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A honest review (O.B.)
Divion
Member UncommonPosts: 411
Hello!
First off let me say this is a review based soley on my subjective experiences in OB, and backed up with some objective facts - the purpose of this is soley to inform those who have not tried out the OB (Due to not wanting to install, or just waiting for launch)
* I have played MMOs since 1997, i write reviews for (On games) for the Tampa Bay Examiner
Lets start off with some basic information.
System requirements
i actually find these somewhat staggering - The Graphics -are- amazing, but they don't seem to justifiy the system requirements, or performance -- I am running a i7-920 (intel) 12 gigs of DDR3 (Cosair), 1 GTX 240 (1gig VRAM, Nvidia) aside from the video card, i'm running an above average system for this game - and i have choppy FPS --- The odd thing is, even with all available graphic options turned down, the performance is the same as with them turn all the way up -- this leads me to suspect that their is no performance scaling option, leaving those of you with questionable rigs in a bad spot.
It's dangerous to push these kinds of system requirements on games with allot of hype (See APB, AoC) this tends to set up a major launch for a face plant, as many people will become way too annoyed with performance issues to play the game to a point of contention or satisfaction.
Character Customization
I have seen other reviews claim that FFXIV has amazing, and plenty of customization option - This is very relative, and in my case, both true, and false --- True in the sense is offers a great deal more compared to FFXI, and some lower budget titles -- False in the sense of industry standards (Current), considering what has been achieved with titles like APB, STO, CoH/CoV, CHO, to name just a few titles - Why mention this? - For some (Me included), the ability to really define your character is a big plus, however there is plenty of options to help you create a character that will represent your style - i do find the fact that the optional features for each face is unique to that face (Scars, Facial hair, Tattoos, ect).
Game Play
Many people say that FFXIV is a throw back to first/second gen MMOs and it indeed does feel like it, not since Everquest have i locked in an epic duel to the death with a meager rat with the outcome unknown. To some of the immediate difference in PvE mechanics will be a huge turn off, i find this style some-what dated, and superfluously specific on targeted markets - If spending 5 minutes hunting down a target that may or may not end in victory for a small amount of XP sounds like fun to you, then more power to you - However, i have phased out of that style of MMO play 10 years ago, and it's exactly that, archaic - Allot of veteran MMO'ers tend to dislike "Care bear" MMO's but they also fail to see the practical application to it, when i was 14 sure, i could spend 5-8 hours a day grinding in the Greater Faydark of EQ for 1/4 a level, but today as an adult i have no time to spend on a game like that, and if the more casual game play wasn't offered by some titles then i would return to console gaming, and leave the MMO-market for good.
So what does that mean? In short, The MMORPG market has grown leaps, and bounds in the last 10 years, but that’s not because kids are playing these games, it's because more adults are playing, and those kids that started off with EQ/UO/SWG have grown up, and are now adults, by that measure they are the ones with the money, and they are the targeted marketed, a targeted market that can't contribute verbose amounts of time to a game for little return, it's just not practical, and i don't think this type of game play will -retain- anything but hardcore adults, franchise fans, and kids with the taste of this type of play.
Melee Vs Caster - There is a dramatic disadvantage for a caster right off the back, as the leveling system is very similar to the system of Dungeon Siege (You level what you use), it doesn't (as of now), award class xp for casting spells, which means, if you are a caster, you won't be casting spells that often when grinding, as you'll tend to be swinging a staff, or zapping with a wand to increase class-specific (rank) exp. This leaves Disc. of war characters with a huge advantage, as they will level both their P. Level, and C. Level by using their main weapon.
Overall the game lacks -action- it's a very slow crawl towards progress, with an insane amount of dialog, if your someone who just clicked through NPC quest dialog, to read the highlighted points in a quest journal then run off to complete the task for your coveted award, you won't like FFXIV, yes there are "guildleves", but they are limited (albeit very enjoyable.)
