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In My Opinion...
Presbytier
Member UncommonPosts: 424
First off let me state I really do like this game, so I am going to start with my likes then move to my dislikes.
What I Like!
The Graphics: Yes I had to say the obvious this game looks really good. I don't have a high end PC, but my three year old laptop has no problem running this game on standard. It really does look good.
The Sound: It really makes you feel like you are really there. From the chirping of the birds during the day to thy whining of the crickets at night it really sounds authentic.
The Music: I did this separate from the sound only because it is in a class of its own. I can not think of a MMO with better music; It really is wonderful.
The Gameplay: It is slow and to me that is a good thing. It allows me to really become absorbed into the world around me. Naturally I am the type of guy who tries to hit max in a week, but this game makes me sit back and actually appreciate the world around me.
The Combat: Just like the rest of the game it is slow, so it takes a bit of thinking to be good at it
What I don't like!
The Graphics: Because the game is so graphic intensive it takes some tweaking to make it play smoothly on older machines. I hope they put a system optimizer in the game in the future.
The Music: While I do love the music and there is a great deal of it in the game, so far I have only been able to hear a small portion of it in-game and it does get a bit repetitive.
Chat: What can I say it just does not work real well and lacks any real customization options. While this is not a game-breaker it certainly needs some work.
The UI: Yes it is clunky at first and I can understand why people don't like it, but since they added the option for the hardware cursor it has reduced lag exponentially. Hopefully over time SE will find ways to make this better.
The Lack of Tutorials: This game is not forgiving to the lazy. It takes allot of time to learn the different aspects of combat and crafting. Honestly I think they could do a better job in this area.
Over all I am having a great time playing this. If I was to rate this game a 1 out of 10 it would be a 7.9 in my opinion. It is allot of fun, but does have a steep learning curve. The game will make you read all the quest information, because it really does not give you any type of map markers(for the exception of Guildleves, thy do have an arrow to point you in the direction you need to go). But in all fairness this is not a bad game. Does it need some work? Yes, but what MMORPG does not need work.
"Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game."-Guybrush Threepwood
"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me."-Hunter S. Thompson
Comments
Glad you like it.
Nothing innovative about Final Fantasy XIV
So I won't be buying it.
Wouldn't it being faster make it more of a thinking thing? You'd have to react a lot faster than as opposed to slow combat.
Just my 2 cents.
The problem with innovation is that few people are really innovative. Take Cryptic for instance they pried themselves with their perceived innovation, but to be honest most of their games have turned out to be really poorly executed. Is FFXIV innovative? Not really, but to be honest that really is not a bad thing in FFXIV case. It does what SE does well, and that is creating an immersive environment.
"Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game."-Guybrush Threepwood
"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me."-Hunter S. Thompson
Not always. RPG( Like the Final Fantasy series) are usually slow paced and require knowing what spells work against what enemies and knowing what order to use them. Whereas if the combat was faster paced it would probably just end up being a button masher IMO. Reacting faster usually has little to do with thinking and more to do with seeing how fast I can hit button 1 over and over again.
"Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game."-Guybrush Threepwood
"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me."-Hunter S. Thompson
I have to say I like your review, it's not a rant it's simple to follow and concise. One thing I will say is that I would put the lack of tutorials and "hand holding" in the like portion. I like the fact that I have to figure out where to go and what to do, it makes it seem more real and more of a challenge to me. I hate games that have step by step instructions apart of every quest in the game. Which to be honest FFXIV has quite a bit of that now, when you do a guildleve it tells you which camp to go and when you activate it shows you exactly where to go and tells you what to do and keeps track of how many mobs you have left or how many crafts you need to complete.
Also when people simply say that the UI is clunky or old, aside from the lag that is drastically better then when in beta what do you mean by that ? Is it having to press F to switch from passive to fighting stance (which by the way I hate), or having to open your menu and then click enter to open things instead of just being able to target and hit enter? I guess what I mean is, what specifically are you talking about when you and others say that the UI is clunky?
I agree I don't like hand holding either, but I did feel that it could have actually bothered how to do certain things like crafting(which is probably the most indepth system I have seen in a MMO). While not game breaking it can be frustrating for some.
"Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game."-Guybrush Threepwood
"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me."-Hunter S. Thompson
No one likes playing a video game as a job. That is what this game is, plain and simple. No way or how you can say different.
I prefer well executed games like EVE for my supposedly bragging rights for non-hand holding... whipdeedo!
I am Not wanting to start a flame war, but I have played Eve and it can feel like a job too, as well as Sim City, The Sims, and Sid Meiers' Civilization just to name a few. The fact is people do like playing games that feel like a chore sometimes. Is there grinding in this game? YES! But that can be said about most MMOs. Just look at Ultima Online( the longest running MMORPG) the only way you level anything is by repeating the same task infinitely. Not to mention you missed the point entirely.
"Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game."-Guybrush Threepwood
"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me."-Hunter S. Thompson
For me I like the idea there is a lack of tutorial. I think it's great that you are thrown in a world where you have to actually explore and figure things out for yourself. Like all games it comes with a manual for controls, which is all you need. I really agree with you on the graphics, sound, music etc.. It really gives you a feel of atmosphere and pulls you in. ^^
Thank ou for the review. It fits most of my impressions about the game. Oh and it let me feel better that I am not the only one that finds combat actually kind of complex, at least more complex than have autoattack and spam special move X only. In some cases even normal movement does have influence on the combat.
When SW:TOR comes out it will not have an auto-attack either; so I think it might be a trend to see games with no auto-attack.
"Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game."-Guybrush Threepwood
"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me."-Hunter S. Thompson