First impressions of FFXI

anakinsella

One day in, lvl 9 Thief. Keep that in mind.

Posted this on my blog, but wanted to share it with more, since my blog isn't exactly a hot-spot.

http://iwinbutton.com/2009/01/24/impressions-final-fantasy-xi/

Starts out with a long tale of just finding a copy of the Vana'Diel 2008 Collection in my town, so you can skip down to the impressions if you wa nt.

 

"Before I get into the actual game experience, I feel obliged to share the hellish quest we had to endure, just to come home with one boxed copy of FFXI Vana’Diel Collection 2008. We were planning on just playing a 14-day trial, until I was greeted with a 9-hour patch upon logging in yesterday morning while waiting for Zack to arrive. Already being pretty excited to play and having some Gamestop store credit, we headed out to the closest Gamestop to check for the box. Of course, they were out.

Now keep in mind, we could have both just easily gone home after this quick defeat and used Direct2Drive, but reminiscent of a similar LAN in which a friend and I scoured the town for what seemed to be the last two copies of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, I was on a mission to land us both a boxed copy of FFXI. The whole point was to avoid a giant download time, so a digital copy wouldn’t help much. Game boxes will always reign supreme anyways, screw digital-distribution and the future of pc gaming.

We’re off to a Wal-Mart (ugh) and then Target that are on the way back by the house. Both a big negative for FFXI, but I was impressed with a little MMO-shelf type deal Wal-Mart had going on, a handful of MMO on the same shelf, even if it was lacking FFXI. Not giving up, we switch cars so I’m not wasting his gas on my quest for a tangible game box, we head all the way across town to the mall area where we find our first taste of success in a slightly weathered, open-box, form of the Vana’Diel 2008 Collection at the Gamestop in the mall. Opened, because Gamestop is apparently nazi about their pc game security, and would risk compromising a customer’s account key, just to cut down on theft. Lame.

Having already shotgunned the first copy we find, Zack still needs one and we’re off to the plethora of stores all within 2 miles of each other; Target, Circuit City, CompUSA, and Best Buy. Long story short, they’re all no-shows. Best Buy thought it was witty and had every retail copy of FFXI except the 2008 Vana’Diel collection and Circuit City apparently doesn’t get memos and had collector’s editions of both Tabula Rasa and Hellgate London along with gems like a $49.99 Archlord and Fury. GG Circuit City, you lose.

So we’re done. We’ve failed and are forced to come home half-handed (it makes sense, trust me). On to plan b: both install from my dvd, Zack buys a key on Direct2Drive. The catch, we still had a three-to-five hour patch. A three hour driving expedition has barely saved us 1 hour of patching. We’re pretty disappointed at this point, but just adapt the LAN to these changes and play some Xbox 360 and Warcraft 3 while patching.

Six paragraphs down, WTB actual FFXI impressions - amirite? Okay.

Presentation: From the mandatory PlayOnline Viewer to the console-designed control scheme of the in-game menus and navigation, FFXI may strike you as archaic in it’s presentation, but after 10 hours I consider it all part of the charm. The PlayOnline viewer is like no other login system. It sets you up with your own PlayOnline email address, you have to purchase “content IDs” instead of the regular subscription model most MMOs offer, and my favorite, the wonderfully-cliche Final Fantasy diddy playing in the background while you’re navigating the FFXI menus in the PlayOnline viewer. The menus in-game menu navigation can be cumbersome at first, but switching to a 99% keyboard playstyle like I have (and like it expects you to, with it’s default control scheme) you accept the arrow key and numpad centric setup and adapt. One of the key features of the presentation for me is the music, which I’ll get to later.

