While Final Fantasy XI was released a year ago in North America, Japanese gamers have been waiting for the next PlayOnline title. In the wake of a huge release list that includes: Final Fantasy XII, Kingdom Hearts 2, Romancing Saga: Minstrel Song, and the long awaited remake of Final Fantasy 3 for the Nintendo DS many gamers overlooked Fantasy Earth. Quietly announced back in September these are the first details we have about the game. The world of Fantasy Earth takes place in a war between five different continents. Each land with a different ruler, different community and different philosophy gives gamers options of where they want to belong in this world.

Being this a Square-Enix game there are somehow crystals involved. It's the crystals which the different kingdoms are battling over. Crystals give the holders the power to create in this world. Naturally, players are going to track down crystals. Gathering them will allow you to alter your fortress defensively or offensively. Fortresses are an important part of the game. Players will get to build fortresses at their leisure and these will be used to help defend your territory from enemy attacks. How you exactly build a fortress is unclear, but the gorgeous pictures suggest a lot of options.

All multiplayer massive online RPGs have some in depth character customization. Final Fantasy XI didn't give players many choices, but this time around with Fantasy Earth you have a lot more options. First you can choose the gender of your character and then alter a variety of features that include hair color, eye color and even facial hair. With a system like this it looks you can make whatever character you dream of. You can even change your equipment and further customize your character in the war room. Just like other MMORPGs you can wear different armor and accessories to alter your appearance. Square-Enix has reveled seven of the classes in the game: warrior, berserker, shadowwalker, hunter, priest, sorcerer, and runeblade. Right now we don't know if you can switch classes on the fly or if other classes are available.

What else makes the next PlayOnline adventure unique? Well it seems like Fantasy Earth is going to be a mix of a strategy game and a MMORPG. Gamers in Japan will find out in 2005 if Fantasy Earth: The Ring of Dominion raises provides a unique twist in the MMORPG genre.

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