In this video GenjiGear gives a progress update on the first 50 hours of FFXIV A Realm Reborn as a new player to the series.
I have been documenting my new player experience for the past 3 weeks going through Final Fantasy 14 A Realm Reborn. This is the fourth video in my journey so far, you can watch the first three to get my initial reactions of the game.
Join me on twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/genjigearlive
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Love your personal insight mixed with excellent objective takes based on what you know of the age, style of that age, development and goals of the early game. Super refreshing to listen to. Glad to see you're patient with it and I'm looking forward to your thoughts on the story, battle and the general consistent evolution of all the aspects as you continue!
50 hours lol
Nice! Yeah, things start to pick up with Garuda. Early combat will remain easy for a good while, but once you get past lvl 50, all the classes really start to get more interesting and involved. So that by the time you are at current endgame, the game's really made you familiar with everything, and you'll be hitting buttons like crazy, all while constantly moving. Looking forward to what you think of the end of the base game that you're fast approaching!
I won't spoil anything for you, but I'll give a nice heads up on how FFXIV (specially ARR) does things: the NPCs on the main story (specially the scions), change places and have some chat bubbles that bring some knowledge about them (like thancred and his romantic anthems). It's the usual oriental trope where they make the small details matter. They go all the way to the last expansion and bring some extra flavor to the game! But besides that, đ
I guess the worst part is the 2.1 to 2.5 Story patches… So everything between the ARR final boss and the start of Heavensward. That's the most grindy part of the game.
But going through it is so worth it for the payoffs later.
There are NPC's you can go around with, just not all the time, and the NPC's arent visible to to other PLayers when theyre with you, theyre partitioned to your character only.
You can do story based Dungeons with NPCs, or with other Players. We also have instanced battles where fight with NPC's for story quests. The stuff youre looking forward to doesnt happen until the newer Expansion, there are events in game where go around with and NPC and have these conversations.
GO get your Battle chocobo thats an NPC that you can have with you on the overworld.
later on, you can choose some NPC`s to do dungeons with. This is from Shadowbringer onwards only sadly, slower than with a grp of People but not by much and i feel that they should expand T R U S T (name of the system) to older content because its not a bad idea for DD`s.
Glad you are sticking through this! I had started with a Gladiator (PLD) as well, and found it really slow and tedious. I remember spamming Flash in dungeons for aggro… those were tough times lol! Tried Rogue (NIN) at the first opportunity I got, and the rest is history! Been happily playing for close to 5 years now! Dungeons queues were certainly slower, but the combat became so much more enjoyable! That shouldn't really be an issue for you anymore, as PLD gets a lot of abilities by lvl 50 now.
I just played through all of ARR until completion in about 25 hours with my friend, so it doesn't have to take 50+ hours. Don't get me wrong, it still feels slow but it's definitely possible to play through in less time!
I would say min ilvl is for a more authentic experience for when the content was new
I didn't care too much about anything in FF14 until the Garuda fight.
ARR feels even easier today than it did back when it was fresh, because they gutted out and removed a lot of dated mechanics and buttons.
One thing I would recommend based on the footage is that the hud definitely needs fixing, which can be done via the in-game hud editor (escape, "hud layout"). The default two bars they give you will NOT be enough for the number of buttons most classes use. Here's a little checklist toward an easier ui in order of importance:
1. Add a third and fourth hotbar and get the third bar's keybinds set up. You can right click any piece of the ui in the hud editor to turn them on or off.
2. The fourth bar is recommended for any utility buttons you may or may not need. Take sprint, teleport, return, mounts, items, anything you won't be pressing buttons for in battle and put them on this bar.
3. Escape > Character Configuration > Hotbar Settings, then under the Display tab check the box next to "hide unassigned slots." This will make any empty boxes invisible and clear up a ton of screen space. The boxes will still be visible when you're clicking and dragging any buttons so you don't have to worry about "losing" them.
4. The default HUD is obnoxiously large, but every piece of the hud can be scaled. To do so in the editor, left click the piece (let's say, the quest list) and press crtl+home to toggle between the sizes.
God damn 50 hours….. keep on going man u got this shit.
"its easy"… Gets hit by mechanic in the face :D. I think, it's just more forgiving at lower levels. Also you have a bit of tank priveledge – you can mess up and not die just because more health. ARR is a great intro to the game, in retrospect its not actually that long – they give you a lot of dungeons and trials etc and so many new systems to have fun with, it's never boring….hope you continue to enjoy the game.
Its always fascinating for me to see what changes are implemented when going from one expansion to the next, and you feel the progression in design, so it gets smoother with time. Also, each expansion has its harder content to tackle, so trying out a bit of it once it's unlocked before heading to the next expansion is also a good way to have some variety of content. Msq is meant to be accessible re difficulty so that everyone has the chance to progress, and doesn't end up stuck at difficulty barriers, I think. But there are definitely challenges to be found if you're so inclined.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I look forward to hearing more of your thoughts.