Controls are very awkward, and choppy, both with UI Lag, and just the way actions are performed, casters have a very hard time with target management, among other frustrating mechanics of control -
In short this game is really targeted at a specific market, with those players in mind, this game offers rich -storyline- eye popping graphics, but failures to deliver anything that appears to be industry standards at par for an MMORPG
I was planning on purchasing this game but after the OB i won't be - as i lost a taste for this type of MMO a long time ago, but- i respect the hell out of Square for allowing people to try the game first, i would have been very angry, and possibly boycott any other Square titles if i purchased this game to find out what was under the hood.
The market is about to be flooded with next gen MMO's this game isn't for everyone, don't fret your game is right around the corner.
- Divion
Comments
The game feels like it should have been released in 2001
Afraid not, just another honest opinion.
While the review was largely negative I can say that felt like the first time I read a review that didn't have an ulterior motive in a long time and you made lot's of compelling points in your criticism of this game.
I had to vote unsure because I've not even come close to checking this game out, I didn't check out the last FF mmo and had little interest in this one for much the same reason that you explain in your review. I'm an adult now and I honestly don't have 5-8 hours to spend for minimal gain in any game nor the patience for brutal grinds like the one you describe in the scenario about facing off with the rat.
I must admit though I'm quite surprised at the mostly negative commentary surrounding this game most of the logical debate has been negative while most of the defense for the game seems to be extreme fanboism and while I've never had any interest in the FF series as an mmo a part of me is kind of worried for this game since I grew up on Final Fantasy console rpgs.
At the end of the day though much like why I left WOW I just don't agree to the design philosophy they follow in the design of their games, what Blizzard so far see's as important design elements may gain them the most subs but in all it doesn't agree with my play style and unfortunately I feel the same thing about Square Enix mmo's. And I find that kind of funny because I've never thought of Final Fantasy games as terribly difficult, just long on cutscenes but certainly not world beaters then all of a sudden they jump in the mmo space and embrace this design philosophy from the days of old EQ.
Hopefully SE can go against traditional history and the game can actually change alot from beta to launch.
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
Some people like rpg rather than action games, or Pve rather than pvp. Its all come down to this . Even if some of your points have a very valid fundation.I can overlook the issues with UI and such becouse i know two thins.
1 - Everythin else will be worth dealing with stupid thins like the current state of the UI.( for my taste)
2 - Down the road , most of the problems complains people have right now, wont be there anymore. The unfinished product SE is delivering right now is exactly that , an unfinished product. How long will it take to be the game it was supoused to be at release? before or around ps release.
I tought i was one of a diying breed but lately i seen just way to many people who share my tastes , so im sure they will find a home on FFXIV.Everyone else can wait for the rest of AA mmos coming out soon, im sure they will deliver. But they have nothin for me and my tastes.im acttually playing crono triger right now while i type on my pc. Best game ever.
PS:
FFXIV Battle Planner; Sei Sato said it best :
Sato: It's not an action game, but there's a little taste of action in there.
Dont quite get what did people exactly expect.
I've been playing this beta for about a week now, and from what I've seen so far, this game could have a very promising future. It sounds to me like the OP went into this game with an expectation of what he/she thought this and other games should be, and their opinion is something they're absolutely entitled to. All I can say is that you shouldn't come into the beta and expect the same things you might be accustom to from other mmorpgs, because what the game actually is will probably be something different. I'd offer that to anybody, whether they're an ex-FFXI player or not. That doesn't mean it's bad though. I like it so far. There are a lot of things that can be improved and I would have liked to see some things that aren't there yet, but I like the basis.
Don't read too much into the posts here on this site. People have there own opinions, tastes, and sometimes agendas. Make sure you try it for yourself, and if you don't like it, don't pay for it.
1. I run an I5-750 2.67ghz 8gig DDR3 ram and Nvidia GTX465 and I get minimal lag at best. I can't see how you get any bad frames at all with your comp.
2. Customization is overrated because you are wearing gear most of the time. You can make the most amazing character ever but noone will care with all the gear you are wearing.
3. Feels like a throwback from when mmos started. Well I do not see it as an issue because alot of rants on this forum is that todays mmos aren't like the mmos of yesterday.
4. My conjurer rocks better than most melee classes with stoneskin, ice spikes and heals. Melee compared to casters are at a disadvantage except for pugilist which gets second wind heals. You sure you even played ?
