A PoC Scion please? There is so much untapped potential here.

[MikkoAkure]

I'd say they're pretty damn close in shape. Obviously not 1:1, but much closer than I originally thought they were tbh.

Even the basic layout of forest and desert is fairly close. Ul'dah, Ala Mhigo, Gridania and Sharlayans colony all shift over to the map of Africa reasonably accurately, even Ishgard sort of makes sense, if you picture the Sahara as a frozen desert instead of a sandy one.

The main differences seem to be the lack of mountain ranges along the west/south of the Sahara, and Africa's complete lack of a sea of floating islands

Madagascar was just shifted to the other side of the continent.

Posting in a troll thread, but just because the shape of the continent in a fantasy game looks like Africa, doesn't make that Africa. The local Hyur have legit Celtic/Germanic names, Elezen have French-esque names, and Roegadyn have Germanic/Scandinavian names and their own Scandinavian-inspired language. The clothing everyone wears is very European. Ul'dah has some Middle-East cues, but so does Thavnair, which more classically fits that theme. Ala Mhigo feels a lot like Turkey/Ottoman Empire in their design ideas. Nothing is 1-for-1, and this is a fantasy world so it doesn't matter too much anyway. Their leaning into real world places (far east, near east, far west) helps connect players to the game's background, but I feel like it also weakens the story when you just cut and paste real life places and cultures into a fantasy world.

[Jandor]

Posting in a troll thread, but just because the shape of the continent in a fantasy game looks like Africa, doesn't make that Africa.

Likewise, some of the city-states being inspired by Europe doesn't make Eorzea into 'Fantasy Europe'.

Eorzea doesn't just share the shape of Africa, it fits in the same place geographically, and it fits in the same place thematically, as the last major continent to face invasion by a technologically advanced Empire that has notions of 'bringing civilization to the savages'.

The clothing everyone wears is very European. Ul'dah has some Middle-East cues, but so does Thavnair, which more classically fits that theme.

The clothing in Ul'dah doesn't seem very European to me, what with everyone rocking turbans on their heads, not to mention that Miqote dancer gear. What little we know of old Ala Mhigan fashion doesn't exactly seem very European to me either, like Lyse's fancy dress.

Nothing is 1-for-1, and this is a fantasy world so it doesn't matter too much anyway. Their leaning into real world places (far east, near east, far west) helps connect players to the game's background, but I feel like it also weakens the story when you just cut and paste real life places and cultures into a fantasy world.

The lack of cut and paste from the real world is why I like Eorzea, it's a good mix from a wide variety of sources. A bit of Africa, a bit of the Middle East, a bit of Europe, all mixed together in a way I find interesting and unique.

My point isn't that Eorzea is 'Fantasy Africa' (although it definitely has more than a hint of the old "dark continent" trope about it,) it's that Eorzea is not 'Fantasy Europe'. Some parts of it are, but other parts of it clearly aren't, and summing the whole place up it as if it was and ignoring all the other elements that have gone into it does it quite a disservice IMHO.

Now if you want to say the Far East is just lifted from our world and dumped into the game, then go nuts. It's obviously not exactly 1-for-1, but when thought of as a follow up to Eorzea I found the region to be a bit disappointing tbh.