Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn

 PC
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2236 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,673 out of 2236
  2. Mixed: 169 out of 2236
  3. Negative: 394 out of 2236
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  1. Hue
    Oct 18, 2013
    1
    Shall we begin with the force fed story or the fact that it took them over 2 months to get friends on the same server together?

    I should have taken my initial suspicions about this game and stuck to them. Just turn around before you waste your time working in a game. It will take you countless hours or boring repetitive story line quests to unlock end game dungeons. Just turn around    Shall we begin with the force fed story or the fact that it took them over 2 months to get friends on the same server together?

    I should have taken my initial suspicions about this game and stuck to them. Just turn around before you waste your time working in a game. It will take you countless hours or boring repetitive story line quests to unlock end game dungeons. Just turn around and pick a game that was actually developed for the story.

    This should have been marketed as a JRPG with ONLINE CONTENT as opposed to an MMORPG.    … Expand
  2. Scypheroth
    Oct 17, 2013
    8
    A very on par game with every other MMORPG out there. it has basically become a WoW clone. Tab targeting, fetch quests and simple non complicated game play and boss battles make this game one of MANY WoW clones out there that have tried to achieve there success. If you liek a basic no brainier MMORPG (like WoW) this ones for you!
  3. Adyon
    Oct 15, 2013
    3
    I rarely base part of my opinion of a game on the customer service of the company if I can help it. But in this case, the customer service has been SO bad that it makes me drop my rating of the actual game. The game itself (what amount I got to play of course...so take it with a grain of salt)? 8-9. Customer service? 0. After over 1000 minutes on hold total and being hung up on multipleI rarely base part of my opinion of a game on the customer service of the company if I can help it. But in this case, the customer service has been SO bad that it makes me drop my rating of the actual game. The game itself (what amount I got to play of course...so take it with a grain of salt)? 8-9. Customer service? 0. After over 1000 minutes on hold total and being hung up on multiple times by their machines as well as by their chat, I am still even now wondering why they never contact me about ANYTHING to tell me what's going on.

    A week in I got hacked. My fault. I didn't have an authenticator. I realized the only other thing I'd use the same password was my LoL that I hadn't played in a few months. Went checking and discovered about their being hacked and passwords lost. My account was "terminated" by Square-Enix with admittedly a VERY rude accusatory e-mail that ACTUALLY says, "Unfortunately, you have shown yourself to be unwilling to follow the rules of the FINAL FANTASY XIV community. If we find that you have created another FINAL FANTASY XIV service account, we reserve the right to terminate that account as well".

    But that's not the bad part. It's the fact that I spent a couple weeks TRYING to get in touch with them. 3 hours waiting on hold then...suddenly it hangs up on me. This happened more than once! What? I even got a message from their chat after I waited in the que that their were no representatives available which instead gave me a form to fill out. All of these events early in the day well within their hours. Oh and that form? Waited over a week and NEVER got a response. So I started trying to contact again and after a couple attempts FINALLY got through.

    I found out from him my account spammed chat with gold-seller site information. But that was my only transgression. Okay, sounds like what they'd do with a hacked account. But it turns out he can't do anything. He told me he'd "escalate" my problem for the investigation group to look at and that they'd get back to me. Well that was weeks ago. I haven't heard a SINGLE thing from them in that time. After a month and a half from when this started, I STILL haven't gotten my account back. I may have to write this off as money I wasted purchasing a game in the first place that I'll never really get to play. Glad I bought the collector's edition for the extra goodies! TOTALLY WORTH IT! Ha ha.    … Expand
  4. Dokkodo
    Oct 14, 2013
    2
    Well, at least it's pretty. Unfortunately that's the end of the positives.

    A very typical MMO with VERY slow pacing and almost no strategy to it's combat or diversity to it's classes. The class-changing system is cool, or rather it would be if all the classes didn't play pretty much exactly the same. There's many MMOs out on the market now, and a lot of them are free and just as    Well, at least it's pretty. Unfortunately that's the end of the positives.

    A very typical MMO with VERY slow pacing and almost no strategy to it's combat or diversity to it's classes. The class-changing system is cool, or rather it would be if all the classes didn't play pretty much exactly the same.

    There's many MMOs out on the market now, and a lot of them are free and just as good, if not better, than this game. I would suggest you go play one of those instead if you need that MMO fix.

    Note my experiences are based only on the beta, I knew within an hour of my time playing in beta it wasn't worth a subscription fee.    … Expand
  5. BudMan11
    Oct 12, 2013
    0
    NOTE: I put this review in the wrong spot, I actually played this game for ps3 and I cannot speak about the PC version of this game.
    REVIEW: This game is very bad, I wouldn't recommend spending any money on it. The graphics are pretty nice for 10 year old game. The soundtrack is not bad. This game is very boring and very repetitive. The map is terrible. I would recommend every other game    NOTE: I put this review in the wrong spot, I actually played this game for ps3 and I cannot speak about the PC version of this game.
    REVIEW: This game is very bad, I wouldn't recommend spending any money on it. The graphics are pretty nice for 10 year old game. The soundtrack is not bad. This game is very boring and very repetitive. The map is terrible. I would recommend every other game on the planet before I would recommend this. Wish I could get a refund, signed up to metacritic just to tell everyone how bad this game is. The reviews for this game tell me one thing, never ever trust critic reviews, They must have a different copy of the game or were hit on the head or something. Run as far away from this game as you can, its boring and sucks.    … Expand
  6. Bryst
    Oct 10, 2013
    5
    First off let my say, I didn't play v1.0. So I can't comment on game improvements from 1.0 to 2.0. I can however say: Meh it's an MMO. I played XI LONGGGGG ago, and loved they fact that one character could be ANY class. However, after you get that first character to 50 and want to start a second, be ready to farm fates. ALOT. And they become very repetitive. Its really all the game has toFirst off let my say, I didn't play v1.0. So I can't comment on game improvements from 1.0 to 2.0. I can however say: Meh it's an MMO. I played XI LONGGGGG ago, and loved they fact that one character could be ANY class. However, after you get that first character to 50 and want to start a second, be ready to farm fates. ALOT. And they become very repetitive. Its really all the game has to offer at the moment in terms of lvling. If you're not a tank or healer, be ready to spend 50+ minutes in que for a dungeon.(Which you HAVE to do almost all the dungeons to continue the story quest) They don't even give decent EXP, and the gear is kind of mediocre compared to stuff you can buy on the AH. Levequests work, but are boring and VERY repetitive.

    The story quest has no voice overs, and typical of SE they are a massive wall of text. Oh and 50% of them are go to this guy and talk to this guy or that. After playing Star Wars: The Old Republic, which had cut scenes for EVERY quest, which I loved, this is a huge annoyance.

    The class quests are a JOKE. To become a bard I had to walk maybe 300yards, kill 5-6 mobs and loot a sigil. DONE. To become a paladin I lit a brazer and killed a mob. Then at 45 to get my 4 pieces of relic gear I had to kill 2 non elite mobs at 4 different chests. To get your white mage relic gear you pray at an alter and kill ONE mob to get all FOUR pieces. Its just laziness on SE part. Very disappointing.

    I was very hyped for this game, and even after all of SEs fail with server issues and the congestion because they never implemented an AFK logout I was excited. But once I got my Bard to 30, I realized if I was to ever get my story quest done I would need to roll a healer or tank. So that's exactly what a buddy an I did. But yet again once we hit 45, the dungeons got few and far between, and we completed most the quest in our range. So guess what we got to do? FATES.

    Hopefully SE in a future patch will give more incentive to run dungeons, add some more quests and maybe add more Guildhiests(which I didn't really touch base on)    … Expand
  7. squish88
    Oct 10, 2013
    3
    To say this game is outdated is putting it very kindly.

    Pros: 1) The ability to make a chat channel that's specific to a group of people that you choose is nice. No more spamming guild chat to talk to your smaller group of buddies all at once. 2) Inventory space is a non-issue from the get go. Finally a game that sees that it's more annoying than anything else to have to 'build    To say this game is outdated is putting it very kindly.

    Pros:
    1) The ability to make a chat channel that's specific to a group of people that you choose is nice. No more spamming guild chat to talk to your smaller group of buddies all at once.

    2) Inventory space is a non-issue from the get go. Finally a game that sees that it's more annoying than anything else to have to 'build up' inventory space. On a side note, the gear not going into your normal inventory is nice as well.

    Cons:
    1) The map functionality is so convoluted you have to "figure it out"... That's MMO gaming 101 folks... an easy to use map. They failed at that. Badly.

    2) The chat functionality lacks basic abilities like right clicking on the names of gold farmers and/or greifer-types to block/report them...

    3) Quest turn ins... WHY on God's green earth, do I have to drag a quest item from my inventory, to a special quest turn in window just to turn in the quest... No other MMO that I've ever played does this. It's absurd, and a waste of my time.

    4) Gathering... a) gathering sucks, other MMO's (think SWTOR) have found ways around this. Take a look at them & stop wasting players' time, and b) Why is it that I, all of the sudden, can't cast a spell, swing a sword/axe, or even wear the same clothing just 'cause I'm picking berries?!?!?!?! Stupid. Just plain stupid.

    5) The combat system is beyond dated. It's standard vanilla WoW. There's no active combat like, say, Guild Wars 2, or Tera for example where you actively dodge. It's the same boring, no thought, button clicking rotation that people used 7 years ago where you occasionally have to step out of the red circle on the ground.

    6) Last but not least... you have to travel on Chickens. No further explanation needed.

    Honestly, I don't care if they screwed up their first version, and this one is 'way' better. It's still not as good as a lot of other games currently out there, and they want people to pay a monthly fee for this... HA!! Good luck.    … Expand
  8. Pork_chops
    Oct 10, 2013
    9
    I've played World of Warcraft, I've played Star Wars: The Old Republic, Guild wars 2, and I've played Star Trek Online. But Final Fantasy is by far my favourite MMORPG. I won't lie, it isn't a great departure from the stock standard MMO model, but what drew me in is the class system, the graphics, and the way the world feels.

    That's not to say it's without faults. The UI is really    I've played World of Warcraft, I've played Star Wars: The Old Republic, Guild wars 2, and I've played Star Trek Online. But Final Fantasy is by far my favourite MMORPG. I won't lie, it isn't a great departure from the stock standard MMO model, but what drew me in is the class system, the graphics, and the way the world feels.

    That's not to say it's without faults. The UI is really clunky, and takes quite some time to figure out, and anyone with a PC that's not quite gamer level is going to enjoy sudden spikes in FPS. Figuring out where to quest can be a real pain in the neck, and a lot of quests have been translated poorly from Japanese to English, meaning you'll be doing what the quest text says, but getting nowhere.

    There could be a part of fan boyism in this post, since I've been a long time Final Fantasy fan, so take it as you will. But if you're looking for a good, multiplayer game, and you have the hardware to support it, I'd recommend at least giving it a go.    … Expand
  9. Kittencandy
    Oct 10, 2013
    5
    When I first got to play the game, I absolutely loved it. Everything looks pretty and it's crowded so it never feels like you're the only person walking around in the world, the job system seems cool, the opportunity to use just 1 character for all the classes... I took a few crafting classes, some gathering ones, and stuck with conjurer arcanist for mains cuz I wanted to be a white mage.When I first got to play the game, I absolutely loved it. Everything looks pretty and it's crowded so it never feels like you're the only person walking around in the world, the job system seems cool, the opportunity to use just 1 character for all the classes... I took a few crafting classes, some gathering ones, and stuck with conjurer arcanist for mains cuz I wanted to be a white mage.
    All was fun for the first few days but it didn't take me too long to notice some rather annoying things, like how the only way to get money (or decent exp) is by questing, occassionally a monster will drop 1 gil but that's it and exp is really low from normal mobs so the only way to lvl is questing (or fates). A lot of quests are one time only, so when you've lvled your first class to 30, and needing to lvl the 2nd one to 15, it gets boring very fast having to slowpoke farm your exp. Gathering works ok for the first 15 lvls but it gets gradually more bothersome and at around lvl 25-30 it's just so boring it really isn't worth it. Trying to enter instances (needed to progress main story) as a DPS is just impossible most of the time, and when you do get in there's a good chance on dying cuz a lot of ppl never bothered to learn their class. And the world is pretty small, you could probably see everything within just a few hours.

    Anyway, I've played this game for 2 weeks after which I was so bored with it I quit. It's just too repetitive a game to enjoy for very long.    … Expand
  10. Hadelex
    Oct 9, 2013
    0
    Game is still in it's prime and it will grow..better...NOT! Cause game is not new, it is an overhaul of ff 14 1.0 version, then it has serious mechanism flaws..Once you run out of main and sub quests in order to level your class/job you need to do dungeons (you need a guild called here free company for it cause auto party matcher waiting time will kill you as dps)or mostly grind fates forGame is still in it's prime and it will grow..better...NOT! Cause game is not new, it is an overhaul of ff 14 1.0 version, then it has serious mechanism flaws..Once you run out of main and sub quests in order to level your class/job you need to do dungeons (you need a guild called here free company for it cause auto party matcher waiting time will kill you as dps)or mostly grind fates for xp..a some sort of rift/GW2 dynamic events but with this kind of slow paced combat it turns horrible and uninspired..(take your mount search on map Fates and go..).Most important thing in a mmo is combat and enjoy to progress, here i was frustrated and you can see a lot of players didn't resub. SE need to change leveling to make a non blind FF fans to stay… Expand
  11. Antiks
    Oct 8, 2013
    6
    The pacing and gating of the game still needs a lot of work. Gating key content behind instances that require a group that can take up to hours to form is very old hat. After about level 20 any semblance of pacing or direction disappear They really need some help in their game design/balance department. One example, they throw you from level 17 instances into a story quest where youThe pacing and gating of the game still needs a lot of work. Gating key content behind instances that require a group that can take up to hours to form is very old hat. After about level 20 any semblance of pacing or direction disappear They really need some help in their game design/balance department. One example, they throw you from level 17 instances into a story quest where you fight level 11 monsters. It makes no sense.

