The issue seems to be OS dependant. I can't get the new FFXI DLLs to load on Windows XP (32 bit).
If I "downgrade" the client it attempts to start. I just cancel afterwards to not cause problems.

The issue is the NEW FFXI DLLs which don't work with older OSes...

And before people say "I reinstalled and it worked" I did reinstall and it DID NOT WORK for me.