Final Fantasy XIV takes me back, I played Final Fantasy XI back when it first came out it was my first real MMO game of any kind. I have some great memories of the game but I also have moved on as well and can recognize some of the more troublesome elements that I hoped Final Fantasy XIV would address. I am going to go down and cover my first impressions.
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This is a beautiful looking game, downright gorgeous in some places. It strikes less of being a game and more of being a cinematic adventure interspersed with scenes of an actual video game. Overall it works well but there are some things I find disappointing.
The game is currently too linear, you basically just go from zone to zone with no real breaks or towns or chance to involve yourself in side plots. Valkyria Chronicles has more choice than this game at this juncture. About 6 hours in perhaps maybe less. Vanille has a terrible English VA and I expect her Japanese counterpoint is probably squeakier than I have the stomach for. Hope is just annoying for a variety of reasons; mostly dealing with his mother and being a total douche. Lightning needs to get punched in the face for blaming Snow for her problems and Snow is kind of wishy washy. If you are going to introduce a combat system it should be enjoyable at all levels, not just after you “get” everything. The story thus far is not terribly exciting, but hopefully it gets better.
Things I like.
The game is gorgeous and it’s hard for me to pick out at times the cinematics from the in-game engine. The character models are well done even if they are annoying. Combat system looks deep with the Paradigm Shifting. But so far I have yet to see the full potential. Musical score is fantastic thus far, and is simply massive. Character advancement system is similar to Final Fantasy X which I like, though it has the potential to be annoying. Overall a good game thus far but not what I expected. Not sure if that is good or bad.
Although a great post I felt remiss when I went I perused this post linked from www.massively.com; there was no mention of Final Fantasy XI, which of all the MMO games I have played has one of the best soundtracks I have had the pleasure of listening to. If you get a chance listening to this soundtrack is worth it for the ears, especially from the first expansion; the combat music is excellent and the Crystal Warriors music is pretty much one of my favorite battle songs ever.