    Overall the game still suffers from poor design choices more than anything. The graphics they nailed, the sound they nailed, the combat is slow but i'm sure there is a crowd for it. Instances are pretty standard don't stand in red and some fights requires you to interact with objects during fights. Nothing revolutionary here though some people will say they are "complicated" or "hard" if you are any type of power gamer at all these will be childs play.

    Overall when you get past level 20 the game kind of falls apart into a loosely coupled mess. In my opinion it's not worth your dollars still. There are better offerings out there.

    Better than before does not a 10 review from me. They improved a lot but they still don't seem to understand some basic mmo concepts. I would caution buying the game on any 10 review because no honestly rational person can say there are no issues with this game, there are still a lot.

    Pick it up if you want a lounge game with very little pressure or twitch skill required. If you are looking for a quick paced mmo avoid this game completely.    … Expand
  12. DemiGoth
    Oct 7, 2013
    7
    FFXIV:ARR is a 1000 times better than the failure the initial release was, and I think we all agree on that. But sadly FFXIV:ARR has become 'yet an other MMO' like so many are. It's not really offering anything new in mechanics it's all been done before. The story though is is very well told, but what else can you expect from a FF game?

    Graphics at maxed settings are excellent, but my    FFXIV:ARR is a 1000 times better than the failure the initial release was, and I think we all agree on that. But sadly FFXIV:ARR has become 'yet an other MMO' like so many are. It's not really offering anything new in mechanics it's all been done before. The story though is is very well told, but what else can you expect from a FF game?

    Graphics at maxed settings are excellent, but my GPUs (GTX460 SLI) do run close to full performance. Music is good too, and for once that 'standard' FF tune isn't the only one played in a FF game.

    Personally I think there are enough equivalent MMOs out there that do not require a monthly subscription. I have paid up front for 3 months, but I already can't be bothered to really play it because of it's mediocre mechanics and gameplay.    … Expand
  13. wyzeguyy
    Oct 6, 2013
    8
    Lets not kid ourselves here, Realm Reborn is a generic MMORPG in terms of how the game-play is. The main thing that the game did right though was that it did not cater to casuals, and is really meant for the hardcore player who is willing to sink time into the game to get that ultimate MMORPG experience. If you've been around the block with MMORPGs and want to go back to the old days ofLets not kid ourselves here, Realm Reborn is a generic MMORPG in terms of how the game-play is. The main thing that the game did right though was that it did not cater to casuals, and is really meant for the hardcore player who is willing to sink time into the game to get that ultimate MMORPG experience. If you've been around the block with MMORPGs and want to go back to the old days of hard content this is definitely worth your time. Check it out and play with some friends!… Expand
  14. Asuyu
    Oct 5, 2013
    0
    I have read the reviews. A lot of people seem to give this game 10/10, which begs the question what game were they playing and what are they basing those reviews off of. This game is marred by constant server repairs, glitches, congestion and that is before you even log into the game. (SE has take an approach to immediately fix Japanese servers and wait and see to North Americans, soI have read the reviews. A lot of people seem to give this game 10/10, which begs the question what game were they playing and what are they basing those reviews off of. This game is marred by constant server repairs, glitches, congestion and that is before you even log into the game. (SE has take an approach to immediately fix Japanese servers and wait and see to North Americans, so expect significant delays between when JP servers get fixed and NA get fixed) A lot of FFxiv is unoriginal. They have mashed the previous 13+(there are actually more than 14 currently) FF's, WoW, and a whole lot of other MMO's into this one game. Which should indicate its superiority, but I think it points to SE loss of originality. FF has always been about reinventing itself. Each FF game, added something new to the previous, started a whole new story, and had a completely different game system, there were marked differences in graphics, character types, jobs, etc. The new system is far from new, its the basic system you find in any MMO. The races are all borrowed from FFxi, except the names for those races are different with some minor exceptions (they added a few new sexes and we have light/dark versions) Each class again is borrowed from FFxi, again only change is different names. Additionally, the abilities are learned, similar in some ways to FFxi. Sometimes you obtain abilities from quests. Nothing original about that.

    Overall. The game is fun for about the 30 day trial. After that you delve further into the game and it becomes a grind. Not of leveling but of just staying with the game for its lackluster appeal. SE missed the boat in 1.0 and again in reborn. I give this game 0. Find another monthly service that will appreciate its players and the game.    … Expand
  15. waverlock
    Oct 3, 2013
    0
    Game is too boring. Played for almost 30 hours. As a conjurer i was just spamming aero, not doing anything else to win a fight (except run). The evolution was very slow at some parts.

    Found missions and storyline meanless, with no relevant content. Items where all about the sanme. I felt a kind of waste of time with this game. Most of the time i felt a sense of "I am lost and alone"    Game is too boring. Played for almost 30 hours. As a conjurer i was just spamming aero, not doing anything else to win a fight (except run). The evolution was very slow at some parts.

    Found missions and storyline meanless, with no relevant content. Items where all about the sanme. I felt a kind of waste of time with this game.

    Most of the time i felt a sense of "I am lost and alone" looking for the mission objectives. Map is a complete nonsense and let you dizzy.

    Didnt see anything new or relevant to continue to play. It was extremelly boring and at the end i realize it was a waste of money.

    Also the necessary monthly fee was not so clear before I purchase the game... a TIP for everyone who wants to adventure yourself.    … Expand
  16. ntall1
    Oct 3, 2013
    4
    You can get to max level super fast. If you are one of those players that puts in a full 3 day weekend. You could probably get a max level character in that time. Then at max level you have a few choices. First you need to gear up a bit. That requires that you repeat the same dungeon over and over until you have enough of the currency required to buy that gear.

    After you gear up (Really    You can get to max level super fast. If you are one of those players that puts in a full 3 day weekend. You could probably get a max level character in that time. Then at max level you have a few choices. First you need to gear up a bit. That requires that you repeat the same dungeon over and over until you have enough of the currency required to buy that gear.

    After you gear up (Really takes no time at all even tho its super tedious and repetitive) You have have the option to do raid content. Yay. Well there is only one raid so far. A single 8 man raid for you to take down and repeat weekly.

    So, now you have a max level character and you have some gear. What to do, what to do. Run coil, wait a week, rinse repeat.

    tl:dr Pace of the game is super fast leaving you with next to nothing to do in a very short amount of time.    … Expand
  17. GigaHz
    Oct 3, 2013
    6
    I wanted to like this game. As a former Final Fantasy 11 player, Square Enix piqued my interest as early as v. 1.0 with similar race designs and the job/class system.

    At the time, I had the sense to watch some "Let's Plays" and read reviews. After finding out the game played terribly, I didn't bother wasting my time with it. Post-critical reception, I read articles about the revival    I wanted to like this game. As a former Final Fantasy 11 player, Square Enix piqued my interest as early as v. 1.0 with similar race designs and the job/class system.

    At the time, I had the sense to watch some "Let's Plays" and read reviews. After finding out the game played terribly, I didn't bother wasting my time with it.

    Post-critical reception, I read articles about the revival effort of Final Fantasy 14, primarily out of skepticism and general curiosity. Call me negative but I expected an embarrassing failure. In this case, I am not ashamed to admit I was wrong.

    The game, for what it is, plays exceptionally well. The combat is reasonably paced with plenty of actions to do (depending on class and role), all of the classes feel balanced and useful, the leveling mechanics are reasonably fleshed out (to a degree I'll touch on later), the world is varied enough to hold your interest for a good while, and the cutscenes occur with just the right amount of frequency and execution, something I can't say about SWTOR.

    So, I don't dislike Final Fantasy 14: ARR for being a 'bad' game. In fact, I'm confident that the game will appeal to some. However, it's not what I am looking for specifically and I'll explain why.

    Firstly, I'm heavily biased. I was fairly invested in FF11 during its prime. You can argue if it's a fair benchmark or not, but they were made by the same company so I'm counting it. My primary complaint with the game is that it is not challenging, at all. Every class has a specific niche for operation. Once you figure out that niche and what a boss'/mob's gimmick is, you're gaming on autopilot.

    Call me a masochist but FF11 had a daunting difficulty curve. There were easy aspects of the game, sure, but I remember going into certain fights with anxiety. Anxiety because I knew that after my hour plus trek to the fight, the chance of failure was very real, even if everything went according to plan.

    This also leads me into my second complaint with the game, the consequences of failure. In FFXIV there are none, or at least nothing that wouldn't be considered more than a slap on the wrist. There is durability wear, similar to WoW. I'm sure this 'can' be inconvenient if you forget to repair recently, but if you go into a dungeon recently fixed up, this will not present a problem unless you fail so miserably that you're sooner to run out of time than become useless. This scenario, already considering the non-difficulty of the game, is a feat in itself.

    In ff11 people disbanded parties due to death. You could downlevel and exp in general was a serious time investment. This conveniently leads to my third point.

    Am I longing for the days of spending 3 months grinding away to reach level cap? Hell no. I will say that Square Enix almost had the aspect of leveling down properly for ff14. But I want to stress 'almost'.

    Leveling functions similar to WoW in that there are quite a few ways to reach cap. The traditional affair is to string together a bunch of quests with a few dungeons and fights along the way. FF14 follows this template but also introduces a few additional concepts (some borrowed/stolen from GW2): Levequests, Guildhests, and FATEs.

    Levequests are almost like portable instances that you can trigger whenever you want to do them. They provide decent exp and are repeatable with some limitations (you can do up to a given number, with allowances replenishing after a certain time has passed). These are a decent option if you want to make non-quest, solo exp. Guildhests I mention only because I'm not sure why they are even an option. They are basically a boss fight or a short series of fights that only offers decent exp once. After that, they are almost completely useless, unless you decide to try them again with a different class.

    And lastly, potentially my biggest gripe with the game, FATEs. Arguably the best way to level classes fast but also the most mind numbing, repetitive option. FATEs are basically GW2s Dynamic Events system. They offer a tremendous EXP bonus, a bonus so generous it almost invalidates any other leveling method, including quests.

    So you level faster, what could be bad about that? Well, I'll tell you. Not only is the game easy by default, having massive zerg parties scour the map looking for FATEs negates any group functionality or any remote sense of purpose. FATEs are guaranteed good exp, so why NOT have everyone pile on? This would all be a minor issue if quests didn't fizzle up around the 40 mark, which almost forces you to join a FATE party for the last few remaining levels.

    What's worse, your story quest with its exp bonuses only happen once. Unless you've left a few quests laying about, you might as well expect to FATE grind entirely should you decide to level another job.

    I'm not sure how this could be considered a good idea for any game. It's such a deceptive method to artificially extend playtime.

    A solid effort SE, but not enough to keep this customer.    … Expand
  18. Uzumakitony
    Oct 1, 2013
    8
    It still has a lot of work to do but comparing it to the former 'woeful' releases, this is EPIC. I The graphics are sound, the gameplay is pretty great too. The storyline still has a long way to go but that's not the point. Overall it has been a success
  19. faircritic
    Sep 30, 2013
    0
    MMORPGs are dead.You play the same thing as WoW but almost a decade later just with cooler graphics, and this genre got absolutely drained,looks like pretty graphics can't save this game from boredom,so linear quests,too much grinding. This is what's going on in FF XIV. And if this wasn't enough to discourage you of getting this game,you'll be lucky enough to log onto servers.I can onlyMMORPGs are dead.You play the same thing as WoW but almost a decade later just with cooler graphics, and this genre got absolutely drained,looks like pretty graphics can't save this game from boredom,so linear quests,too much grinding. This is what's going on in FF XIV. And if this wasn't enough to discourage you of getting this game,you'll be lucky enough to log onto servers.I can only suspect that FFXIV is right now on a endless loop.They are waiting for more customers to buy more servers but meanwhile there are more frustrated players saying CRAP! 0 rated,then the more they wait for money the more 0s they get.The more you wait until you get a stupid error,the more you say garbage,online garbage,cannot enter,more garbage...endless loop. What is worst ,looks like every darn company is following the same stupid formula to go for our money,lack of support ,error something that prevents you from logging until only god knows when.My patience and my belief is done with all overhyped MMOs stuff.
    You saw the same with Diablo,Sim City,etc and when you can finally play them you realize how disappointing they are,and they still want to charge you 15 bucks per m? Oh no sir,I have already learned my lesson,at the sucky way, but you wouln't got me again for graphics or by viral marketing,never again. If you wan to play a MMO go for a F2P at least you aren't charged and probably have more fun that this err final disappointing experience,well at least for me.    … Expand
  20. ookami
    Sep 30, 2013
    9
    I've played many an online game, SWG, SWTOR, WoW, City of Heroes, etc. I never had the chance to play v1 of FFXIV, but I am very much enjoying v2.

    They did everything right with gameplay and mechanics, and the musical score is outstanding the first MMO where I don't play my own music in the background. Learn anything without restriction, Magician? Go for it. Monk? You bet. Crafting    I've played many an online game, SWG, SWTOR, WoW, City of Heroes, etc. I never had the chance to play v1 of FFXIV, but I am very much enjoying v2.

