Final Fantasy XIV Online: The new Xbox version of the popular franchise

Last Wednesday, March 6, 2024, the video games coming to Microsoft consoles and platforms this year were showcased at the Xbox Partners Review. There were several announcements, one of which stood out for Griefville: Survive the Nightmare, a game based on the 80s and 90s movies for the evil Chucky doll. This title will only arrive on Xbox Series

However, the biggest news of the event was the delivery of Final Fantasy XIV Online which will be released on March 21, 2024 for Xbox Series The initial release will be available until April 19 to all Xbox Game Pass subscribers. The first video game under the name Final Fantasy XIV was released in 2010 for Sony consoles only.

But this version was a critical failure in reviews and sales, and three years later a new game was released, renamed Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, which was compatible with PlayStation 3, 4, and 5. The game's events take place in the world of Hydaelyn. Where the Eorzea fight to save the Earth from darkness.

The Final Fantasy saga has a history spanning more than 30 years and has been a benchmark for massively multiplayer online games (MMORPG) titles. Video game developer Square Enix has had huge successes leading up to the launch of Final Fantasy XIV Online for Xbox Series

Final Fantasy franchise

The wonderful world of Final Fantasy was created by Japanese Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed by his company Square Enix. The first game was released on December 18, 1987, and the last game in the main saga's timeline was Final Fantasy XVI, which was released in 2023.

It's undeniable that Final Fantasy is a part of video game culture and its 37 years of experience make it a standout in role-playing games. This is supported by the 400 million copies the series has sold so far with 22 titles in its history.

Rather, it is part of a selection of eight starred parts of the video game tour located in San Francisco, California in the United States. Unfortunately, this venue dedicated to honoring the brightest minds in the industry only operated from 2005 to 2012.

The first Final Fantasy game was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) console and was named after its creator. Square Enix was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1986 and Hironobu Sakaguchi said that this would be his last project if it was not successful, which is why he called it Final Fantasy (Final Fantasy in Spanish). Well, the game has been a long-term success. Many years on the market prove it, it is the longest saga in history only after Mega Man and Super Mario Bros.

The most recurring character in the series is Sid, an adult human with great wisdom, as well as the famous Chocobos, which are these giant yellow birds that serve as transportation. There are those who believe that the lack of a title that is a continuation of the other makes it more attractive, because each one tells its own story without being linked to another, and for this reason we cannot talk about the protagonist of the novel, but rather about recurring characters.

One of the reasons for the great success of Final Fantasy is its harmonious transition from the 16-bit consoles (NES) to the new generation consoles (PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series That is why the most famous and successful part of the series, Final Fantasy VII (1997), was the first to use 3D graphics and was released for PlayStation, thus leaving behind the long tradition with Nintendo consoles.

The main reason for this change was that cartridges were not enough to store such a heavy video game and it was much easier and more profitable to market them on CDs. Despite this, at the time it was the most expensive game ever produced at $45 million. In addition, it was the title in the saga that sold the most copies, 16 million, six million more than second place, Final Fantasy XIV.

However, not everything was rosy for Final Fantasy and it was Part XI that received the worst reviews from the Japanese media outlets. In addition, Lightning Returns Final Fantasy was the worst in terms of sales, with so much effort it barely reached one million copies.

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Finally, many players who love the saga point out that the Golden Age of Final Fantasy was between 1994 and 2001, starting with the video game VI and continuing on to consoles and platforms for both old and new players.

Famitsu, Japan's most prestigious video game magazine, called Final Fantasy XII the best in the franchise and one of the best games to play on PlayStation 2, the best-selling console in history.

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