Fantasy Earth: Zero
| Fantasy Earth ZERO | |
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| Developer(s) | Square Enix |
| Publisher(s) | Gamepot and Gamepot(USA) Inc. Square Enix |
| Distributor(s) | Square Enix |
| Designer(s) | George Kamitani (Art director) |
| Composer(s) | Hitoshi Sakimoto |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | Massive multiplayer online game |
| Mode(s) | multiplayer |
| Rating(s) |
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| Media/distribution | Originally: CD-ROM
Currently: Download |
System requirements
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Fantasy Earth: ZERO (Japanese: ファンタジーアース ゼロ), formerly known as Fantasy Earth: The Ring of Dominion, is a massive multiplayer online game (MMO) developed by Fenix Soft (the original developers, Multiterm, were absorbed into Fenix Soft on September 1, 2007).
Several months after the release, Square Enix cancelled the game because of a severe lack of demand. The publishing rights were later bought by Gamepot, who had greater success with it when they dropped the subscription-based element present under Square Enix's PlayOnline service and it became a "free to play" game. The game recently claimed over 300,000 users.[citation needed] Revenue is generated using an in-game currency known as "arbs", which are bought for real money and can purchase items obtainable in no other way.
Gamepot Japan established an IP block preventing players outside the region[clarification needed (what region?)] from playing the game.
The original game entered beta testing on February 23, 2006, and was re-released by Gamepot Japan on November 2, 2006. On April 3, 2007, Fantasy Earth entered beta testing in mainland China. On June 3, 2008, it entered beta testing in Taiwan.
US players were finally able to play when Fantasy Earth: Zero was announced by Gamepot USA on January 12, 2010.[1] The first open beta in the US ran from March 3 to March 10, 2010.[2] Players who took part in a "Kingdom War" in the first open beta were eligible to receive a "limited edition" weapon in the second open beta, which started on March 17, 2010.[3] The game was officially launched in the United States on May 18, 2010.[4] On February 3, 2011, Gamepot USA announced the closing of North America Fantasy Earth Zero service[5] effective from March 21, 2011, possibly because the game had not made enough money.[citation needed]
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[edit] Overview
Fantasy Earth: Zero (FEZ) is a third-person action MMORPG with a large emphasis on player-versus-player on a massive scale. Armies of up to 50 players, each from their own kingdom, can go head-to-head in a type of war known as "Kingdom-versus-Kingdom". These KvK battles are balanced so that one side will have a maximum of 50 players on the battlefield, while the opposing side will have 50 players. KvK battles are all held on the same server.
At the time of character creation, a player can create a male or female scout, warrior or sorcerer. A new class, fencer, can also be obtained in the Garrison during the tutorial portion of the game by completing a quest given by Knut.[further explanation needed] The character's level will be reset after switching to fencer. Players must then choose their allegiance—the Kingdom they will fight for. This determines which king or ruler speaks to the player on the battlefield and in towns. The kingdoms are Yelsord, Cesedria, Gevrandia, Netzavare, and Hordaine. The maximum level is 40.
A player can also create corps to play with friends and cooperate with other people. These groups confer special benefits, one of which is a corps-only armor set.
A feature of FEZ that makes it different from most other fantasy-setting MMOs on the free-to-play market is that attacks must be aimed manually, and there is no auto-attack. Players manually aim at their opponent and then click the left mouse button to attack. Various special abilities become available to the player as they progress to higher levels and gain skill points. Skill points are spent to learn new abilities.
[edit] Gameplay
Fantasy Earth: Zero has a player-versus-environment element, but experience is awarded at a much slower rate than in KvK battles.
KvK battles have many elements that are similar to those found in real-time strategy games. Players "mine" crystals by crouching next to a giant crystal. After a certain number of crystals are mined, players must trade with each other to get the number of crystals they need to build a structure or summon a unit of war. Units of war are summoned much as they are in Final Fantasy games, but the Wraith and the Giant require structures to be built before they can be summoned. When a player character summons a unit, they assume the form of that unit and directly control its action.
Buildings can be built on the battlefield, each with its own purpose; Obelisks are used to capture enemy territory; Gates of Hades are used to summon Wraiths; War Workshops are used to summon Giants; and Arrow Towers fire arrows at the opposing side.
[edit] References
- ^ Square Enix Cooperates with Gamepot to Release Fantasy Earth Zero
- ^ Square Enix's 1st F2P MMOG Fantasy Earth Zero to Enter Open Beta on March 3rd
- ^ FEZ Interview: Blow the Horn of Second Open Beta
- ^ http://fez.gamepotusa.com/eventpost/20100506/FEZ_CR01.html
- ^ http://fez.gamepotusa.com/announcements/index.aspx?id=224
[edit] External links
- Official website (Japanese)
- Developer website (Japanese)
- Fansite Wiki
