Although the North American anniversary doesn't take place until later this year,
Final Fantasy XI has been running for eight years as of this past May. When that milestone rolled around,
Square-Enix announced their
8th Anniversary art contest as a chance for players to show off their talents and potentially get rewarded for them. The official winners have just been announced, complete with
the requisite gallery of all the winning entries for fans to peruse, with the results both creative and indicative of the game's long history.
The recurring visual elements seem to be food, tarutaru, mithra, and mandragoras -- which certainly goes a long way toward showing what's stuck out in everyone's minds over the duration. There are even a pair of entries (such as the one above) that use food itself as the medium for the celebration.
Final Fantasy XI players are encouraged to take a full look at
all the artwork on display in the winners' gallery -- enough to bring a nostalgic tear to any player's eye.
