The Final Fantasy 14 we know today is not the original version of the MMORPG. When addressed about Classic servers at E3, Game Director Naoki Yoshida reacted in a special way.
What was asked at E3? During an interview, Naoki Yoshida, Game Director of the MMORPG Final Fantasy 14, was asked what he thinks about a “Classic version” of FFXIV. After all, Blizzard is also releasing such a version for World of Warcraft.
FF14 Classic would be a nightmare
This is how Yoshida reacted: As soon as the question was asked, the Game Director broke into laughter. When the question was finally translated, he only replied with “Nightmare.”
Why did he react this way? Final Fantasy 14 originally came out in 2010 and did not impress at all. It also received poor ratings in tests. Subsequently, Square Enix decided to reboot the MMORPG and redevelop it under the name “Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn” under the leadership of Naoki Yoshida.
What did the Game Director say about the Classic version? Yoshida explained that there are indeed requests to bring back the original version of the MMORPG. However, Square Enix does not want to revive this “stain in the history of Final Fantasy” anymore.
According to Yoshida, such a version could be very off-putting and could lead players to stop playing the current version altogether. He mentioned that no one can imagine how many players dropped out from the original version at that time. This should not happen again.
So currently, there are no plans to bring back this old version of Final Fantasy 14.
Why wasn’t the version good? On Reddit, there is a thread that highlights the weaknesses of version 1.0 of FF14. Here are some of the points:
- The story often only progressed when one could defeat overpowered monsters.
- Maps were copied and simply mirrored for reuse.
- The difficulty level “Hard” was disproportionately high.
- Navigating to the merchants in the overcrowded market was a chore.
- The interface was unnecessarily complicated.
Fans Show Understanding
How do Final Fantasy fans react to this? Many find Naoki Yoshida’s reaction funny and also understandable. Those who played the game in version 1.0 said that it really was that bad, and basically no one wants it back.
However, some wish that more of the lore from the first version of Final Fantasy 14 finds its way into the MMORPG.
- Hero2Zero91 says on Reddit: “His laughter says it all. Anyone asking for 1.0 servers would be shocked if they switched to ‘A Realm Reborn.'”
- FFFan92 says: “As someone who played 1.0, I must say: It was worse than many people think.”
- kaysn explains: “I would like to see the official lore of 1.0 either in the form of books or as videos. It should simply be told what led to ‘A Realm Reborn.'”
