Final Fantasy XIV Online

 PC
User Score
3.9

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 408 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 113 out of 408
  2. Mixed: 36 out of 408
  3. Negative: 259 out of 408
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  1. Neiloch
    Oct 6, 2010
    10
    Funny to see so many people hate the UI when its exceedingly simple, more so than other popular MMO UI's. If using the keyboard you just press the Home key and boom, a menu for every window in the game, even a top section for context sensitive options. It's just that easy.

    I'm not a fan of the market system, and can't imagine it not getting some overhauls with the amount of pressure they    Funny to see so many people hate the UI when its exceedingly simple, more so than other popular MMO UI's. If using the keyboard you just press the Home key and boom, a menu for every window in the game, even a top section for context sensitive options. It's just that easy.

    I'm not a fan of the market system, and can't imagine it not getting some overhauls with the amount of pressure they are receiving. Seems a lot of people's dislikes are directly related to the fact that the systems aren't typical of the WoW clones. People complain they can't find the right vendors because they don't have a label, but then the weapon vendor has his own stall and is surrounded by guess what, WEAPONS. The systems and methods are atypical so people have a hard time getting used to them, but they work fine.    … Expand
  2. jade
    Oct 6, 2010
    2
    UI: a slow interface requiring multiple clicks to navigate wasting time

    Crafting: From the first level you notice dependencies on almost every other crafting job and materials that you have to spend hours tracking down. Repair: requires exotic materials and many crafting jobs to repair your own gear, NPC is overpriced and cannot repair all your gear. Combat: Lag/no auto    UI: a slow interface requiring multiple clicks to navigate wasting time

    Crafting: From the first level you notice dependencies on almost every other crafting job and materials that you have to spend hours tracking down.

    Repair: requires exotic materials and many crafting jobs to repair your own gear, NPC is overpriced and cannot repair all your gear.

    Combat: Lag/no auto attack/Slow/Targeting issues (click attack and wait 2 seconds to see if you attacked). And then the chipmunk kills you. Oh do you feel weak. Combat became easier as I got the hang of the system and re-issued my commands over and over. Definately understand why there's no PvP.... I feel like I write my character a postal note saying please wand attack again, then give it to a courier and /pray the courier actually gets to my character before she's gnawed to death by a fluffy critter.

    Lag: despite a killer connection running into a room doesn't even load static NPCs for a long time making quests difficult (am I in the right place?)

    Inventory: 80 slots, cannot sort, cannot "consolidate" split stacks easily, very tedious.

    Economy: N/A - right now if you want to buy a piece of crafted gear you either get to run around shouting all over cities and craft points or visit the retainers in the wards. Imagine 1000 people in a room and 1 person has something useful, you need to do a lengthy/slow interaction with each one to find the item you want (if its even there)

    Graphics: Pretty, would be enjoyable if the rest of the experience was.

    Music: Could be better

    Quests: wow - only can do X quests per couple days. And they're the same repeatable ones.

    Plot: NPC's with screens filled with text. Very little voice acting. If I ever met someone who spewed 3 pages of text /wout letting me read I'd shot them, however not an option here :(

    Music: Music: Music: Music: Music: Music: Music: (am I getting repetitive?)

    Forums: They appear to be all rants. I see almost no promising posts from SE. I wonder if the forums are being read.

    As a big fan of MMO's I am really sad to score FFXIV at 2 - I can /pray it gets better, but at the moment I'm writting the expense off as a loss and canceling my account. I had Realm First achievements in Warcraft along with 6 level 80 toons, I've played many many many MMO's including FFXI which I actually enjoyed.    … Expand
  3. Synthaxus
    Oct 6, 2010
    1
    Having been a fan of FFXI since it's NA release as well as owning every FF game to date (13 was a let down...) I was excited for FFXIV. Myself and a few LS members from FFXI Bought the game and rolled on Besaid.

    Sadly we were greeted with issues from the start... Setting up an account was pretty painful (not as painful as dealing with PlayOnline, but a pretty close second). Patching up    Having been a fan of FFXI since it's NA release as well as owning every FF game to date (13 was a let down...) I was excited for FFXIV. Myself and a few LS members from FFXI Bought the game and rolled on Besaid.

    Sadly we were greeted with issues from the start...

    Setting up an account was pretty painful (not as painful as dealing with PlayOnline, but a pretty close second). Patching up the game uses probably the most annoying torrent system I have ever used.

    Once in game performance was OK, but the UI lag was pretty bad. The menu navigation is best described as tedious, as pretty much everything in the game requires you to sift through several menus and menu layers to get anything accomplished (add in the UI lag and you get frustrated really quick)

    Combat: I have read everywhere from various fans how the combat is deep and engaging... I have no idea what game they are playing, but it is quite the opposite. Slow and cumbersome come to mind when describing the combat system in FFXIV. Melee combat isn't too slow, but slow enough. Spell casting on the other hand ends up being a lot of *Click target, click spell, click spell again to actually use the spell (sort of a confirmation that 'yes, I want to cast this') and then wait 5 to 20 seconds for the skill to go off, rinse repeat*.

    Character advancement is pretty poor. You are presented with 8 guild leves every 36 hours, as well as a few local leves. Once these leves are completed (about 3 hours tops at around PL 22) the rest of your time will be spent grinding XP from mobs (which are few and far between and mostly controlled by grind parties) or crafting (which can be really expensive and even more tedious due in part to the plethora of menus/sub menus you have to trudge through for each step).