Probably play HW before you really judge the game, as that's the established and rigid format all expansions follow past that point. ARR needs all that fluff or else nothing that comes after will matter. Believe me when i say every trivial thing you think is holding you back right now will be used in some form of payoff later down the line.
Early on (in A Realm Reborn), its mostly just an introduction and the focus story-wise is mainly on you. I guess you could say its the tutorial arc. When you get to around post-ARR MSQ tho, you'll start meeting a lot more npcs and thats where the world building and NPC/character develop really begins. A lot, if not all, of the things you mentioned, will happen on the next expansion like the instanced battles with npc allies.
I hesitate to agree with calling the 'minimum ilvl' setting artificial difficulty, as damage is undertuned to benefit the new player experience early on. It's the minimum stats needed to have a "playable" experience. They have to account for people who aren't used to real-time gaming with this early content, both in new gamers and turn-based Final Fantasy veterans. Using the minimum stats viable for that content if you're unchallenged is closer to the "true intended experience" than maximum synced ilvl as far as I'm concerned, though there's no negative association with playing it on easy, as it were.
There s ways to have an npc following you without others seeing it in an MMO, but, as you said it yourself, ARR is a very old game. That s why we say push through it. Be braveđ .you ll see a lot of changes as you progress through expansionsđ
Coming from a position of hindsight, I can understand why the devs have trouble trimming down the early story more without doing a complete rewrite. There is a great deal of groundwork that is set up in ARR and its patches that can easly be seen as fluff but that has rather important bits of set up and details that can come back to matter much later in the story. They certainly probably could have told it better and in a less cumbersome way but I can see how it is hard for them just to cull it more than tney have without risking damaging the story and the later payoffs as a whole.
Oh boy are you in for a treat! Regarding the NPCs đ
As it's been mentioned but if you stay with the game Starting Shadowbringers you get to take the main Story NPC's with you into every dungeons and depending on the dungeon and the NPCs you have they'll comment on whats going on. additionally in the latest expansion there are segments of the MSQ that you escort story npcs and can engage in dialogue with them at highlighted spots for additional insight into them or the story that's developing.
Every expansion has a raid appropriate for the level you have at end of the expansion. Also unlocking and doing the Hard version of the dungeons. All of those are complete remakes of the dungeon with new story and higher difficulty.
As you are finishing ARR you should be able to do the Coils raid. And trust me that one is hard. But it gives some pretty cool looking loot and fully explains what happened during the Calamity.
Your points are valid, and trust that they will be addressed. Theyâve actually reworked so much; in fact a lot of the dungeons and content youâre doing now didnât have the âtrust systemâ and you had to depend on other players.
You WILL get to harder content for sure. Your analogy of reaching the end of disc one is legitimate. Youâre going to get a lot of challenging content and even harder variations of boss fights you have already cleared (for example hard, extreme, savage, and unreal). The primals you have already defeated can be tackled again on harder difficulty and youâll be getting more rewards. Youâll unlock these through blue quests.
Some classes are also inherently more stressful than others. If you feel being a tank is for now easy, try going for a healer to change things a bit later on. Youâll be approaching things very differently and also gain an understanding on how a part functions and then that makes you a better rank as you learn to understand the limitations and capabilities of other classes.
Youâre in for a treat. Trust in the process.
2:15 — Fun fact: this is gonna happen later đ Since the story is very involved with other characters around you, it only makes sense to go on adventures with them – beyond the usual "lets go somewhere and you do stuff while I keep watch". Why again "later", you may ask? Because it took the devs a while to implement the AI – but they are and were already busy to change the "old" expansions to be up-to-snuff.
Also, you dont see it if another player has an NPC following them đ
You are definitely going through the worst part of the game now, but that's not to say it's bad. I hope you stick with it and meet people and make friends. It's just as much of a shared experience with other players as it is a video game. Main story is definitely the meat of FF but that is also the gateway into other aspects of the game. Someday in the future you will be able to look at ARR in the context of the full story and appreciate its charm and importance as the foundation of everything you've experienced.
Just take your time and enjoy the story. I know the "end-game" stuff is exciting to get to but there are so many gems along the way. But I'm sure you've heard this 1,000 different times. lol.
Music was a bit loud, had a hard time hearing what you was saying. I would say that ARR MSQ is definitely like an old JRPG, each expansion becoming more modern, looking back you can really see the improves they made over the years on all aspects of the game.
There's a bit to say this game is like a ramp. When ARR was conceived it was built on the premise that most people didnt know how to play an MMO so a lot of handholding was installed. When 1.0 failed (the original launch) ARR was the redo and SE gave the new dev team markers on if they can meet they would get more funding to keep the game going. So from end of 2.0 to 2.3 the storyline feels rush and disjointed because at that given point SE was debating on yanking the plug so the writing team was more or less trying to give a semi-satisfying story but leave things open. It wasnt until 2.35 that there was a greenlight to go forward with an expansion, as well during all of this SE was telling us players how many new accounts almost every patch or so.
