This will be a short review because there's too much content here that going into any real detail would take chapters more than paragraphs. A little background on me; my first MMO experience was with RuneScape, back in the good old days of 2.5D isometric, pastel colored wonder, but the first time I was really sucked into an MMO was Final Fantasy 11 on PlayStation 2. I bought the Modem, I bought the Hard Drive, just to be able to play the Samurai Class. Five years later, I started branching to other MMOs; WoW, Age of Conan, Champions Online, Rift, Secret World Online... there weren't too many I missed in the last 15 years until Korea started making them and we ended up with a new MMO every year or so (which some are -amazing-). Hitting all those games though, took it's toll, and around the time WildStar came out, I was really feeling burned out on MMOs as a whole and started focusing more on Single-Player games.

I initially tried Final Fantasy XIV during Closed Beta with some friends, and wasn't very impressed. I was hoping that it didn't deviate much from what Final Fantasy 11 offered, but something just felt off. It definitely felt more 'modern MMO' than FF11, but the grab wasn't there for me, so I ended up ignoring it when it released. Apparently this was the right thing to do, because a year or two later Square Enix had to revamp nearly the whole game. And what a revamp it was! Had I known that A Realm Reborn was -this- good, I would have jumped in years ago. But I was still leery from the Beta, and riding my MMO malaise.

Fast forward to 2018 and friends again prodded me to try the game. And am I damn glad they did! There are certainly still flaws. If you're not turned on by the basic MMO structure of 'ooo piece of candy' quests and rewards, this game is not going to change your mind. Crafting, while initially engaging and fun, seems to feel like a side-note after a while. It's a very in-depth system with its own levels and abilities, but there doesn't seem to be much need for it gameplay-wise until very specific times. The environments and character models are beautiful. They're a bit stylized, so not on par with 'hyper-realistic' games like Black Desert Online, but they're charming and very detailed. The combat is typical for modern MMOs; you have to be within the proper range of your target for attacks, and you'll need to move around a bit to avoid some enemy attacks.

The big thing for me, and what will impress anyone else who hasn't played the game until now, is the sheer amount of content you're given to play through. All jobs and classes can be played with a single character, without having to reset it for respecs. All that's needed is a simple weapons change, and there's an interface that makes swapping all the gear you'll need a one-click affiar. I've played 530 or so hours and am still just going through content from the Vanilla "A Realm Reborn". There are two current paid expansions that have dropped, and hundreds of hours of additional free content that Square Enix has added to the game. A new expansion is scheduled for Q1 of 2019 as well, so there appears to be no stopping soon.

Whether you're a fan of classic MMO gameplay, deep 'Final Fantasy' levels of Story content, class-based PvP, Dungeon Raiding, Crafting, Fashionframe/Costumecraft outfitting, Collectable Card Game gameplay, and more I'm forgetting, this game has something for you that you'll really enjoy.