Graphics: Let’s get it out of the way, this game is coming on 7-years-old, so one shouldn’t expect Aion or Age of Conan level DirectX 10 graphics. That said, with the proper tweaking (16x AA, AF, 1920×1200 resolution) the game appears to have aged very well. It looks almost on par with Warhammer, which I’m not sure is a shot at Warhammer’s graphics or praise of FFXI’s, but either way they’re admirable graphics and worthy of being classified with the current-gen of MMOs. I would have some supplemental screenshots, but my screenshot hotkey failed me and wasn’t taking screenshots when I was attempting to capture them! But rest assured, what I have seen of Vana’Diel is beautiful. As someone who was adament that FFXI was one of the worst looking MMOs when I attempted to play it years ago, I am shocked that the graphics were not even of concern after the first few minutes in game. I had forgotten about them and let myself get lost in the game-world. Your mileage may vary, as a lot of it is just genius art design on Square-Enix’s part, but I was impressed, after having low expectations.

Sound: It’s a Final Fantasy game, need I say more? The sound effects are perfect and the music is subtle yet lingers with you as you randomly notice and admire it. My favorites being the classic combat music that queues up when you enter combat, and level up medley that excites me every time I hear it. I’m never sure what I’m more excited about, the leveling up, or the awesome diddy that plays with the “level up” spell effect.

Gameplay: Imagine a Final Fantasy that has to sacrifice a little bit of the turn-based combat, in order for it to work in an online game, but keeps all the other facets of a good jrpg and Final Fantasy. The grind, the summons, the focus on group and parties, the wariness you feel when venturing out of the city. I feel like FFXI is more like a JRPG than an MMO, which is refreshing to me. The combat is hard to describe; itt’s not twitchy, it’s not WoW combat, and you won’t be spamming fireball or sinister strike. The combat is more strategic in nature, with less emphasis on a plethora of spammable abilities and more on a staple of job abilities and weapon skills that you earn by leveling up your job and your weapon skills respectively. The combat has more depth than a deepdish pizza, but I don’t have the wherewithal or experience to really explain it in the fashion it deserves. I’m only lvl 9 and one day in so I’ve obviously only barely scratched the surface of the game.

Simply put, I’m having a blast in FFXI and it’s hooking me pretty damn well. It feels like no other MMORPG out there, with it’s mix of jrpg influences, Final Fantasy classic-touches, and semi-turn-based, strategic combat. This isn’t your little brothers MMO of actionbar spamming and twitchy combat. The old-school JRPG influences are abundant, and it truly is a Final Fantasy MMO. Final Fantasy XI has a certain charm to it’s obscurity, difficulty, and learning curve that reminds me of why I loved Star Wars Galaxies. It’s as if I know it would be a tough sell to convince an average person or casual MMO-player to play it, acknowledging that it’s not for everyone, but feeling as if it has clicked with me and get it.

More impressions are likely to come, the more time I have to play it. I’m not sure if I’ll post a “review” because I personally feel like MMORPGs are not reviewable games, but more suited for adaptable impressions. A MMORPG is never a completed product, therefore, there is no finished product for you to review. Not to mention the debatable semantics involved a reviewer trying to declare himself experienced enough in said game to be worthy of writing a wholly review of the entire product. That’s just not entirely possible."

Khrymson

Originally posted by anakinsella





 Game boxes will always reign supreme anyways, screw digital-distribution and the future of pc gaming.

 

Very nice review of your beginning experiences, and very glad to see some new blood have joined!  Wish more people would give it chance besides logging into the trial and complain how sucky they think the UI is or slow combat is without giving it a chance!  One of if not the deepest online fantasy experience out there, and such an amazing story as well! 

Too many players are IMO just stupid and want everything handed to them on a silver platter and don't ever wanna work toward earning anything; is why we're stuck with all these pre-school difficulty MMOs of recent years!

 

...and hellz yeah, can't stand digital-distro.  I like having a box for my shelf; its like collecting books and the DvDs for quick and easy install of the main files cause I like to reformat my PC 1-2 times a year and with digital crap I'd have to spend a long time redownloading everything each time.  Or in the event of HD failure which has happened a few times before.