I'd just like to comment on one thing OP. While the review was a helpful and honest outlook on the game, the whole melee versus caster thing actually changes later on.
Once a caster gains the ability to get mana back through TP (level 10) they become a powerhouse because they can virtually eliminate downtime through heals as well as survive fights longer to keep attempting to gain skillups. I leveled several classes post rank 14 in beta phase 3 (physical level was capped at 30) and I can tell you that once you hit 10 on a caster they are by far the fastest levelers (pugilist also did fairly well).
Yes, while my review is overall negative, i must say i am a FF Series fan, been one since the SNES, and became terminal attached when the industry defining FFVII came out -
I tried really hard to like this game, not just because it's FF, but because right now there is a serious lack of playable MMO's the dinosaurs of the last generation are dying ou t(WoW, CoH/CoV, VG, EQ2) the current generation is sub-par (Aion, WAR, AoC, Darkfall) and FFXIV was to be the first baby MMO of the new generation.
Currently i'm playing Alantica Online, and Starcraft 2 - as my main focal points, i'm waiting on the horde of MMOs to get launched, and i was really hoping FFXIV would be playable, i didn't have high expectations as i wasn't really -waiting- on FFXIV more so it was going to be a place filler simply until Tera, SWTOR, BnS, ect released, i wasn't really expecting a Next generation MMO with a game style from a generation long dead.
My issue with allot of people defending various titles with the logic of "They will patch in a fix later" is :
1. You don't know that, your assuming based on the facts that the issues are so degrading to their image, and playability, so whos to say they will in-fact fix them? You can't be objectively sure about it, so why should i buy the game, and risk those issues never being fully solved.
2. Many times companies try to fix an issue, and either make it worse, or create new issues, resulting in a solid year of hot-fixs, patches, and frustration.
3. This is SE, not Blizzard, Gpotato, Runic, Codemasters, Square shouldn't be passing off polished turds as ivory, they have a high standard they set for themselves, they need to deliver - If the game is not ready, don't release it yet.
This made me uninstall the game after 1h of playing it.... (yes i have a decent spec , simmilar to his)
Very good review (on this part , do no about the rest)
Just whanted to add that, all jobs will go threw so much customisation in such a short time is pointless to compare them right now,,,
You've got to be a godamn moron to think APB died from graphical extremities, do your homework.
I have been playing mmorpg just as long as you and your right about this game it seem everybody on this site doesn't want to hear the truth about this game. I remember buying FFXI on first day it came out i got it around 1pm and wasn't playing it until 7pm installing updating took hours then hours to get on the same server with some guild mates to get the world pass so other guild members can join us. FFXI had it's good and bad but at launch it was playable and fun FFXIV for me was not fun off the back all the things you pointed out are 100% correct I know it's beta but this close to launch not a whole lots going to change. I was really hoping this game would be good enough to last me until next year but it was a big let down. What kills me is that anyone posting anything about the games obvious flaws are treated like noobs or wining wow players. People who will be playing this game more power to you i hope you have epic journeys in this game but this has to be the worse mmorpg i have played in along time anyway good review Divion.
I also agree that if you're a bunch of twitchers that can't stand story, which FF is absolutely KNOWN for, then this game is not for you.
i get class xp when i cast ... but this system still needs a lil work cause its so darn random
I don't typically entertain trolls, but i'm bored at work, so i'll feed you.
1. APB died due to many reasons, do a Google search, and you'll find on many respected websites, blogs, review hubs the same thing said about APB, the designers went too hard in on graphical quality in a game where twitch focus played a major role, leading to glitchy aim, delayed driving, - and once the nades, and bullets started flying, still frames, even on high end rigs (Mine included), this was *1* of many reasons, it's the golden rule that WoW stamped in, you want a bigger player-base target lower end machines, with the ability to scale for top end machines.
Clearly, it is -You- who failed to do their homework, i believe there is even featured reviews here on MMORPG.com that state Graphical extremities as one of the key factors for APB's failure.
Bad troll, bad.
And this is what SE gets for having such bad PR or marketing team and the devs being a never listening idiots( while genious at making games).Shame , really.
