FFXIV: Realm Reborn
Posted: 2014-07-14 03:22pm
So, WoW got boring (probably should have let raid lead know I was quitting, but he's a big boy, he'll get over it) and Kyle decided that FFXIV being on sale was totally what we needed to play, because it's just what we need: another MMO. We got it for ~$13 off Steam.
Supposedly, this is a sequel to FFXI (duh) which was so bad, Squeenix had to nix the whole thing and rebuild from scratch. So, I created a Male Highlander Gladiator because Paladin class is best class (when it isn't in D&D). The character creator is pretty in-depth, but the game itself suffers from a lot of "same-face." Thank God for Highlanders (which you have to select after the race selection) because the default "human" male doesn't have a lot of options for body build.
The cutscenes and music are fantastic, which is par for the course for Squeenix. The in-game visuals aren't anything to write home about, but it manages to look and flow decently. Some issue with shadows and dynamic lighting are there, but when aren't those an issue?
The experience system is handled pretty straight forward. The "Main" story is pretty much required. You will be unlocking many dungeons through advancing the main quest. You also unlock new areas and new factions by doing so, making it not an optional endeavor if you want any kind of considerable progress. A big beef I have with this is how many mini-instances must be done solo, forcing me to drop group from Kyle while we do them: this is extremely annoying when even SWTOR had a much better system. Fuck balance and all that shit: let me game with my friends. Side quests are also pretty standard, but at least there's no looting in this game. Dropped items are immediately deposited in your inventory.
There's also group content like FATEs which are like Rifts from... Rift. People just run in, kill shit, and/or do objectives. You have the option to level sync, so even a 50 can do level 10 FATEs. They also give marks for your grand faction (basically the guys who sell you all the cool shit). There's also Levemettes to pound out XP in a given level range: just short quests that function as mini-instanced content as only people in your party can attack your mobs.
Class experience is also straight forward, with a few variances. Every 5 levels there will be a class quest to give you new gear or abilities. Even gathering and crafting professions are leveled like a combat class, up to 50. Switching between classes only takes a weapon switch and the armory system makes swapping gear sets easy. At level 30 or so, many combat classes get a "Job" that has other requirements. I'm a Gladiator who can swap to Paladin at level 30 (after doing a short quest) because I also leveled Conjurer to 15. You really only need one character per server because 1 character can be all the classes.
Combat is visually appealing and void zones are clearly marked. However, as melee, the Global Cooldown is atrociously long (like 2.5 seconds default) and requires copious amount of "Skill Speed" to lower it any noticeable amount. This can cause issues with "proc" abilities like shield swipe. You can find yourself losing it because it procs right before you used another ability, by the time you're off the GCD, the proc is gone. Not enough abilities, especially for tanks, exist off the GCD. If you prefer slower-paced combat, this is your game. But it's taking a lot of getting used to coming from playing a Paladin in WoW that was stacking over ten thousand haste and had many useful abilities off the GCD. Also, you end up spamming "Flash" a lot, a 0-damage AOe threat generator that's on the GCD and uses a ton of your limited mana.
The game isn't a cake-walk though. Many of the solo-quests require planning ahead, if not lightning reflexes. The dungeons are what I would call challenging, at least for the average player. We do well for ourselves because we queue as tank and heals, so we only require 2 DPS to get the job done. But they are not the cake-walk WoW dungeons are in early game. Stupid people will wipe you. I find, for me, at least, a lot of issues come because the slow-paced GCD cannot keep pace with the fast-paced fights. Mobs are quick to drop aggro and eat the face of your healer, and they tend to move just as fast as you. Combining the two makes recovering from mistakes much harder than in Wow, or even Rift.
We're now about level 40 on and the game is still pretty interesting. It's also funny to immediately spot the PS3 players based on their movement.
Just a side-note: this is the first game since a Beth game I've probably spent more time interacting with female character in charge than anything. There's still a fair amount of their story-arcs being centered around the actions of men, but it's a good change from the likes of WoW with the one main female protagonist (two, if you count Tyrande) being either whiney or bitchy. Although it's funny to listen to so many Voice actors and actresses butcher an English accent.