 

What server ya on?  When I last played I believe I was on Bahamut...

anakinsella

My friend and I are on Bahamut :] And yeah, the difficulty and pace of the game in general are part of it's charm, like I said in my early impressions. If i want a streamlined A.D.D. easy experience I'll go play Guild Wars, WoW, etc . Not saying there is anything wrong with wanting that, but you shouldn't write off FFXI just because it's going for a different crowd and style.

Yeah, I'm a sucker for boxes and collecting them - took a pic of my MMO box collection for a post on my blog recently:

 

 

And I'm not really against digital-distro, I love what it's doing to help the pc game market (steam, direct2drive, etc) that seems to be dying at brick & mortar stores - I'll just take a box over an emailed account key and download link any day. Give me something tangible for my money and sexy box to store on my shelf, like you said.

Arthineas

Thanks for the good review.  One of my biggest regrets is not giving FFXI a far chance.  I got the Vana'diel Collection way on back(gold box) but I had alot going on and did not get to play it much. 

I plan on hunting down the 2008 collection and using that in addition to my 30 day buddy pass from my old box.  That way I will have 60 days to check it out for the cost of the collection.

I am also like you in the respect that I prefer boxes.  Nothing wrong with digital thats for sure.  But I just like to have an actual physical product in my hands .

Shoko_Lied

you nailed those impressions right on. I had the same exact feel when I played. I really love MMORPG's that have a high learning curve, high effort rate, and small reward. FFXI isnt turn based, but the combat hud and selection screen are very similar, so its really close enough to what you would want. I think turn based would actually hurt the enjoyability for a multiplyer experience.'

FFXI and SWG are deffinently my top 2 MMO's of all time, the current swg on the other hand is not worthy of a shit-trophy, it is basically WoW -0.4 now. Which isnt a bad thing if you a hyperactive little critter, or somebody looking for a good game to get high wtih.

Without a doubt, top 3 mmo's of all time for me would be SWG, FFXI, and Planetside. Although you cant really compare SWG and FFXI with Planetside because it is a FPS MMO, and has entierly different reasons for being one of my favorites.

  

anakinsella

Originally posted by denshing


you nailed those impressions right on. I had the same exact feel when I played. I really love MMORPG's that have a high learning curve, high effort rate, and small reward. FFXI isnt turn based, but the combat hud and selection screen are very similar, so its really close enough to what you would want. I think turn based would actually hurt the enjoyability for a multiplyer experience.'
FFXI and SWG are deffinently my top 2 MMO's of all time, the current swg on the other hand is not worthy of a shit-trophy, it is basically WoW -0.4 now. Which isnt a bad thing if you a hyperactive little critter, or somebody looking for a good game to get high wtih.
Without a doubt, top 3 mmo's of all time for me would be SWG, FFXI, and Planetside. Although you cant really compare SWG and FFXI with Planetside because it is a FPS MMO, and has entierly different reasons for being one of my favorites.

  

A fan of SWG and Planetside? Hell yeah. Both those games in their prime were my foundest gaming memories yet. Sure people still play both those games, but they aren't the same games that they were for me 4 years ago or so. Good times.

And yeah, Arthineas, you should try to find a 2008 Vana'Diel collection (tougher than you think!) and give it another whirl. I would def tweak the graphics in the registry to fit your resolution, so it's upscaling instead of stretching - I think it's really helped me look past the "outdated"ness of the graphical engine, which was my main reservation and worry going into it.

Well got lvl 11 a second ago. Stuck on a mission, but I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually ><

If anyone is on Bahamut, my name is Bogochub - look me up!

Khrymson

Originally posted by anakinsella



If anyone is on Bahamut, my name is Bogochub - look me up!

 

Well, I am but not on an active account!  Been playing LOTRO of late, but getting bored of it again since I did damn near everything in the exp in under 2 weeks.  I also started playing my 360 again which I bought last fall and many RPGs for but forgot about it.  Playing Lost Odyssey now and quite hooked so dunno if getting back into FFXI right now would be a wise choice.  Oh and Star Ocean IV is releasing in about 1 month and will definitely be getting that as well.