    They did everything right with gameplay and mechanics, and the musical score is outstanding the first MMO where I don't play my own music in the background.

    Learn anything without restriction, Magician? Go for it. Monk? You bet. Crafting does the same thing, Goldsmith? Sure, Leatherwork? No problem! I do very much enjoy this aspect. That being said it took me about 17 levels to really start enjoying it. I was able to get into SWG and WoW and TOR because I knew the backstory. I knew nothing going into this and it took 16 levels or so to get an idea of what was going on. That was difficult because I nearly gave up after level 10 and I'm glad I didn't. It was worth pushing forward.

    For those who complain about the sub fee I really don't understand. How many games a month do you buy? 1 month at least I bet. You would rather pay $60 a month buying a new game than $15 a month? Really? I really detest the Free 2 Play system and I have yet to play an MMO that has done it right. I don't mind paying a sub fee.

    My only real complaints with this game is the storyline is a little hard to get into for me and I tack it onto my other complaint which is the naming system. NPC names, town names etc. They've made it so foreign and hard to pronounce that I can't be bothered, as if someone banged their head on a keyboard and said, ok that's a name! I can do that too you know? "Hail Adventurer! My name is Ggjweriopt!" See what I did? Now my head hurts and I will never remember that name or care to.    … Expand
  21. Drivedown
    Sep 29, 2013
    10
    This game has come a long way from the fiasco that was version 1.0. Overall, Square Enix has done a great job completely remaking the game and optimizing everything that failed in the first. And aside from the server issues during Early Access and the 1017 errors as of launch this game couldn't be any better.
  22. Reihert
    Sep 28, 2013
    7
    I gave it a low score mostly because of it is abysmal costumer service during launch and early acess. After all, they are no strangers to the number of game codes sold and should planned accordingly.

    With that behind, there are still some game breaking bugs in it. In high crowded Fates (like open world bosses), your target disappears, your party mates are also gone making it close to    I gave it a low score mostly because of it is abysmal costumer service during launch and early acess. After all, they are no strangers to the number of game codes sold and should planned accordingly.

    With that behind, there are still some game breaking bugs in it. In high crowded Fates (like open world bosses), your target disappears, your party mates are also gone making it close to unplayable. Very bad culling coding. Also, when you reach 50 and wanna do an instance, it is most likely you'll wait for an hour even if you already have a full team. Instance servers doesnt have enough room for player load.

    Game starts off boring and slow. Voice Overs are horrible and many in game translation.

    However, game starts to pick up around lvl 15 and it only shines from there. You can cross class skills, dungeons are smart with a scaling difficulty and the world is just beautiful.

    Crafting is different in a way, you actually have to know how to react to certain conditions in employ proper skills to make it work.
    It is surely a great game to try, if you can put aside the slow start and the said game breaking bugs.    … Expand
  23. vinarian
    Sep 28, 2013
    2
    This game is a complete clone of other mmo's, it has the Crafting system of Everquest 2, the combat system of WOW, and the dynamic event system of Guildwars 2.

    The questing system is not really a clone of any other game, simply because I have never seen another game with such unimaginative, repeated, exhausting quests since the original Everquest (collect 4 bat wings and kill 12 goblins    This game is a complete clone of other mmo's, it has the Crafting system of Everquest 2, the combat system of WOW, and the dynamic event system of Guildwars 2.

    The questing system is not really a clone of any other game, simply because I have never seen another game with such unimaginative, repeated, exhausting quests since the original Everquest (collect 4 bat wings and kill 12 goblins anyone?).

    If this game is that much better than version 1.0, I am glad I did not try it then...

    The only saving graces that this game has is the music, and the class/leveling system the class leveling system is excellent, however, it is a far cry from being able to redeem this otherwise abysmal travesty of a game...    … Expand
  24. zimtschnecke81
    Sep 28, 2013
    3
    I was really disappointed by that game and stopped playing because i got bored after only three days of game play. Maybe i had the wrong expectations i was expecting something different, something new, something fantastic i could simply not find it in this game. I also think the rating for this game is so high, because the first release was so bad. I might have found out other coolI was really disappointed by that game and stopped playing because i got bored after only three days of game play. Maybe i had the wrong expectations i was expecting something different, something new, something fantastic i could simply not find it in this game. I also think the rating for this game is so high, because the first release was so bad. I might have found out other cool things that i would maybe have liked but i am not keeping on playing a game that keeps me disappointed while i am running around, desperately looking for something i might like…

    IMHO ffxiv is nothing more than another, very common MMORPG, with a very common fighting system, a decent story and a very poor soundtrack. If you do not mind and you are not searching for something new or different and pay for a game like that feel free to try out anytime.

    PROS
    The graphic is nice even though it did not make me say „wow“ on one single point of the game. There are several different possibilities in earning xp which is shared fairly between people taking part of an event and thats really great. So no more stealing kills/xp from other players, as it seems. Respawns are fast enough and that adds good extra fun to the game too. I also really liked stuff like the hunting log nice to make some xp, discover new places etc. I wish to say there are more things i liked but, to me, there are none.

    CONS
    Looking at the races and classes i could choose from there was none i was saying „yes, i really want to play this one“ i made a different experience when playing other games. Also the game world lacks a bit of fancy details and i think it could be way more fantastic for my very personal taste.

    The story itself is incredibly flat. There is too much useless talking (too long dialogues), too much running around and the balance between story (talking) and fighting lacks a lot. At a certain point of the game i would hit a row of video and semi-video sequences that took me 1,5 hours(!) without actually having to do anything! On the other hand I ended up not being able to keep on doing my class or the main quests since i was missing 1-2 levels. So i had to run around, find something/anything to do and perform the same things (like F.A.T.E.‘s) over and over again til i got even more bored by doing that.

    I had to turn off the music because i got very annoyed by it after only 2-3 hours of game play (so there‘s a big minus for the soundtrack whose job should be to add some unique extra atmosphere to a game).

    The fight system is very simple (a few spells, with common effects you would find in any other rpg) and you end up performing the same two/three actions for hours and hours and hours.

    The game-studio does not seem to have lots of experience with a game like that and it might take them some more time to be able to offer its customers a proper support (i was, for example, in queue for help chat for over three hours(!), when i was told that there is nobody available for me and just got kicked out). I made this game run after performing three hours of trouble shooting, finding help in some of the forums to finally make it work.

    The game is very young. I think it has some potential to be a good MMORPG in maybe 1+ years. But i play games for a cool, nice, exciting story, an atmospheric soundtrack, a good balance between talking and fighting, a nice fighting system i did not find it here. So i will, as many others, go and search somewhere else.    … Expand
  25. Voqar
    Sep 28, 2013
    5
    It's pretty and what's there is polished but overall, FFXIV is a stripped down and dumber than usual post WoW clone that plays too fast and easy and which has little chance of keeping players busy like the old school MMORPGs it wants to copy (in regard to subs, little about the game itself is old school at all). FFXIV lacks MANY quality of life touches and features typically found inIt's pretty and what's there is polished but overall, FFXIV is a stripped down and dumber than usual post WoW clone that plays too fast and easy and which has little chance of keeping players busy like the old school MMORPGs it wants to copy (in regard to subs, little about the game itself is old school at all). FFXIV lacks MANY quality of life touches and features typically found in premium (MMO)RPGs. Making the game work on out of date consoles diminishes the PC potential.

    The story quests are generic, simplistic, and tedious. Other quests, when they exist are ultra simplistic and silly easy. The game has a public quest system called fates that are almost always zero challenge, zero threat, and tons of reward for doing nothing. Often at times while leveling, or especially when leveling alt classes, you'll ONLY be able to do fates you will do many fates. The dungeons have very fun bosses but are filled with tedious trash.

    Endgame is pretty typical grind some content, get your special currency, hand it in for gear, except in FFXIV there isn't a whole lot of content to grind to get that gear. Endgame content is an odd mix of very few challenging encounters mixed with some stupidly easy content and players tend to grind the least challenging most rewarding content (since there are no lockouts or restrictions or limits) so most players grind the same 2 instance several times a day for days.

    The game suffers big time from quality of life issues. No attributes or important stats on item comparison, clunky/brutal inventory system, clunkier/more brutal armoire system, cumbersome banking/market/ah system, no item preview, no server transfers, and on and on the list goes.

    FFXIV has a 2.5 second global cooldown, which is the wait time between actions in combat. You either fire an instant ability and wait 2.5s before you can act again, or you have spells with a 2.5s or higher casting time. The 2.5s GCD slows down combat. The theory is that it gives players more time to think although when you have simplified and stripped down and simplistic classes as in FFXIV, there isn't much to think about. Most MMORPGs (except FFXI, the predecessor) have a 1.5s GCD and often give you ways to reduce it to 1s or give you abilities "off the GCD".

    FFXIV has somewhat pretty graphics but for one thing, it has smallish zones with little to no exploration value, invisible barriers, you can't go in water or swim or fall off a cliff and die, or fall off a bridge, you can't jump off a dock into the ocean, you can't go into water that's more than knee deep, and so on. The bigger issue with the graphics is that the engine can't render lots of avatars at once, so in some game content, like when rare level 50 bosses appear every few days and hundreds of players show up, you can see maybe 20 players near you and may or may not be able to see and target the boss even when standing right on him.

    One of the potentially interesting things about FFXIV that ends up not being so great is how they do their class system. Any character can unlock and do any class (crafting and gathering disciplines are classes too). Some skills from a given class can be used wither classes (cross class skills) that allows you to augment your character a little. Then eventually you unlock jobs (prereq levels from 2 classes, for ex, gladiator conjuror paladin). Where this kind of breaks down is with the fact that jobs are highly restricted for cross class skills and even the base classes can often only find so many usefull skills to tack on, such that in the end, every player ends up being similar because there are so few choices.

    FFXIV doesn't have talents or any other way to customize your character, so with cross class skills being so limited, you end up with everybody being the same. On top of that all gear looks the same and there's no real customization (there are armor dyes but you can't dye the better gear. As a result, every player is a clone.

    The crafting system is a mix of a cool minigame style of going for high quality with skills and finite resources, but this ends up being brutally tedious to level up and since crafted gear is generic with drops and quest rewards until level 50, there isn't much point to crafting except to max it out for endgame.

    Gathering is also a minigame of sorts in that you can use skills to increase gathering change or to get high quality materials. Cool idea that's buried in brutal tedium as you run around in a circle tapping 4 tightly placed nodes that respawn faster than you circle.

    The game had a brutal release and even now players can wait 15-45 minutes to "reserve" a level 50 instance even joining as a full group.

    The game is plagued with gil spammers (RMT) in public chat and whispers.

    Console tie in results in small zones, tons of loading screens, screwy UI design, and 3/4 of cutscenes having no voice overs. Even the tiny cities are multi-zoned.    … Expand
  26. Xradus
    Sep 27, 2013
    4
    I think all final fantasy fans have waited long enough to finally get their new MMO after the first FFXIV fiasco we had. I played more than 100 hours, so you can expect I've seen everything this game has to offer, and I'll tell you: This game has almost nothing to offer. The whole basic idea is great, I love how the story is set, the animations and everything are probably the best I'veI think all final fantasy fans have waited long enough to finally get their new MMO after the first FFXIV fiasco we had. I played more than 100 hours, so you can expect I've seen everything this game has to offer, and I'll tell you: This game has almost nothing to offer. The whole basic idea is great, I love how the story is set, the animations and everything are probably the best I've seen in a MMO. But here comes the bad news: It's one huge boring grind fest with no diversity what so ever. You can hit max level pretty quick, you can either take the slower road to quest trough everything, or you can grind your way faster with FATEs, you choose. You get Items shoved down your throat all the time so you won't even need the action house and economy this game has to offer, which causes in end game you have almost no possibility to make some money. Once you hit max level you're gonna grind the same dungeons over and over again to gear up (I wouldn't mind that if there are actually a lot of dungeons, but there are 2-3 dungeons you're gonna spam....3 DAMN DUNGEONS that take you almost an hour to complete with little to no reward, just to get some tomes you can turn in for gear), with the same boring rotation you're character has. You almost never use any situational spells at all. The bosses are all so easy, you pretty much just need to dodge everything the boss launches at you, and that's not even hard because you get red indicators where the bosses attack will land. There is no feel of achievement in this game at all, all players are forced to do the same dungeons which results in no diversity again in all characters in the end. I really hope the game is gonna bring A LOT of new good content with the next patches, but as it is right now, you have to be a robot to enjoy this game.… Expand
  27. yvetle
    Sep 27, 2013
    10
    It's been a long time since I've had this much fun on an MMO and this much fun sustained for a long period of time. A lot of recent MMOs have been fun for short periods of time, but get boring fast or upon finishing the endgame.

    The game looks beautiful, runs great. The gameplay is really fun--traditional Holy Trinity but still exciting. The dungeons are easy until about level 28, then    It's been a long time since I've had this much fun on an MMO and this much fun sustained for a long period of time. A lot of recent MMOs have been fun for short periods of time, but get boring fast or upon finishing the endgame.

    The game looks beautiful, runs great. The gameplay is really fun--traditional Holy Trinity but still exciting. The dungeons are easy until about level 28, then they get progressively more challenging and start to rely more and more on player self-awareness and teamwork. Very fun!    … Expand
  28. wooflikeabear
    Sep 26, 2013
    3
    The game is simplistic, slow and inflexible. Did I say slow? There's a 2.5second global cooldown that leaves you wanting to do something else while in combat.. like watch tv. There's no variety in building your character, all white mages are the same, all warriors are the same, there's nothing to make you unique or stand out. Many of the cross class skills you can use are often soThe game is simplistic, slow and inflexible. Did I say slow? There's a 2.5second global cooldown that leaves you wanting to do something else while in combat.. like watch tv. There's no variety in building your character, all white mages are the same, all warriors are the same, there's nothing to make you unique or stand out. Many of the cross class skills you can use are often so underpowered that they are a waste of MP, TP and a global cooldown to cast.

