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Final Fantasy XIV has been announced as the new next generation MMORPG of Square Enix at E3 2009. Previously known as “Project Rapture”, the game itself is being developed by the same team that worked on Final Fantasy XI, which those of you might fondly remember as the first online foray for Square Enix. The currently targeted platforms are the PC and Playstation 3, though Square is speaking with Microsoft on the possibility of placing it on the Xbox 360.

Glancing at the released information for the game, it would seem that Square believes they are ready to try an MMORPG title again in a post World of Warcraft industry; I’m tempted to agree with them. The trailer alone was marvelous and the typical high level of production usually found within Square Enix games is more than obvious here.

Little information on the actual game itself has been released by Square. Namely that the world is known as Haiderin and the game takes place within a region called Eorzea. The team has also decided to create a familiar atmosphere for FFXI players and have retained a similar art style to that used in FFXI. There are other similarities such as the game’s races, which despite the likelihood of being given different names are already being compared to the playable races within FFXI because of their incredibly similar appearances.

Considering the swarm of other MMORPG titles to be released soon (Champions Online, Aion, and Fallen Earth to name a few..), it’s becoming more and more popular for publishers make an attempt at distinguishing their own game from others. Square Enix hasn’t commented much on this but they have tossed us a few interesting tidbits:

First, they have stated that they will, supposedly, be employing systems and mechanics not found in any other MMORPG title. What this exactly means is, of course, debatable. Square Enix has also stated that Final Fantasy XIV will not be employing a level or experience points based system and will instead use a unique progression system that involves the “job system” found in several Final Fantasy games such as the Tactics offshoot and FFXI. Their desire is to reduce grinding and offer more casual choices to those who can not group all the time.

Weapons are to heavily affect progression, which is interesting. Finally, Square Enix has directed the community towards the FFXIV logo for clues towards the combat and other portions of the game. Overall I would say Final Fantasy XIV is shaping up to be a promising game, though of course we’ll just have to see how well everything is packaged together. They certainly have a lot of high grade competition to live up against!

Unfortunately, Final Fantasy XIV isn’t slated to release until next year. Square has already announced that FFXIV will be releasing after FFXIII, so we’ve still quite some time before our grubby hands can rub it’s silken plastic cover, but expect the beta to likely begin sometime around the start of next year.

If you want to satisfy the cravings now, however, you can view the trailer in full HD quality over at the official site for Final Fantasy XIV.