If you’re looking forward to new Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn details, the next few weeks will be quite the boon. The team is currently recording demonstration and promotional videos for the game (as seen above), and is preparing for a brand-new trailer at this year’s E3. Not only that, but the next phase of Beta testing will kick off next month and include PlayStation 3 players. Over the next few months the team will continue the last two phases of testing before the game releases in the “hot summer”. An official release date will come soon, we expect!

So, it’s only natural that the team release screenshots of the PlayStation 3 client, and we have four new ones to bring to you from the upcoming beta phase. The user interface has had something of an aesthetic update as eagle-eyed Final Fantasy XIV players will notice, and includes an icon for “Level Sync”. This feature will scale your level down to a lower-leveled party mate(s) to provide an appropriate challenge for everyone. The team has also released an image of the Armoury Chest, which looks to be a repository for all of your gear for the easy assembly of a gear set. Behind that is the “Contents Finder”, which will allow you to put together a group to tackle the various party content Eorzea has to offer.

Square Enix has also partnered with Microsoft to cross promote A Realm Reborn with the Windows 8 operating system in Japan. Their promotional site revealed an interesting nugget of information, in the form of an unannounced job appearing in a new Akihiko Yoshids artwork. Some have speculated that this could be “Scholar”, a classic Final Fantasy job, but Square Enix has yet to comment! Perhaps we’ll find out more in the newest Live Letter.

As a reminder, the team will be hosting the Letter from the Producer Live VII on May 30th 2013 @ 6:00am Pacific US Standard Time. As usual, we’ll have the live stream available to watch here, as well as images and answers to questions the team are asked. Please look forward to it!

PlayStation 3 users! What are you most excited to try once Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn comes to your console? FFXIV vets! What are your thoughts about a Content Finder and how that will play into community dynamics for the game? What’s this new Job in the artwork all about? Leave us a comment with your thoughts below!

So it’s been a while since we’ve had a look at the character creation system in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Back then, the unfinished creator had many of the options that were in the original version, but many were still under lock and key or had yet to be changed.

Project Manager Fernehalwes provides us with an update, revealing some brand new hairstyles and tats. The character creator itself has gone through something of an upgrade, with sliders for height (and likely other… parameters) and larger color palettes to further customize your journeying partner. You can now pose them with backgrounds from Ul’dah and Limsa Lominsa regions, giving you a better idea how your character will look in different types of lighting.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is currently in transition from Phase 2 to Phase 3, set to begin in June. The game will be in attendance at E3, and playable to boot. The next Letter from the Producer Live has also been scheduled for May 30, 2013, from 6:00AM Pacific US Standard Time. We will be bringing that stream to you here on Final Fantasy Network along with all the juicy highlights that accompany it!

To start off your adventure into Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn means a start in one of three cities spread across the Eorzean frontier. Should you start in Gridania, the wood-shrouded city in the east? Or what about Limsa Lominsa, full of salty-tongued piratefolk? Then there’s Ul’dah, the bustling sultanate in the arid south. Thanks to new screenshots of these regions released today, we’ve prepared something of an image-heavy primer to help you decide.

Each of the city-states is home to a Grand Company, one of three you’ll encounter in A Realm Reborn. Should you join up with their ranks, you can expect to collect exclusive weapons, gear, and even chocobo barding. With that in mind, it’s important to plan out which company you’ll be raising your sword and cup for.

Since there’s quite a bit of new media, you can view it all by expanding the article.
Which city-state appeals to you the most? Leave us your thoughts in a comment below!

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While the testing for Phase 2 in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn‘s beta has concluded, the team is busily preparing for the next phase that will open up much more of the game for testers. Square Enix posted a handful of new in-development high-resolution screenshots this morning which feature some of the newly-revamped locales.

In the images below you can see that the UI has gone through a few aesthetic tweaks, and that the player is controlling a Thaumaturge class Lalafell. There are several different places in Thanalan (a mostly arid region of Eorzea) shown, such as: an overlook in what I presume is western Thanalan near the sea, Uldah in the distant nightscape, and in the city of Ul’dah itself. It should be noted that the map has transparency, which may be adjustable going forward.

The next phase of closed-beta testing (Phase 3)will begin in June for both PC and PlayStation 3. You can apply by following this link. Following that will be the open beta (Phase 4) followed by the official release. If you’re wondering what time-frame the team is shooting for, they assure us it will release in the “hot summer” — as if to rule out later in September.

What areas are you most excited to revisit and re-explore in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn? Those of you who are completely or generally new to the game, what strikes you the most about the areas featured in media thus-far? Do you find the new Eorzea to be more appealing to play in? Leave us your thoughts in a comment below!

Update: Four new screenshots have been posted featuring the Limsa Lominsa/La Noscea region.
Update #2: Three new screenshots from Ul’dah/Limsa Lominsa.
Update #3: Four new screenshots from Limsa Lominsa at night time.