Since the benchmark with the new character creator wasn't enough, today Square Enix released some spiffy new screenshots and renders of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.

The new renders introduce the bad guys that we'll have to face in the game, including a brief description of their background and deeds, and showing the new Imperial officers that are going to be introduced with the new MMORPG,

The screenshots showcase the city of Ishgard and its snowy surroundings, bringing us some cool thoughts in this heated summer. I swear, as soon as the open beta starts I'm gonna camp there for a while and think of winter.

You can check them all out in the gallery below. If you want to learn more about some of those characters, you can check out the eight chapters of my The Story So Far column, that will get you up to speed with the story of the first game. You can also read my hands-on preview with the closed beta, where you'll find another 723 screnshots.