    The community in the game is pretty elitist overall. While there are a few players who are willing to help others out or answer a few questions, a majority of the players we encountered usually replied with a 'This isn't WoW' or just totally ignored us and our question.

    Basically after several days of playing we decided to head back to FFXI. We were going to burn out the rest of our 30 days that came with the CE, but then decided it just wasn't worth the headache.

    If you are interested in the game, grab a buddy key from a friend or wait until the have a free trial. I would not recommend buying the game unless you have tried it first.    … Expand
  4. defive
    Oct 6, 2010
    3
    Empty. Souless. Unfinished.

    Stay far far away from this disaster. Worst UI in MMO history, massive empty world filled with nothing except cut-and-pasted terrain. Utterly boring quest system, hilariously broken economy (no ah and no way to search retainers).. I could go on and on.... Be very clear if you buy the PC version of FFXIV - you are paying Square-Enix for the 'privelige'    Empty. Souless. Unfinished.

    Stay far far away from this disaster.

    Worst UI in MMO history, massive empty world filled with nothing except cut-and-pasted terrain. Utterly boring quest system, hilariously broken economy (no ah and no way to search retainers).. I could go on and on....

    Be very clear if you buy the PC version of FFXIV - you are paying Square-Enix for the 'privelige' of beta testing their PS3 release.    … Expand
  5. nirvycn
    Oct 5, 2010
    2
    At the present, there is little to reccomend about FFXIV. It has little to no content barring a few repeatable daily quests, and 3 mainy quest lines. It looks pretty, however pretty doesnt make the game fun. This is no FFXI, in fact compared to most MMO's its a little inadequate, the UI is slow, buggy and cumbersome, the content is severely lacking, once you hit about rank 23-24 there areAt the present, there is little to reccomend about FFXIV. It has little to no content barring a few repeatable daily quests, and 3 mainy quest lines. It looks pretty, however pretty doesnt make the game fun. This is no FFXI, in fact compared to most MMO's its a little inadequate, the UI is slow, buggy and cumbersome, the content is severely lacking, once you hit about rank 23-24 there are no longer any mobs, or zones you can level in. The servers lag, and the chat system is appalling, the servers are like ghost towns community wise, and the linkpearl system is getting old.

    That said the game has potential, but needs a year or so of content to make it worth buying, as it stands, even the most casual will get to rank 25 or so in a few weeks, and thats where the content and zones abruptly stop.

    Stay away for now, but come back in a year and see how the expansion makes the game play.    … Expand
  6. Jae
    Oct 5, 2010
    10
    Game doesn't deserve all the hate it is getting. The game plays nice and looks great. It is lacking in content, which is obviously going to be provided throughout the life of the game. I hated the keyboard/mouse controls from FFXI but am perfectly fine with them here. Takes a powerful computer to run. Has real potential.. but a lot of it is going to hang in the air until SE releasesGame doesn't deserve all the hate it is getting. The game plays nice and looks great. It is lacking in content, which is obviously going to be provided throughout the life of the game. I hated the keyboard/mouse controls from FFXI but am perfectly fine with them here. Takes a powerful computer to run. Has real potential.. but a lot of it is going to hang in the air until SE releases patches. It has more potential then any mmorpg I have seen released in the last 5 or so years.… Expand
  7. thegrave
    Oct 5, 2010
    0
    Worst peice of crap I have ever played in my life in concerns of an MMO. This is a warning to those that are thinking of getting this game. They have a fatigue system which limits your play. The UI is absolutely horrible too the point that its a stuggle to play fluidly. There aren't any servers in the United States so the lag is horrible. The only nice thing about the game is theWorst peice of crap I have ever played in my life in concerns of an MMO. This is a warning to those that are thinking of getting this game. They have a fatigue system which limits your play. The UI is absolutely horrible too the point that its a stuggle to play fluidly. There aren't any servers in the United States so the lag is horrible. The only nice thing about the game is the graphics. Which aren't even close to enough to save the title. There aren't any REAL quests. only 8 simple run and kill "x" creatures a day leves quests. There is no content in this peice of flaming turd. This is a warning to you. Don't waste $85 like I did for the SE box. Don't buy the standard box. Just stay away from this title. I have never been so angry at a game in my life. I can't believe this unfinished turd was released to the public. It should be criminal. And too all of those that try to promote the game. Shame on you for making people waste money on a game that they are going to rage quit like half the population already has in less than a week. Metacritic should have allowed us to post reviews when the SE was released so the standard edition peeps could warn them of this ripoff. And as far as the company that already posted its 84 review. **** Code Central, shame on you. You have no taste and are betraying the customers in the gaming market. People turn to review companies to lead them in the right direction. I should start my own review company that actually serves the fans and warns them of such horrible titles. Enough said.… Expand
  8. bloodychill
    Oct 5, 2010
    8
    Graphics are top notch, user interface is a bit wonky and really needs a gamepad and it's not going to register with people used to playing WoW (the game by its very nature works on a different paradigm). It'll be most friendly to people who played FFXI, fans of the series already, and people who are looking for an MMO that's just a little new and different.
  9. Redorb
    Oct 4, 2010
    4
    *Good Things:*
    --FANTASTIC GRAPHICS.- Stunning visuals which make the world and its creatures amazing to look at.
    --MUSIC.- The music brings back a lot of nostalgia from the old days of FFIII (US version) and FFVII. --BATTLE SOUND EFFECTS.- Not great but decent and make you engage in combat. *The Bad:* --USER INTERFACE.- Clunky and most importantly SLOW! For instance, there is no    *Good Things:*
    --FANTASTIC GRAPHICS.- Stunning visuals which make the world and its creatures amazing to look at.
    --MUSIC.- The music brings back a lot of nostalgia from the old days of FFIII (US version) and FFVII.
    --BATTLE SOUND EFFECTS.- Not great but decent and make you engage in combat.

