The Casual MMO's FFXIV:ARR Review

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Another month has gone by, and it went by extremely fast it seems. I say this because I almost didn't want it to end. I enjoyed myself very much in the world of Eorzea as Jaydree. But the time has come for me to finally review FFXIV: A Realm Reborn.
Visuals and FPS

Graphics – I was able to turn the graphics all the way to ultra on my machine with absolutely no issues. I have to say this world is absolutely beautiful. Even on my old laptop playing I had just enough eye candy to survive and feel drawn in.

Animations – There are a million animations in this game. Between spells, and emotes you can easily be entertained by just watching the characters.

Textures – This is where it gets interesting. Between many of the zones based on the region I was in, the textures seemed almost the same. There were subtle differences especially with the gear. The textures are a beautiful thing.

Variety – The zone variety is great and so are the graphics. I was never bored seeing everything and finding vista's to capture a wondrous view.

Lag – I received a few areas where lag created some issues. Mainly on Titan regular I was knocked off a platform because of Titans abilities and I believed I was clear of the path...and well the game said I was not.

Music/Sounds
Variety – The music was pretty, and varying. The only thing that stood static was the Chocobo music. It can get a little annoying after running around a lot.

Intensity – It got pretty good especially during Fates and during boss battles.
Quiet periods – There was no quiet moments in this game. There was a lot of music that was quiet and soothing when you were at rest.

Voice acting (if applicable) – There was some voice acting and it was very well done.
PC/NPC variety – Same here some NPC quest lines offered voice acting other quests were just text.

Battle sounds – The voices can get a little annoying because of their obvious anime origins.

PVE
Quest types/variety – There are a ton of quests. You have a min story line, side quests, levemetes, guild heists, class/job quests, and grand company quests.

Events - Fates are your events, they are random and require teamwork to complete. Based on your individual effort you will receive EXP , some GIL, and seals for your grand company.

Dungeons – There are plenty of dungeons starting at level 15. To unlock them you must follow your main story line quests. To continue on the quest you must complete the dungeon. I did not completely agree with this but, I also liked it and grew on me once I became a healer.

Story line – The story line is extensive and intriguing.
Extras – There are plenty of extra quests that you can complete as updates come around.

PVP
Variety – I did not experience PVP.
Fairness - N/A

Crafting
Types – I did not experience crafting either.
Importance - N/A
Difficulty - N/A

Community
Friendliness – Everyone was really friendly that I came across in FFXIV.

General chat activity – There were plenty of people talking in general chat and would always respond to any questions on my server.

Guild helpfulness – This is where everything stood out to me in this game. The Free company I joined did everything they could to help me. It was so friendly and helpful it spawned the Player Profile segment on this blog even.

Economy
Auction house – They have a market board which works like an auction house. It was very fluid and easy to navigate. I did buy a few things from there and instead of running to a mailbox it just appeared in my inventory. I like this.

Is it corrupted? - I did not see it being corrupt. But I am also not max level.

Is it easy to buy and sell? - Yes period.

Zone variety
How many zones are there? - There are a lot of zones, that somehow all seemed tied together.

Is there a variety of zones? - Yes and no. The starting zones for the three cities all seem the same. So all of the shroud areas look familiar, thanalan and la noscea as well. Once I started to branch out from those zones it started to gain variety.

What themes are there in each zone? - Thanalan was a desert mountain area, shroud is a lush forest, and la noscea is a hilly coastal region. I also ran into a tropical beach, jungle, and snowy mountain.

Ease of mobility – You can teleport, take airships, ferries, chocobo porters, or ride your own chocobo.

Size of zones – They seem pretty large until you get a chocobo. Each zone is an enclosed area which I do not particularly like. In between each zone you also have a short load time and splash screen.

Character customization
How many races? - As of right now there are five races.

How many class types? - This is what sets this game apart from quite a few out there, you have nine class. These classes can be swapped out based on the weapon you use. If you level a specific class to level 30 and another class to 15 you can unlock a job there are currently ten jobs. With the Heavensward expansion they are adding 2 more jobs and 1 new race.

How in-depth can I customize my character? It is pretty in-depth to make your character unique which is what you need since classes don't do that in this game.

How can I further customize my character (Dyes, Armor, Weapons)? - I have heard there is a flair system, I know you can dye almost anything as well.

Level progression
How slow/fast do you level? Leveling gets slow later on in the game, but you can also level really fast, because everything you do in this game gives you some experience.

What is the level cap? - as of right now 50 for each class and job. As you level your job you level the main class of that job. Heavensward will up the cap to 60.

How do I level? - Fates, Quests, Dungeons, Exploring, and Duties.

Server populations
I only ran into a server queue once or twice during main playing hours.
 
RL Aggression leniency
If I was in a dungeon it was tough to get away, being that I am a healer. But during everything else it was pretty simple to step away for a few moments.

Keyboard/mouse efficiency
It was very fluid and easy to use. I did not play with a controller, but that is an option.

Knowledge databases
The people are the knowledge base, there are plenty of resources out there but, I was always taught from people in the game if I had a question.

Is it worth the money?
I think it is, being that I played for one month I did not even get close to seeing everything there is to this game. From what the developers had said they are doubling the amount of content with the new expansion in June. This game can easily keep the casual gamer entertained with a good free company for years.

Special events and bonuses
I was fortunate enough to be playing when the golden saucer patch was added and I had a blast there. It is a good time killer if you don't have much time to play but want to do something worth while.

In game travel options
Again teleporting, chocobo porters, mounts, ferries, and airships. They only one that is free is your personal mount.

In game Currencies
There was Gil, seals, and venture coins from what I saw. I am sure there are more and I still do not know what the coins are for yet.

Longevity/Re-playability
You can play all classes and jobs to 50. Saying that I played three classes, one to 30 and the other 2 to 15, than level a job to 36 in a month. If you do the math it would take you playing at my speed close to a year just to get half way.
 
The Verdict
I loved my time in Eorzea. I really did enjoy the company of my guild, I enjoyed the story, and most of all I just enjoyed how the game flowed. I eagerly awaited my time during the day where I could play and I sacrificed a ton of sleep just to see what I could do with my time. Something's I believe can be changed and Heavensward has me a little worried on the direction of the class/job system but overall I would give this game an 7 out of 10. The 2 points could be helped by making queue times shorter on the DPS classes out there and making the game less gear dependent in the end game like I heard about so much. The score is also based on the fact I did not get to crafting and PVP. I believe Square Enix is doing a great job in the long run with this game and am looking forward to my next chance to log in.
Once Heavensward is released if and only if SE holds true to their statement of the content I will then re-play FFXIV to experience the new content and re-review it. So the name will go back in my random selection process of a folded up piece of paper in a jar.
Next week I will be starting my game play write-up for a "randomly selected" game by my son: Vindictus! I will also be doing a little gaming with my brother in Minecraft. So look forward to reading a segment or two on how crazy that is going to be.

If you like this review please let me know and check out my project at http://www.thecasualmmo.com