Can we take a moment to appreciate Shinya Ichida's AMAZING work?

[reality_check]

I didn't even know the man's name before I read this anniversary post :
http://www.finalfantasyxiv.com/anniv...?rgn=na&lng=en

Shinya Ichida is the lead animator for FFXIV: ARR. When I first entered Eorzea, everything was awesome -- but there was one thing that hooked me beyond belief: the quality and depth of the animations in this game.

I hadn't been so impressed with a game's animations since I picked up my first copy of Soul Calibur.

In my opinion, there is one aspect of FFXIV that completely blows every single other MMORPG out of the water with, and Shinya Ichida is responsible for leading this team. This isn't to undermine any of the other amazing work that the team has done, but it feels to me that most people dismiss animation quality as a shallow aspect of the game.

In fact, I was so engaged by fluidity and perfection of Eorzean animations that I bought a whole new system so I could enjoy them to the max.

I remember my jaw dropping when I first unlocked holy and I got to see my character fanciness raise to over 9000 every time I pushed that button. And, I remember being genuinely upset when I read the preliminary 2.1 patch notes that stated that Holy's animation was being changed. Thankfully, the change was insignificant.

Even a year later, every time I unlock a new ability -- I'm so excited to see how it's going to look.

I am sad that in every single review I've watched or read for this game, it has been praised for its beauty. But, no one has gone out of their was to commend the sheer talent that was the creation of character and monster animations in this game.

So whether I'm jumping into the heavens as a dragoon, channeling a flare to blow up a group of enemies, reaching towards the sky for a Holy, break dance fighting as a Monk, or just dancing the manderville in sync with friends in Limsa Lominsa, I want to say THANK YOU SHINYA ICHIDA! Your creativity and talent have pushed ARR to be what is has become today.

[Altijacek]

Awesome post and yeah those animations are just bad butt all around.

[Tashigi]

It's all good and all. But the sliding is still annoying.

[Tsuwu]

Bring back the sliding Manderville, plz.

[Welsper59]

Bring back the sliding Manderville, plz.

I really wish they didn't fix that. Butt karting (or random dance emote karting) was some of the most fun to be had.

[Muzetta]

Don't go turning this into a sliding thread, now.

[Gilthas]

At first I thought this topic was going to be about the developer that mentioned all the work that went into sculpting the Mi'qote. He even mention the shape of their butts.

And then I was expecting you point out how Mi'qote 1.0 butts were better and how all of Keiichi Baba's hard work went to waste.

[Mogi]

At first I thought this topic was going to be about the developer that mentioned all the work that went into sculpting the Mi'qote. He even mention the shape of their butts.

And then I was expecting you point out how Mi'qote 1.0 butts were better and how all of Keiichi Baba's hard work went to waste.

Dandy likes your post :P Anyway nice topic i agree that stuff like this pulls me into the game more and more^^

[LlenCoram]

This thread just makes me miss the old 1.0 animations so much more.

[HulveinBlitz]

https://twitter.com/FF_XIV_EN/status/507953098845745152

Why yes, yes we can.