It’s April 1, so prepare to be disappointed in all of your favorite developers and publishers as they crank out jokes at your expense. Case in point? Final Fantasy XIV is ‘getting’ its very own Pokemon GO-style ARG experience, complete with a brand-new way to be at one with nature. April Fool’s!
Getting its very own website to legitimize the prank (heck, I’ve seen a few people fall for it already, naming no names), Final Fantasy XIV Online GO, to give it its full, literally breath-taking, title sees players being able to collect resources for their in-game avatars by going out into the real-life wild and collecting resources. Plants, fish and rocks are all fair (mobile) game.
Want some ore? Mindlessly mash the ‘Tap’ button on your phone near some rocks. Plenty of plants nearby? Get tapping. You can even go fishing if you feel like it – just make sure your phone is waterproof.
Yes, yes, this is a joke but… is it wrong to think it’s a good idea? I mean, I’m all for sitting indoors and foraging my way through Eorzea and, yet, anything that will get gamers active and outdoors can only be a good thing, right?
Final Fantasy XIV Online GO may be a cruel prank but it’s probably the best one seen (so far). It’s almost convincingly obscure enough to make people think why someone would go through all the effort to make a mock-up of it, and plays on the trope of publishers eager to jump onto any and every bandwagon going. A+, Square Enix. Now, who can top that?
