There’s been a noticeable surge in interest around Final Fantasy 11 of late, and Square Enix is almost ready to capitalize on that with a much-needed expansion to its free trial. The Square Enix MMORPG might have stood the test of time, but its younger sibling FF14 boasts a much more impressive offering when it comes to how much of it you can play without having to pay. In the latest FF11 developer livestream, Director Yoji Fujito has now confirmed that he’s hoping to implement a higher level cap and lift the time limit altogether “as early as September.”
Fujito first revealed plans to expand the FF11 free trial back in May. The most important change is the removal of the existing 14-day limit on the demo version, which has always been the main thing that’s kept me from diving in properly. Alongside this, the level cap will be raised from 50 to 75. Other restrictions will remain in place: you’ll only be able to explore base-game areas, and can hold just 100,000 Gil at a time. You can’t trade, use the bazaar, or the auction house. You’re also unable to world transfer, send tells, shouts, or yells, and aren’t allowed to become a mentor (even if you make it to the 180-hour playtime threshold required).
“You can still only access the areas from the original version,” Fujito comments (via machine translation). He reiterates that, despite the fact you can’t enter the expansions, the old level-50 cap is “just a little bit too weak,” while with only 14 days “it feels like there’s just not quite enough time in a single day.” He hopes that lifting both of those elements “should make it more accessible for people to play – or if they want to come back, they can always do so.”
It’s likely these two changes won’t actually arrive at the same time. Fujito says the plan is for the level cap increase to be implemented with the game’s regular September update, but notes that the server that handles things such as subscriptions (and thus determines the time limit you can play for free) “is in a completely different place from the game.” He therefore intends to implement “a little maintenance around the end of September” that will remove the 14-day restriction for everyone.
It’s certainly welcome news, and comes at an ideal time – Final Fantasy 14 recently piqued many players’ interest in its MMO predecessor with the Echoes of Vana’diel alliance raid crossover, which saw many locations and characters from FF11 take turns in the spotlight. Since then, Square Enix has been hosting its yearly ‘Return Home to Vana’diel’ campaign from August 7 to August 17, allowing returning subscribers the opportunity to come back for free. Soon, it’ll be the new players’ turn.
If you’re curious to learn more, you can do so here. Hopefully, this more general expansion of the free trial will encourage a bigger audience to give Final Fantasy 11 a shot, bringing those base-game zones back to life across Vana’diel. While this is certainly welcome news, FF11 still has a long way to go if ‘Fujito-P’ (as he’s affectionately known among the community) is going to achieve his wish of competing with what FF14’s free trial brings to the table.
As things stand, Final Fantasy 14 has earned its reputation as one of the most impressive demos in gaming. Currently, it includes the base game and three full expansions, a much more substantial proposition than FF11’s trial even with this planned upgrade. The changes are nevertheless a step in the right direction, however. If they prove to be popular, then perhaps there’s space for early DLC such as Rise of the Zilart and Chains of Promathia to gradually find their way into the offering in the years to come.