    *The Bad:*
    --USER INTERFACE.- Clunky and most importantly SLOW! For instance, there is no auto arrange on items. I DREAD everytime I have to think about selling something as it takes litterally 5-10 minutes to sell the junk in my inventory. Crafting and gathering literally becomes a chore which makes taking out the trash and doing the dishes around the house seem pleasant in comparison.
    --COMMERCE.- An MMORPG is only as good as its ability to make your character look awsome and feel powerful. One of the best ways for that an RPG can do this is by constantly positively incrementing a character's gear. FF XIV completely and totally FAILS at this. Levequest rewards very very rarely offer any gear rewards at all, this in itself woudln't be a problem if there were other ways to get gear without spending hours and hours searching the "retainer" wards for gear. Of course you can always craft your own gear, meaning you need to be a blacksmith and and armorsmith and a goldsmith and maybe a carpenter (depending on your class); I don't need to tell you how that will go over for you since you've already read about the UI. It is possible... to get gear using this system but honestly who has the time to spend it wasting away in some video game while they are NOT having fun? The commerce system; the most important part of any MMORPG, in this game is all but broken.
    --USER HELP.- I have been playing games for years. I will be the first to admit I'm not the best at them, but I can hold my own and can kick some butt sometimes. This game however trully made me feel like a newb. Something I have never really felt before. This is not in itself a big problem as humility is probably good for me :P. The real problem is that every 5 minutes I have to alt-tab out of the game so I can figure out how to do ANYTHING and I mean ANYTHING. How do you follow someone else? Alt-tab, you can't follow someone. How do I party up with someone who isn't next to me? Alt-tab, you can't party up with someone not next to you. Where can I find a thaumaturge weapon in Gridania so I can switch to that class because after walking around for an hour I couldn't find it? Alt-tab, Gridania doesn't have a thaumaturge's weapon. How do I use sythesis? How do I resurrect my character? How do I use macros? This list goes on and on and on... Oh get this... When you alt-tab out of the game the game automatically crashes. WOOT!!!! This is a common bug btw. It happened on my windows 7 and my windows XP machine.

    This is the first review that I have written for a game ever. However, I felt soo personally compelled to warn the public about this game that I have written this one as well to pop that negative # up one more click. I love video games. I love RPG's. I love MMORPG's have played them for years since Ultima Online came out when I was in High School. I am borderline hating this game. Now I know some people are going to think (or say) "go back to WOW you fanboy". And maybe they have a point. I liked WOW I really really did. But then I liked Ultima Online and LOTRO and AION and EQ and Asheron's Call. All I am saying is that if you have not bought this game and you are reading this review please please do yourself a favor and ask yourself how much free time you have and how much you are willing to give to a video game which rewards you little for the amount of time you put into it. If you have a LOT of free time and like grinding away and don't mind a slow UI then this is the game for you. If, however, you are like the majority of the worlds populace please please look elsewhere for your entertainment. For instance Starcraft 2 just came out, so did Civ 5, Fable 3 comes out in 3 weeks.    … Expand
  10. xukiza
    Oct 4, 2010
    4
    1. Sold as solo/casual - hardcore grind
    2. No quests or significant content - only guildleves on a 36 hour cooldown and not enough teleport anima to do the ones from the other cities every 36 hours to get 8 battle quests.
    3. random skill point and exp rewards 4. no point to grouping 5. world feels dead and empty. 6. Literal copy and paste landscape - I mean you will think you are in the    1. Sold as solo/casual - hardcore grind
    2. No quests or significant content - only guildleves on a 36 hour cooldown and not enough teleport anima to do the ones from the other cities every 36 hours to get 8 battle quests.
    3. random skill point and exp rewards
    4. no point to grouping
    5. world feels dead and empty.
    6. Literal copy and paste landscape - I mean you will think you are in the same place you just walked through 10 mins ago - it's literal copy and paste.
    7. No decent market system
    8. Forced crafting essentially
    9. Time sink annoying repair system
    10. Forced to play most of the other classes to be competent.
    11. Did I mention the grind after the teens is horrific. Go back to Aion, it's a joke after FFXIV.
    12. UI is the most horrific experience of any PC MMO to date
    13. Game is designed around horrific barely hidden time sinks to artificially slow your progress.
    14. Partying is pointless
    15. Guild leves are boring
    16. Crafting requires knowing several other crafts to make most anything.
    17. No real story
    18. Not enough mobs to even make grinding viable.
    19. Mobs don't scale properly - some own your face off as blues, some reds are soloable.
    20. No way to travel when anima is low - i.e. no chocobo, airships etc

    Goods:
    1. Game looks beautiful
    2. Combat itself, if you burn mana etc, is really fun, some cool animations (seismic shock for example)
    3. Having options for lots of classes on one character is a cool idea.
    4. Crafting has potential
    5. Combat has potential
    6. Economy has potential
    7. The game world has hints of possible good things down the line
    8. If the above issues are fixed the game would be pretty awesome.

