Square Enix’s brave new online world is a sight to behold – if only it had the compulsive gameplay to match its magnificent vistas
Format: PC (version played), PS3 Dev: Square Enix Pub: Square Enix
Out: 30/09/10 Players: 1+ online
Having only immersed myself in the strange and intimidating world of MMORPGs, such as EverQuest II, on one or two brief occasions, I approached Final Fantasy XIV as someone who was, and still is in various respects, a fan of the offline franchise, and having heard mostly good things about Final Fantasy XI, Square Enix’s last online RPG effort.
One of the tricky things about reviewing or attempting to review an online game – especially an MMORPG – is because they are based on subscription and patched content is going to be released long after this review is published. So this piece of writing should only be considered as a gathering of first impressions.
So after a long initial patch (yawn), I was finally able to explore the game from day one, having received a pre-release copy. First, and most importantly, Final Fantasy XIV is very hardware heavy. It demands a high end dual core processor, plenty of RAM and a damn good graphics card – and they’re just the minimum requirements. Luckily, I more or less met the minimum, and therefore was able to experience this beast of a game. But setting such high benchmarks – as opposed to World of Warcraft, which is designed to work on any machine – immediately slices away a great deal of potential subscribers.
Any fan of Square Enix’s series will be expecting me to say this. Yes, it’s beautiful. Graphically, while in places a little repetitive, the game is astonishing. Beyond anything you’ll have seen in an online RPG, made more significant when one of its major competitors, World of Warcraft looks god awful in comparison. Lush plains, large and crystalline expanses of water and wonderfully designed, highly detailed architecture – all the things you would come to expect from a developer with such high production values. Certainly a world one would want to lose their life in, if any.
Now we’ve got the shallowness out of the way, we need to get to the bare bones of the game. Kicking off with a weird but intriguing cutscene and ending up on a boat, you immediately get the idea that the FFXIV is narrative heavy. Unlike “I need ten spider legs for my potion,” kill ten spiders, or “oh, my, it seems some nasty critters have stolen my herbs,” gather some herbs. FFXIV seems to have a well integrated story, which makes it feel less like an MMOG. Initially, once the journey has been made to your decided region, the game becomes rather unfriendly to newcomers. Launched almost headfirst into a huge world, it’s tough to know where to start – and the game doesn’t help you, other than giving you a vague idea of what your goal is.
It soon becomes apparent that ultimately the game seems to have been honed to perfection to appeal only to the Final Fantasy XI/general MMORPG enthusiast, who wishes to get him or herself straight onto the battlefield for level grinding. The usual elements are thrown in, such as levelling up, crafting and guilds – but any sense of reward for any of these things, for the time I put into them, is swept under the carpet. Missions, such as daily quests, make for small bursts of fun, but when it comes to upgrading equipment and weapons the whole affair is absurdly confusing and complex. Where’s the tutorial? Basic controls aside, absolutely jack squiddle (a word I’ve invented to replace a more potentially offensive one) is offered to help those who might – shock horror – have never played FFXI or another MMORPG.
Aside from the unfriendly nature of the game, the customization is impressive, with the races and classes of your character explained with a full backstory worthy of a BioWare effort. Potentially, one can play the game simply as a harvester, collecting herbs and selling them on for profits, or go all out as a warrior. Of course, how these options pan out remains to be seen. The character option choices fit the categories of Disciples of War, Magic, Land and of the Hand. These cover various outlooks on life in the game world and alter how you engage with it. It’s appealing enough to want to keep playing to find out, but the game is just so intimidating it’s hard to want to login regularly.
Fans of the online RPG will feel mostly at home with this effort. Newcomers need to steer away short of wasting a huge amount of money on upgrading their PC and then paying the subscription fee. It’s funny how one of the main issues with this game mirrors that of Final Fantasy XIII: style over substance. Great production values, but not enough put into making the game satisfying, fun to play or a great deal different. If you’re still intent on getting it, maybe wait a while for Square to release more content, fix bugs and respond to criticisms.
Lewis Townsend
Tags: final fantasy, mmo, online, rpg, square enix
