Square Enix Announces Final Fantasy 14 Release to Follow Soon After Final Fantasy 13

Final Fantasy 14 is the fourteenth episode in the classic Final Fantasy saga put out by RPG giant Square Enix. At last the Final Fantasy 14 release has been announced, and gamers may be able to get their hands on this classic much sooner than they think.

At the time of this writing, Final Fantasy 13 has yet to be released. Only recently have Square Enix spokesmen announced April 2010 as the Final Fantasy 13 release date for America, with a sooner date being very likely. Now Square Enix has surprised the world by announcing that the next in their flagship series will follow close on its heels. The Final Fantasy 14 release date will fall sometime in 2010.

To understand why the Final Fantasy 14 release will come so soon after the Final Fantasy 13 release, one must understand the model that Square Enix has been working with for years. Square Enix has operated with several projects running concurrently since the release of Final Fantasy 8, and now they are beginning to catch up to themselves. It has been nearly three years since the release of their last Final Fantasy project, and work has gone on for each of their games without a hiccup.

Now, with the Final Fantasy 13 release imminent and the Final Fantasy 14 release waiting to follow it up as a one-two punch, one might wonder if this is could be a little too much of a good thing for one year.

The good news is that both projects are drastically different. Final Fantasy 13 is a straight-forward RPG title, complete with a deep and complex story, characters bound by a very scripted set of personas and interactions, and a battle system which hearkens back to the classic fights of old (for more information, read Final Fantasy 13 Slated to Hit XBOX 360 and PS3 Sooner Than Anticipated).

Final Fantasy 14, on the other hand, assumes the mantle of responsibility carried by the previous Final Fantasy 11 of online gameplay. That's right folks, whereas Final Fantasy 13 will follow suit with the staple games of old, the Final Fantasy 14 release will be a massively multiplayer online game, or MMO for short.

This decision follows the somewhat lackluster performance of Square Enix's Final Fantasy 11 release, which failed to deliver to gamers with its shallow story and limited scope. Square Enix hopes to revise their stance on the MMO possibilities of their most successful series with this new release, and inject a little bit of life back into their hopes of innovation.

Many would say that this is a bad idea for Square Enix once again, as the formula for their flagship series is solid. Others are excited to see Square Enix stretch their legs a bit more and try to revitalize the series with fresh new ideas.

Only time will tell if making Final Fantasy 14 an online game is a good move or if it will backfire. The good news in all this is that gamers won't have to wait too long to find out.

Look for Square Enix to give us the Final Fantasy 13 release before April 2010, and the Final Fantasy 14 release before Christmas 2010.