    Overall, tons of potential locked in a sucky, time wasting, broken mechanics package that sucks your will to play and turn on the game.

    For the price and monthly sub, I recommend you give this a pass.    … Expand
  11. JonnyBigBoss
    Oct 4, 2010
    2
    It has been about four years since I began waiting for this game. Originally known as Rapture, the game was said to be the next generation of MMORPG. I would like to preface this by saying I have played more than half of the Final Fantasy titles and beaten them, and on the other hand, I have played a handful of MMORPGs including FFXI.

    The Good: - Graphics: The game looks fantastic.    It has been about four years since I began waiting for this game. Originally known as Rapture, the game was said to be the next generation of MMORPG. I would like to preface this by saying I have played more than half of the Final Fantasy titles and beaten them, and on the other hand, I have played a handful of MMORPGs including FFXI.

    The Good:
    - Graphics: The game looks fantastic. Characters are alive and beautiful, and the armor in the game is incredibly detailed. I'd say this game has the best graphics of any MMORPG to date.
    - Sound: While not one of the better Final Fantasy soundtracks, the music is definitely solid. Sound effects from attacks to footsteps are very convincing and add to the atmosphere of the game.

    The Bad:
    - Performance: This game simply isn't optimized. Many players, including myself, have powerful rigs but still chug along. Granted the graphics are great, but the scalability is deplorable. If you don't have a recently-upgraded PC, don't bother.
    - Interface: I think the best way to sum this up is to say the decade-old Final Fantasy XI had a better UI. Navigation of the interface is unbearable at times, and adds minutes of wasted time. The game has been developed with the console in mind, so navigation with a controller is optimal, but is still incredibly tedious and archaic. You can't sort your interface, and everything seems to take twice as many steps as it should. Want to sell some items? Well, you'll have to go through a handful of dialogue boxes just to sell 1 item. Games for the last few years have been using what we call the "right click" on the mouse. Why doesn't this game in 2010 have it? Oh, and targeting is incredibly bad.
    - Lag: Inputs take seconds to execute. This adds to a "clunky" experience both in combat and out. Yes, the game is new, but Square Enix should have at least allowed client-side interactions. Everything needs to be communicated to the server in Japan meaning everything you do has to be registered on the server before it executes. Frustrating to say the least.
    - Gameplay: To enter combat, you have to press a button to take out your weapon. This leaves you standing in 1 place for about 2-3 seconds while your character pulls out your weapon. Animations are slow and must be completed, so if you want to use abilities quickly in combat, good luck. The combat isn't very fun either. Abilities aren't very interesting or varied, and interactions are clunky.
    - No tutorials: This game makes you feel lost, very lost. Square Enix doesn't seem to have taken the precautions to help people figure the game out. When crafting items, there are no recipes, so you'll have to use pen and paper. During missions, you'll be left guessing who to talk to. Instructions are nowhere to be found. Heck, nobody even tells you how to switch classes, you'll have to refer to the internet for that.
    - Controls: No key mapping for the keyboard means you're stuck with some ridiculous keybindings set by Square Enix. Controls are easily the worst in any MMORPG in the last decade and reek of 20th century.
    - Content: Chocobos are in the game but no way to ride or interact with them. Grinding. Lots of grinding. Quests with no purpose. You can't see your party members on the map. Very few search options ingame. No /invite command. The list goes on and on.
    - Market system: No auction house. If you want a specific item, you'll be left begging in /shout and searching through hundreds if not thousands of bazaars to find the item.

    This game is inconvenient. Very inconvenient. It feels like a game from over 10 years ago but with modern graphics. This game was advertised as being welcoming to casuals, but running around takes ages and the combat is slow. Leveling takes an eternity and the lack of direction is evident. This is the most disappointing game I've played in years. I don't recommend it to anyone.    … Expand
  12. p0ltergeist
    Oct 4, 2010
    2
    The graphics are the only redeeming quality to this game. The game is missing everything that you would come to expect from a modern MMO. And worst of all, there is nothing to do but GRIND. The VAST majority of quests are just "kill X of monster Y" or "Collect X items by killing monster Y". And even then, you can only do a tiny amount of these quests because they are locked out on a 48The graphics are the only redeeming quality to this game. The game is missing everything that you would come to expect from a modern MMO. And worst of all, there is nothing to do but GRIND. The VAST majority of quests are just "kill X of monster Y" or "Collect X items by killing monster Y". And even then, you can only do a tiny amount of these quests because they are locked out on a 48 hour timer. Trust me people, steer clear of this game until AT LEAST the first expansion. If it even makes it that far.… Expand
  13. Lansow
    Oct 4, 2010
    0
    Garbage. Absolute garbage. The lack of hardware mouse cursor, xp restricted on a timer, sluggish UI, far too much reliance on server side processing, unintuitive gameplay. I'm sorely disappointed in SE here.

    Pretty graphics do not a solid game make. 0/10 for SE. I was so looking forward to this. Only a completely out-to-lunch JRPG knucklehead designer would release such tripe to the    Garbage. Absolute garbage. The lack of hardware mouse cursor, xp restricted on a timer, sluggish UI, far too much reliance on server side processing, unintuitive gameplay. I'm sorely disappointed in SE here.

    Pretty graphics do not a solid game make.