ARR needs a rework, no doubt but Yoshida has already mulled over the idea that come 7.0 there's going to be a shake up of sorts (we dont know yet) and from 7.0 onward is going to be the new Player experience while ARR through Endwalker will be placed into New Game Plus category that can be played at the new player's leisure.
Love seeing u progress through the story<3
U can do dungeons with NPCs with the duty support system, but yeah in most of ARR they are not interesting.
But I def recommend doing some of them from post main ARR onwards, u get to battle together with more relevant story npcs and they sometime say fun/interesting things or do certain actions that fit the character. (like certain healers always prioritizing certain characters cause they have a close bond to them, or certain dps characters always immediately LB'ing when its ready cause they are action-y/fiery characters)
you have to reach heavensward – stormblood – shadowbringer – endwalker then story becomes more enjoyable . And those NPC missions are there trust me later on .
Early Game, especially A Realm Reborn and Heavensward it is more RPGMMO than MMORPG
regarding the NPC thing, funny you mention that, it's an actual feature from Shadowbringers onwards, It's called the Trust System, where you do dungeons with story NPCs serving as your party.
Welcome back man đ
Too bad can't catch the streams because of time zone differences, but I'm enjoying these videos
"I think I'm close to finishing ARR" oh no, you're not even close đ
You will be able to take your scions with you into battle, and get a lot of other experiences with them later.
I know you say they could cut out a lot more? I just started a new character to see what they cut and I think there are still a few quests <lvl 30 they can maybe make into one quest, but I do think they have done a good job while still trying to make sure you understand the culture of those people (because it may be important in later expansions). In other expansions you will spend a lot of time away from these people and their culture so I think this is kind of their one chance to build the culture for these zones. I've seen streamers who went through these areas quickly and some points the writers try to make later in the game are completely missed by them. If you are looking for a game with one "big bad"? One plot point? This isn't it. Even some side quests or characters who seem irrelevant may give you plot points and clues you may otherwise miss (esp later in the game). The only thing I don't like about the reworks is they did make some dungeons much easier by removing certain mechanics.
When I started I was the same – I assumed there was some "big bad" and they were just delaying with filler. At some point in ARR I decided to just play this as I would Original Sin 2 and other RPG's I enjoy – relax, try to understand the world they are describing, and not rush to end game – and I finally was able to make it to HW. So I had to change my expectation about what an MMO should be based on having played WoW, GW2, etc. And those who say we shouldn't have to change that expectation? That's up to you, but I tend to argue that any innovation or change is not accepted by most people because it isn't comfortable. if we stay comfortable in life, we never learn anything new.
keep going, every one of you're "i wish they did this" they do that, just after lvl 50. sometimes way way after level 50, but the game opens up alot after you finish the final ARR 2.0 quest. alot more.
Honestly, you should just skip through some of the more boring quests. They aren't that necessary to the story and you can get the main points while skipping through the text.
That all changes in Heavensward though, everything is important and it's all far more interesting than ARR.
The story builds on itself (literally). All I can say without spoiling much is that the stuff you touched on is in the later parts of the game. and this MMORPG is more of an RPG and less of an MMO because of it's roots in the east.
yep summed up pretty much the same as a lot of ppl. And Yes it WAS WAYYYY worse back then. Thank you for doing this video, its super important to see new players voice there impressions about it so that they can keep making improvements (as they have been, just need to find the good timing to do more as of course brand new content takes priority over it) Cheers!
I can't wait for you to get to later content… xD
Glad to see you're still playing despite ARR's rough edges! (Saw clips of the Titan quests and it brought back bad memories, lol.) I started playing the game around seven months ago and the ARR MSQ, while it had some bright spots, really felt like a slog in most places.
I agreed with what you had to say about the NPCs and getting to know them. This is not an opinion that I hear people express a lot, but for me, one of the weakest parts of the story overall (and ARR in particular) is the character writing for the Scions. The plot frames the Scions as the main NPCs in the game, people who should feel like close comrades and even friends, but from the start I didn't feel like the writing supported this idea very well. To me, most of them feel more like coworkers who you don't know well or even like, but need to get along with. This has gotten slightly better throughout the expansions (I'm only in post-Stormblood) and there are exceptions — Alphinaud, for example, is one of my favorite characters in the game despite his faults because I think he's written well — but for the most part I like the Heavensward NPCs the most. It also helps that in Heavensward, you get better voice acting and start being able to use Duty Support to run dungeons with NPCs who actually matter to the plot. Anyways, this game is so huge that even if you don't care for one aspect of it, there's lots of other things to enjoy. Hope you keep having fun with it!
Thatâs a pretty insightful criticism! As the characters grow beyond being MMO NPCs, youâll get to have those character building adventures where you bond with your companions, and it really starts happening in Heavensward.