Final Fantasy XIV Latest Famitsu Scans and Translations

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

I'm splitting this up since it's too long to post all in one go.

In addition to the Final Fantasy XIV Site update found HERE (Thanks to Asabella!) There have also been new Famitsu scans and translations.

New downloadable Final Fantasy XIV Songs!
FFXIVNEWSONG.mp3
FFXIVSONG1.mp3
FFXIVSONG2.mp3
FFXIVSONGWORLDPREMMIER_LIVE.mp3
FFXIVSONG_Twilight_over_Thanalan_TGS09.mp3

A Realm Divided

"It is nigh on ten years since the fearsome beings known as the primals first appeared in these lands. Ten years since they were summoned forth by the destructive ambition of the beast tribes. Ten years, and still those tribes, drunk on the power granted them by the primals, continue to wreak havoc upon the free peoples of Eorzea.

To the northeast, the Garlean Empire stirs, casting an ominous shadow across the realm. Seeking dominion over the continent of Aldenard, the Garleans set out on a campaign of conquest, smiting all opposition with their superior technology and overwhelming military might. In a relentless drive to the south and west, they lay ruin to the once flourishing city-state of Ala Mhigo.

It is in the midst of this embattled Eorzea that a mysterious power surfaces. Known simply as the Echo, it is said to cause the souls of those touched by it to resonate with others. And of this is born the ability to relive their past experiences--to see and feel them as though they were one's own.

Can these seeds of the past somehow serve to sow hope for the future?

What is the origin of this eldritch power?

Is it a deific gift of righteousness? Or the deception of some sinister sorcery?

To what end has it been given?

The search for the answers to such questions falls to you. So go forth. Seek out and join your brethren. And together claim your place among the legends in the annals of time."​

 

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

Page 25
The prologue to Final Fantasy XIV’s story is here! Different sorts of “powers” are present all over Eorzea. Today, Famitsu brings you 11 throbbing pages of new information revolving around the keywords that hold together the prologue.

In this issue, we’re bringing you information and speculation about the setting of Final Fantasy and an exclusive interview with Yaeko Satou about the main story. We also have character customization information and a load of screenshots, faster than anyone in Japan. The last big scoop of information this year is jam-packed into this magazine!

Exclusive Interview
Yaeko Satou, Planner

Yaeko Satou is the supervisor in charge of the main story. She is known for her work in the incredible story telling in the scenarios and cut scenes in Final Fantasy XI.

Page 26
Main Story

Instead of being a straight-forward battle between the forces of good and evil, FFXIV appears to be a complicated conflict between multiple forces. What lies in the battles ahead?

~Prologue~

About 10 years ago, the “primals” appeared suddenly in Eorzea. Primals were guardians summoned by odd-looking people called the “beast tribes.” The beast tribes were threatening citizens, enjoying their power.

Meanwhile, the “Military Garlean Empire” was coming on from the Northeast. The Empire seemed to be intending to take over the continent of Aldenard with its overwhelming military force, and Ala Mhigo, a state nation, fell to them.

Eorzea is now exposed to two threatening powers, and adventures are getting mysterious power: reliving past events.

And the power is alleged to be able to change the world… but who brought this power? Is it power a good thing? Why was it given to adventurers?

Adventurers have to find the answer…

 

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

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Interview: Story

Famitsu(Fam): The prologue for FFXIV’s story has been released, so we’d like to take this time to interview Ms. Satou about the story. Ms. Satou, what part of the story are you in charge of?
Satou(Sat): I’m in charge of the main story, the first thing adventurers are faced with when they arrive in Eorzea. There are many parts to FFXIV’s story, including many subplots aside from the large, overarching main part of the story.

Fam: Would you say Eorzea is based on the main story you wrote for FFXIV?
Sat: I would say it was quite the opposite. In the beginning, there was Eorzea. The stage and the style of play were decided before the story was written. There were a few instances where I asked them to let me use cities in certain ways according to the story, and we made sure that didn’t get in the way of gameplay. I’m pretty pleased with the results (she laughs).

Fam: Were there times when your ideas for the story changed because of further developments in the world and setting?
Sat: There were a few times where things in the story have changed, but I have a set image of what I want the main story to convey, and the plot has not changed since the beginning of production. Sub-stories actually had more of an effect on the main story, and if there was an interesting sub-story I sometimes allowed changes or additions to the ending.

Fam: Will Final Fantasy’s ever-present “crystals” also be making an appearance in FFXIV?
Sat: They exist as the concept of “the light of creation,” the force behind everything in this world. Of course, this is an indispensable presence in everyday life, and will be available to the players in the form of “power of the crystals.”

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Caption: Do the beast tribes fight humans to gain the adventurers' power, or do they fight to gain land? It's still a mystery.

Fam: What are the “strange-looking” beast tribes and what role do they play in the world?
Sat: Well, as far as appearances go, beast tribes are races that that look different than us humans. To put it simply, The beast tribes are considered savage by the Eorzean nations, but the beast tribes themselves do not see themselves that way.

