When this game first came out, it was the most disappointing game on release. It did so badly that they had to re-release the game. Thankfully that was a long time ago and the game has since been worked on greatly. There have been two major expansions with Heavensward and Stormblood.
GENRE: MMORPG
GAMETIME: 370+ Hours
Overview: One of the better MMORPGS out there.
It has a very good social aspect, and the community tends to be nicer. One of the best boss designs I've seen in an MMO. However when it comes to combat I do find fault with how slow the global cool down is. If you come from an MMO like WoW you will notice how much slower combat is. Also exploring within the world is not incentivized. You will likely grind quests called FATES in a handful of areas and then grind dungeons for all your levels. PvP is also not a huge aspect of the game.
GAMEPLAY
The original base game comes with the following classes
TANK: Paladin, Warrior
HEALER: White Mage, Scholar
DPS: Monk, Dragoon, Ninja, Bard, Black Mage, Summoner
The DLC add
TANK: Dark Knight
HEALER: Astrologian
DPS: Samurai, Machinist, Red Mage
As with any MMO, if you are picking a DPS class you better be willing to sit through long dungeon queue times. Either that or play the game with a friend who plays tank or healer classes.
This game can feel really different depending on what class you pick. When I played for the first time I picked a lancer( Dragoon) and quit before level 20. I was so incredibly bored by the combat that I quit. Years later I came back and picked the pugilist (Monk) and enjoyed the game so much better. Some classes are incredibly boring at the beginning and you just gotta power through it if you really want to have fun with the class. Because playstyle is so different between classes, and even more-so between roles, I will divide up the gameplay criticism into the three roles (TANK, DPS, HEALER).
Your parties are typically
TANK
DPS
DPS
HEALER
Later on you have much more chaotic dungeons that need many more players.
Tanks in this game are incredibly easy to play in terms of aggro. It is almost impossible for a DPS or a Healer to take aggro off of the tank. If a tank loses aggro of an enemy, something went seriously wrong. Being a tank essentially means gathering enemies efficiently, taking the role of the navigator, and interrupting spell channels. If you are a beginner to the game but a veteran of MMOs you could definitely play the tank as your first job (class) without any problem as long as you skim over the wiki for the dungeon and ask party members if you are confused. There are downsides, there are very few tank options in this game. Paladin, Warrior and Dark Knight are your three options and Dark Knight cannot be your first job. You must reach level 30 to attain this job. Personally, I enjoy Dark Knight the most as a tank because it looks edgy as an anime protagonist. I know many that swear by the other two jobs as well though. Tanks are enjoyable to me because I get to set the pace of the dungeon. And by pace I mean that I run through the whole dungeon and make my healer hate me since I'm always on the brink of death.
DPS is the recommended job if you are new to MMOs or you are just bad at them. The clear time of your dungeon will suffer before you learn your most efficient rotations but you can still make it through. If a tank is bad everyone is dead, if a healer is bad, well, everyone is dead. If a DPS is dead you have another DPS and tanks/healers actually do decent damage. With the DPS role you have the largest selection of jobs. You can be a melee physical damage dealer, a ranged physical damage dealer, or a mage. When it comes to mechanics I would say that the DPS jobs have the most fun rotations. It isn't overly complicated and an competent person can be efficient with their DPS rotations.
Healer The healing jobs are jobs that I don't enjoy that much for one specific reason. All of the classes are casters, and when you cast a spell you have to stand still. Most healers do the healing job well. However It is the role where you will notice the largest skill gap between an alright healer, and an exceptional healer. Amazing healers keep their party alive while maximizing their own DPS and cleansing any status effects placed upon your party. When you are first starting off just worry about keeping your party alive and cleansing the worst ailments. That is the most important thing. The healing classes are limited in number just like the tank classes. They do however have some enjoyable and distinct jobs. The Astrologian is pretty cool if I may say so myself. If you want to pick healer because you think it is the easiest class, don't. A bad healer is one of the most frustrating and noticeable things in any MMO.
SOCIAL ASPECT
One of Final Fantasy XIV's greatest strengths is its social aspects. Many people in Final Fantasy don't even level that often, they just hang around with their guild mates, collect cool looking dyes and armor, or decorate their houses or apartments. The good thing about Final Fantasy is that the community for the most part is helpful, if you mess up a dungeon once or twice it isn't that big of a deal. You get told what to do and you go on back in. People want to be commended(honor system) at the end of the dungeon so they are unlikely to flame. There's a mentor-ship system if a person is interested in that. And if you are new the game lets other players know that so to reduce the likelihood of flame.
The Story
Apparently there is a story to this game, It is supposedly good (it is a final fantasy game after all). I skipped nearly every piece of dialogue and only payed attention to my job story-lines.
The World
The world of Final Fantasy XIV is huge, but it often feels empty. If you explore it will just be for the sake of exploration. It is not efficient to explore beyond the story areas or the best FATE area's (World Events) for leveling. Don't get me wrong, the world itself is beautiful, there just isn't much incentive to explore it.
SUMMARIZATION
I would say that Final Fantasy XIV is one of the better MMORPG's out there at this current moment. It is certainly one of the biggest out there currently. The game has a fantastic aesthetic, great character customization, top notch boss/dungeon design, and a lively social aspect. However the world itself isn't as rich as a game like WoW and the combat is much slower with a two second global cool-down. I got hooked on this game until I reached level cap on all the jobs I liked. After that I found myself just hanging around in game rather than actually doing anything. I still occasionally play however the end game content is nothing compared to something like WoW.
I don't typically like MMO's and the only ones that I have played and enjoyed were FFXIV, WoW, Guildwars 2, and Dungeon & Fighter. While the game has its faults it is among the best MMOs out on the market right now.
Peace,
Vaaren
I tried to register more than once but it's not working, why don't you make it easier?? now I have an account in some random website and no free trial of the game...
noice
Seems like an original article not a copy
I think i will try this game
so this is it i want to pplay this rn to get robux! hehehehe!
Try to do better formatting. The article is kinda wordy IMO. I feel like adding more pictures to interest the readers to read otherwise this article is more like a storybook.
nice game, is fantastic
It's nice its like not copyed!
It could be better with some images.
nice work and content tho good job