    0/10 for SE. I was so looking forward to this. Only a completely out-to-lunch JRPG knucklehead designer would release such tripe to the NA market. For shame, SE, for shame.    … Expand
  14. Wildarms567
    Oct 4, 2010
    6
    Pretty much all of the reviews are accurate, albeit the scores themselves are scewed. All the problems that they complain about in the low score reviews are there, as well as the good points from the high reviews. The crafting system is robust and involved, requiring players to write down the recipes they learn from leaves(or look them up online). The graphics are top notch, and I have yetPretty much all of the reviews are accurate, albeit the scores themselves are scewed. All the problems that they complain about in the low score reviews are there, as well as the good points from the high reviews. The crafting system is robust and involved, requiring players to write down the recipes they learn from leaves(or look them up online). The graphics are top notch, and I have yet to experience any graphical hiccups on my rig. The game IS casual friendly, but not in the way people usually use the term. Basically what they meant when they said casual in reference to this game, were people who don't have the time to play very much during the week won't fall hopelessly behind. The way the game is set up is so that the casual player will progress almost just as much as the hardcore player. You can freely change jobs at will by equipping the jobs weapon type, and you can mix and match abilities from different jobs, which can turn out to be interesting later on down the road. Now for the cons, and my oh my are they abundant. First and foremost is the menu system. Anything you do in the game requires you to go through a menu, this wouldn't be so bad if the game wasn't so unresponsive. From combat to menus there is a huge lag time between when the player clicks an action and when the action is carried out. For combat this kills twitch gameplay where well timed moves can win the day, as all you can do is pray that your moves will go off in time to save you. For crafters this means over half the time spent crafting is done sitting through menus waiting for the next option to load. When a game is so reliant on crafting as a gameplay feature this is unacceptable to me. While we are on crafting we have to also include the market system. It's obvious they wanted to hamper RMT's with this game, but IMO using the free to play style player markets was not the correct way to go. Basically you or your hired retainer can sell items on you, and there are several market wards set up to house all the people who want to sell things. Problem 1: It is an unorganized mess, players are all just scattered around in the different markets along the main walking path. There is no search feature as of yet ( but one is being implemented later I hear) so finding a specific piece of gear or mat can take hours on end of searching through endless people only to discover no one is selling the mat you require. While I do not like the AH system that permeates most MMOS the FTP market system is even worse and I do not understand why they thought that would be a good idea for this game. The anima system allows you to teleport to locations you have been before, but don't get excited because you will blow through your points in around a week if your seriously lving a job, and you only get one point back every 4 or so hours. I hate when developers try to extend play time by doing useless things such as this, and to all the people saying this all was done by design think of it this way. Does it contribute to the gameplay or is it just there to be a timesink to milk more money out of the subscribers? The chat system is also incomplete at this point with no global chat and people only talking to buy/sell goods. The guild system is also incomplete at the time of writing, with the companies they were talking about not yet implemented. There are not many quests in this game as of yet, and you will find yourself doing the same ones every time your able(like a 2 day wait before you can do leaves) once you have finished you tri weekly leave quests, you will spend the rest of your time grinding till they reset again, which will be a pro for some and a con for others; I will leave it to you to interpret if thats good or bad. Lastly are the glitches, which while can be fixed I am doing this review on the state of the game currently not based on promises of the future. So far I have experienced a great deal of glitches in gamepley from mobs constantly resetting and regen hp while still hitting you to people appearing dead on my screen and not being able to target them, which is devastating if you are trying to heal people (I am a healer). For the past week I was not able to send tells and people in party chat and linkshell chat were coming up unnamed. This is something they addressed a week ago, but then came back again a few days later. Sometimes the quests do not update, especially if you kill a fleeing mob on a guildleve before he gets to the ambush location. Basically to sum up, This game does show promise, but only if they listen to their player base and fix some of the numerous gameplay problems. If you are thinking of buying this I would wait a month or two and see how the dev team responds to problems with the game. early adopters are sure to have a frustrating time out of the gate on this one.… Expand
  15. ketsurui
    Oct 4, 2010
    4
    Huge disappointment. If one buys games like this for the graphics, then look no further. If one buys games like this for the gameplay and lack of frustration, look elsewhere. Square is dead.
  16. benfreefly
    Oct 4, 2010
    4
    There are some pretty polarizing reviews of this game. Anyone that rates it a 0 or a 10 should be immediately discounted. The reality is somewhere in-between. The game is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it's also not without potential. For sure, Square Enix has their work cut out for them to make this game truly enjoyable. Here's hoping that they start listening toThere are some pretty polarizing reviews of this game. Anyone that rates it a 0 or a 10 should be immediately discounted. The reality is somewhere in-between. The game is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it's also not without potential. For sure, Square Enix has their work cut out for them to make this game truly enjoyable. Here's hoping that they start listening to their player base sooner rather than later.… Expand
  17. Scritty
    Oct 4, 2010
    1
    Firstly, could people stop assuming the negative reviews are all becasue "we don't get it" and "we just want an "easy mode" game" That's really patronising and in most cases completely untrue.

    Check out all the review sites on the net. Although their are few "pro" reviews now, there are literally thousands of user reviews, the majority of them rating the game the wrong side of average.    Firstly, could people stop assuming the negative reviews are all becasue "we don't get it" and "we just want an "easy mode" game" That's really patronising and in most cases completely untrue.

