FF XIV : ARR is the best mmo experience since EQ1

Anfere31

For me FF XIV : ARR is the best mmo experience in the past decade. Here's why:

Graphics:  Something everybody agrees on. The game beautiful, graphically flawless, it's amazing how everything in the game looks fantastic. I find myself stopping to watch the scenery and zooming in and out on NPC's and Views in all kind of places and that’s something i never do in games. It's mind blowing how good the game looks.

The FF Factor : Playing this game, you know you're playing a final fantasy game, and it feels so good. If you are a fan, well you will be ecstatic about all the references to the franchise and if you are not a fan, it won’t really matter for you. The world, is a FF world, the characters, the humour, the graphics, the chocobos, the materia, the story line, everything is branded Final Fantasy.

The Music : Something i never cared for in a game until now. After playing every FF game there is, it’s awesome to just hear and recognise some classic final fantasy music and sound effects. Each time i level, i finish a quest, or comes a cinematic, the music feels so nostalgic and just reminds me of past gaming adventures.

The Cities : The cities in recent MMO’s are really just these hubs without much to them. In FF XIV : ARR the cities are awesome, and you spend time there because you need to, but also because you want to. The quest lines of each city are really interesting and teach you the lore, you have many establishments you need to visit which create a link to the city. It’s not 1 daily quest giver or the AH, it’s many many place’s and NPC’s that give it the feeling of the old mmo’s cities.

The NPC’s : Like every FF game, the NPC’s are really charismatic and add a lot to the story and the world. They are funny interesting and very well designed. It’s not your average game, where you click on the NPC’ without paying attention, scroll as fast and you can and just gtfo. You learn to like them, appreciate their humour, and let them finish their text.

The Mechanics : The game isn’t breaking the mold of the MMO genre. Nothing is really new, but you have a lot of mechanics that are proper to FF games that you don’t find in other games (linkshells, Great Companies, levelhest, Guildhest, Materia, all the guilds and their quest lines, a typical FF class and Job system etc) and some innovations like the Fate or the Armory systems. All the systems in place are really solid. The game have everything in it and more. It won’t be a GW2 without a Group Finder system, or a half ass Guild/Friend list interface or incomplete stuff. This game have everything, and everything is working smoothly.

The Interface : I beta tested the game back in 2010 and hated the interface, and it was obvious to me that the interface was more adapted to console gaming than PC gaming, that and some other reasons made it that i never purchased the game after that beta test. The interface of the 2.0 version is just amazing, you have all you need, it’s pretty ergonomic and have a FF feel to it as you will recognise some of the interface parts from other games. It can be adapted to your linking and there is plenty of options to mess around.

The Gameplay : If you are a PC gamer, rejoice ! It is working very well with the mouse / keyboard and you will be feeling at home immediately as it’s your typical MMO gameplay. For the specific gameplay of class’s. You can look for a typical gameplay with the good old caster/mele fighter and if you want something that breaks a little bit the mold you can play the pugilist or probably other class’s i didn’t try. The thing is, they are pleasing everyone with new and old school gameplay mechanics.

For me, the multiple class / jobs mechanic is really interesting, because it shows that there is plenty of content, grind, and customisation around your character. You can level many class’s with the same character, mix their spells, and build your own class out of what you got or you can tailor a job that is meant for a specific role, it’s a little bit restrictive compared to the freedom of the class system but also more efficient and powerful for the role you want to fulfil and you don’t even have to choose since you can’t have and do both !

It feels like an MMO ! There was people all around i swear ! i talked to some, even grouped with some, and we used the chat too ! crazy right ? It wasn’t instanced bullshit where you are all alone. It wasn’t about how you are the hero and you do everything alone and you are pushed to never speak to nobody. The game is built so that people interact, talk to each other, and get that urge to just play together and group and socialise which is something nonexistent in the recent games. The World is huge, the cities are huge, everything is overwhelming and it have that 1 hours part that the old gamers know very well where you are lost trying to figure out things and wonder around the main city  trying stuff.