    For a game that has been re-released, there are so many empty areas with NPCs that have no quests to give. There are also insufficient quests to level you completely and then little to no quests available to level the rest of the classes that it forces you to play on the same character. In other words there is insufficient content for a new release, let alone a re-released game. The public quest system called FATES is also simplistic and boring. Coming from having played Warhammer and Rift, the public quests here are a total letdown and the game forces you to grind these boring public quests to level subsequent characters. The dungeon matchmaker forces you to wait 40-90 minutes for a group unless you play a white mage which makes dungeons a lousy method of gaining XP or progressing.

    Character balancing also leaves much to be desired. Playing a melee in high level dungeons leaves you running away from boss attacks more often than actually attacking causing your damage to be lousy and leading groups to always prefer having ranged damage dealers over melee. Playing a ranged just leaves you standing around pressing 1..2..3.. repeatedly. Of the two tank classes, no one wants a Warrior in group and any high level group will insist on the tank being a Paladin instead. This may be acceptable if this was a game just out of beta, but for a re-release, it's not just disappointing, it's a ripoff.    … Expand
  29. Danarchist
    Sep 26, 2013
    3
    I can honestly say I have not been so bored in a MMO since....well...never. The combat is a matter of hitting the same buttons in the same pattern (macrod to my keyboard after first hour) and sidestepping the occasional special attack.
    Quests are kill 10 wolves and fedex as is the standard, but do no reward nearly as much xp as just standing around whopping stuff and hitting any events    I can honestly say I have not been so bored in a MMO since....well...never. The combat is a matter of hitting the same buttons in the same pattern (macrod to my keyboard after first hour) and sidestepping the occasional special attack.
    Quests are kill 10 wolves and fedex as is the standard, but do no reward nearly as much xp as just standing around whopping stuff and hitting any events you see pop up for the same amount of time. In fact ignoring side quests completely led to a much better experience with my second character as I was out of the training wheels portion much earlier.
    When will MMO's figure out that the majority of the people playing can figure out their systems without being forced to do the "tutorial levels" for the first few hours of gameplay? As this game is exactly like every other MMO (with a couple gimmicks) why do I need to spend an hour and a half learning how to do a combo? I figured that out when I got my second attack. Make this crap optional, I have played dozens of these games!
    Much like going from one fast food chain to the other. The wrappers different but the food tastes the same. Just this one requires you subscribe.    … Expand
  30. Dorana
    Sep 26, 2013
    9
    This game has some of the best graphics on MMORPG's to date.
    Sure there can be some extra details added but the general textures are amazing.
    The game had some issues at launch as well as some capacity issues during Beta. However I have since then only experienced login queue message twice since I started playing it again post release. The questing is as with all MMORPG's    This game has some of the best graphics on MMORPG's to date.
    Sure there can be some extra details added but the general textures are amazing.

    The game had some issues at launch as well as some capacity issues during Beta.
    However I have since then only experienced login queue message twice since I started playing it again post release.

    The questing is as with all MMORPG's repetitive to a certain amount, this however doesn't bother me since the environment is appealing to look at and the soundtrack is up to final fantasy standards even if it's not done by Nobuo Uematsu.

    The story line of this game has also been very good and it really helps feeling that your character is performing and evolving.

    Some might consider it a downgrade that you can only have 1 character server. However this has an advantage, alt characters are more or less non existing, removing the clutter of starting zones. they are populated but not infested.

    the system also allows you to have multiple classes on the same character, as has been the case in previous FF titles as well. This allows you to have a more custom based game play and it will allow you to "borrow" various skills from your other roles. However the effectiveness is somewhat lesser if your stats are not at par with the original skill tree of the spell, so a Tank character may have a heal spell but it will not be as effective as if having a team mate with you.    … Expand
  31. AmongstYou
    Sep 25, 2013
    9
    Final Fantasy XIV was a hugely botched opportunity, and one that Square themselves saw so much potential in, that they decided to apologize for their mistakes, and try again. The result? A well crafted, refined, and incredibly fun MMO RPG that both Final Fantasy fans and MMO fans can enjoy, without being simplified and dumbed down. Though not flawless, this is a game you'll be playing forFinal Fantasy XIV was a hugely botched opportunity, and one that Square themselves saw so much potential in, that they decided to apologize for their mistakes, and try again. The result? A well crafted, refined, and incredibly fun MMO RPG that both Final Fantasy fans and MMO fans can enjoy, without being simplified and dumbed down. Though not flawless, this is a game you'll be playing for ages, whether it's alone, or with friends.… Expand
  32. Cocytus
    Sep 24, 2013
    5
    Be careful if buying this game.
    The game is riddled with unrestrained RMT bots, hacked user accounts that are used as RMT mules that when banned Squeenix refuses to reestablish. Heavy lag problems, long(90min+) dungeon finder queues along with unstable dungeon servers. The game is so poorly coded that high end gpu’s tend to run at very sloppy fps. (Same with Sli/Crossfire)
    As if this    Be careful if buying this game.
    The game is riddled with unrestrained RMT bots, hacked user accounts that are used as RMT mules that when banned Squeenix refuses to reestablish. Heavy lag problems, long(90min+) dungeon finder queues along with unstable dungeon servers. The game is so poorly coded that high end gpu’s tend to run at very sloppy fps. (Same with Sli/Crossfire)
    As if this wasn't good enough their customer support is the worst of any MMO ever to have graced us. Their email support takes 24hrs to create your ticket and 48hrs to receive a copy/paste response to any issue you may be having. Long wait times on phone/chat (2:00hrs+) only to be cut off because there are no agents available after you were already on a queue during working hours!! And even if you get lucky and are able to get attended by an agent they never resolve the issue and always respond with a 'Prepared response' followed by disconnecting the chat/phone call.
    Oh, but wait there's more. You'll love this one. They refuse to take your money. That's right, their payment system is so archaic and sloppy that it's unable to properly process your credit cards. After the first attempt fails your credit card gets locked for 24hrs and each additional attempt resets the timer and adds more wait time (48-72hrs). Until the systems locks your card for 30days. All this information was gathered via phone. The payment process makes no mention of this nor does it provide a way for you to see the time left on your lock down so you're left guessing whether or not you already have the 30 day restriction and resetting the timer if you attempt to use it again. (Customer service doesn't have a way to tell you either )
    Square Enix response to the issue? "It's your fault" "Your credit card denies the payment" Even after repeatedly informing them via email, chat, phone and forums that after calling to our respective banks (that's right more than one credit card/bank) there was no issue with them.
    OK, so paying with cc is a no-go. Let's try their "Crysta" system (it's a payment system similar to Xbox microsoft points). Assuming you fall under their designated allowed countries (Brazil & Venezuela aren't part of America and Puerto Rico isn't part of the USA Sqeenix has spoken!) you will be able to buy crysta via the UltimatePay option by buying their pre-paid $20 cards. Please note that this card will also be rejected by Squeenix and you will be required to call UltimatePay support in order for them to manually push the crysta onto your account once you provide them the card code via phone call.
    I strongly recommend staying away from this game until Square Enix fixes all these issues if at all. Please note that from past experience (FFXI, FFXIV) Square Enix has for the most part always ignored the player and done their own thing at their own pace. If anything I hope this post helps new players get a clearer picture of what they're getting into after paying for the game.

    Current outstanding issues on forums for those interested:
    Payment Method Registration Errors [Error Code 401 and 601]
    http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/93493-Payment-Method-Registration-Errors-Error-Code-401-and-601
    Can't Buy Crysta
    http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/94774-Can-t-Buy-Crysta
    Error 2002 and 90000
    http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/94987-Error-2002-and-90000

    You can view all issues at their Technical Support Forum:
    http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/forums/627-Technical-Support    … Expand
  33. Skals
    Sep 23, 2013
    10
    The best MMO I've played, hands down. I've put countless hours into WoW, and I've played almost every mainstream MMO in the west, and I have to say, this game has the best combat, and the least boring leveling system I've seen so far. The most important part to me of any MMO, would be the end game, and A Realm Reborn has a serious amount of difficult dungeons, raids, quests, as well asThe best MMO I've played, hands down. I've put countless hours into WoW, and I've played almost every mainstream MMO in the west, and I have to say, this game has the best combat, and the least boring leveling system I've seen so far. The most important part to me of any MMO, would be the end game, and A Realm Reborn has a serious amount of difficult dungeons, raids, quests, as well as other challenges for you to complete once you reach level 50. The boss fights are amazing, most of them feel new and innovative, and they are always challenging. And now, only a few weeks into the release of the game, they have already announced the first patch, that will bring even more end-game raids and dungeons, as well as many other features. This MMO is looking very promising indeed.… Expand
  34. Cell1e
    Sep 22, 2013
    3
    What I like:
    I like the pretty places, the graphics and the range of armours and weapons, classes and skills. The animations are nice too. I like the cut scenes seeing my character in them. I liked the character creator, its better than some mmo's out there.
    The ability to play lots of classes and do lots of crafts all with one character is nice if you are into building lots into your    What I like:
    I like the pretty places, the graphics and the range of armours and weapons, classes and skills. The animations are nice too. I like the cut scenes seeing my character in them. I liked the character creator, its better than some mmo's out there.
    The ability to play lots of classes and do lots of crafts all with one character is nice if you are into building lots into your one main. I personally like making lots of different characters with different looks and trying out new classes and jobs that way.
    The bad:
    The Map, its TERRIBLE!!! I have never used a worse map in an mmo in the last five years at least. It has been a torture finding my way around. The crystal travel within cities is pretty pointless as you can't use it unless you happen to be right there touching one, why not let you teleport from anywhere you are to any of the crystals. The fact you can't preview items...who makes an mmo without item preview? The lack of a sort button in the inventory.
    Now the UGLY:
    Why tie all the fun stuff to the main quest and THEN make dungeons part of the main quest??? It is beyond belief that any game maker would happily alienate a large group of potential customers by saying 'its our way or the highway'.
    Let me explain. Everything I like to do in an mmo, like crafting, selling things on the brokers, storing things in storage and yes even riding a chocobo can only be done when you have passed certain milestones in the main quests; at level 15 you get a main quest to leave your little town and fly to the other two main cities to deliver messages. Until this point you are just doing local quests, not able to store anything or sell anything as you have no access to the servant guy who you can hire when you complete some of your main quests higher up. Im level 19 and still haven't unlocked my chocobo or auction house and am a little stuck with no money waiting on a slow dungeon finder mechanic to find me a place on the third of the three main quest story dungeons you HAVE to do before you can hope to advance. Actually I ran out of money because as you quest you get no money dropping, you get paid very small amounts from SOME quests but I was silly enough to just use the teleporting skill without realising it was using my money and I wasn't getting the money back from the two dungeons I had laboured through.
    Yeah this game is so not about great loot- I'm not seeing how anyone can find it rewarding at all.
    This afternoon after waiting a long time to be matched with a group I decided to roll another character out just to get a break from the grind and frustration and when she was ready to go I was told I could NOT go back to my server as it is full and no new characters allowed. I tried to get any eu server and they were all blocked and the only servers allowed for me to try were NA servers. Not great for me here in Ireland. There as also a message stating that there would be NO server switching at any time. So I have one character stuck, broke and waiting for a dungeon on a full up server (how is it I had so much trouble getting a dungeon group is beyond me)
    I feel utterly fed up and annoyed and bothered. I would say to anyone out there who isn't a brainwashed final fantasy fan to think carefully before buying this game. Make sure you love dungeons, you will have to play them and you will have to play a lot of them. If you love getting lots of loot, forget this game, I got to level 19 without even filling one of my 6 bags, okay the clothes items go to a separate storage but still there should be drops of potions, weapons, crafting stuff, money...there is nearly nothing but xp from grinding.
    If I manage to suck it up and stick out the final dungeon I should imagine I will be at least level 20-22 before I get to use the brokers properly or get my riding skill. That's half-way to level cap!! Something is wrong with that picture.
    Oh and gathering and crafting? Very time consuming. I'm really not sure it is worth the bother. I love to craft and do it in every mmo I play. I can't see myself doing it in this game.
    The FATES are pretty unrewarding too. You get xp and some small amount of coins. Oh and another big disappointment is the lack of audio with 90% of the talking cut scenes, in this day and age and with the wealth of Square Enix you would think they would pay some voice actors.
    But it is pretty.

    Pretty Frustrating!!
    Pretty Unrewarding!!
    Pretty Grindy!!    … Expand
  35. HexSCTV
    Sep 22, 2013
    10
    What an improvement! best MMO I've played in years. They really pulled this one out of the fire. It's addictive, entertaining, and a fresh look on the older systems. It's very streamlined and things, such as crafting, are actually entertaining/difficult and fun. Definitely worth checking out.
  36. ApexHeights
    Sep 21, 2013
    9
    As a fan of the Final Fantasy series, I will do my best to ignore any bias I may have, that being said..

    I find the game to be enjoyable to play with a nice mix of the final fantasy flavor and MMO play style. The graphics are absolutely gorgeous, the combat (while a bit stale in the early levels) will feel familiar to MMO veterans while providing a new feel with the 2.5 second Global    As a fan of the Final Fantasy series, I will do my best to ignore any bias I may have, that being said..

