures the atmosphere of a wooded town. And a moogle even had a cameo!

[Elpizo]

Did the music remind anyone else of the music from "the Shire" from the Lord of the Rings movies, or was it just me?

[Loony BoB]

I'm yet to be convinced that the graphics/textures/whatever are up to the standard they were in XIV 1.x, but that won't stop me playing. I still hope they'll improve them, though.

[Ouch!]

It's still alpha, BoB. It's way too early to be judging graphics. That said, for a video of a game in alpha, I don't see much that's leading you to believe it's any worse than 1.x by any stretch.

[Loony BoB]

As I said, I hope they improve.

For what it's worth, though, during the Live Letter video, Yoshi-P said the game was running at it's highest graphic setting and that for those of us playing the current version of XIV at it's highest settings, the game will look like we were seeing. Possibly lost in translation, though...

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...eview?sle=true

[Bahamut2000X]

I don't really judge graphics for a game until I can see some HQ screenshots from it, or the game itself. Videos of it can be hard to discern stuff from.

Either way even at it's worse 14 far and away has better graphics then any other MMO I've ever played or seen. Hell in SWTOR a big triple A title with HUGE backing behind it, took about 3-4 months from it's release to even have a high texture setting added into the game, and even then pales to 14. So my expectations for an MMO's graphics aren't too high at this point, so anything 14 does blows me away at what they can manage on an MMO.

[Loony BoB]

Yeah, I'm not all that bothered about the graphics overall. It would just be a shame if they were downgraded from what we have in FFXIV currently. I'll play it no matter what, I'm sure. xD Too many great people.