8 Great FF References in FFXI

[@mills_thecollective34]

FFXI is the most "FF" Final Fantasy even more so outside of its story, because it is an actual true traditional RPG, and takes that further through being a proper MMORPG to boot. The mechanics, gameplay, stat building and customization, hidden walls, secret paths, hidden treasures, random coffers, the list goes on an on, make FFXI the most worthwhile Final Fantasy.

[@vicenarian340]

It's become my favorite FF game for these reasons! unfortunately, it's also the most shunned. But I'm happy to see people who understand the game!

[@Stammer6]

There's a huge difference between a good homage and a simple reference. It's easy to make a reference: find something popular and appealing, and point to it. An homage is creating your own thing but with emotional influence from something, and is usually paid tribute to after it's been created. A reference is only interesting if you understand it, but an homage can be interesting for the exact reasons it was worth paying tribute to in the first place. That's something that Final Fantasy XI has always done well, and is one of the reasons why I prefer it over its successor.

[@vicenarian340]

This beautifully describes why I prefer the way FFXI handles it's FF legacy over FFXIV. There are instances where FFXIV comes close, but FFXI almost consistently handles these instances very well.

[@Pokethings-j2o]

Thank you! as a player that started way back in 2003, and still play to this day. I really appreciate when more fans get to see what a true gem of a game this is.

[@vicenarian340]

@@Pokethings-j2o Thank you for watching!

[@astrum_remi]

Your vids inspired me to start playing FFXI, albeit on CatseyeXI but Im really enjoying it so far.

[@vicenarian340]

That's great to hear! I know one of the guys who worked on Catseye, and I really appreciate the rationale behind that server. Glad to hear you're enjoying it!

[@ronnieriosstayshredded7410]

What’s catseye

[@vicenarian340]

​@@ronnieriosstayshredded7410 It's a private server. It's one I'd recommend too, if you are more interested in some of the gameplay experience over the story. It's probably the best (modernized) way to experience the base game, and first 3 expansions. It doesn't have any of the following expansions though. If you don't mind missing out some of the best story parts of FFXI in favor of the best modernized 75 era experience, that server would probably be your best bet.

[@YouDontNeedToKnowWhoIAm-]

These videos never disappoint. 🔥

[@vicenarian340]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@bruinpattison9973]

I miss XI... that was my first MMO

[@generaltechnomage306]

I'm hoping to see an 11-2 one day. It'd be great at exploring currently-unexplored areas.

[@vicenarian340]

I hope so too. Admittedly, I'm still foolishly hoping SE gives enough budget for more mini expansions like they did in 2020 for The Voracious Resurgence. One can hope though...

[@Jordan3DS]

That would be pretty great! XI's world and music have more personality and charm than I've ever seen in any MMO, the only game that comes close is WOW.

[@VincenzoMGREX]

I would rather see new expansions. Modernizing XI would ruin it.

[@alanlee67]

I don't think you want modern SE touching this lol. They only know how to fumble FF nowadays

[@generaltechnomage306]

@@alanlee67 Well, how about in a later future, such as where Square has gotten out of its fumbling phase?

[@morteaux3662]

I love how self-referential FF series is. It never gets bored to found more and more connections :)

[@vicenarian340]

@@morteaux3662 Same here. FFXI is an interesting case. It has a TON of them, but few people know about them.

[@mmmporkribs]

Never knew that the Alzadaal ruins were supposed to be inside of alexander, when was this mentioned? Great video as always!

[@vicenarian340]

@@mmmporkribsThank you! It's mentioned throughout the Treasures of Aht Urhgan story. It's explained when the story of Ragnarok is articulated, and also referenced when Razfahd and Ghatsad were able to unbind the Gordeus and reconstruct the new Iron Colossus if I remember correctly. To be fair, they refer to it as Alzadaal's Iron Colossus. In FFXI, Alexander's true form is never really revealed. While I can't quite remember the lore behind it, Alexander (the deity) is stuck in the higher plane, unable to project Avatars to Vana'diel. He can animate the Iron Colossus as his Avatar though, through the Astral Candescence. So the Alzadaal ruins are technically just the remains of a massive body he animated to fight Odin. This animating technique that Alexander uses is what inspired the Puppet Masters of Aht Urhgan to innovate and create automaton puppets btw.

[@JohnAnderson-o8l]

In the Diabols section you mention that people still go after relic weapons despite they are pushing 20 years old and other top notch weapons to get. My view on this is a lot of people played when relic weapons were THE top weapons. At that time you needed to sink millions of gil and get a ton of people to help you farn and kill mobs in dynamis. Now, you can solo everything with trusts and lvl 99 cap. I think people go after relic weapons because they remember when they were a grind and if you had one back in the day you were the shit. I remember a galka player in my server, Cait Sith, named Worldshaker, he had an Aegis. Good times.