    I find the game to be enjoyable to play with a nice mix of the final fantasy flavor and MMO play style. The graphics are absolutely gorgeous, the combat (while a bit stale in the early levels) will feel familiar to MMO veterans while providing a new feel with the 2.5 second Global Cooldown (which makes for more planned combat, fitting to the Final Fantasy gameplay).

    I would say my largest gripe with the game is the lacking in voice acting. While where it is present, the voice acting is flawless, I find it to be a rare and sort of random occurrence.

    The crafting and gathering are so unique in this game I can't decide what to do when I log on. There are no restrictions in what you can choose to do on your character. If you want to craft your way to level cap in each profession, expect no limitations.

    For me the best part about the game is it's uniqueness in it's progression and allowance of options. You can use one character to level from 1 50 each class, advance class, gathering skill, and crafting skill. There is so much content to enjoy. I highly recommend this game.    … Expand
  37. mikemilz
    Sep 20, 2013
    1
    I don't understand how anyone with a PC can enjoy this game. The game play is mind numbingly slow. The quests are mundane and boring. The graphics are less than spectacular. As a new pay to play MMO it's dated in almost every way. It offers nothing that wasn't offered 5 years ago in this genre. I'm a huge MMO fan and I can usually get at least a month of play out of newly released MMOs.I don't understand how anyone with a PC can enjoy this game. The game play is mind numbingly slow. The quests are mundane and boring. The graphics are less than spectacular. As a new pay to play MMO it's dated in almost every way. It offers nothing that wasn't offered 5 years ago in this genre. I'm a huge MMO fan and I can usually get at least a month of play out of newly released MMOs. This one just makes me want to take a nap every time I've played it. There's nothing even remotely addictive about this game.… Expand
  38. mishayangg
    Sep 19, 2013
    10
    A fresh breath of air in an otherwise stale MMO-genre. A really beautiful game! I highly recommend to atleast try it for 30 days since the price is so low and so many years of crafting the game has been put into it.
  39. Stellen
    Sep 18, 2013
    9
    A large, interesting, and engaging game, with a lot of gameplay options and variety. Lots of different classes and quests, good graphics, interesting fights, interesting storylines. IMO, this is the best MMO to have been released in years.
  40. The_Ommadawn
    Sep 18, 2013
    9
    This came out of nowhere for me and ordinarily I wouldn't play a Final Fantasy game. I am SHOCKED at how good this game is. I've been scratching for years to find a replacement MMO for WoW. I've tried all the recent challengers (Tera, GW2, Rift, Secret World) and all have their strengths. The all offer something and are enjoyable to play. What FF provides, isn't the next step in MMOThis came out of nowhere for me and ordinarily I wouldn't play a Final Fantasy game. I am SHOCKED at how good this game is. I've been scratching for years to find a replacement MMO for WoW. I've tried all the recent challengers (Tera, GW2, Rift, Secret World) and all have their strengths. The all offer something and are enjoyable to play. What FF provides, isn't the next step in MMO evolution, but a finely tuned and polished game that has been clearly been thought out. I know that log in issues are the biggest problem (since launch) and sadly, this happens with almost all new games. I read that even Square Enix weren't prepared for the player influx. I guess, like me they read the reviews and jumped on board. If you're an MMO fan, you will love FF Realm Reborn. Graphically, it's a work of art. The animations, colours, environments, armour, clothing, just about everything is the peak of any MMO i've played. The first 15 levels were a little slow if you're a veteran of these type of games. If there is one BIG weakness it's the lack of voice over cutscenes. Maybe this will be added at a later date. It's a shame because some parts are voice acted then moments of silence while you read the text. The combat is tab targeted but fast paced and action packed. I await the likes of Wildstar and Elder Scrolls Online to see if they can pull me away. From my experience so far, this will be no easy task.… Expand
  41. NyreX
    Sep 17, 2013
    9
    If we compare it to the original Final Fantasy XIV, it's really big on the side of improvement and I applaud SE for reviving it the way it was supposed to be in the beginning.

    Addicting game
    Beautiful environment
    Battle System is fun
  42. vandana
    Sep 17, 2013
    10
    Not being a huge fan of Final Fantasy, I came to the world of Eorzea without huge expectations. More from curiosity and boredom with other MMOs then anything. All I expected was another generic MMO, which is doomed to go free-to-play in 6 months. God, was I wrong! Final Fantasy is a great piece of craftsmanship and a result of blending together of features invented over the years ofNot being a huge fan of Final Fantasy, I came to the world of Eorzea without huge expectations. More from curiosity and boredom with other MMOs then anything. All I expected was another generic MMO, which is doomed to go free-to-play in 6 months. God, was I wrong! Final Fantasy is a great piece of craftsmanship and a result of blending together of features invented over the years of development of modern MMOs. That has been done in a way that actually works, and all the pieces together make this game incredibly fun to play. With plenty of content added to the equation, this actually puts FF14 as a frontrunner in MMO world, quite unexpectedly. The positive effect is of course amplified by the fact that version 1.0 sucked, however that doesn't matter to a player like me, who never played 1.0 (that being said, I very much applaud the courage to go ahead with the reboot, which is an example to the whole industry how to deal with failure, and give justice to legendary franchises) But I judge this game on its own merit, without any reference to its predecessor. And the judgment can be only one: this is the best MMO that I can remember, and one that is full of hope that it won't actually go f2p/maintenance mode anytime soon, because of how good the engine is, how it gives the game a base on which it can add to its already stunning amount of content. i can see myself playing this game for years to come, and seeing how cleverly designed it is, I am certain that the game is managed by people who know what they are doing and has bright future ahead of it. Square Enix just acquired a loyal customer, and I doubt they will do anything to loose him. My score is 8/10, however to offset the 0 scores given for issues that no longer exist I give 0.

    P.S. People who come to Metacritic on day 1, and give a game a 0, because of login issues, should rethink their lives. There was an MMO that had 120 servers at launch, look where it is now.    … Expand
  43. Moonraver005
    Sep 16, 2013
    2
    FFXI brought up to speed. Which isn't saying a whole lot, the game capitalizes in all of the new and great updates that came with MMO's pulling themselves out of dark ages over the last decade, but it does a once over on an already poorly mundane design concept. The classes, races, cities, and core concepts don't stray too far from this. Where it does differ is in the amount of time itFFXI brought up to speed. Which isn't saying a whole lot, the game capitalizes in all of the new and great updates that came with MMO's pulling themselves out of dark ages over the last decade, but it does a once over on an already poorly mundane design concept. The classes, races, cities, and core concepts don't stray too far from this. Where it does differ is in the amount of time it takes to reach the current cap; which is not a positive. Time sinks are not cleverly hidden in the form a head scathingly bizarre and repetitive crafting system and the lack of quests to support leveling multiple classes leaves many to store up Leve allowances" as if you were playing a free-to-play facebook game. Combat leaves a lot to be desired after you find yourself mindlessly grinding out what seems like a simply designed combo system. Lack of action and movement that exceeds to dancing around the target and stepping out of enemy telegraphed zones leave you wanting something extra. The detail to your character and their clothing is amazing, but you soon learn where the budgeted geometry went when you step out into the world and notice its drab, poorly textured, hard surfaces. When will they learn that most of the game you stare at 50% of your character, while the rest of the viewing angle is designed to view the enemies and environments. I was reasonably unimpressed by the lack of atmosphere and design of environments that the game had to offer. The story, which I honestly couldn't be bothered with only emphasized the lacking quality in character animations and voice over dialogue. Reading isn't a major issue, but being able to comfortably enjoy the story and all of its terrible emote driven acting; voice over could eased the suffering. The CG cut scenes were good, but no longer as breathtaking as they used to be, again, competitors do it better. All in all they failed to bring something new and different to the table as always. The same tired "Holy triad" came included with longer than expected wait times when queuing for the simply boring, constrained and phantasy-star-online-esque dungeons. So if you're looking for a new MMO to play save your pennies and wait for some of the others that promise to further the genre, because this one was just a bad MMO brought up to snuff.

    P.S.
    Don't hold your breath for any depth in the itemization unless you like to screw with materia (see time sink).    … Expand
  44. Clarence_L
    Sep 16, 2013
    9
    Generally agree with the positive reviews, I'm very much into the end game now and I enjoyed the mature community as opposed to many other MMOs.

    This MMO actually has a main storyline all the way from level 1-50 that's actually not a bore. Sure there are many people who are just here for a faced paced action MMO, like WoW's PVP etc, but FFXIV won't have PVP until the next patch in 2-3    Generally agree with the positive reviews, I'm very much into the end game now and I enjoyed the mature community as opposed to many other MMOs.

    This MMO actually has a main storyline all the way from level 1-50 that's actually not a bore. Sure there are many people who are just here for a faced paced action MMO, like WoW's PVP etc, but FFXIV won't have PVP until the next patch in 2-3 months time and it's really not the focus. But if you're one of those types that will give the story dialogue a chance you might actually find yourself drawn into the world and give a slight damn about it.

    Once I was drawn into the storyline I was hooked, ya there's a lot of filler, but what game doesn't have fetch quests? If not we'd beat the game in a month and move onto the next game, plus these fetch quests have you travelling (or teleporting if you're rich). I really love the armory system, with one character can I can be any class, I have a level 50 Paladin for tanking, and a lvl 31 White Mage for healing and if I feel like playing a DD class I have a few I tried for fun too. You might be thinking, why would I want to play the same game twice, but there's multiple starting towns and you can start somewhere else too, this really adds to replayability (at least for each starting town).

    Minus one point for FATEs which are a boring grind and give far too high a reward.    … Expand
  45. jball_2k
    Sep 16, 2013
    8
    Let me start off by saying that I have played most MMO's since EverQuest. Even I avoided this game like the plague when 1.0 came out, as it was just not even close to WoW. All the poor reviews kept me away.

    I have a level 50 Scholar, and I love it. Leveling starts off VERY fun, then does tank as you are pretty much forced to grind FATE quests. FATES are public quests. Dungeons are semi    Let me start off by saying that I have played most MMO's since EverQuest. Even I avoided this game like the plague when 1.0 came out, as it was just not even close to WoW. All the poor reviews kept me away.

    I have a level 50 Scholar, and I love it. Leveling starts off VERY fun, then does tank as you are pretty much forced to grind FATE quests. FATES are public quests. Dungeons are semi challenging, and need to have more rewards for completion. The Trials are a BLAST, and the story is quite good,

    I would definitely recommend this game, if you have 3-10 friends to play it with. A lot of these dungeons are so hard that PUG'ing is very hard. Right when you hit 50, it's harder than raiding in WoW.    … Expand
  46. okottekoneko
    Sep 14, 2013
    8
    Yes the game got off to a bad start with the servers, but what mmo doesnt.

    They are still fixing it and its going to take some time, but other then that and poor latency to the US servers, the game is really really fun! Its got a great story and is really pretty! Its even better with friends. I give it an 8 because the content does start to run out fast but with content incoming    Yes the game got off to a bad start with the servers, but what mmo doesnt.

    They are still fixing it and its going to take some time, but other then that and poor latency to the US servers,
    the game is really really fun!

    Its got a great story and is really pretty!
    Its even better with friends.

    I give it an 8 because the content does start to run out fast but with content incoming the game should have a much better lifespan then 1.0

    when the server issues are sorted out, new content comes in and all is sorted out the game will be 10/10    … Expand
  47. GarryRyder
    Sep 14, 2013
    10
    Great masterpiece of MMO done! This game has remarkable graphics, mesmerizing storyline, amazing gameplay and etc. I have really enjoyed it. Square Enix have done a great job. Keep it up guys
  48. Masekase
    Sep 14, 2013
    10
    Fantastic game few hiccups at the start with servers. I am on Japanese server and we have had same problems same as other servers but they are in the past now. I played in beta and 1.0 this game has come a long way. Cancelled my FFXI game after 10 years as this game offers everything I need in a game.
  49. Stewchops
    Sep 13, 2013
    8
    First of all; play this on PC. The goosebump factor in this game is very high. They have taken past elements of all that made the FF series awesome and put it into one game. It almost feels like FFTactics the MMO. Combat is a little slow paced, so if you're one of those twitchy game players you'll feel held back. Two of the instances near the point of the game that separatesFirst of all; play this on PC. The goosebump factor in this game is very high. They have taken past elements of all that made the FF series awesome and put it into one game. It almost feels like FFTactics the MMO. Combat is a little slow paced, so if you're one of those twitchy game players you'll feel held back. Two of the instances near the point of the game that separates levelling from end-game are fantastic. Some of the best stuff i've seen, even from single player games. The boss fights in those instances make you certainly feel like you've earned it by the time you've beaten them. After those instances, however, there doesn't feel like your character has any real reason to keep going. There are contrived reasons given to you by NPC's, but once you're done with the main story quest chain you've pretty much beaten the game.… Expand
  50. jayborrelli
    Sep 11, 2013
    10
    Fun, addicting with an Epic story line. Ps3 play, other than targeting (which can sometimes be difficult) works really well. Not sure otherwise how this game could be any better, a true 180 from its former FFXIV 1.0!
  51. Bremic
    Sep 11, 2013
    10
    This game is a true success story, a total comeback kid. So far I love everything about this game. The gameplay, while not necessarily revolutionary, is done well, and to be honest I think that's what MMO gamers want. Something that's just done *well.*
  52. MSGundamWing
    Sep 11, 2013
    8
    While I'd love to give this game a 10, I can't. The server login issues alone warrant a reduction in rating. Most of those are being resolved and the game is actually quite good. Graphics are good for a PS3 open world game. The plot lines seem good so far. I would encourage people to spend some time with the game before making a judgement on their own. The now free upgrade to the PS4While I'd love to give this game a 10, I can't. The server login issues alone warrant a reduction in rating. Most of those are being resolved and the game is actually quite good. Graphics are good for a PS3 open world game. The plot lines seem good so far. I would encourage people to spend some time with the game before making a judgement on their own. The now free upgrade to the PS4 version next year is just another plus.… Expand
  53. Taesaes
    Sep 11, 2013
    9
    I wasn't really looking forward to this game that much, it was more so my friends. I was... skeptical, with good reason of course. Yet I was assured by Square Enix, that they had fixed their previous mistakes. Well my friends, they most assuredly have. Many people are giving negative reviews simply on the basis that they couldn't or can't make characters on servers of their friends, or theI wasn't really looking forward to this game that much, it was more so my friends. I was... skeptical, with good reason of course. Yet I was assured by Square Enix, that they had fixed their previous mistakes. Well my friends, they most assuredly have. Many people are giving negative reviews simply on the basis that they couldn't or can't make characters on servers of their friends, or the server problems in general in the first week. They have fixed those issues, and you must remember that no mmo has ever had a smooth release (Rift being a 'too close to call' for this statement, but that is one mmo in countless). There are still many problems with this game, but with the crazy amount of end game at release, and the fact that they have promised major updates every 3 months, and we know that they are listening to our pleas of things wrong in this game (for example the repair bill costs being too high and they are addressing this in a patch today), and many other examples, this game is just too good to pass up. Once I started playing, I simply could not stop.

