Final Fantasy XI is special to me, for reasons I can't always wholly articulate. Part of that's nostalgia, part of that's because it was my first MMO. Part of that is because I was having Gender Concerns in my late teens when it entered my life, and it gave me a handy excuse to be a catgirl (there were no catboys in Vana'diel until a story character four expansions deep). Part of that is that I got to meet people, friends that I still talk to nearly 20 years later.
But part of that is also the world itself. Vana'diel was melancholy and dangerous, secretive and expansive. And, for as much as I adore Final Fantasy XIV, Hydaelyn doesn't feel like quite the same sort of cohesive world as its predecessor, not quite the same sort of adventure. And that's not in a bad way, XIV is wonderful, but it doesn't have anything like the dash to Jeuno to get your first chocobo, or having to carefully sneak into Norg or through Bhaflau Thickets because you wanted to unlock Blue Mage before you were a high-enough level to safely walk around the Thickets. I miss some of that.
So when someone pointed out the existence of a Game Boy demake of the dang thing I was real excited to see what happened with it. What goes from a MMO to a GB version? What gets kept? The answer is the vanilla game's story and zones, primarily. FFXI Adventure has no combat or leveling, has six jobs with only minor differences (and White Mage is the only one with teleports, so it's the one you want-somewhat ironically they're still the best option for quick progression, it's just in covering ground now instead of getting quick leveling invites). There's only a handful of NPCs, with only a couple of them named. There's only two sidequests, one of which unlocks a sound test.
It's basically a tiny, top-down walking sim where you head to quest objectives in a game from two decades ago, a little snowglobe version of a world. It's a little plodding, a lot backtracky. If you don't know the setting well, good luck figuring out where anything is.
So, naturally, I loved it. It's neat to see a game I spent Too Many Hours in condensed down to a small handful of portable console screens, that are still recognizable. It's neat to hear the Gustaberg and Mhaura themes again in their natural context, even if they aren't the original versions. It's neat to see the Sanctuary of Zi'Tah up just off the beaten path again, easy to wander into before one's ready.
It's a small version of home, it's one I only recognize from nostalgia, and none of the people I care about are there. But it's home.
And, while I said I would wait until XIV is caught up on (which has been slow going, honestly)....
...maybe it's about time I went home for a little while.