Fam: Of course they don’t (laugh). So why do they fight with humans?
Sat: Many reasons. Actually, there are many beast tribes, and each one has their own ideology that they hold dear. For example, one tribe considers unrestrained freedom important above all things, while another thinks that “might makes right.” For each tribe, there are different ways of thinking, so their reasons for fighting are all quite different.

Fam: So “beast tribes” is a term describing any different-looking race at war with the humans?
Sat: Right. It’s probably similar to the way quadavs, orcs, and yagudo were all called “beastmen” in FFXI.

Fam: Are there ever times where multiple beast tribes band together to attack?
Sat: This depends on the tribe. Some tribes will ally if their problem with the humans is similar, and some tribes have problems with other tribes as well. They are kind of like humans in that aspect (she laughs).

 

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

Page 29
KEYWORD: Human

“Human” is the term that encompasses the player races: elezen, hyur, lalafell, roegadyn, and miqo’te. Each race has different backgrounds, but their reasons for fighting are the same.

Interview (continued)

Fam: How big is each tribe?
Sat: This varies greatly from tribe to tribe. There are tribes that are comprised of a select few, and there are other tribes that are quite large and powerful.

Fam: Let’s talk about the “primals” the tribes summoned 10 years ago. What happened?
Sat: The only thing known about the events 10 years ago is speculation on the parts of the adventurers. The only thing known for sure is that, about 10 years ago, a decidedly different and decidedly powerful presence arose.

Fam: It’s not something I’d really like to think about, but does each tribe control a primal guardian of their own?
Sat: It’s safe to say that most tribes probably do. How each primal appears and what each one does is one of the biggest mysteries unraveled during the course of the story, so please look forward to it.

Caption: A powerful god summoned by a beast tribe. Anyone would be intimidated by this overwhelming legendary-beast-like form.

Page 30
Military Empire Garlean

Fam: Military Empire Garlean is eyeing for the conquer of Aldenard from the North East. Can we consider this military nation, player and the beast tribes mentioned before to be the three major factions here?
Sat: Yes, it's what we call a three way struggle.

Fam: In broad terms, how was this empire built?
Sat: This empire has a capital that's far away from Eorzea's culture circle. It can be considered as a nation that possesses high technology. It borders some very harsh terrain. There are sub nations that belongs to the empire. To the normal citizens Eorzea, they usually do not have a chance to interact with this nation.

Fam: So reading into the possible meaning of "North East", is it because the kimon (literally translates to the gate of ghost, it's used to mean the North East direction in Japan, and usually indicate something you want to avoid) is that direction in the real world?
Sat: (She laughs) We didn't exactly plan it like that to have that setting. At first when the Hydaelyn's map was created, there was a giant continent North East of Eorzea, therefore naturally it was set to be used as the land for Garlean Empire. However, we still have not published the entire map of Hydaelyn. Our development has been based on looking at this map and structural important elements of the game around it. If the map didn't exist, we might have had other excuse to think up something else.

Fam: Ah, so that's how it is, I wish we would be able to see the entire world map soon (Laugh). Then next, speaking of superior technological and mechanical advances. The first thing people would think about would be the flying machines that we saw int he very first trailer. Are those machines what Garlean Empire uses?
Sat: That might be it, I’ll just leave it at that. (She laughs)

Fam: So can we think it as that the Garlean technology would be seen as very unreachable even for the players?
Sat: They are indeed very ahead in term of tech.

Fam: The military might obtained from the high technology is what Garlean used to attack one of Eorzea's city state Ala Mhigo. Is this related to the story in some way?
Sat: Of course it is related to the story. Garlean Empire has conquered many nations, and has grown because all the nations they absorbed. And finally, they have arrived at Eorzea's door step.

 

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

Page 31
Interview (continued from P30)

Fam: What kind of city nation was Ala Mhigo?
Sat: It is a city nation that a lot of Hyur Highlanders lived in. Because it neighbors Garlean's land, geographically speaking it is the first nation that was attacked. However, Ala Mhigo is a nation that even the most powerful city state in Eorzea feared. That's why it wasn't attacked because it's weak. Eorzea citizens must be thinking "Is it that Ala Mhigo?!" when they heard the news about its fall to the Garlean Empire. Please look forward to the fallen state of Ala Mhigo in game! (She laughs)

Top Picture Caption:
It is a form that's hard to be described in words. It most likely is some type of weapon from Garlean. As you can see, there are some type of limbs coming out of it.

Bottom Picture Caption:
Small type warship that was also seen in the first public trailer, It is believed to be created by Garlean's technology

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Caption: Was the adventurers’ mysterious power given to them by someone, or was it the will of the gods? The answer lies at the end of the journey.