It have content ! and i’m not talking about the late game content, or enough quests for you to level to 50. There is already so much stuff to do aside from your main quest / leveling your character. There is a lot of stuff to do, and you have the choice to do it. It’s definitely more a sandbox game than a themepark game, but not as sandbox as an archeage. It’s just enough for the fans of both types to enjoy themself a lot.

 

redcloud16

Thanks for the post! Good read! I want to explore every nook and cranny, but sheesh, even with some areas blocked off the available world is huge!

Senden

Hate to sound negative but only one post and that? I smell a shill. Parts of that read out like an advert. I will withhold my judgement until I can finally play it (hopefully next beta event as I didn't have time this weekend). 

spankybus

I am having a LOT of fun with this game...but yea, 1 post? I smell a shill, too.

Sawlstone

Originally posted by Senden
Hate to sound negative but only one post and that? I smell a shill. Parts of that read out like an advert. I will withhold my judgement until I can finally play it (hopefully next beta event as I didn't have time this weekend). 

I actually agree with a lot of what the OP has posted and I don't work for anyone. The funny thing is I wasen't even really interested in playing ARR. Sure I planned to play it at launch to check it out but didn't expect much when I got my Beta key and logged in. I was happily surprised mostly with the controls, fast and fluid keyboard and mouse. They really did put effort into making things better! I knew the graphics were going to be good so no surprise there. It still feels instanced to me, but I think I am willing to over look that because the zones are big enough. That will be the only playing factor for me. I like to get into my mmo and think things like, shit I have to travel way the fuck over there to do that? Or I've been heading north for a very long time I should probably head back so I don't miss something. Or the the ever elusive feeling of...if I head that way am I going to run into anything, or waste the next 45min-1hr running around lost, ala Fallen Earth.

Oziius

I have more then one post and agree with everything said by the OP. The only issue I have with the game is that it isn't out yet. These guys have totally redeemed themselves in my opinion. 

Betaguy

I'll give it a try and let you know

BadSpock

I'm so jealous.

I can't WAIT to play this game.

Really hope I get into PS3 beta for the next weekend test.

Moodsor

I agree with the OP; this game somehow made me feel right at home, something I have not felt since the early days of MMO's, there were a few small things id like corrected, but overall Square has redeemed itself in my eyes, and I cannot wait to get going in the full version.

QSatu

I played the game and it is very good. But op overexagerates too much. best game of the last 10 years? I don't think so.

spoonone

Originally posted by Anfere31

For me FF XIV : ARR is the best mmo experience in the past decade. Here's why:

The Music : Something i never cared for in a game until now. After playing every FF game there is, it’s awesome to just hear and recognise some classic final fantasy music and sound effects. Each time i level, i finish a quest, or comes a cinematic, the music feels so nostalgic and just reminds me of past gaming adventures.

 

Can you really feel nostalgic about FF music if you never cared for it for the pass 13 games?

BadSpock

Originally posted by QSatu
I played the game and it is very good. But op overexagerates too much. best game of the last 10 years? I don't think so.

Well, to be fair - 10 years ago (in a few months) we'll have the anniversary of SWG's release.

FFXI released (in Japan) in 2002.

Considering what came after 2003 (EQ2, WoW, everything else)...

It wouldn't be hard for me to believe the "best game of the last 10 years" isn't too far of a stretch in the OP's mind, even if he/she is just being dramatic.

 

 

JAFA

Honestly I thought the Beta Terms precluded most of the content in the OP, hell, I'm pretty sure they preclude what I'm about to post here, but meh I'm out anyway (& 3 days is pretty quick for me to dump an MMO, usually I play until I start to get RSI at the least, call it a month).

The Graphics: Yes, It really is pretty, & my newest machine is NOT a beast (i5 dual core laptop with 1Gb HD7670M).

The UI: OMGWTF Huge!!! e.g. The smallest font you're allowed in the chatbox is 12pts, the default 2 hotbars + HP/MP/TP + Progress bar take up ~1/3rd of the middle 2/3rds of a 1600x900 display.

The Music: Nice, but not really anything special.

The Gameplay: Pretty standard as far as I got.

Rosenborg

I played the first version and I've been testing ARR a bit through the phases and my feelings are some what mixed at the moment. Production quality wise ARR is what the first version should have been but ARR has this kinda wowwified, familiar feeling that, isn't really a bad thing but, I don't know..