[@vicenarian340]

That's definitely true. There are still several relevant gameplay reasons to acquire them too. Becomes the PREMA weapons (Prime, Relic, Empyrean, Mythic, Aeonic) usually validate all their respective expansion content, SE has opted to update these weapons rather than updating the content itself. This keeps older content relevant, even if it's easy. As for the Relics, the three that I've seen in conversation the most is Apocalypse, Aegis, and surprisingly Excalibur. There are niche cases for the other Relics, but there are particular Odyssey, Sortie, and Dynamis D strategies people employ with these 3 Relics, so they are still valuable.

[@JohnAnderson-o8l]

@@vicenarian340 If I remember correctly Apocalypse was nerfed twice. What made Aegis so damn good is you could still slap on an Excalibur on your PLD. I had a friend who was working on a relic horn. He loved to play DRk and people would always ask why not go for Apocalypse over horn. He would only say to them /c me. The they would see his k-club on his DRK lol.

[@flipskaterdave]

I never realised Nyzul isle was Alexander 😂

[@redcloud16]

THese are great. I love FFXI so much ToT

[@vicenarian340]

@@redcloud16 I'm glad you enjoyed it! There are a ton of FF references in FFXI, but I've never seen any videos on them.

[@redcloud16]

@@vicenarian340 hell yeah it's a gold mine, what other kinds of videos are you gonna make

[@vicenarian340]

@@redcloud16 I have several scripts mostly done. The one that's closest to completion is probably a summary of all the Final Bosses. The FF union did one for the mainline series and the FFXIV final bosses, but never FFXI. So I may just go ahead and finish that up. I see that you've made some progress on the Art project you mentioned a while back! I'm glad to see that. After reading your comment regarding the sparseness of the story content on the wikis, I coordinated a project to get all the big stories & big lore sections their own write up on the fandom wiki. Thanks for bringing that to my attention!

[@redcloud16]

@@vicenarian340 OMG!! That's amazing!! Thank you!!

[@vesper8450]

To my recollection, FF9, FF10, and FF11 were all be developed at the same time. For me, FF9 and FF11 feel the most closely related to in the esthetics. Airships between towns is the main thing, even though you get your own later. Everyone also had a particular job class (this goes for 10 a bit as well). Also Dark City Treno and Grand Duchy of Jeuno: when you say both of them it has that same roll of the tongue feel in rhythm, both have AHs (although done differently), both have that more high class feel to it, and both are circular. Also Moogles, kupo. There is no denying you can see how they were made in tandem. Also FFX is not lost on FFXI as you can summon and fight with your Aeon/Avatar.

[@vicenarian340]

Thank you for drawing these connections! People usually speak of the series as having a chasm after FFX. While there is certainly a change in direction, without FFXI, the through line is significantly harder to see.

[@vesper8450]

@@vicenarian340 I can for sure see that chasm and how people would say that. Also FFX was down right GORGEOUS for it's time

[@vesper8450]

@@vicenarian340 As FF9 was a love letter to the series, 11 also is in a bigger sense with all its reverences. Job Classes, Bosses, Job Mastery Stars, Summons, the list could go on and on.

[@at0micl0bster]

15:38 ultimate raids aren't real in ff14 they're in game fan fiction by a bard "juicing up" the fight

[@Jordan3DS]

They're also just an excuse to have poorly designed muscle memory fights to keep dedicated players subbed for months and months until they can beat them 😂

[@thelaughingdragon32]

Man, ff11 bahamut looks cooler than ff14 bahamut

[@vicenarian340]

I'm a big fan of both designs, but there is something certainly iconic about the FFXI bahamut.

[@at0micl0bster]

Kate sith you mean ket chee?

[@Jordan3DS]

According to VII Rebirth it's Kate Sith (I know you're right but I'll never not find it funny that the localizers made such a glaring mistake like that)

[@vicenarian340]

@@at0micl0bster I knew someone would take issue with that pronunciation lol.

[@magus13131]

Important to note that it's Diabolos, not Diablos.

[@vicenarian340]

@@magus13131 Thanks for pointing that out! I actually had a paragraph on the etymology of Diablos vs. Diabolos, lol. I cut it last minute though, it doesn't have too much relevance to the reference.

[@Jordan3DS]

Even though I've played much more of XIV, FFXI > FFXIV

[@vicenarian340]

@@Jordan3DS I think I have a slight preference for FFXI as well, but it's close. I deeply appreciate both games for very different reasons.