Power Awakened

Fam: Can you tell us more about the adventurers’ ability to “relive the past?”
Sat: It’s pretty self explanatory. They can see and experience the events of the past as if they were actually doing it themselves. This helps them uncover things hidden in the past. However, this ability is only to relive these experiences, so they cannot use this ability to change the past. However, it will lead to other things…

Fam: Is it only adventurers that posses this ability?
Sat: All adventurers have this power, but there are also other people in Eorzea that have this power for some reason or another. There are many “chosen people,” including adventurers.

Fam: Are there only a few people in Eorzea with this power?
Sat: No, this power is not a rare thing. It’s a useful power, but one that comes with a lot of mystery. It may actually be a dangerous power.

Fam: With this power to relive the past be something the player can use at will, like an ability?
Sat: Hmm, it’d be nice if they could. (She laughs)

Fam: Will solving the mystery behind this power be a big part of the adventurers’ quest?
Sat: The mystery behind this power will be one of the driving forces of the story. This power is intricately woven into the story and may or may not help in the battles with the beast tribes and the Garlean Empire.

 

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

Page 33
To Adventure!

Fam: Lastly, we’d like you to tell us a part of the scenario or a theme that you’d really like players to pay attention to.
Sat: From even the smallest differences in opinion or interpretation, great drama, battles, and emotion are born. I kept this in mind at all times when creating this story. On top of that, this time, what would normally be considered a happy ending in some aspects ends in a dark way.

Fam: Would you say human nature is depicted strongly in the story?
Sat: I would say so. Since many MMORPG players are older, I hope they will understand that part. Additionally, there are many different types of dramatic situations in the game, and I’m hoping that, even though this is set in a different world, some players may actually be able to identify themselves with situations in the story. I hope these parts of the game really make the player stop and think. If the story can really support peoples’ hopes and dreams, I’ll be even happier. Dark stories can have a sort of educational effect sometimes. (She laughs)

Fam: Ms. Satou, do you think you’ve completed the main story in your head?
Sat: Of course it’s finished! (She laughs) I think the day I can talk more in-depth about the story is still a long way off, but I hope players enjoy it.

Page 34
Character Making

Character creation, like the story, hasn’t had much said about it up until now. We’ve taken a close look at the pictures released for hints about the creation system.

Hyuran (Female)

This is the picture of a female Hyuran’s whole body. Their sexy underwear is eye-catching, but you can also see that there are variations in the colors of eyes, hair and skin. Moreover, there are minute differences in textures of lingerie and colors of eyes.

• Lip color seems to change to match skin color. Could it be possible for players to choose lip colors, as well?
• Yes it is trivial, but color of eyes do give different impression, so we have to be careful when choosing it.
• Seven types of underwear have been released at this time.
• If you look closely [and I know you did —SteveManly], you can see that each set of underwear is made of different materials.

Page 35
Face Type

Five face types for Roegadyn were also released. There are variations in beards, scars on faces and hair style. Moreover, you can see something like tattoos on face and some faces have bandages. It looks like their shape of noses and lips are slightly different.

• This type has three scars on face. Maybe you can change size, place and shape of scars?
• This type has a bandage on his face. Maybe there’re items that you can put on your face?
• This type has a unique looking hair style and patterns around eyes.

How far can you go with customization?

From female Hyur's body building and Roegadyn's face type's information, we can see that character making is a process that involves setting many elements of the physical appearance of the character. However, in the current stage, there are still elements for the character that we are not sure if it is customizable. We will have to wait for more information on that. However we can expect a very detailed customized character for players.

Possible (expectation included)

• Race
• Gender
• Eye color
• Face scar
• Face tattoo
• Face Bandaid
• Hair style
• Hair color
• Skin color
• Lip color
• Underwear color
• Underware texture

Not known yet

• Nationality
• Age
• Birthday
• Blood type
• Height
• Weight
• Bust size
• Waist size
• Hip size
• Underwear design
• Shoe design
• Voice

ALL information courtesy of FFXIVCORE!

 

[Rey]

Wow these scans are beautiful tbh. I think I just got into the game much more now xD. Well Im going to sin up for the ps3 beta first and see if its this ood and all. Ryan do you have any idea when the ps3 signups will start?

 

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

Wow these scans are beautiful tbh. I think I just got into the game much more now xD. Well Im going to sin up for the ps3 beta first and see if its this ood and all. Ryan do you have any idea when the ps3 signups will start?

No idea yet D: The PC betas have only just been up for a few days so I would imagine it would be midway through that beta

 

[Linnaete]

That is a lot of information to post up. Ryan, thank you so much for all of that. It must have driven you absolutely crazy to have all that here

So far, I am liking what I hear, despite the unlikeliness of me actually being able to play the game. I love how sophisticated SE are making this game- and all the little details they are incorporating in.

The Garlean Empire sounds so much like the Archadian Empire. I hope players are able to visit it- and not for it to be like the inaccessible Rozarria or only accessible in an expansion pack.

These female Hyuran pictures really look like hookers. You can add bunny ears to them and you would hardly notice.