    Something to note, do not give up at lower levels... the system is a bit strange for the lower levels, since there is no 'fun' rotation system, it is most of the time for some classes hit one or two buttons. Later on, you have so many abilities, it is needed to have 30-40 keybinds, and you will use all of them, and your rotations become such a fun aspect of boss fights in order to maximize your dps. It is kind of annoying this doesn't happen till much later (I am talking around level 40 when your rotations become VERY fun), but still, the rest of the game is just great.    … Expand
  54. Salnexia
    Sep 11, 2013
    10
    Whilst there certainly were some server issues at launch, which was pretty bad, they did sort it out, took a bit longer then I would have liked, but the game itself is amazing, and the server issues are a thing of the past.
    Whilst I am not going to go into it here please know that a lot of the particularly negative reviews on this site are rather misinformed about why there were issues,    Whilst there certainly were some server issues at launch, which was pretty bad, they did sort it out, took a bit longer then I would have liked, but the game itself is amazing, and the server issues are a thing of the past.
    Whilst I am not going to go into it here please know that a lot of the particularly negative reviews on this site are rather misinformed about why there were issues, and square enix's plans to fix it.    … Expand
  55. Marandopsu
    Sep 11, 2013
    5
    Now a mediocre game instead of an abysmal turd. This qualifies as a tremendous turn around for Square Enix, but don't expect anything other than archaic mechanics and a mundane story.
  56. woo5068
    Sep 10, 2013
    10
    great mix of all MMO advantage.Despite the early access problems I've had the most fun here since WoW 1.0-1.5. There's just so much to do and probably the first time ever I don't feel like I have to level my main class or job to 50 to play the game to it's fullest. I've spent countless of hours crafting and fishing because it's just so entertaining by itself
  57. 8ighty6ix
    Sep 10, 2013
    9
    First played FFXIV when it first launched as 1.0. Very pretty game, but other than that it felt like an alpha version of the game. Thankfully this game has reached what I would deem a launch ready state. If you are in the market for an MMORPG, look no further. This game is polished in almost every way with exciting content, diverse classes, and compelling story. The dungeons are unique andFirst played FFXIV when it first launched as 1.0. Very pretty game, but other than that it felt like an alpha version of the game. Thankfully this game has reached what I would deem a launch ready state. If you are in the market for an MMORPG, look no further. This game is polished in almost every way with exciting content, diverse classes, and compelling story. The dungeons are unique and interesting and the end game content is plentiful. This game earns the right to bill me monthly which is something I didn't think I'd enlist for ever again.… Expand
  58. perfectm
    Sep 10, 2013
    10
    Really surprised at how much I am enjoying this game. The leaving and story of the game are on par with the best of SWTOR, but the crafting and gathering system is so much better than any MMO I have ever played. On top of everything, the graphics and sound/music are A1
  59. P4ndabear
    Sep 10, 2013
    10
    Best MMO I've ever played, most end game content from release I've ever seen, I can't wait to see what the future for this game holds! I highly recommend it.
  60. DexterMorgan
    Sep 10, 2013
    9
    Good game. Work on the targeting system though. I'm a bit disappointed with the lack of voice acting, but I can get over that. It would be nice if monsters took priority over players during Fates, at least for DDs. Maybe have an option to turn on which take priority.
  61. Drazin
    Sep 10, 2013
    9
    Ive been playing from 1.0 and trudged through it. went through all the betas. Had the 1017 fiasco.. and after it all... I must say, this is the best comeback of any game ever. Im not fanboy-ing this at all. If you love a fantasy world with a story that has you on the edge of your seat and great endgame to boot, this is the game for you!
  62. fangstriker
    Sep 10, 2013
    10
    Absolutely love this game and having a blast! A huge improvement over 1.0 Thankfully the FFXIV dev team had a great producer leading the way. So a big congrats to Yoshi-P on the amazing re-launch.
  63. TakeThePill
    Sep 10, 2013
    9
    Oh noes, guys, it's a "Wow Clone." We all know WoW was the first MMO, right?!

    Seriously, I'm impressed with the game. I left WoW for good reasons. Since leaving, ARR is the FIRST MMO I've actually enjoyed. Maybe it is nostalgia, or the beauty of the world. Or, simply because it takes fantasy to a level it deserves. I will continue to play this game for quite some time, and I only hope    Oh noes, guys, it's a "Wow Clone." We all know WoW was the first MMO, right?!

    Seriously, I'm impressed with the game. I left WoW for good reasons. Since leaving, ARR is the FIRST MMO I've actually enjoyed. Maybe it is nostalgia, or the beauty of the world. Or, simply because it takes fantasy to a level it deserves. I will continue to play this game for quite some time, and I only hope that SE continues to strive for excellence.    … Expand
  64. Ived
    Sep 10, 2013
    10
    Different classes give dynamic play-styles.
    Mixing abilities from other classes allows for interesting builds.
    Combat gameplay is enjoyably fast and action based.
  65. masterlobo
    Sep 10, 2013
    10
    Square-Enix did it. YoshiP did it. They turned a failure of a game into an absolute success. This game is absolutely beautiful to hear, see and even feel. With an intriguing story, great MMO mechanics and the Final Fantasy label behind it, A Realm Reborn is truly the surprise of the year. Yes, it had its launch problems (which are most of the negative reviews here) but believe me, they areSquare-Enix did it. YoshiP did it. They turned a failure of a game into an absolute success. This game is absolutely beautiful to hear, see and even feel. With an intriguing story, great MMO mechanics and the Final Fantasy label behind it, A Realm Reborn is truly the surprise of the year. Yes, it had its launch problems (which are most of the negative reviews here) but believe me, they are a thing of the past now.

    If not GOTY, at least it is most definitely the surprise of the year.

    Go try it out right now!    … Expand
  66. enriquetobias
    Sep 10, 2013
    8
    I have played tons of MMOs before and this is not much different from the other ones, but I really enjoy it.
    I think this game nails alot of different aspects for and MMO to have success. It has ton of players, classes, jobs are nice, Gathering and crafting is almost the same as wow but makes it smoother.
    If you are an FF fan this will be no problem with you, you will like it, if you    I have played tons of MMOs before and this is not much different from the other ones, but I really enjoy it.
    I think this game nails alot of different aspects for and MMO to have success. It has ton of players, classes, jobs are nice, Gathering and crafting is almost the same as wow but makes it smoother.
    If you are an FF fan this will be no problem with you, you will like it, if you have experience with other MMOs and you dont have one right now give it a try    … Expand
  67. mvdmolen
    Sep 10, 2013
    10
    Don't believe any reviews that complain about server or log on issues. By and large they have been taken care of. I have not had any trouble logging in since they implemented the fixes and expanded the worlds. One of the great things about this game is to see hundreds of people milling around cities and that is what is so much fun about a MMO, meeting and playing with other people. And boyDon't believe any reviews that complain about server or log on issues. By and large they have been taken care of. I have not had any trouble logging in since they implemented the fixes and expanded the worlds. One of the great things about this game is to see hundreds of people milling around cities and that is what is so much fun about a MMO, meeting and playing with other people. And boy has that been made easy. All you have to do is sign up with the Duty Finder and within minutes, sometimes even seconds, you are dropped in a party ready to battle. There is so much new and exciting content that I have no hope of experiencing all, since I got a day job. The graphics are fluent, battles are fun, music is out of this world, customization of play and controls is near limitless. Not only is it a fantastic game at launch, I am really looking forward to all the upcoming additions (patches) that will bring new content and even higher graphics (PS4 DirectX 11).

    Highly recommended!    … Expand
  68. tyspi
    Sep 10, 2013
    10
    I have played every new hyped Mmo including the original 1.0 and this game gives you the feeling right off the bat that it's a winner. It's very intelligent unlike a lot if the other Wow clones out there with some very intuitive systems. I have yet to try endgame which for me is where the game will define itself but I have a feeling this game will surprise a lot if people. Give it a try;)
  69. Statrix
    Sep 10, 2013
    10
    I've slowly been losing hope for the MMORPG genre, but this game completely ignites the spark. It proves that MMORPG games with the classic recipe can still be great when implemented correctly, and that P2P is still a way to go, and makes for a much greater community. I haven't been this attached to a game in while. Do recommend trying it out of you haven't. Great party mechanics, greatI've slowly been losing hope for the MMORPG genre, but this game completely ignites the spark. It proves that MMORPG games with the classic recipe can still be great when implemented correctly, and that P2P is still a way to go, and makes for a much greater community. I haven't been this attached to a game in while. Do recommend trying it out of you haven't. Great party mechanics, great solo mechanics, great storyline, great endgame already, with a promising lead developer that won't let down.… Expand
  70. Bladfighter
    Sep 9, 2013
    10
    This is the most amazing MMO RPG I have played since I quit WoW after the release of Cataclysm. It combines great features of the MMO-Genre flawless implemented. All these are perfectly bound into the amazing main-story. That way all the players who are new to the genre get into the game without the help of anyone or anything. The combat system seems old but gold (for me): variableThis is the most amazing MMO RPG I have played since I quit WoW after the release of Cataclysm. It combines great features of the MMO-Genre flawless implemented. All these are perfectly bound into the amazing main-story. That way all the players who are new to the genre get into the game without the help of anyone or anything. The combat system seems old but gold (for me): variable rotations due to the situation and unique fighting mechanics of the different classes. I could write way more about this game but why should I. Just go and get this masterpiece for 25€ (including the typical 30 days playtime) and get into it.… Expand
  71. namythemithra
    Sep 9, 2013
    10
    i played xi for 6 years then i took a break tried out few MMOs, then started 1.0 3 months before it was taken down and i was disappointed but i kept believing they must change it to something better.

    tried beta phase 4 and i was honestly shocked with the improvements, the game felt new compared to 1.0. it is amazing now, everyone i know is so addicted. when players got angry because of    i played xi for 6 years then i took a break tried out few MMOs, then started 1.0 3 months before it was taken down and i was disappointed but i kept believing they must change it to something better.

    tried beta phase 4 and i was honestly shocked with the improvements, the game felt new compared to 1.0. it is amazing now, everyone i know is so addicted. when players got angry because of capacity and log in issues it was because the game was so good everyone wanted to play.

    the game feels like a FF game, it has that feeling that you can't find in other games. I even started reading all the dialogues (i never done that in any game before).

    I can see myself playing this one for years!    … Expand
  72. caelix
    Sep 9, 2013
    10
    Simply fantastic. The best iteration of the MMO fantasy genre in a long time, perhaps since world of warcraft. What it lacks in orginiality it more than makes up for in Polish. If you like MMO's, buying this game is a no brainer. And if you are a lifelong Final Fantasy lover as well. Stellar graphics, music, story, solid gameplay. Go for it, you wont regret it.
  73. sevansup
    Sep 9, 2013
    10
    Fantastically designed story, writing, and quest systems. Never before have I been so engrossed in an MMORPG's story. Usually MMOs stories just aren't capable of being very gripping. That's not the case with Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. This is the first MMO where I have felt a sense of attachment to NPCs, much like when reading a book and developing a sense of attachment for theFantastically designed story, writing, and quest systems. Never before have I been so engrossed in an MMORPG's story. Usually MMOs stories just aren't capable of being very gripping. That's not the case with Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. This is the first MMO where I have felt a sense of attachment to NPCs, much like when reading a book and developing a sense of attachment for the characters. The gameplay is fun and well paced. The graphics are good, although I must say I wish the game supported Direct X 11 and ran in 64 bit mode so that it would run even smoother on some machines. But those are things that can (and likely will) be included at a later date. I have the utmost respect for Yoshida and all that he has done to refresh this game and make it worthy of holding the Final Fantasy title.… Expand
  74. hodgesb
    Sep 9, 2013
    9
    Wow, quite a change from the first FFXIV. The new interface is great, the map works perfectly, and the skills are much more accessible than before. Overall, they fixed the issues that prevented me from enjoying the first game. I played about 14 hours and each aspect of the game (so far) seems perfected, which is much more than I can say for most MMO's. You can tell they really put in theWow, quite a change from the first FFXIV. The new interface is great, the map works perfectly, and the skills are much more accessible than before. Overall, they fixed the issues that prevented me from enjoying the first game. I played about 14 hours and each aspect of the game (so far) seems perfected, which is much more than I can say for most MMO's. You can tell they really put in the effort and I believe they will be successful without having to go the F2P route. They may be sticking with the traditional MMO formula, but I don't mind since it's a formula I enjoy.… Expand
  75. bigmanda
    Sep 9, 2013
    9
    FFXIV:ARR is a really great game. The world is very fleshed out and and the attention to detail in the landscape is pretty good. The main storyline at first seems a little on the dull side, but picks up mid game and is really quite interesting. The class/job system is really fun and rewards you for maxing out a class by giving a bonus to leveling other classes. When you get to theFFXIV:ARR is a really great game. The world is very fleshed out and and the attention to detail in the landscape is pretty good. The main storyline at first seems a little on the dull side, but picks up mid game and is really quite interesting. The class/job system is really fun and rewards you for maxing out a class by giving a bonus to leveling other classes. When you get to the "endgame" I wouldn't say there is a lot to do, but there is enough for now until content updates come out. The endgame dungeons/trials are fun and challenging.