I do love it; its my favorite MMO of all time it just with what I mentioned above, and I've got a Lab now that demands attention frequently and tons of books I bought and need to read, I just don't know if I wanna get back into the time demand that FFXI requires.  I have more than enough time to commit, just not sure yet on spending it...heh

anakinsella

Understandable.

I gave LOTRO a try around Christmas - beautiful game and solid set of content there, but I alway seem to taper out of interest in it around lvl 15 and stop logging in. 

elocke

Awesome review, completely agree with it, from the annoying finding the game(had this issue even 5 years ago, with a bad key etc, running back and forth to walmart, to the long long long patch time when starting the game, but all so so worth it once you get into the game.)

I think this game just evokes a certain atmosphere that has never been matched. You really feel like part of a larger world, a dangerous world.

I'm on Bahamut as well, if you want into a somewhat large and growing LS, I can throw you a pearl when I'm on, character is Elocke.

anakinsella

Originally posted by elocke


Awesome review, completely agree with it, from the annoying finding the game(had this issue even 5 years ago, with a bad key etc, running back and forth to walmart, to the long long long patch time when starting the game, but all so so worth it once you get into the game.)
I think this game just evokes a certain atmosphere that has never been matched. You really feel like part of a larger world, a dangerous world.
I'm on Bahamut as well, if you want into a somewhat large and growing LS, I can throw you a pearl when I'm on, character is Elocke.

Sounds good. Some folks to chat with would be wonderful - kind of gets quiet and lonely out grinding.

TKAndy

Glad your having fun with ffxi, you will find alot of fun in this game and hard bosses to play with! starting as low as lvl 30 if not lower 

rozenblade1

Happy to see you enjoy it.  i brought a couple of friends in when I was playing, and the assholes hated it.

I was hooked from the start.  It's probably the most addicting MMO I've played......so

I am happy to see new players joining.  I was actually thinking of resubbing.

anakinsella

Glad to see everyone liked the 'impressions/review'

 

As for further impressions, I'm starting to feel the grind set in and the eastern-MMOphilosphy (grind timesink) is starting to show. I'm still impressed though, but I also went in with such low expectations that I was setting myself up to be impressed.

Gonna keep chugging along though, hope I can find a party easy next time I log in, since I'm around 12 and soloing is starting to get tough.

Khrymson

Originally posted by anakinsella


Glad to see everyone liked the 'impressions/review'
 
As for further impressions, I'm starting to feel the grind set in and the eastern-MMOphilosphy (grind timesink) is starting to show. I'm still impressed though, but I also went in with such low expectations that I was setting myself up to be impressed.
Gonna keep chugging along though, hope I can find a party easy next time I log in, since I'm around 12 and soloing is starting to get tough.

 

What class did ya say you were?  Anyway a good place to solo into level 20 while trying to find groups are on worms in several of the zones surrounding the Vulkurm Dunes!  Also the crabs around the lake, though ya gotta be careful cause there are goblins in both these places as well which are avoidable; kinda but not very hard once you get a few levels.

 

These are the best 2 locations for soling too level 20 if ya can't find a group and with an XP ring you'll level pretty fast.  Trust me, ya really want to skip the dunes kinda, but since you're a new character you need to go there and get groups for the sub-job quest which you can start/finish at lvl 18!  Have you started working on a 2nd job yet....you do have to level a 2nd job and basically do everything twice and many times more for other jobs as you progress.  Its mandatory and you'll see a great difference in enjoyment once you get further.

anakinsella

Woah, thanks for the tips + map. I may head down to La Theine Plateau and look for those worms.

I'm 12 right now, would they be solo'able? And I'm a Thief btw.

Khrymson

Originally posted by anakinsella


Woah, thanks for the tips + map. I may head down to La Theine Plateau and look for those worms.
I'm 12 right now, would they be solo'able? And I'm a Thief btw.

 

Should be, only 1 way to find out.  They are stationary so you can run away if not, though they love to cast bind and stone...hehe