    Check out all the review sites on the net. Although their are few "pro" reviews now, there are literally thousands of user reviews, the majority of them rating the game the wrong side of average.
    Given that all the fan boys voted this game a 10, then you'll see it's struggling to average 5.5 on most sites despite this.
    Why?
    Because the menu system is broekn (and no patch is going to change that any time soon)
    The lag (not people's porcessors or GFX card _ but the LAG is terrible. I get almost 50 frames a second, but a ping of over 1000 millisenconds constantly.
    The gathering pro's a re great, the crafting ones are hit and miss, some like them - many don't (they are - again - dull)
    The need to have the same animation every time you speak to certain NPC's - with the associated time wasted.

    I know the game is well animated - it looks wonderful. BUT GET ON WITH IT ALREADY, i have seen theis over long cut scene of the vendor turning to notive me a hundred times -it takes too long, and I don't want to see it again.

    I LOVE complex MMORPG's. EvE (which is VASTLY more complex than FFXIV will ever be) is my all time favourite.
    I DON'T WANT an easy mode game.
    But then again, I don't want to struggle through half a dozen menus just to select an item to sell or trade.
    The GUI is broken, the PING is dreadful for none Japan players, and there are start up bugs.
    The startup bugs will go, I can forgive them, all MMORPG's have them.

    But the intrusive animation, overly complex GUI and horrendous PING will probably be with the game forever.    … Expand
  18. yamers
    Oct 3, 2010
    1
    ATROCIOUS. This game is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind our day and age. Square Enix doesn't understand what they are doing, they are still stuck in 2000 when it comes to making MMA...actualy I think they want back in time. Why did WoW do so well? it was fun and refreshing for players. Everything in FFXIV is a tedius task that is built to annoy the living crap out of a player.
  19. maettsy
    Oct 3, 2010
    2
    Still playing, level 25 atm.
    Rushed release, anyone who doesn't think so isn't 20+.
    SE needs to rehaul a lot of things, long time fan of their franchises but terrible choices here.
    Anyone who defends moronic decisions around their designs is in denial.
  20. Sunshinetrooper
    Oct 3, 2010
    6
    Satisfyingly different, promising but rough around the edges, that is how I would sum up FFXIV.

    Pros: Beautiful game Excellent macro system Variety Multiclassing and Multiskilling Saves equipment on exit *g* If you get that reference.... Doesn't patronise the user with how to do everything A true TEAM game, its all about the partying and working together Story Cons UI is currently    Satisfyingly different, promising but rough around the edges, that is how I would sum up FFXIV.

    Pros:
    Beautiful game
    Excellent macro system
    Variety Multiclassing and Multiskilling
    Saves equipment on exit *g* If you get that reference....
    Doesn't patronise the user with how to do everything
    A true TEAM game, its all about the partying and working together
    Story

    Cons

    UI is currently clunky, it takes getting used to. Lag in battle with animations, not horrendous just annoying
    Accessibility of information is not easy, all the info on the game is out there but finding it is harder!


    Summary:

    This game has alot of potential and is very different to WAR/WOW/LOTRO which will put off many people I'm guessing. However if you stick with this game you are rewarded with variety, open ended game play and generally a fun time.

    Do note, this game is about working together with others, forming a linkshell/company (guilds), it isn't a solo affair and why should it be, it is a massive online multiplayer game- go out and work with others!

    6/10, currently losing points due to the bugs which i'm confident will be patched!    … Expand
  21. Aeliene
    Oct 3, 2010
    0
    Absolutely gorgeous! I just wish I could figure out how to play it.
    The fact that (1) the instruction booklet has zero information about actual gameplay and (2) that no strategy guide company even attempted to make a guide for this game - should tell you everything you need to know about it.
  22. ottomatic
    Oct 2, 2010
    6
    This game could have been really something, but it has far too many problems to make it a game that I would strongly recommend, especially when so many potentially more enjoyable games are coming with the next year or so (The Old Republic, TERRA, Rift, Earthrise, World of Darkness, and Guild Wars 2). For whatever reason the developers of this game decided against including basic qualityThis game could have been really something, but it has far too many problems to make it a game that I would strongly recommend, especially when so many potentially more enjoyable games are coming with the next year or so (The Old Republic, TERRA, Rift, Earthrise, World of Darkness, and Guild Wars 2). For whatever reason the developers of this game decided against including basic quality of life systems that worked for their previous MMO. There is no mail system so if you or a friend needs an item for crafting, or for whatever reason, you need to meet up at the cost of either time or precious anima (point system that regenerates painfully slow). Which leads to another problem. Travel is limited and can be time consuming. Yes the environments look great, but one quickly grows tired of it after having to run from city to city. And hey, maybe when you get to each city you might want check out the local economy. Or not. There is no auction house system and the centralized marketplace for each city is a disorganized mess made up of player bazaars.

    Some of the 10 reviews (really, a 10? That has to be in eqaction to the 0/1s) make mention the game doesn't suffer from lag. That's ridiculous. I'm on a server where the population barely tops out at 2400 (kind of low for a new major release. Make of that as you will.) and it seems like the game can barely handle it. Even when the population well below the 2000 mark the controls and laggy UI is still noticiable.