    A few issues I noticed was that making money endgame is pretty limited, due to the fight against RMT. This is slightly offset by being able to craft and repair your own gear but once more of the population starts getting to level cap, the lack of gil entering the economy may become an issue. Other minor issues are some class/job balancing and some quality of play issues regarding the GCD and pet control for classes that access to pets.

    Overall this game is definitely worth checking out and Square-Enix did quite a good job with the game with exception to launch issues that many MMO's are plagued by.    … Expand
  76. ReviewerX103
    Sep 9, 2013
    9
    A very solid mmo for those who are not looking for an action mmo. A great mmo for the Final Fantasy Fan. Launch wise it has more content then any mmo I can remember releasing in the last 5 yrs. The graphics are one of the top in the genre. Outstanding sound track. Fluid controls both on PC and PS3.

    Biggest issue the game has is being too popular at launch causing all kinds of server    A very solid mmo for those who are not looking for an action mmo. A great mmo for the Final Fantasy Fan. Launch wise it has more content then any mmo I can remember releasing in the last 5 yrs. The graphics are one of the top in the genre. Outstanding sound track. Fluid controls both on PC and PS3.

    Biggest issue the game has is being too popular at launch causing all kinds of server issues. Positive is once you are inside the game there are nearly no bugs. To note SE has fixed most the server issues as of this last week. The instance finder is still getting bogged down with log ques even in premade partys were no pairing is done.

    Battle wise it is very much in the style of WoW. It is not an action mmo and very obviously does not try to be one. All the battle system elements are very well designed together, the more you level up the more you can do and the more the battle system makes sense. The down part of this is in the beginning it will feel very slow and boring, but this feeling almost completely goes away when you get actions that speed up your cooldowns and get instant cast abilities off the Global Cooldowns.

    Crafting and Gathering are highly involved. They are both full fledged professions in this game, it is not just press a button and craft. Crafting in this game for someone who enjoys it is hard to beat. Simply one of the best crafting/gathering systems in any mmo period new or old.

    Content and variety of content. There is loads, you will not have a shortage in this game. Variety you have solo 4 and 8 man content with 24 man in development. You have hunting logs, leves (dailys), Fate (dynamic events), Dungeons, instance boss fights, guildhest (instance mini dungeons), countless quest for crafters, gathers, fighting classes, main story, and towns. Really this game has more content the most AAA mmos have after 6-12 months of patches post launch.

    Progression wise this game starts off easy, I mean really really easy. It is designed for those who never played a mmo or group based game. It slowly teaches you mechanics as you progress and continues to get more difficult. The storyline is designed to be doable by everyone without much problems. For the hardcores it starts at 50, after the story. The hand holding stops and you will easy see how endgame will be in XIV ARR. From the having to try to die stages you will quickly get to the point of dying 30-50times in a row trying to figure out a strategy.

    The negative of progression I feel are the games biggest weaknesses.
    1) It is highly solo focused and groups pre-late game have little benefit. True you can get more gear, but leveling your first job you can do it about as fast just spamming solo fate and quest.
    2) This game defines linear gated content. Dungeons Primals Bahamuts Lab you have to do 1 before the other. Once you are at the highest one no real reason to go back. This games lack of horizontal development and content means you will be spamming the same things day in and day out before moving to the next.
    3) Weekly tokens. The games BiS gear for each teir of content is token based with weekly lockouts. While I guess no different then distributing drops it just feels grindy. More or less spamming dailys.

    Storyline I feel starts off strong but ends weak. I mean long epic story learning about the world and earning the trust of everyone. finding ways to save everyone... then boom you save the world in a few quest... the end just seemed really rushed was a disappointment to me. The good thing is the main storyline, outside the voice acting, was really well written and solid.

    Progression: 7/10
    Graphics: 10/10
    Music 10/10
    Story: 8/10
    Job Design (Crafting/gathering/fighting classes): 10/10
    Content: 9/10
    Battle system: 7/10

    Overall from me 8.7/10 (so 9/10 on the rate bar)    … Expand
  77. foxsocks79
    Sep 8, 2013
    8
    The two main things that people should know when deciding to try this game are:
    1) this is not an mmo that reinvents the wheel, so if you are looking for something revolutionary you will be disappointed.
    2) The other thing is that this game is slow to start with and it isn't really until your character hits level 20 that the world really starts to open up. If neither of those two points    The two main things that people should know when deciding to try this game are:
    1) this is not an mmo that reinvents the wheel, so if you are looking for something revolutionary you will be disappointed.
    2) The other thing is that this game is slow to start with and it isn't really until your character hits level 20 that the world really starts to open up.
    If neither of those two points put you off then you should give this game a chance. I really like it for the following reasons:
    This game does a great job at capturing the essence of Final Fantasy, the classes, the enemies, the environments and especially the music all tie-in with the franchise. I also really like are the ability to change class at whim and the crafting, which again is not revolutionary, but is well thought out and fun.    … Expand
  78. Blitz31
    Sep 8, 2013
    10
    SquareEnix has really redeemed themselves with Reborn. A fantastic breathtaking adventure from start to finish which of course is pretty much endless. From the great in depth create a character system to the job systems to the music graphics and virtually endless amounts and types of quests you will never have something not to keep you busy. Nothing really groundbreaking but then again ifSquareEnix has really redeemed themselves with Reborn. A fantastic breathtaking adventure from start to finish which of course is pretty much endless. From the great in depth create a character system to the job systems to the music graphics and virtually endless amounts and types of quests you will never have something not to keep you busy. Nothing really groundbreaking but then again if it ain't broke don't fix it applies here in regards to a great MMO experience. Good old fashioned addictive fun.… Expand
  79. Jimmyhen
    Sep 8, 2013
    10
    Though the servers had some hiccups for the first few days, this game is well worth the wait. Yoshi-P and team have taken something that I didn't even recognize as a FF game and turned into something brilliant. I have not been this excited about a game in quite some time.

    So many classes, so many things to do. The multi-class system is the best thing to happen to MMOs and I hope to    Though the servers had some hiccups for the first few days, this game is well worth the wait. Yoshi-P and team have taken something that I didn't even recognize as a FF game and turned into something brilliant. I have not been this excited about a game in quite some time.

    So many classes, so many things to do. The multi-class system is the best thing to happen to MMOs and I hope to see more using it. Crafting is fun and interesting (as well as useful), the dungeons are challenging (and not just for the tank and healer), and the quests and story are 100% FINAL FANTASY.

    Will definitely be playing this one for the foreseeable future!    … Expand
  80. Raiden94
    Sep 8, 2013
    4
    Cons:
    -Terrible servers that still haven't been fixed.
    -Annoying and unnecessarily long subscription process. Add to that the fact that nothing is clear and Square Enix does a terrible job at making you understand what you're doing. -Once you're done with the subscription, you'll be lucky to find a server that actually works. Good luck with that. -First 10 or so hours of the game are    Cons:
    -Terrible servers that still haven't been fixed.
    -Annoying and unnecessarily long subscription process. Add to that the fact that nothing is clear and Square Enix does a terrible job at making you understand what you're doing.
    -Once you're done with the subscription, you'll be lucky to find a server that actually works. Good luck with that.
    -First 10 or so hours of the game are terribly boring and do a bad job at hooking you up. You'll spend most of your time asking yourself "What the hell is going on? Why do i have to do this and do that?"
    -Once you're past those annoying and linear quests, the world will open up. The world is really nothing special. I've played better, bigger and more immersive mmos. This is really nothing special.
    -Countless times you will be disconnected from the server for no reason whatsoever.
    -The quests are largely the same repetetive objectives.
    -13 dollars a month for what? A few patches and stability? Games like GW2 do a FAR better job than FF XIV ARR at maintaining stability and keeping things fresh and they require no additional payment at all.

    Pros:
    -One of the best looking mmos up to this date. The game is very powerful in terms of graphics.
    -The world is Final Fantasy. You'll find something to like if you're a FF fan.
    -The gameplay is good to some extent, even though it's extremely slow and boring.
    -The job system offers enough uniqueness.

    Verdict:
    -This is really nothing special. Granted, it is leagues better than the fail that was FF XIV in 2010. But is that really a reason to buy it? Most people here seem to give it good scores simply because "it is better than FF XIV 2010". But in general, when you compare it to other mmos, it falls in the mediocre and downright bad department.
    That's what A Realm Reborn is. It is a bad mmo that's better than XIV. Which, on the grand scale, is pathetic.    … Expand
  81. azurekuhn
    Sep 7, 2013
    10
    We're skipping the first week's server difficulties as those are resolved and shouldn't factor into the long-term game review. Logging in is just fine now, so ignore any of those reviews.

    Look, overall the game is amazing. It has a bug here and there, but its just launched and has promises of fantastic content which Yoshi-P has shown he's not just bragging and he can actually deliver.    We're skipping the first week's server difficulties as those are resolved and shouldn't factor into the long-term game review. Logging in is just fine now, so ignore any of those reviews.

    Look, overall the game is amazing. It has a bug here and there, but its just launched and has promises of fantastic content which Yoshi-P has shown he's not just bragging and he can actually deliver. There's challenges, there's relaxation, there's a ton of content, the learning curve is very forgiving which is good for new players.

    Big mention: Crafting. It's real, honest to God, good crafting. Not half assed SWTOR style, not a giant RNG style, but a large portion of skill and time combined with a small amount of controlled RNG to keep it fresh but also not frustrating. As a crafter, I've been enamored with the system.

    The world detail is AMAZING. The localization team has done a fantastic job from translating humor, to making puns, to making the world a lively and memorable place. The NPCs move and look like they're doing everyday life things, the scenery is beautiful, the music is fantastic. If you enjoy the little things, ARR has them in spades.

    Like I said, severs are up and running, they provided free time and are working on offering server transfers as well, patch 2.1 looks great, there's no shortage of things to do, so 10/10.    … Expand
  82. Hirus
    Sep 7, 2013
    10
    I was super excited for 1.0, only to be completely let down. They really hit the ball out of the park on this one, everything about the game is great. Of course the early problems with the servers kinda sucked, but what MMO doesnt have server issues during the first week. 10/10 would recommend.
  83. driedel12
    Sep 7, 2013
    9
    Much better since the update. This has been the most fun I have had playing a MMO in a long time. Also, the graphics are amazing for a MMO. Truly beautiful in certain areas.
  84. Alzetek
    Sep 7, 2013
    9
    The game had some flaws when I first started out, I couldn't log in. I played the original version, I really didn't have a problem with the original version until I played ARR. It is just a vast improvement over the original in every way! The only thing this game is missing is more classes.
  85. thyword99
    Sep 7, 2013
    10
    Probably the best MMO of all time, and I have played a lot! Graphics best in any game currently out,and adapted for ps3 version, also coming up on ps4 as well. Those who are comparing it to only ps3 version graphics are sadly mistaken. PC's make this game so beautiful. Gameplay, most people complaing about the game clearly haven't even made it to end game. People complaining aboutProbably the best MMO of all time, and I have played a lot! Graphics best in any game currently out,and adapted for ps3 version, also coming up on ps4 as well. Those who are comparing it to only ps3 version graphics are sadly mistaken. PC's make this game so beautiful. Gameplay, most people complaing about the game clearly haven't even made it to end game. People complaining about grind, lets be realistic, this is a game of earning things, and not given to you with little effort. With that said, we are only 2 weeks into the game, and I work 50+ hours a week, and have already completed a class to 50, main storyline finished, and a gathering class to 50. If people think that's a grind, then they know nothing about the world of MMO's lol.

    Endgame: So much here to do, with content being flushed out every 3 months. Hard mode fights, Dungeon's, relic quest, Epic fates, Crafting, Gathering luminary weapons, Primal fights, 24 man instances, PvP, etc....

    Don't be confused with the negativity of a new start, the reason everyone is congesting the servers, is because tons of people are loving to play the game, that should give you indication of how good this game is. My advice, stick through the early levels, and congestion problems, you will be glad you did!! I guarantee you that!    … Expand
  86. Quixadhal
    Sep 7, 2013
    9
    Like many others, I came to FFXIV 1.0 after enjoying the old-school FFXI game that preceded it. I wasn't expecting it to be as "hard-core", since the trend has been making games more solo-friendly and "easy", but I *was* expecting something along the same lines.

