Software:Fantasy Earth: Zero

Fantasy Earth ZERO
Developer(s)	Fenix Soft
Publisher(s)	Gamepot GamepotUSA Square Enix Gamania Hangame PlayOnline
Artist(s)	George Kamitani
Composer(s)	Hitoshi Sakimoto Masaharu Iwata Manabu Namiki Kenichi Koyano Chronicles: Ryo Yamazaki Hidenori Iwasaki Tsuyoshi Sekito
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release	JP: February 23, 2006
Genre(s)	MMORPG
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

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 (MMO) developed by Fenix Soft).

Several months after the release of The Ring of Dominion, Square Enix cancelled the game because of a severe lack of demand. The publishing rights were later bought by Gamepot, who renamed it to Fantasy Earth Zero and had greater success with it when they dropped the subscription-based element it became a "free to play" game. In 2011, the game had over a million users. Revenue is generated using an in-game currency known as "arbs", which are bought for real money and can purchase items obtainable in no other way.

Overview

Fantasy Earth: Zero (FEZ) is a third-person action MMORPG with a large emphasis on player-versus-player on a massive scale. Armies of players, each from one of five kingdom, can go head-to-head in a type of war known as "Kingdom-versus-Kingdom" (abbreviated as KvK). These KvK battles are balanced by forcing each side to have a similar number participants, placing "overflow" players into a queue waiting to enter the battle. Players from the two warring kingdoms receive preference in this queue. A maximum of fifty players are allowed on each sides of the battle. KvK battles are all held on the same server.

At the time of character creation, a player can create a male or female scout, warrior, sorcerer or cestus. (Cestus was the last addition before the closing of the NA server) Another class, fencer, can only be obtained in the Garrison located in the game's tutorial map by completing a quest given by Knut, the fencer class NPC. Only by completing Knut's request players can class change to fencer. See Fencer on how to complete the quest. The character's level will be reset after switching to fencer. Players must then choose their allegiance—the Kingdom they will fight for. This determines which king or ruler speaks to the player on the battlefield and in towns. The kingdoms are Yelsord, Cesedria, Gevrandia, Netzavare, and Hordaine. The maximum level is 40.

A player can also create corps to play with friends and cooperate with other people. These groups confer special benefits, one of which is a corps-only armor set.

A feature 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 skills become available to the player as they progress to higher levels and gain skill points. Skill points are spent to learn new skills.

Gameplay

Fantasy Earth: Zero has a player-versus-environment element, but experience is awarded at a much slower rate than in KvK battles.

KvK battles have many elements that are similar to those found in real-time strategy games. Players "mine" crystals by crouching next to a giant crystal. After a certain number of crystals are mined, players must trade with each other to get the number of crystals they need to build a structure or summon a unit of war. Units of war are summoned much as they are 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 that unit and directly control its action.

Several buildings can be built on the battlefield, each with its own purpose. Obelisks are used to capture enemy territory. Eclipses can expand further into overlapping territory. Scaffolds can be built as a jumping platform. Bulwarks are used to block enemies from a certain area. Gates of Hades are required to summon Wraiths; War Workshops, to summon Giants. Arrow Towers attack nearby enemies to reinforce the front-line.

Collaboration

Fantasy Earth Zero has made some collaborations with other games;however, most of them have some relation to Square Enix. Note that these collaborations are unique to the Japanese version of the game.

• Emperors SaGa (2013)
• The Legend of Heroes (second collaboration 2013)
• Bravely Default: Flying Fairy (2012)
• Lord of Vermilion Re:2 (scheduled 2012)
• The Legend of Heroes (2012)
• Sengoku IXA (2012)
• Razer (2012)
• Kiba no Tabiakindo - The Arms Peddler (2011)
• Getsuei Academy (2011)
• Meiji Chocolate (2011)
• Fate/Zero (2011)
• Sweet Ignition (2011)
• Lord of Vermillion (2009)
• Valkyrie Profile (2008)