| Fantasy Earth ZERO | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Square Enix |
| Publisher(s) | Gamepot and Gamepot(USA) Inc. Square Enix |
| Distributor(s) | Square Enix |
| Designer(s) | George Kamitani (Art director) |
| Composer(s) | Hitoshi Sakimoto |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | Massive multiplayer online game |
| Mode(s) | multiplayer |
| Rating(s) |
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| Media/distribution | Originally: CD-ROM
Currently: Download |
System requirements
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Fantasy Earth: ZERO (Japanese: ファンタジーアース ゼロ) formerly known as Fantasy Earth: The Ring of Dominion is a massive multiplayer online game developed by Fenix Soft (original developers, Multiterm, were absorbed into Fenix Soft on September 1, 2007).
Several months after the release, Square Enix cancelled the game because of severe lack of demand. The publishing rights to the game were later bought by Gamepot, where the game has enjoyed greater success, when they dropped the subscription based element present under Square Enix's PlayOnline service, it became a "Free to Play" game.The game recently announced over 9,300,000 users. Revenue is generated using an in-game currency known as "Arbs" which are purchased using real money, and can purchase items only obtainable using arbs.
Gamepot Japan established an IP block preventing players outside the region from playing the game.
The original game started beta testing on February 23, 2006 and was re-released by Gamepot Japan on November 2, 2006. On April 3, 2007 Fantasy Earth started beta testing in China (Mainland). On June 3, 2008 it started the beta test in Taiwan.
US players were finally able to get in on the action when Fantasy Earth Zero was announced by Gamepot USA on January 12, 2010.[1] The first Open Beta for Fantasy Earth Zero in the US began on March 3, 2010 and ended on March 10, 2010.[2] Players who participated in a Kingdom War in the first OB were eligible to receive a "Limited Edition" weapon in the 2nd open beta. The second open beta started on March 17, 2010.[3] Fantasy Earth Zero was officially launched in the United States on May 18, 2010.[4] On February 3, 2011, Gamepot USA announced the closing of North America Fantasy Earth Zero service[5] effective March 21, 2011, possibly due to the game not making enough money.
Contents |
Fantasy Earth Zero is a 3rd-person action MMORPG. There is a large emphasis on PvP on a massive scale. Armies of up to 50 players, each from their own kingdom, can go head to head in a type of war known as "Kingdom vs. Kingdom." The KvK battles are balanced so that, on the battlefield, one side will have 50 players max and the opposing side will have 50 players. KvK battles are all held on the same server.
At character creation, one can create a male/female scout, warrior, or sorcerer. A new class, Fencer, can also be obtained in the Garrison during the tutorial portion of the game by completing a quest given by Knut. The character's level will be reset after switching to Fencer, then players must choose their allegiance; the Kingdom that they will fight for. This determines the King or ruler that speaks to the player on the battlefield and in towns. The kingdoms are Yelsord, Cesedria, Gevrandia, Netzavare, and Hordaine.The level cap is 40.
You can also create corps to play with friends and cooperate with other people. These groups give special benefits, one of which is a corps-only armor set.
One of the features of FEZ that makes it different from most other fantasy-setting MMOs on the Free-to-Play market is that attacks must be aimed manually, and there is no auto-attack. Players manually aim at their opponent and then click the left mouse button to attack. Various special abilities become available to the player as they level up and gain skill points. Skill points are spent to learn new abilities.
Fantasy Earth Zero has a Player-versus-environment element, but experience is awarded at a much slower rate in comparison to Kingdom vs. Kingdom battles.
Kingdom battles also have many elements that are similar to a RTS game. Players "mine" crystals by crouching next to a giant crystal. After a certain number of crystals are mined, players must trade crystals with each other to get the appropriate amount of crystals they need to build a structure or summon a unit of war. Units of war are essentially "Summons" like in Final Fantasy games, but the Wraith and the Giant require structures to be built before they can be summoned. When a player character summons a unit, they assume the form of the summon and directly control its action.
Buildings can be built on the battlefield and each has its own purpose. Obelisks are used to capture enemy territory. Gates of Hades are used to summon Wraiths. War Workshops are used to summon Giants. Arrow Towers fire arrows at the opposing side.