    What we got in 1.0 was something between an alpha and beta test of a new combat system, a different class/job system, and a    Like many others, I came to FFXIV 1.0 after enjoying the old-school FFXI game that preceded it. I wasn't expecting it to be as "hard-core", since the trend has been making games more solo-friendly and "easy", but I *was* expecting something along the same lines.

    What we got in 1.0 was something between an alpha and beta test of a new combat system, a different class/job system, and a graphics engine that felt both too advanced and too limited, at the same time. I can only assume the previous development team was working on both the PC and PS3 versions at the same time, and failures on one held up the other, in both directions.

    After Yoshi took over, he made a concentrated effort to fix and salvage what was good from the PC version of the game, and shifted focus to developing a brand new engine from scratch, which would eventually become A Realm Reborn. It was the best decision he could have made.

    The re-launch of FFXIV is a success, and the first time in history an MMO has ever found success with a second chance. The game is just fun to play, and amazing to look at. On top of that, it's very smooth and responsive, even on middle-of-the-road hardware.

    The only issues have been the crazy popularity that was MUCH higher than they expected, causing a lot of server issues on the North American cluster during launch week, and some minor irritations with the UI that almost every game has until they have time to refine things a bit more.

    Unlike some other MMO's (which I won't name), FFXIV feels like the devs really love the product, and the franchise in general. There are all kinds of little polish details you don't really expect from an MMO, and especially one still in launch phase. There are lots of them, but the most recent one I noticed was that when riding a mount, you get unique background music that fits the mount you've chosen to ride... and that the volume of the music ramps up while you're racing along, and falls back into the background as you stop. Wonderful immersion detail that is purely there for flavor.

    I totally recommend it to my friends. And if you got burned on 1.0, you now own the new version, and have a few days to check it out without paying... now that most of the launch issues are either fixed or have a fix in sight, it might be worth the time to download it and see.    … Expand
  87. Shioned
    Sep 7, 2013
    10
    It's really a funny mmorpg. Much better than version 1.0. The history is good, the gameplay is great and challenges offer fun to the players.

    It's really funny to play the dungeons and trials of this game with your friends and free companies.

    It's a good option to players who are looking for non free-to-play mmo's.
  88. Yowser
    Sep 7, 2013
    9
    Fantastic graphics set in a Beautiful world. Very story driven. The Longer than usual GCD leads to a more tactical playstyle rather than button smashing, but even this can be reduced with in game stats and becomes less noticeable as you level higher. One of the most Impressive MMO's to come out in a very long time.
  89. Sevorast
    Sep 7, 2013
    8
    Excellent game with amazing graphics and a really well done musical score, as expected from any FF game.

    While the launch (and pre-launch) were plagued by disconnects and other server issues, they have done an excellent job over the last week or so in clearing those up, and are expected to continue to improve the server performance and stability in the coming weeks. Game play is    Excellent game with amazing graphics and a really well done musical score, as expected from any FF game.

    While the launch (and pre-launch) were plagued by disconnects and other server issues, they have done an excellent job over the last week or so in clearing those up, and are expected to continue to improve the server performance and stability in the coming weeks.

    Game play is fluid and feels very good, animations are very well done and really match the skill or spell they are assigned to, while giving your actions a sense of weight that many games lack.    … Expand
  90. Kyoushin
    Sep 7, 2013
    10
    Awesome game, Beautiful scenery, nice storyline, hard dungeons, challenging game overall! Ive just got my first character to 50 and there's still tons of content to explore and constant new content coming in.
  91. viditoking
    Sep 6, 2013
    8
    I'm not a FF fan in general so I'm not inclined to give this game any bonus points for being one. That having been said. I like it! It has that old school mmo feel. The combat is tab, not twitch. The combat is on the slow side. So if you like TERA, GW2, and NW combat, this is not for you. The graphics are great, second only to TERA in my book. I LOVE that one character can be everyI'm not a FF fan in general so I'm not inclined to give this game any bonus points for being one. That having been said. I like it! It has that old school mmo feel. The combat is tab, not twitch. The combat is on the slow side. So if you like TERA, GW2, and NW combat, this is not for you. The graphics are great, second only to TERA in my book. I LOVE that one character can be every class/job including crafting/gathering.`
    It's standard mmo fare, but done pretty well. AND the log in issues have been fixed, as far as I can tell.    … Expand
  92. slickwilly06
    Sep 6, 2013
    10
    This is the first game to satisfy my MMO craving since WOW. I tried GW2 for a few months but it lacked the depth and social interaction i desired. FFXIV is easily accessible to MMO newcomers and offers enough content for veterans. The community is extremely helpful and it is nice to be able to play with both PC and PS3 players. My Free Company is composed of both PC and PS3 players and weThis is the first game to satisfy my MMO craving since WOW. I tried GW2 for a few months but it lacked the depth and social interaction i desired. FFXIV is easily accessible to MMO newcomers and offers enough content for veterans. The community is extremely helpful and it is nice to be able to play with both PC and PS3 players. My Free Company is composed of both PC and PS3 players and we are one big happy family. The server problems are fixed after their first big patch so all of the haters can stop picking and just enjoy the best final fantasy experience in years.… Expand
  93. Chaz0r
    Sep 6, 2013
    10
    FF14:ARR is a standard theme park MMO. If you don't like games like WoW, RIFT, Warhammer Online or Lord of the Rings Online, this game isn't probably for you either.

    If you like those games, FF14:ARR is for you! The core mechanics are great. Everything works polished. The story is awsome, the FATE-Events are fun. The graphic is absolutely awsome! Many MMO-Devs say that it's not    FF14:ARR is a standard theme park MMO. If you don't like games like WoW, RIFT, Warhammer Online or Lord of the Rings Online, this game isn't probably for you either.

    If you like those games, FF14:ARR is for you! The core mechanics are great. Everything works polished. The story is awsome, the FATE-Events are fun.

    The graphic is absolutely awsome! Many MMO-Devs say that it's not possible to create a MMO with awsome graphics and runs on middle class computers. FF14 takes those comments and spits on them. This game looks nothing else than awsome!

    Really, really good game!    … Expand
  94. Khronikos
    Sep 6, 2013
    10
    Fantastic game. Utterly amazing what they have done in the last couple years. It went from crap to diamonds. The worlds are huge, the systems are amazing, and there is so much to do. Sure, it has a lot of fetchy stuff but they have worked their ass off to make this a great game living up to the legacy of FF. I'd honestly take these idiotic negative reviews with a grain of coarse salt. ThisFantastic game. Utterly amazing what they have done in the last couple years. It went from crap to diamonds. The worlds are huge, the systems are amazing, and there is so much to do. Sure, it has a lot of fetchy stuff but they have worked their ass off to make this a great game living up to the legacy of FF. I'd honestly take these idiotic negative reviews with a grain of coarse salt. This is easily one of the best looking RPGs I have ever played with full settings and SGSSAA on PC at 1080p 60FPS. Do yourself a favor and try it out.… Expand
  95. donuts842
    Sep 6, 2013
    10
    I know it had been said about a thousand times already, but this game is a million times better than the first. Better graphics, UI, framerate. I played the original about 2 days and had to stop. This one I can't put down.
  96. ExorcistPanda
    Sep 6, 2013
    10
    It has some server issues. But remastered like that, Yoshi-P deserves some medal. Since last patch, we didn't have any lo-gin issues. Japanese voice-acting is also some other cool thing in this game.
  97. Keyvian
    Sep 6, 2013
    10
    Despite what you read most of the negatives evaluations, take the time to watch videos and read about the game. Which MMORPG had no server problems the first few weeks? Even games not to be MMO as Diablo 3 and SimCity had the same problem. SE has solved its servers problems in a week, thing that the two named above have taken a few weeks to resolve.
    A Realm Reborn is an amazing MMORPG,    Despite what you read most of the negatives evaluations, take the time to watch videos and read about the game. Which MMORPG had no server problems the first few weeks? Even games not to be MMO as Diablo 3 and SimCity had the same problem. SE has solved its servers problems in a week, thing that the two named above have taken a few weeks to resolve.
    A Realm Reborn is an amazing MMORPG, very enjoyable and addictive. Great storyline, amazing graphic, fully customizable interface, nice itemization, etc.. The only bad points i can give is the targeting system that is not as good as other MMOs but that too will probably be correct in the first patch.    … Expand
  98. KrispyKleen
    Sep 5, 2013
    10
    Truly a masterpiece. If you did not play beyond level 10 or 15, you know nothing about this game and it would be unfair for you to write any type of review. Everything about this game is amazing, you can really see the time and effort put into it. I love A Realm Reborn. It is amazing.
  99. Saber82
    Sep 5, 2013
    6
    Final Fantasy is my favorite rpg series of all time and MMO’s are the main genre of games I play and I’ve played a lot in my time with my two favorites being FFXI & Guild Wars 2 both of witch I still currently play. Let’s get a few of the obvious things out of the way, the game looks amazing probably one of the best, if not the best looking MMO I can remember playing and it runs great. TheFinal Fantasy is my favorite rpg series of all time and MMO’s are the main genre of games I play and I’ve played a lot in my time with my two favorites being FFXI & Guild Wars 2 both of witch I still currently play. Let’s get a few of the obvious things out of the way, the game looks amazing probably one of the best, if not the best looking MMO I can remember playing and it runs great. The music for the game is simply fantastic, maybe not as great as some of the classic Final Fantasy games but a nice addition to the Final Fantasy series. Yes, there has been launch issues but really what MMO has not had their fair share of issues upon launch. The issue with launch that I have is the lack of communication from SE to the Europe and north American markets in comparison to the high communication they give the Japan market on official forms. When an issues occur the JP forms have responses or postings almost immediately where as other regions had to wait for days with no official response from SE. That makes me feel like they don’t really care about any of the consumers outside of the JP market. For the people posting that launch issues shouldn’t factor in to a score all I can say to that is its no longer in beta and some issues are acceptable but with how many issues FFRR has had since launch it is unacceptable. However there are other things beyond that of the launch issues that I have to address.

    First off the mundane side quests and main quests, most of the quests you will be doing are just fetch quests/missions, go here collect/kill this go back to the quest giver rinse and repeat. The side quests very rarely tie into anything that would make sense and feel very disconnected from the rest of the story. Secondly the few parts that have voice acting are terrible and subtract from the experience pulling you out of the Final Fantasy world. One part at a lower level you meet two people and as they talk to you it’s like the timing for when they are supposed to talk are off. At one point both of the characters are talking at the same time at the same volume level and it just becomes incoherent noise. What they talk about also makes no sense as they reference things you have never been informed of so its just out of context, maybe something got lost in translation. Regarding the fighting it feels boring to me and further feels way too easy even at level cap 50. Geared correctly my paladin can just soak up so much damage with no need of healing there little to no fear of death and with my white mage is just spamming spells with little to no tactics. The game doesn’t do anything innovative that hasn’t already been seen in other mmo’s of the past. People bring of the fact you can do all the jobs with one character, FFXI already did that over 10 years ago and that’s just one example. There is also the fact there’s not enough quests to level all the jobs off of as the same character, you will eventually end up grinding off mobs and fates at lower levels with new jobs unless you saved some quests.

    The game is good but not great maybe worth a try depending on your taste of mmo’s you like as this is a very classic mmo with some small twists on the formula but not enough to be considered revolutionary. I think a lot of people are just wide eyed on the fact it’s Final Fantasy, it looks amazing and it’s simply just something new. In it’s current state I don’t see myself playing this in past six months even if it was to go free to play unless the patches that SE stating are coming out are going to have contact that is just simply amazing. Obviously ever developer will always be looking to improve the game with patches so it can only get better from here unless some epic failure on SE’s part. Another thing to consider as well is with the Elder Scrolls online game on it’s way possibly next year how well will this game compete. I’m a big Final Fantasy but I also can admit I feel the Elder Scrolls online game has a bigger buzz about it. In closing as a big Final Fantasy fan and a MMO fan the game is just above average.    … Expand
  100. BrinZalazar
    Sep 5, 2013
    10
    Quite possibly the greatest Final Fantasy game release so far. The story, music, battle system, and visuals impress at every turn. Fans of the series should be sure to pick up this title and enjoy the world reborn. This is the final fantasy game players have been asking for. For those who are worried about a subscription fee, I'd say pick up this game anyway, and you will be able toQuite possibly the greatest Final Fantasy game release so far. The story, music, battle system, and visuals impress at every turn. Fans of the series should be sure to pick up this title and enjoy the world reborn. This is the final fantasy game players have been asking for. For those who are worried about a subscription fee, I'd say pick up this game anyway, and you will be able to complete the main story line within the free 30 days of game time. The game will only get better as time moves forward, so their is no reason to miss out on this amazing game.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

33
#33 Best PC Game of 2013
19
#19 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
31
#31 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. Hyper Magazine
    Dec 28, 2013
    80
    Full of enough adventure, daring-do and chocobos to make any MMO fan happy. [Jan 2014, p.72]
  2. Gaming Nexus
    Nov 13, 2013
    85
    A Realm Reborn is such a substantial change from the original game that it merits a second look if you hated the first release. So much has changed for the better, and it has resulted in one of the most polished MMORPGs out there today.
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  3. PCGamesN
    Nov 6, 2013
    80
    The completionist in me is nearly overwhelmed with the sheer amount of things to do in A Realm Reborn. Square Enix really do deserve praise for not only fixing the issues of the original game, but far exceeding their goal.
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