As many people know, I love a good MMO. In fact since "quitting" World of Warcraft I have probably played more than a dozen MMOs. So with that said, once I heard the re-release version of Final Fantasy XIV was good I decided it was time to go on over and see what made it so.
As of right now I have only just reached level 20 with my "main" job of Thaumaturge, the mage that makes things go boom. I also have leveled an Archer and Arcanist (summoner) to 10. As such this is only my initial thoughts based on the 20-30 hours I have put into the game.
Final Fantasy XIV has one of the slowest starts I seen in recent MMOs. Upon booting the game up and going through the introduction to your starting city (something not chosen by you but based on what class you pick) you are sent on a breadcrumb quest through the city. This in turns leads to other quests that teach you the basics of interacting with items in the world and make sure you are familiar with the layout of the city. However, this meant it was probably a good hour before I actually started killing anything.
Of course I now know that the initial start can be skipped very easily if you would rather jump right into the fray. This is not readily apparent though. The game also locks away many of the more interesting features, like renting a inn room, until you get to certain milestones in the main quest. Which can be annoying if you were not following your main story and just questing or doing the more dynamic FATEs.
There is a main storyline of quests to follow, also a series of class related quests that are separate from the main story. It is these two quest chains that so far have been the most interesting and rewarding. A clear majority of the remaining quests are mostly kill this, or blow up that, all very generic. This is made up by the writing of the game. You can tell some very skilled and talented writers are behind each and every line of text. Much of it is worth the time it takes to read.
Yes, I did say read. So far a clear majority of all the NPC I have encountered have no spoken dialogue. Voice acting is usually reserved for the massive set pieces of the main story quests. This does not really bother me, I grew up in an era where voice acting was a rare treat but I know it can be jarring for people that perhaps are coming over from a game like The Secret World or The Old Republic.
Now let get to the real meat of the game, the combat. If you have played any hotbar MMO than you should know what to expect. Tab targeting, cast bars, and the trinity are all represented. The wheel was not reinvented with this game. However, the game is very much aware of this and makes up with it with punishing difficulty. It is not needlessly difficult, but the game is not afraid to let you die for your mistakes. And as I approached level 20 I began to see a clear increase in difficulty of all aspects of the game. The instanced dungeons in particular seem to be showing off mechanics I don't normally see this early in a MMO.
As to how you go about committing your genocide there are more quests than just the classic explanation point. The two worth mentioning so far are FATEs and guildleves. FATEs are dynamic quests found in the world randomly, similar to the rifts in Rift. You go to where the FATE is happening and participate and earn rewards. The objectives of the FATEs have not been too interesting as of yet, mostly kill waves of monsters or defeat a large monster. I have a feeling that will change though as I get to higher levels. Finally guildleves are quests that you initiate by "purchasing" the quest. Usually these are more involved than other quests requiring a bit more coordination. You can even choose to set the guildleve to a higher level for better rewards. The downside is you are only granted the ability to purchase three guildleves a day (capping out at 100 total).
Finally I want to make special mention of the UI in Final Fantasy XIV. It is one of the best user interfaces I have seen in years. Things are easily adjusted and it displays all the information you would ever need. My favorite feature so far is the list of monsters you are in combat with and their aggro to you.
There is still more that I wish to talk about, for example you can level all classes on the same character. That is probably best left for the next time I check in, which will be when I breach level 40. So far though, I have to say I am not impressed but I am having fun. At the end of the day having fun is what matters most. MMOs that have impressed me in the past I rarely have seen to endgame. That won't be the case with Final Fantasy XIV, I want to see it through to the end.
Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn is made by Square Enix and is available for PC (29.98 USD) and PlayStation 3 (39.98 USD). It is a massively multiplayer online game that requires a subscription fee and constant Internet connection.
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