After the sort of launch that Final Fantasy XIV had, most developers would have thrown in the towel and let the whole thing burn to the ground. But Square Enix isn’t most developers. They took a hard look at what they had released into the world, then said, “Hey, we can fix this.”
The result of these efforts is A Realm Reborn, which will be coming to PC and PS3 on August 27, and PS4 at an unconfirmed later date. We went hands-on with the PS3 version at E3 this year, and what we found was a perfectly competent and enjoyable experience that, to be quite frank, surprised us quite a bit.
But the good news keeps rolling in. While we were exploring the showfloor at the Los Angeles convention center, Square Enix was busy announcing yet another class (or job, as they’re called in the Final Fantasy universe) that we can expect to see when A Realm Reborn goes live.
The Scholar class has an almost Harry Potter look, with round glasses and a spell book tucked under one arm, but the most interesting feature is that he/she has a fairy companion to aid in battle. According to the official Final Fantasy XIV site: “These learned men and women defended the freedom of their tiny nation with their unique command over spell-weaving faeries, utilizing the creatures’ magicks to heal the wounded and bolster the strength of their allies.”
It sounds like this will be primarily a healing/buff class. How exactly will the Scholar factor into group play? We’ll probably have to wait until August to find out.