    Let's say you don't mind any of that. In fact, you probably think Square Enix is onto something here and you want to enter the world of Eorzea. One thing that has to be said is that if you come into this game looking for at least some decent action you're going to be very disappointed. As I mentioned earlier there is no auction house, and if you don't find what you're looking for in a bazaar, guess what? You're crafting! You don't want to? Everyone's doing it! I mean everyone. I guess they have to though. Oh, did you know there's a fatigue system in the game? You didn't? Basically, you can only level a class for so long until you get diminishing experience points then it's either switch classes (yo, crafting class. You can't resist.) or take a break. For those of you who would rather take it slow and just craft or gather materials in the game's world, you might actually like this game. If you can stand the laggy UI. For those of you who twitch angrily at the thought of having to craft, having the length of your playtime decided for you by someone else, archaic controls and slow interfaces, poor design choices ("Oh, god, Activison is readying Cataclysm! Put it out now!) and at the thought of having to sit through a typical Oh-soJapanese-it-hurts fantasy story, you should seriously pass on this.    … Expand
  23. Aquakitty
    Oct 2, 2010
    3
    I gave this game a chance.

    The Good Graphics are pretty The Bad Punished for teaming, xp drops significantly for no reason Groups of 11 people attacking Ladybugs Repetitive, gameplay and mobs are the same at L 20. I am still killing marmots. Terrible UI Everything looks the same No auction house, you have to click people individually to see what they are selling (usually junk), there's    I gave this game a chance.

    The Good
    Graphics are pretty

    The Bad
    Punished for teaming, xp drops significantly for no reason
    Groups of 11 people attacking Ladybugs
    Repetitive, gameplay and mobs are the same at L 20. I am still killing marmots.
    Terrible UI
    Everything looks the same
    No auction house, you have to click people individually to see what they are selling (usually junk), there's not even a place to put a title of the contents of your "store" like back in Lineage 2.
    Levelling is like molasses
    Chat system is primitive

    Summary: Someone on here wrote the game is a breath of fresh air, I disagree, it is more like a wiff of rotten fish my dog rolled in. The game is a step back in every way possible. Bad chat, UI, archaic and repetitive. Slow.    … Expand
  24. Jabborwacky
    Oct 2, 2010
    2
    I've played this in both the open beta and on release, and I've never seen a game that has come out with so many flaws and problems. Just like FFXI, the entire basis of the game is the advancement of a linear storyline... and that's it. The game boasts impressive in-game art, graphics, and cinematics, but the gameplay is boring and repetitive. Once you get through your first few startingI've played this in both the open beta and on release, and I've never seen a game that has come out with so many flaws and problems. Just like FFXI, the entire basis of the game is the advancement of a linear storyline... and that's it. The game boasts impressive in-game art, graphics, and cinematics, but the gameplay is boring and repetitive. Once you get through your first few starting quests, you are left to do repeatable daily quests in one of three categories: Battle, crafting, and gathering. So basically you are left doing daily quests in a very similar fashion to World of Warcraft's endgame play, only that is what you will be doing for the entire length of the game. To make matters worse, the combat controls make working in a group a pain, as they do not allow for point and click casting. A redundant target select is built into the game so that people with gamepads can keep their eye on one target while healing people around it, but this only complicates PC controls.
    The crafting in this game is a carbon copy of the Final Fantasy XI crystal crafting system with an unintuitive mini-game added on top. You have no recipe list, so you must look up all the recipes online at their website and you also have no way to tell if the item is too difficult for you to craft at your given skill. This also means you must manually put in all the materials for the item into a grid of boxes before you start crafting. Once at the mini-game, new players will be left scratching their heads in frustration as they vainly try to learn the crafting mini-game with a complete lack tutorials. Sure, if the player is smart enough to pick up the crafting tutorial quest back at the city he will have something to work with, but the tutorial fails to explain the intricacies of the game, such as what the pretty light on your crafting tool represents. Also, when you fail at making an item, all the ingredients you meticulously collected are destroyed, only adding to player frustration. The gathering mini-game trades the frustration for boredom, and is just as unintuitive as the crafting mini-game. Thankfully the introductory gathering quest is helpful here, but "hot and cold" mini-games belong in the realm of things to do on long car trips when we don't have advanced electronic devices available to us, not in a video game. At least not in the unintuitive, and rather dull application it is applied here. The player market is a mess as well. Square went with a Bazaar system as opposed to an Auction House, and since the economy is mostly player run (think like 90%), this ends up creating a convoluted mess. You will be stuck searching through an army of retainers (the npcs that player hire out to put their stuff on) for close to an hour before finding what you want. The costs will also be either out the roof or ludicrously low due to their being no way for players to gauge the marketplace in order to set a good price for their goods.
    The game's physics engine is a rip straight out of Final Fantasy XI as well, meaning poor interaction with the environment and no swimming or jumping. You are guaranteed to always be on the ground in this game. The only improvement that this game boasts over its predecessor is the fact that it allows for solo play. This is nothing to be proud about, however, since that has been standard issue in MMOs for at least the last 5 years. So basically we have a game system that is a carbon copy of the Final Fantasy XI system with the only difference being repeatable quests and solo play. The only thing to look forward to is the storyline, but we've moved far beyond linear stories with games such as Baldur's Gate, Dragon's Age, and Fallout. Nothing to be proud of here folks, and certainly not worth wasting your money on. Pretty graphics give this two stars, but ancient game-play mechanics on top of endless player frustration gives this a 0 in game-play category.
    2 out of 10 for this one folks.    … Expand
  25. Lawrens
    Oct 2, 2010
    3
    FFXIV is an incomplete game, for that I have to give it a 3/10, it is extremely hard to give a game anything higher than this when initially the game has little to offer, and to add to that, whatever it has to offer is nothing but a horrible experience.

