It seems to be meta to say that A Realm Reborn, the base expansion of Final Fantasy 14 is “boring” or “slow” or “a slog”. As a new player, although I understand where the sentiment comes from, that hasn’t been my experience, and I think that sentiment can be very harmful for new players getting into the game.
A Realm Reborn cinametic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h542YbZuwkQ
A Realm Reborn Full Lore Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z6Srs4wpzI
Limsa Lominsa Starting Lore:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibo_5UBlkR8
Rogue Starting Lore:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cheF7RW3_cU
Y’shtola picture in thumbnail by potatojaguar
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 The “ARR Is Slow” meta is dangerous
4:56 Explaining the prologue
7:02 how to not get lost in the story
8:46 how to recover from a break
10:18 how the free trial can be harmful
11:09 FFXIV is not just for “weebs”
12:51 how to get immersed in the world
15:19 you’ll get over the culture shock
source
ARR story just wasn't anything groundbreaking, your very typical "imperial army" story. It just gets waayy better/interesting/thought provoking in later expansions. And yes reading more and taking your time does make the experience richer.
The way FF14 and games like Elden Ring are tackling multiplayer/mmo is soo different and maybe not what most gamers are used to, so maybe most people find the start of FF14 being a slog. We really do need to get away from the modern day wow/league/gach gaming brainwashing to really enjoy a different paced game.
Same, when I got the game last year I loved ARR. Didn't understand why people disliked it lol
I always say enjoy ARR and pay attention. This is the game holding your hand and walking you through the basics. When everything is simple and you're just a fresh dug potato
No wonder it wasn't a slog for you you started in Limsa my guy. Try being an archer or lancer in Gridania and you'll see the main vain of all the complaints. Try creating a new character and experiencing it because my words will not do it justice!
I've been around since 2.0 beta. All these claims about ARR didn't really come to being until Shadowbringer gained popularity. The ARR I experienced in 2013 was much more slower and cumbersome than any versions since. But us veterans still praised ARR for what it is. Most of us didn't think ARR was a masterpiece. It was more of a congratulatory piece for keeping the game alive. So, this is how I think happened. When 2.0 launched, ARR was praised. But it was praised because of its history from 1.0, a disaster of a game. And skip foward 7 years, Shadowbringer was praised to no end. That left ARR the ugly duckling in the line up and by this, nobody remembered 1.0 or would be in their radar for comparison.
I was a 1.0 player so ARR was a breath of fresh air. I didn’t know people thought it was a slog until about a year ago lol.
People sht on ARR way too much. It's setting the groundwork and all but the story is good. Especially the post ARR story. All the bad rep just scares people off.
AGREE with Glaviyan. All starting cities are fine in my opinion, they do a great job of introducing you to the world and the problems that area has.
Please take your time through A Realm Reborn and pace yourself as the game has a lot of content.
If you have a chance you should look at the no clips documentary that explains the craziness that was 1.0 and 2.0
Sorry ARR just isn't good and if it was actually good the game would be even bigger. the reaction of "wait til later" comes from the community acknowledging this and there's nothing wrong w that because I'm sure its true, just because you like it, doesn't mean there isn't some huge drop off ppl who don't want to get thru ARR. i tried the game out with friends and basically because we were all new and in ARR we couldn't rly play this MMO together because he had to keep dropping out the party for the msq. being forced to go thru arr alone until ur friend catches up to the dungeon ur on or the other way, that's not fun, the story sucks unless u still play jrpgs or accept a good chunk of anime. u have to deal with this on top of that boring tab targeting, on top of boring looking zones. the most enjoyable part was getting my fashion on.
the game had a huge boost into the summer and the player count is slipping right back down to pre asmongold numbers despite all the wow content creators that want to point to it as a great game for the engagement. the game needs one more revamp, doesn't matter how many wow refugees tell me its good
One of the reason why the community has that notion is that
1. The current ARR is a cut down / “proved” version of the original
2. Post ARR patches before reaching HW is where the “slog” is.
I was WoW player up until MoP, and my friend brought me to FF14 during the very end of ARR. I needed to reach the end of ARR ASAP, as I needed to reach him for seeing the endgame raiding. I failed. And HW dropped and I needed to catch up to him to HW endgame. I was stuck in ARR post patches and it was really horrible for me as I just wanted to get the hell out of it and get into HW then to endgame so that I can join my friend for raiding.
Now, when I look back on those days, I really shouldn’t have been so hell bent on doing raiding and just enjoyed what I had on hand. But, I was a WoW player and didn’t know any better back then.
Take your time. It’s all good and ARR is worldbuilding. You’ll be glad you are paying attention now. There is no FOMO so just take your time and have fun.
Welcome to FFXiV
I’m with you, I love ARR- I’m on my 3rd time through it and still love it, even though I’ve played through HW and SB now! People are weirdly harsh on it
I kinda wanna replay a couple things in ARR once the new big 6.1 patch comes out with all the changes to ARR
I never found it boring simply because I really enjoy lore and world-building and it sets a solid foundation for the entire story by establishing the political dynamics, name-dropping several future locales, and introducing the wide cast of characters who largely don't lose their relevance as time goes on.
It's further enhanced by how even side quests routinely introduce lore that becomes integrated into the MSQ proper; a certain dragoon probably being the best example of that.
Don't think it is much of a stretch to say ARR is sorta bad. Most classes also feel incomplete and very empty. Combine that with the post ARR being so damn long. That being said, everything should be read because everything comes together an aspect many of the people saying it is a slog forget to mention.
I want to say that XIV can be compared to LotR alot of ppl have problems with fellowships by skimming, dropping it, taking it back but eventually it gets going and you read the whole thing in 3 days.