 

Couple of things I miss from the first version is the seamless world, though the world was at times (more than often), painful to move through, it was immersive. Character controls/animations/movement is another, though you couldn't jump, your character felt like it had weight.

 

All and all I think SE did the right decision with ARR in that they didn't just shut down FFXIV

Carnicide

I have to agree with the OP, however they're a couple things worth mentioning. The flashy effects, you might need to tone them down in your graphic settings. When doing a FATE event and everyone is smashing one target the effects are so over the top it literally blinds you. Not a terrible thing since you can adjust it, but its cool 1v1 nice and fancy looking .

Another thing worth mentioning; the game is instanced based, however this isn't bad either. The zones are HUGE, and it feels right when zoning. Plus they give everyone a sprint ability that last just long enough that there's only 2 seconds of down time when you can use it again. At level 10 you can rent chocobos, but don't worry I know GIl was hard to come by in FFXI not in this one though. As soon as you hit 10 levehest or w/e they're called provide plenty of cash and you get bonuses if you ramp up the difficulty. I did +5 at lvl 11 and was soloing lvl 15 mobs got a ton of bonuses for doing so. Then when you do it with a light party (thats 4 party members) the bonuses were like 5k exp which is nuts and like almost 2k gil. 

Overall I haven't had this connection feeling to an MMO since FFXI and WoW(Vanilla/BC). Great job Square you truly did cast Raise IV on this MMO. By the way I was in the original beta for 1.0 and was so disappointed I didn't even purchase it, and I was so hyped for that game. Take what you want from my rant, but know this; if you don't like Final fantasy type rpgs, or Japanese style art. You're probably not going to like this, but if you have an open mind the game runs sooooooooo smoothly and handles very well. The difficulty is good too, seems to be scaling well with the levels. I recommend this game to any MMO player test it for yourself, it's definitely worth the time and money, at least out of respect for a developer that knows they dropped the ball and is trying to save face.

marganculos

I just came to say hello:)

FFXIV arr is great i can't wait for release, after few years i think i finally found game which wont bore me after few weeks like wow,gw2,sto,pw,tera,swtor,dfuw,neverwinter,dcuo,fe...etc,etc...

Alberel

Originally posted by JAFA

Honestly I thought the Beta Terms precluded most of the content in the OP, hell, I'm pretty sure they preclude what I'm about to post here, but meh I'm out anyway (& 3 days is pretty quick for me to dump an MMO, usually I play until I start to get RSI at the least, call it a month).

The Graphics: Yes, It really is pretty, & my newest machine is NOT a beast (i5 dual core laptop with 1Gb HD7670M).

The UI: OMGWTF Huge!!! e.g. The smallest font you're allowed in the chatbox is 12pts, the default 2 hotbars + HP/MP/TP + Progress bar take up ~1/3rd of the middle 2/3rds of a 1600x900 display.

The Music: Nice, but not really anything special.

The Gameplay: Pretty standard as far as I got.

Seeing as your biggest complaint seems to be the UI I thought you should be aware that you can scale it... mine is much smaller than what you describe.

As for the gameplay being standard... no, the combat could be considered rather standard (although it does have several unique features unlocked past level 10) but the gameplay is far from standard. Unlike the majority of what we've seen released since WoW, FFXIV is NOT a purely combat oriented MMO. There is a huge amount of depth to the other systems such as crafting and housing (although the latter isn't in yet).

If all you care for is combat, and you want non-standard combat (which I assume means you're one of the new action combat junkies) then no you probably won't like FFXIV, but please do not call the gameplay 'standard'. FFXIV offers a absolutely huge variety of content and systems compared to most modern MMOs.

Lazarus71

Originally posted by Praetalus
I have more then one post and agree with everything said by the OP. The only issue I have with the game is that it isn't out yet. These guys have totally redeemed themselves in my opinion. 

Same here

Anfere31

yes only one post, i'm a long time reader of mmorpg but never really cared to post anything. It's been a long time since an mmo got me exited or eager for the release, i think the last one was wow vanilla... So after this beta week end, i just felt i wanted to share how awsome playing this game felt, and i don't work for any gaming industry lol that's just taking the suspicions too far.

