This will be a long post, so if you make it through. Congratulations!
Keep in mind it's Beta Phase 3 so things are subject to change.
Alright folks, I noted in the Official thread a few days ago that I would share some of my impressions on Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Now if you've been on VGChartz for a good amount of time you may know that I was originally very excited for the first Final Fantasy XIV, and then it came out, and I had to rage about it on these very forums.
I quit, came back, and then pretty much beat the game because it was headed in a better direction, and the promise of A Realm Reborn pretty much sealed the deal. I got my relics, beat the hardest bosses the game had, became a legacy member, and then got ported through time.
Here we are, and A Realm Reborn is now in Phase 3. So how do I feel about the "new and improved" Final Fantasy XIV? A little torn actually, and i'll explain why below.
Graphics:
The game is utterly gorgeous. One of the massive complaints that I had about the original game was the fact that almost every area was copy and paste. Square redid almost every single detail there is, there are now tons of beautiful vibrant zones. However, it's a little inconsistent; some of the textures are really muddy, and the resolution on certain aspects like grass are absolutely terrible. It's pretty sad that someone has to complain about grass of all things but it's really really bad. They use this same grass texture and scatter it throughout the entire world, and it's jaggy as hell. You can literally pick it up and cut someones throat with it. Luckily DX11 and HD texture packs are coming sometime after launch. While the graphics are good, the sheer quality of them is a downgrade from the original game. Not a huge deal considering the amount of new zones and diversity. It's a damn shame that motion capture doesn't seem to be used in the game.
8/10
Combat:
This is one of the aspects of the game i'm not very excited about. A lot of the combat comes down to avoiding little red dots for enemy special attacks, and mashing buttons on your keyboard or Gamepad every 2.5 seconds. It becomes very tiring, and after awhile I just became bored. Every MMO comes down to spamming, but there's a level of frequency at which we do it, and it's up to the developer to determine that level of frequency so we don't become bored. The low amount of TP cost for every weaponskill makes it incredibly boring to fight any open world enemy (all trash monsters). Luckily some of the boss fights are more entertaining, but the combat is one of the absolute weakest parts about the game.
4/10
Sound:
This one confuses me. The sound is really good. They mix up some of the old songs from the original game and also created brand new ones specifically for this one. However, most tracks are only like a minute long and they don't loop. They cut out in the field never to be heard again unless you run around and come back. You'll be listing to a lot of ambiance...and that's sad. They really need to implement a loop option.
7/10
Questing (Main Scenario):
They're doing a very good job on this. A 100% step up from the original games main scenario. I really like how it intertwines with the original game and I can relate to it since I actually took part in those events. There is an antagonist they're setting up that has me very curious.
9/10
Questing (Everything else):
Dear....god. I have never been so bored in my life. Kill 6 Efts, Collect 6 chigoe eggs, Kill 4 Treants, Collect 6 vegetables, talk to XXX NPC, kill XXX NPC. It's boring...very very BORING. You'll be doing hundreds of these, and by the time you're level 6 you're already tired of it, and the sucky part is that questing and FATEs are the best way to level up. Put some damn effort into it PLEASE. These aren't quests, they're tasks. A big problem is that Guildleves, Quests, Guildhests, and FATEs aren't really much different from each other. Same tasks different style to interact and star the content.
3/10
FATE (Full Active Time Events):
Now I haven't had a lot of interactivity with these yet. I've done some extremely simple kill waves and waves and waves of enemies, killing a boss, or collecting items and helping NPCs. Some of these I have experiences are fun, others feel like a chore.
7/10
Crafting:
Excellent system, very very fun to craft. Huge step up from the original game. It's a shame that crafted gear is going to be absolute ass compared to dungeon drops. Luckily food and potions will always be in demand.
9/10
Gathering:
Just as boring as the original game, if not worse. Click Click Click Click Click....YAWN
5/10
User Interface:
I personally play with a Gamepad and it's really kind of broken...or perhaps not fully implemented. There's a lot of hangs ups on menus, lack of menu options such as a Main Menu, and it's hard or annoying to navigate when trying to set skills or interact with certain menus like the armory chest (box that holds all your gear). It's fairly clean though for KB/M users.
7/10
Gamepad:
This category to me is kind of sad. I suck with KB/M for tab based games. I'll be the first person to say it, i'm TERRIBLE. So I use Gamepad, and something I find frustrating is that the game is no longer developed based on the Gamepad being the standard. It's keyboard and Mouse based now so the overall feel of the game is less "weighty." if that makes sense. The Cross Hotbar (2 Gamepads in one) is easy to use, but hard to use at the same time. I get confused using my abilities sometimes because i'm hitting the wrong button combos. I find it ironic that they wanted to bring the KB/M up to global standards but they seem to forgot their own Gamepad standards and they're terribly restrictive in comparison to the KB/M UI and Controls.
5/10
Servers:
Quick, and clean. Original game was terrible in this regard but overall the servers are much better.
9/10
Overall:
A Realm Reborn weighs heavy on me personally as i've invested a lot of my time into it. I've also been waiting since 2005 for that successor to my last FF MMO. A Realm Reborn is decent... but it does very little to set itself apart from other big names out there except perhaps in the story/graphical department. It's one of those games where if you go in expecting something new...then you'll probably be left disappointed. In the end for me personally as a big FF fan, it leaves a lot to be desired still. It doesn't feel like much of an improvement in a lot of areas, and that's fairly sad given how bad the original game really was. I recommend you play in Phase 4 if you're interested at all in this game so you can decide for yourself if it is worth your time or not.
Pros:
Good graphics
Decent main scenario
Awesome music (when you can hear it)
Crafting
Negatives:
Graphics are a downgrade from the original
Quest spam sucks ass and Gathering is terrible
Battle system is very boring after awhile
Gamepad controls
It's centered on KB/M rather then Gamepad, losing the console feel of the game
Economy currently is like non existent
GRIND GRIND GRIND
Overall score: 7/10 (Rounded)
Do you have thoughts? Share them with the rest of us.
