Thread: ffxi with unreal engine 5.2 link shadow project

Originally Posted by radar

The game was made in a different era, a remake would be made in the current one by totally different developers. They would ruin the game with modern video game norms.

A remaster would be similar, it would ruin the art style to appeal to a wider audience.

Companies very rarely are faithful and remakes and remasters are more likely to be worse than better.

Originally Posted by Rinuko

There is a certain soul of the current game. Making it more HD is just FF14 IMO.

Modernizing the backend and getting rid of some of the cumbersome parts like POL integration, by all means.

For example, FF7R is hardly same game as the PS1 version. It's great and all they're remaking it, there is a fanbase for it but its not a 1:1 remake, they taking leaps in changing story elements and other parts that made FF7, FF7.

As someone who loved the original, the remake is a joke IMO. To each their own.

So, to summarize: "Making it different would make it different, and different is bad."

That's not a problem with porting it to a different engine, that's a problem with people deciding to make changes while they're in there. It shouldn't be impossible - or even difficult, necessarily - to rebuild FFXI on a new engine in a way that make it still look and feel largely like the current game, only better (shaking off the last baked-in PS2 limitations like macro length, data transfer rates, and the like.)

I wouldn't particularly enjoy "FFXI-2: Now It's Just Like FFXIV" either, but a team that cares about what they're doing can remaster a game without ruining it.

It has nothing to do with the team, it has everything to do with who is funding it.

If you have a game you like, why would you gamble completely ruining it to the point you don't even like it anymore for some pretty graphics?

"making it HD is XIV IMO"

Uh, no?
The two games play completely differently. Giving FFXI modern graphics doesn't magically make it FFXIV. There are also many other things they could improve while keeping the overall style of gameplay exactly the same. Perhaps most notably, netcode for modern internet connections. A lot of FFXI's current issues stem from the fact that the game was designed to work on dial-up internet, which a majority of people were still using when FFXI launched. This is why it takes so long for your inventory to load in and why each bag is the size it is, it's why things get really janky in activities that involve a large number of players i.e. Mieru, Besieged, etc)

A remaster would present the perfect oppertunity to fix these glaring issues that limit the enjoyability of large group content. You don't have to change the combat system, the story and lore, the art style, etc. which make FFXI what it is.

Looks like a cool fan project, as long as the core gameplay and battle experience is intact I wouldn't mind a graphical upgrade! As long as it's not AI-upscaled, or worse, generated.


I understand why it's used by a hobbyist but not a big fan of the Unreal Engine myself, many reasons I won't go into that aren't already echoed around the internet, so if Square Enix were to ever make something similar I'd prefer they stuck to their own in-house engine to create a bespoke experience with a less realistic art direction.
Nevertheless, what this person has achieved is really impressive, it's really cool to see a modern take on the game.


The graphics of FF11 don't bother me, I think they look very nice, so what I really want the most is a new client with some much needed QoL improvements, like movement lock while drawing/sheathing,
better camera controls, better mouse and keyboard support, UI editing, hotbar/crossbar, etc..
Improved graphics would be like a cherry on top

Originally Posted by Dragoy

I've kind of always had this fear that, if they officially ported the game to a different engine, everything would look wrong animation-wise (something like FF14), but the video here definitely shows that it can be done right, too.

I'm not a fan of how characters look at you when you pass by, or how doors open automagically, but surprisingly to me, I think those are the only nitpicks I have so far.

Yeah, this has been done before. It was called FFXIV 1.0. It does not work folks....sorry........

As much as I like XI, it would never work in the modern MMO landscape unless you change the combat. That slow bored kid in the backyard swinging a twig combat does not work in 2026. The mechanics & community driven gameplay would. That combat has to go however..........

SC, MB, cryptid hunting, player driven economy, not being told anything.... can/should stay.

Originally Posted by Beastorizer

Yeah, this has been done before. It was called FFXIV 1.0. It does not work folks....sorry........

As much as I like XI, it would never work in the modern MMO landscape unless you change the combat. That slow bored kid in the backyard swinging a twig combat does not work in 2026. The mechanics & community driven gameplay would. That combat has to go however..........

SC, MB, cryptid hunting, player driven economy, not being told anything.... can/should stay.

I'm not saying we should have giant flashing markers like other games saying "HEY YOU YOUR QUEST OBJECTIVE IS RIGHT HERE" but there are times when the game is too cryptic.There are still cases, notably in the TVR storyline, where no reasonable person would have any idea what to do because the information on what to do next was only available outside of the game. When TVR was still coming out, each time a new chapter was releasing, the only info on where to go to start it was found on the website. There is NOTHING anywhere in game that even HINTS at some of the next chapter start points, and the news posts that told us where to go are long buried in the archives of the official site- we only know what to do because of internet guides.

At a bare minimum, it should be reasonably possible for players to figure out quests without turning to a walkthrough/game guide. We don't need markers and arrows, but it is not unreasonable for players to expect clues to be available within the game and not have GUIDE DANG IT! as the only way forward.

Originally Posted by Rinuko

There is a certain soul of the current game. Making it more HD is just FF14 IMO.

Modernizing the backend and getting rid of some of the cumbersome parts like POL integration, by all means.

Heck just updating the wrapper it runs on from DX9 to 11 or 12, you could give the game a bit of punch like Shiny water etc.