BTW just in case you didnt know , FFXI CB was worst than this.Much , worst. Yea is 2010 what were they thinking ? lol.Not being sarcastic btw.
you wasnt part of the orginal ffxi release it was worse off than ffxiv is. the Na release was much better than the jp release of ffxi. i dont htink its FAIr to throw ffxiv under the bus until after a few months of them tweaking on the game.
My experience and conclusions are about the same. I would say however, that I have a mediocre system at best and the initial settings were about 5fps and completely unplayable, after finding and using the separate settings app I was able to get it to about 15-20fps most of the time so almost playable. so the settings do have some effect.
I for the most part am an rp'r more than an action game sort of person, however I like some structure to the RP therefore not so much a sandbox sort of player. this however did not seem like either of those I had a difficult time finding quests outside of the guildleves. but the layout and instancing feels like it should be more story/quest driven.
From an immersion point of view I had some issues with the decision of how they used instancing, not only are there artificial barriers they are not blended into the scenery at all there are simply invisible walls that when past through, first warns you that you are leaving the instanced space then teleports you back to the center of the instance, now I did not play far enough to see if this caries throughout the game but it really did bother me more than I expected it would. I really thought the instancing in GW was a little to extreme for my taste but at least boundaries were a part of the world and zoning was through gates, doors etc. even old school zones like in EQ seemed to fit better.
I think that people that are fans of the IP will most likely enjoy it and people that like the style of game play will enjoy it and I am certain that there are many who will have no issue with how the instancing was used. but for me personally, the whole experience did not sit well with me.
And people with higher end machines will not have the technical issues I had I am sure and there will be client optimizations over time. but I do think this will be a huge hindrance in the number of subs they get, there is a large number of people in the mmorpg community that do not have high end rigs, or even mid range rigs for that matter..
Who's really to judge that the game isn't going to be much different in release?
Do you realize what this OB is? I don't quite understand how most of the users here can't grasp the concept of network stressing.
Exactly OB is for Network Stressing, and to get some early data on expected numbers for launch.
Only stress-related, and extreme bugs will be address prior to launch, the game is, as it will be til a major content patch, or expansion, i've been in enough OB's to atest for that.
That doesn't mean this isn't a good game, it's just a game for a specific brand of player, and my review is just to make people aware of that, so they don't end up wasting 60-100 bucks.
You dont need an high end rig to play it, just a new rig. old dated pcs seems to have the most problems.
I bought recently a 300 dollar pc on your regular store and added a 100€ nvidia 240, game runs great on low settings, ok on normal settings.On the other hand i have a 3.5k alienware, and it runs better, but not 3K better, if you know what i mean.
I can post what the system is but im to tired right now.Tomorow if you like.(typing on my laptop while i smoke outside.
Most OB's are the release version minus some tweaking and OB tools. I don't see SE adding much else except quests, storyline, and the other zones. It would be nice to see them improve UI response time.
That's the thing, the UI is network related for some damn reason, but at least because of this we know what the issue is, and not that it's a client issue that will stay until release.
Most, if not all of the problems we're having are network related, I can understand that some people have a gripe about the slowness in the beginning or that FF is story-based, which I can honestly say will stay for release but that's why I play FF games, for the story and the environment.
Not for twitch PvP and mob thrashing.
The game was released in japan on PS2 on May 16, 2002 and the PC version was released in North America on October 28, 2003, so Se had 1 years an a half to refine the game before you buy it. So you cannot compare the release of both game.
Now for the ''treated like noobs or winning wow players'', i can say that this is the same for the opposite. This will always be like that. You like the games your a fanboy or an elitist prock, you hate it so your a troll or a wowish kid. People like to to think in absolute here.
For the review i agree with some point and disagree with other, but still i will play this game cause i like it and most problem i see with the game are not gamebreaker for me. Any games at laucn has is problems, you deal with it or you move along.
Silok, it's all networking man..
Japan is easy to configure networks for, they're all closely knit.
NA is very vast and we tend to need 3 different server regions because of this, causing a lot of problems.
You also need to understand that FFXIV has pure international servers, this is going to take a lot of tweaking and testing to get correctly implemented.
It's a huge feat.