The global alpha of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has begun, but only a very limited number of players have been accepted into it. Square Enix released a new video to show the game to those that yet didn't get an invitation yet.

The video takes us deeper into the Black Shroud forest near the city state of Gridania, and boy, it looks absolutely gorgeous. As someone that played Final Fantasy XIV extensively (you kind of guessed, didn't you?), I can scarcely believe how much Naoki Yoshida and his team managed to completely revolution the game's world in less than two years. It's simply mind boggling.

We can see the Western and Southern Shroud areas, the home land of the Sylphs (that adventurers already saved in the Final Fantasy XIV main storyline, but that we'll finally get to explore outside of a cutscene), and an imposing Garlean fortification. Looks like the Empire extended its tendrils in the five years that passed between Final Fantasy XIV and A Realm Reborn. 

While I go wipe the drool off my face, you can check out the video for yourself below. Also, if you never played Final Fantasy XIV, but you still want to enjoy its story to better prepare for the release of A Realm Reborn, you may want to check my Final Fantasy XIV - The Story So Far weekly column. The third episode came out fresh earlier today, with the cliffhanger ending of the first arc of the storyline.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/7rduwq-Of9Y