Reflecting on my experience so far playing through A Realm Reborn, in order to reach Heavensward, and playing devil’s advocate for any FF fan who would dismiss this game entirely (or any FF game) – and for whatever reason – but still consider themselves FF fans. Taken from the tail end of a recent play through.
► Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/thegamersphere
► Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheGamerSphere_
Susan O’Connor Ask A Game Writer Blog:
► https://www.susanoconnorwriter.com/blog
#finalfantasy14 #finalfantasyxiv #ff14 #ffxiv #arealmreborn
source
Man so many wrong information in this vid. Pretty sure none said that this doesn't feel like FF game. Many says this doesn't feel like MMO, but feels like single player cause of the narrative and story progression.
I'm both a long time FF and a MMO player since 2002~ ( not currently playing one atm ) and I have played ARR and Heavensward when they revamped the free trial last year. I played it on the Ps4 because my current PC is ultra old. I got a lot of thoughts about my experience.
Let's start with how I see ARR as a MMO. The 1-50 is not that long if you keep on the MSQ, unless you're an old man gamer like yourself and after 30~ hours you're only 35 xD.
I think what made the experience feel long for me in ARR was the fact that the game as few spells until later expansions. Even the Arcanist —> Summoner path that I took was not very APM intensive. I get that this game was made for a more casual audience and has to work adequately on controllers but it made the whole leveling experience besides maybe the last 4~ levels a snoozefest. I did not feel pressured to arrange my bars in any smart way until near the end of Heavensward where it became clear I couldn't just slap things anywhere and had to think about my setup.
Then it's compounded by the fact you basically fight many of the bosses in ARR twice, probably because they could not manage to develop enough bosses and assets in time for the 2.0 launch. It's understandable but nevertheless, you feel that the game had more to offer. The improvements were their in Heavensward, but depending on your speed of play this could take someone upwards of 60 hours which is a pretty tall ask.
FF XIV is a very "entry" level MMO with a very apparent FF skin on it, which is exactly what fans of both MMOs and FF would want, hence it's success. But it's not really for me event though I love both these things.
I think the nature of MMO weakens a very narrow and focus story which FF stories usually are about and the FF and console aspect sorts of weakens the depth of gameplay a MMO can have by aiming a bit lower on the difficulty scale. Also, I like PvP, and from what I was able to gather PvP is pretty muh an afterthought and not very alive in this game.
TL;DR : What I want from a MMO and what I want from a FF are generally not compatible with eachother.
I'll note that is only my views, proven by the fact FFXIV pretty much trades blows with WoW and the rest of the MMOs are wayyy down in term of subscribers and revenue.
this game is still very casual compared to XI, even with all the changes XI went through lol
but yeah this game isnt for everyone, it definitely has very run of the mill MMORPG combat and questing, even if it does do it a lot better than most
if you want an MMO FF that is more FF then play XI, but that's a game that doesnt really respect your time in the slightest, and if you just want an FF experience play literally any other FF
XIV is a great modern MMO with a very classic FF-esque storyline
but if you hate MMOs, even XIV probably isnt going to be a game for you
(coming from someone who has several Jobs capped at 80 and is running endgame content after 4 years of playing)
I consider myself an old school FF fan / non MMO player and I am currently slogging my way though FF14 (because of the hype and to distract myself while waiting for more FF16 news 😊)
My recommendation would be to temper your expectations with Heavensward. I'm currently close to the end of Stormblood, and while the game, story and characters do get better than ARR, it's still FF14 and will just never be the "mainline" FF experience I want it to be.
While I don't necessarily think the 200+ hours / hundreds of $$ in sub fees has been totally worth it (for me), I do think it's an exceptionally well produced game. And the fact that it's kept a non MMO player like me playing this long certainly says something positive about the game.
I'm glad that so many FF fans love the game, and if there was a future FF MMO with more modern gameplay mechanics and presentation, I could see myself getting totally sucked in. But as it is, and like I mentioned above, the game beyond ARR, while better, is still more of the same in many regards. I would be reluctant to suggest it's transcendent like many seem to suggest.
Who knows though, maybe Shadowbringers will be that good!
The only thing I would add is that a very large portion of the FF14 fanbase consider this the best story of any Final Fantasy game, and for many one of their favorite games of all time. That might sound like hyperbole but the Shadowbringers expansion was just really that good and as someone who fell in love with Final Fantasy having lived through it's best years in FF7-FF12, it takes quite a bit to exceed that kind of nostalgia. That doesn't take anything away from what you say, but I do think anyone who is remotely a fan of the series and has the time would not regret playing through it. The MMO elements and the very slow start is definitely a bit of a barrier to entry though. The story doesn't really pick up until the post-ARR content leading up to Heavensward. Until then it's pretty basic, introductory stuff. Shadowbringers is when things get extremely good.
I consider myself a fan since ff 9 came out. I played on the ps2, I was 12 years old. After that I played 8, 10, 12, 13 and 15 (in that order) still to this day I love 9 the most. Never really been drawn towards 14 since I discovered your channel. Now I am considering trying it. What the ff series consistently has done for me is the ability to always draw me into its world even if the story was lacking the leveling and battle system makes up for it and the other way around. Love the gambit system of 12 the most of all battle systems. Love the story of 9 the most and its high fantasy world. Loves the character design and setting of 8 the most plus its a love story. I can alway find something in any ff game that makes me love the game. Love maxing out everything. Get every legendary weapon. Even if I need to skip treasures to get to a certain weapon at the end of the game. Love lore, love the returning characters.
And now I am waiting/hoping that a ff7 remake comes for pc because I don't own a console anymore. Finnaly than I can play ff7