Final Fantasy Explorers is a new 3DS title currently in development by the company, the hopes to cash in on the multiplayer monster hunting craze that is Capcom’s wildly successful Monster hunter, hoping that the Final Fantasy brand is strong enough to overcome it’s dinosaur themed rival. A tough task, considering the franchise has been through a rough patch lately, and Dinosaurs are really cool.
Announced at E3 last weekend, the jobs that were initially revealed for Final Fantasy Explorers were the franchise favourites Knight, Monk, Black Mage and White Mage. This week’s issue of Famitsu magazine however reveals that the game will have over 20 jobs, and shares more on the various features that will be in the game. (Translation credit to Game Jouhou.)
In addition to the first four jobs, the magazine reports other popular jobs that will be availble, including Dragoon, Paladin, Thief, Ninja, Red Mage, Time Mage, and Bard. Players can assign up to eight different abilities to various buttons like Final Fantasy XIV’s widely praised Crossbar, and there will also be some form of multiple-ability system to cross skills with the various jobs you’ve unlocked.
Again like FFXIV, positioning and movement plays an important role in the meat of Final Fantasy Explorers. While it may look like a Monster Hunter-style game with a Final Fantasy aesthetic, the Game Jouhou report suggests that it will play more like a light version of Sqaure’s popular MMO’s Final Fantasy XI and XIV.
For example, there will be a battle log alongside the chatting system that indicates damage and healing stats across your mini-party. In addition to being able to switch around weapons, armor, and accessories, you’ll be able to switch around abilities on characters. Once you learn an ability on one class, it can be used on other jobs as well. This will come at a cost however, as you’ll be getting bonuses when you use an ability with the right class. So if you learn a Black Mage ability, it’ll only cost half the amount of points while on Black Mage, but you’ll need to cover the full cost of the skill on any other job.
Here are a few other cool little details translated from the magazine:
-The game is set on an island that has all kinds of areas, and you’ll be free to walk across the entire place.
-There’s a certain feature that lets you befriend monsters you defeat and have them join your party.
-It’ll be possible to have a party that consists of two players and two monsters.
-It is said that the game’s main portion actually takes place after you clear the story, boasting a volume of about 100 to 200 hours worth of gameplay.
-Square Enix are currently developing Final Fantasy Explorers to give off the spirit of the Final Fantasy series inside a multiplayer action RPG.
Final Fantasy Explorers is currently in development for Nintendo 3DS.