Supposedly, this is a sequel to FFXI (duh) which was so bad, Squeenix had to nix the whole thing and rebuild from scratch. So, I created a Male Highlander Gladiator because Paladin class is best class (when it isn't in D&D). The character creator is pretty in-depth, but the game itself suffers from a lot of "same-face." Thank God for Highlanders (which you have to select after the race selection) because the default "human" male doesn't have a lot of options for body build.
The cutscenes and music are fantastic, which is par for the course for Squeenix. The in-game visuals aren't anything to write home about, but it manages to look and flow decently. Some issue with shadows and dynamic lighting are there, but when aren't those an issue?
The experience system is handled pretty straight forward. The "Main" story is pretty much required. You will be unlocking many dungeons through advancing the main quest. You also unlock new areas and new factions by doing so, making it not an optional endeavor if you want any kind of considerable progress. A big beef I have with this is how many mini-instances must be done solo, forcing me to drop group from Kyle while we do them: this is extremely annoying when even SWTOR had a much better system. Fuck balance and all that shit: let me game with my friends. Side quests are also pretty standard, but at least there's no looting in this game. Dropped items are immediately deposited in your inventory.
There's also group content like FATEs which are like Rifts from... Rift. People just run in, kill shit, and/or do objectives. You have the option to level sync, so even a 50 can do level 10 FATEs. They also give marks for your grand faction (basically the guys who sell you all the cool shit). There's also Levemettes to pound out XP in a given level range: just short quests that function as mini-instanced content as only people in your party can attack your mobs.
Class experience is also straight forward, with a few variances. Every 5 levels there will be a class quest to give you new gear or abilities. Even gathering and crafting professions are leveled like a combat class, up to 50. Switching between classes only takes a weapon switch and the armory system makes swapping gear sets easy. At level 30 or so, many combat classes get a "Job" that has other requirements. I'm a Gladiator who can swap to Paladin at level 30 (after doing a short quest) because I also leveled Conjurer to 15. You really only need one character per server because 1 character can be all the classes.
Combat is visually appealing and void zones are clearly marked. However, as melee, the Global Cooldown is atrociously long (like 2.5 seconds default) and requires copious amount of "Skill Speed" to lower it any noticeable amount. This can cause issues with "proc" abilities like shield swipe. You can find yourself losing it because it procs right before you used another ability, by the time you're off the GCD, the proc is gone. Not enough abilities, especially for tanks, exist off the GCD. If you prefer slower-paced combat, this is your game. But it's taking a lot of getting used to coming from playing a Paladin in WoW that was stacking over ten thousand haste and had many useful abilities off the GCD. Also, you end up spamming "Flash" a lot, a 0-damage AOe threat generator that's on the GCD and uses a ton of your limited mana.
The game isn't a cake-walk though. Many of the solo-quests require planning ahead, if not lightning reflexes. The dungeons are what I would call challenging, at least for the average player. We do well for ourselves because we queue as tank and heals, so we only require 2 DPS to get the job done. But they are not the cake-walk WoW dungeons are in early game. Stupid people will wipe you. I find, for me, at least, a lot of issues come because the slow-paced GCD cannot keep pace with the fast-paced fights. Mobs are quick to drop aggro and eat the face of your healer, and they tend to move just as fast as you. Combining the two makes recovering from mistakes much harder than in Wow, or even Rift.
We're now about level 40 on and the game is still pretty interesting. It's also funny to immediately spot the PS3 players based on their movement.
Just a side-note: this is the first game since a Beth game I've probably spent more time interacting with female character in charge than anything. There's still a fair amount of their story-arcs being centered around the actions of men, but it's a good change from the likes of WoW with the one main female protagonist (two, if you count Tyrande) being either whiney or bitchy. Although it's funny to listen to so many Voice actors and actresses butcher an English accent.