Alpha First Look: Video 3 - The Black Shroud

[xopher]

We're pleased to present "The Black Shroud," our third entry in the Alpha First Look video series!

In this video, we take look at both the Central and North Shroud areas that are housed within the Black Shroud, the vast forest that includes the city-state of Gridania. The beautiful landscapes of the Black Shroud include lush, sweeping vistas with exciting landmarks peppered throughout. On this guided tour through the Shroud, adventurers will visit an aetheryte camp, where they'll spot a mysterious balloon floating above an adjacent building, and take in a gorgeous view of a nearby waterfall and the surrounding foliage.

The video also showcases the fact that in A Realm Reborn the map will gradually reveal itself as your character reaches new locations.



Enjoy the video and be sure to let us know what you think!

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/58241

[Deuce]

Nice to see that they're putting up some more gameplay footage; however, I wish they would show us an area that we haven't already seen, i.e. Ul'dah or LL areas.

Needless to say, I am loving what I've seen so far. The ambient noise in The Black Shroud sounds amazing. It definitely adds a great touch to the environment. I look forward to what Soken and his team has in store for us throughout the rest of the game. Also, as already stated, the game looks amazing. That small dungeon shown at the end was pretty cool looking and it definitely feels different from the rest of the zone while maintaining some of that initial character.

[Gokulo]

Nice to see that they're putting up some more gameplay footage; however, I wish they would show us an area that we haven't already seen, i.e. Ul'dah or LL areas.

We probably won't be seeing those after until Alpha. Remember this is "Alpha Footage" and Gridania and Black Shroud are the only areas available in this version.

[Cayos]

Looking good so far. Really liking the ambient noise.

[millionsknives]

Everything looks great, the design feels so much more realistic. The music is also awesome.

But seriously, in official videos... stop fucking jumping when there's no reason to.

[Spira]

love what i see. area looks great. ambient sounds are awesome. love the touch where they fade to dungeony music when they enter that small cellar thing (doesn't look like a real dungeon based on the map)

what i hope they do is that they introduce a slider or an option to adjust the camera movement's sensitivity. its kinda jerky imo, cos its free mouse movement. either stabilizing it so that it moves slightly smoother (like in previous titles) or adding an option to adjust according to personal tastes would be good.

[Ghostsix.Midgard]

God, this music

[Patriarch]

God, this music

qft

Man.. I can't help but to think what this game may be like in 5 years.. I truly hope it has the lasting value and can bring a second round of an experience very similar to what most of us had with FFXI. Would be tits

[vadre]

Looks great, only thing I'm hoping is that they do another pass on animations before beta, the current ones are alright but the jump looks pretty rigid and the sliding on the spot when turning the camera seems kind of unnecessary in this day and age.

Very minor points and other than that it really is shaping up very nicely from what I can see.

[Ratatapa]

I iwsh that they could change the landscape over time
I like the look, but like making everything evolve with the year, showing how Eorzea will be in exemple 20 years (eorzea time)

[Gokulo]

Looks great, only thing I'm hoping is that they do another pass on animations before beta, the current ones are alright but the jump looks pretty rigid and the sliding on the spot when turning the camera seems kind of unnecessary in this day and age.

Very minor points and other than that it really is shaping up very nicely from what I can see.

Yeah, considering all the complaints this stuff gets (doesn't bother me too much personally), I wonder how that stuff will differ in the beta.


@Ratatapa I guess you missed the part in the live letter about how the time in MMO's can't flow too freely.

[Ratatapa]

I know i read it, i just said it was a wish. I know it will never happen

[shidobu]

allready want the OST of ARR. Was stupidly giddy over that 15 second clip of piano when he zones.

[Deuce]

Same. I already purchased the OST of 1.0 and even though the music doesn't seem to work in some zones it is still really good. I especially enjoy the tracks by Soken. Which really makes me glad that he is the sound director for ARR.

[xopher]

While i enjoy the new direction the music is going, I want Naoshi Mizuta and Kumi Tanioka back.

[Alkimi]

While i enjoy the new direction the music is going, I want Naoshi Mizuta and Kumi Tanioka back.

Yeah as good as some of the music in XI is it always seems like its quality is limited by something, maybe PS2 memory or w/e I dunno. Anyway it would be nice to see.

[Charismatic]

I know Mizuta at the very least worked on some of the tracks for 1.0, he's probably involved with ARR in some way. I hope so anyway.
Not sure if Tanioka had any part in XIV music but I hope she does get to do some music for the game as well.

[Therin]

I must be the only one who doesn't really care for the music. I mean, it's okay, but I thought XIV was the best complete soundtrack since FFIX, so it will be sad to see some of those tracks go.

[Charismatic]

but I thought XIV was the best complete soundtrack since FFIX

Dunno about how people feel about the new music but I can tell you that you're probably nearly alone in this thought.
Had some great stuff in there but most was lackluster.

[Spira]

opinions, but if you thought XIV was the best complete soundtrack since IX, its probably because you happen to like Uematsu a lot and has little to do with how the soundtrack bears over the game.

don't get me wrong. I like XIV's soundtrack overall but I felt there were very few standout tracks, the soundtrack didn't seem very congruent as a whole and most importantly, it didn't feel very natural in-game, at least during the time i played it.

Of the ones I did enjoy.. most of them were so themic that they didn't seem very appropriately used when they actually are used in-game (Imperium comes to mind), and the instrumentation also seemed really odd - (once again i'll use Imperium as an example.. drumset + trumpets + violins... on an advanced nation with futuristic technology, among others).
The other thing about them is I couldn't feel any kind of longevity from them. They didn't seem very longplay friendly, which they should be since its an MMO and people play for years. (eg. Horizons Calling gets extremely grating fast on boat rides)
And of course, not very congruent. I will never for the life of me fathom why Gridania gets surf rock, and all the 3 main areas get electric guitars in their battle themes, when that instrument or its motif is nowhere to be found in any of those areas...

I hate to say it, but I don't think Uematsu is any good at MMORPG music. His best work imo was FFVIII - stylistically consistent, well executed and matched the game really well.

Mizuta on the other hand is a breath of fresh air.. but i hope he doesn't dabble too much in XIV. He's kinda like a new age Uematsu - modern and very versatile - and he knows what music works for MMOs as well.. but also generally quite themic and is pretty weak with pure ambient tracks. for what its worth, the melodic/ambient balance he struck for FFXI was pretty good.. and the work he did on XIII-2 was nothing short of stellar. I only fear his style will get in the way of SOKEN, who seems to have a clear direction in terms of where XIV is headed. He's repeatedly impressed me with tracks like Fallen Angel and his arrangement of the Mog theme.

That and I foresee getting my next fix of Naoshi Mizuta when Seekers of Adoulin arrives.

For the record, only 2 tracks have officially been released that credit Mizuta.. they're

Maelstrom Command


and
Quick as Silver, Hard as Stone