I'm also very pleased to see that the game will be suscribtion based. It's like people stoped having any value for money when you see people buying mounts in Neverwinter for 40$, or a respect for 6$. Most F2P mmo's have crazy prices that for some reason everybody is ok with. I prefer paying a monthly fee and not having to worry about a thing.

I will be as strong, and as advanced in the game as the guy that could have spent 1000 dollars. And i won't have to buy bag slots, mounts, character slots, xp potions or w/e kind of get it done faster potion, no random box's with epic loot that comes once every full moon and where people sink tones of dollars for the RNG chance to get the ubber object.

Khebeln

Originally posted by Anfere31

yes only one post, i'm a long time reader of mmorpg but never really cared to post anything. It's been a long time since an mmo got me exited or eager for the release, i think the last one was wow vanilla... So after this beta week end, i just felt i wanted to share how awsome playing this game felt, and i don't work for any gaming industry lol that's just taking the suspicions too far.

I'm also very pleased to see that the game will be suscribtion based. It's like people stoped having any value for money when you see people buying mounts in Neverwinter for 40$, or a respect for 6$. Most F2P mmo's have crazy prices that for some reason everybody is ok with. I prefer paying a monthly fee and not having to worry about a thing.

I will be as strong, and as advanced in the game as the guy that could have spent 1000 dollars. And i won't have to buy bag slots, mounts, character slots, xp potions or w/e kind of get it done faster potion, no random box's with epic loot that comes once every full moon and where people sink tones of dollars for the RNG chance to get the ubber object.

Well all i can say after playing the beta myself, could`t agree more and all you said is true. 

And those who think that he might lack creditability, i can vouch for everything he wrote. Played countless mmos myself, running a 11+ years of gaming community and playing mmos since meridian 59

The new FF14 ARR truly feels like home. And first feeling i had about it its not a FREAKING yet another coop mmo.

Its a Semi-Themepark or should i call it Theme-Sandbox ? Its a hybrid for sure. Living breathing world, not just dead static zones, random events, no instanced zones, and hundreds of people everywhere you looked in the beta. 

Game simply looks alive and we where missing that for a long while. I cant think of any other mmo in recent years like this other tan maybe rift when it comes to its dynamic gameplay. But rift was far smaller landwise. And the art. Its FF for gods sake ! 

The art, the sound it all feels nostalgic !

svann

I agree with 90% of the original post.  Ill add that the interface lag is gone.  My only complaint is that I thought it was a weekend beta, but it got turned off early early sunday morning.  If I had known I would have blocked off more time saturday.

Aldous.Huxley

Originally posted by svann
I agree with 90% of the original post.  Ill add that the interface lag is gone.  My only complaint is that I thought it was a weekend beta, but it got turned off early early sunday morning.  If I had known I would have blocked off more time saturday.

Same here. Went to jump on this morning &... Nothin'!

 

Shouldn't be long before it starts up again, though.

emperorhades1

Original post is great, the OP is spot on with most.

The title to this post sucks - In the future ARR is "MY" best mmo experience since EQ1

 

Graphics - The in game character, landscape, monster, npc graphics designer deserves the biggest reward ever given to  a graphics designer.

 

The combat animation team should be fired.

sudo

I, too, have more than one post and am ready to sign under everything OP said.

Laughing-man

Originally posted by emperorhades1

Original post is great, the OP is spot on with most.

The title to this post sucks - In the future ARR is "MY" best mmo experience since EQ1

 

Graphics - The in game character, landscape, monster, npc graphics designer deserves the biggest reward ever given to  a graphics designer.

 

The combat animation team should be fired.

Combat animations are incredible, you sir are wrong.

:-(

Khebeln

I love the animations, but maybe its a matter of taste. As a freebie check the 100+ High Quality screenshots from Beta 3 at maximum Settings with sweet FX for additional depth and lightning (and Antialiasing)

http://www.excessum-gaming.com/ajax.php?s=redirect&cmd=gallery-album&preset=10248667&id=139078