Recent reviews by Rawyel

so mid expansion ngl yawntrail more like

Having never played an MMORPG before, Final Fantasy 14 was my first experience in the genre, which differs greatly from the experience of seasoned MMO veterans that come from games like World of Warcraft. I had no general preconception of what to expect out of an MMO, other than I would have a ♥♥♥♥ ton of grinding to do and a bunch of quests to complete. For the most part, while this was true, Final Fantasy 14 was more than that. Simply being presented to the world in the opening cinematic that showed a badass ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ dragon burning everything ablaze was awesome. The game presents you with the narrative that you are an adventurer fresh off the boat with brimming potential and new experiences to overcome as the game progresses.

Starting with the story, it's phenomenal as literally anybody who has reached up till the second expansion of Heavensward will tell you. A Realm Reborn was not the greatest, truth be told it was a painful grind that burnt me out from the game because of all the fetch quests around the middle part of the MSQ (Main Scenario Quest), especially with no prior tolerance for it given my lack of an MMO background. Generally taking it slow and enjoying the pace of things is a good way to go throughout A Realm Reborn, especially the patches that come after it. There will be tons of moments in the story where you'll be forced to shed a tear, or even pose questions towards the villains of the story on whether or not they are justified in their means. Shadowbringers, in particular, was my favourite expansion. It beautifully told the story covering events that occurred even in A Realm Reborn, which stresses the notion that even though ARR may seem sluggish to get through at first, understanding it is a good way to go in keeping up with most references in the future expansions.

One thing I've noticed is that this game likes to bring up past characters from even the most irrelevant of quests. While most people may not remember these NPC's, it's always a cool little easter egg for the players that do remember as it allows the player to ponder back to that memory and get a sense of how they have been keeping up since then, as both you and the NPC have come ways since that point in time. Overall, the later expansions after ARR made me go through a roller coaster of emotions, from shedding a tear, to posing moral questions on whether the villains of the story are actually in the wrong, and some laughs here and there, amongst many other things. Most of the voice actors are upgraded heavily from Heavensward onwards; though I prefer the Japanese voice acting, it's mostly a matter of preference. While there may be a lot of reading to do in between dialogue throughout ARR, I've noticed a significant amount of voice-acted scenes after ARR. The best thing about FFXIV is that it presents the dialogue in bite-size formats where you can consume the information more leisurely as opposed to reading the bible's equivalent.

Gameplay-wise, as a sprout, I generally took a lot of time to learn the core mechanics of the game. I'm still learning for that matter, and learn new things every day. Players generally have a friendly attitude towards new players, and will not hesitate to give you advice should you ask for it. However, at least in my experience, when a player does not ask and a mistake is clear, most people do their best to avoid speaking and simply move on with the instance as it does not hinder completion unless in very extreme circumstances. While there is no entitlement of players to do so, and with the game already doing a horrid job of introducing some aspects of how to play your class or job early on with Hall of the Novice being mediocre in that regard, I believe this has mostly to do with the lingering fear of a report. Square Enix is generally strict in their penalties, and it has resulted in a lot of players being approached with hostility as the person being given advice generally sees the critique on their gameplay as an attack and no player wants to deal with the drama of consoling a tank that isn't using their mitigation cooldowns going back and forth about how the healer is supposed to adjust. Once again, I blame this mostly on how the game lacks emphasis on teaching people how to play their jobs or classes correctly. In my particular circumstance as a fresh player to MMO's and foreign to the mechanics of the game, YouTube guides were my best friend and I strongly encourage looking up class guides, dungeon guides, beginner tips, or generally anything you can think of as it would most likely have a guide for it on YouTube.

While I have not attempted much of the higher-end content as I am a sprout that has more or less just finished the MSQ 3 weeks ago and levelling other jobs to find which one is a fit for me, I have enjoyed the normal game mode provided in the instances throughout the MSQ, especially post-ARR. Speaking of levelling, FFXIV is very friendly towards trying out new classes, as you can play all of them on one character. Upon obtaining certain accessories, you can get bonuses of up to 30% experience, and if you register on a preferred server the experience gain goes up by (+100%). If a job that is levelled is lower than the job with the highest level you have unlocked, you also get an armoury bonus that provides a significant amount of EXP to help catch you up. Unlockable classes that are locked between future expansions also pick off from certain levels (30, 50, 60), giving you all your skills and beginning your progression from that point forward.

Overall, I've enjoyed FFXIV. This review is mostly my initial impression and I have barely scratched the surface in experiencing much of what this game has to offer. If you are looking to pour a ♥♥♥♥ load of hours into a game that has a very welcoming and friendly community, I'd recommend giving it a shot. There's nothing to lose, especially with the free trial.