    The game starts you off with a few introductory cutscenes, then off you go doing levequests: quests which offer no story or plot, but to    FFXIV is an incomplete game, for that I have to give it a 3/10, it is extremely hard to give a game anything higher than this when initially the game has little to offer, and to add to that, whatever it has to offer is nothing but a horrible experience.

    The game starts you off with a few introductory cutscenes, then off you go doing levequests: quests which offer no story or plot, but to run around fulfilling random generated objectives, which is all just running to point B to kill a certain number of mobs, you get money and sometimes items as reward. You get 8 everyday and a half, some new ones opens up, and some are just repeats, it also helps you gain levels and class ranks since you have to fight a lot of enemies.

    The above sounds great and fun, but there are a few problems with the mission structure and balance itself:
    Problems:
    Skill points distribution: you get skill points from attacking enemies/heal/etc, this is so far a bit broken as the chances of you getting skill points are not very consistent, there are occasions where you could get really low amount of skillpoints from fighting strong monsters, even if you're to group with a few other players, which leads to the problem where soloing is a better and faster way to play. Difficulty balance - Low level leve quests were also too easy for a group, monsters die in 2 hits and you get no skillpoints at all, and for some quests it is also very easy to do at 3-4 stars even when you're 5-6 levels below the suggested rank. While certain quest have mobs with aoe attacks that could oneshot you.

    Lag - With the partying system, when the lag is bad on your server, there are bugs where you can't target your party members, can't reinvite, and invite taking tremendously long to process (or not process at all), this gets better as the server load is lower, but the targetting issue still exists, sometimes you can't see your party members hp. Lag leads to a lot other problems, abilities gets congested, with the long animation your character do, it delays a lot of your abilities.

    Surplus - This isn't as big of a problem as other players make it out to be, but it is a mechanic that a few might find annoying as it is there to restrict your playstyle and how you want to spend your time. You really can't progress on just 1 job alone, and if you like running around on your highest level job, you will eventually run into surplus - which gives a penalty to the skill points you gain, this isn't a problem if the game wasn't that much of a grind but the skill points required to level at lvl20s is really high, what SE doing here is to restrict people from progressing and forcing them to level other jobs and crafts, if you like that, it is ok, but there is a limitation to the freedom given.

    Crafting itself is more interesting but also tedious, the animations are too long so most of the time it would take 5minutes just to do a craft, imagine having to unequip all your gears, change to your crafting tools and having to access item box to repair them one by one, which leads to the problem of inventory space, and gears swapping, you have to type out lines and lines of macros so you don't have to unequip every piece of equipments by hand when you change jobs.
    The lines of macros is also limited. For a game encouraging you to switch between like 10 jobs, it is an annoyance as you also have to reset all your actions/abilities. Fighting enemies - Some enemies have weird pathing which they will run around and regen itself to full. Sometimes you can't engage your party members' target with a message "Target can not be engaged". Targetting is also extremely hard and you have to tab through a lot of targets.

    There are other issues people have already listed, most will run into problem that leads to another, the core of the game is great and the classes/ability mix is a great system, but there are too many problems that hinders a player's enjoyment. There's nothing to do but grind, there are a few cutscenes every 5-10 ranks.

    It is clearly an unfinished game with restrictions grant upon players so they won't progress too fast inorder to buy time for them to fix/implement new features. If you take a look at their site, they are still "looking into improve" many aspects of the game instead of already having the right idea and releasing patches. Most of the updates/maintenance are all bugs/glitches related that should've been fix during the beta phase, the menu and UI lag infact still exists and I'm not sure how people could tolerate it.

    The game has only been out for 2 weeks, it doesn't sound fair to judge the game at its current state, but it is also not very fair for consumers to be paying 60 dollars for an incomplete game, and for a better experience they have been encouraged to wait until they fix all the problems, for a game with a subscription fee, it is a really bad business practice from square-enix.    … Expand
  26. CitizenSwift
    Oct 1, 2010
    1
    From installation to patching to account setup to playing... Everything about this game has been painful. Far less than I'd expect from an established developer.
  27. santiagodraco
    Oct 1, 2010
    3
    Ok, so here's the real deal._____________

    First off, graphically, sonically and aesthetically the game is great. If games were scored on looks alone I'd give this one an 8/9._______________ Well, games are like books, don't judge it by it's cover. And what's inside isn't prose it's gibberish.___________ I cannot comprehend how anyone can give this game a 10. It simply isn't    Ok, so here's the real deal._____________

    First off, graphically, sonically and aesthetically the game is great. If games were scored on looks alone I'd give this one an 8/9._______________

    Well, games are like books, don't judge it by it's cover. And what's inside isn't prose it's gibberish.___________

    I cannot comprehend how anyone can give this game a 10. It simply isn't rational. First, the combat mechanics are frustrating in the extreme. To give you a taste, lets say you are running around in ANY MMO you can think of and you engage a target. You can move around, reposition yourself or your camera easily, like a normal shooter for example. Not so with FFXIV. When you engage you "LOCK" to that encounter and movement becomes severely hampered and your cameras up down view is frozen. Yes, you heard me, you can no longer change the camera Y position. On top of that tabbing... tabbing targets ANYTHING including yourself and other players and NPCs and target mobs.... how frustrating do you think it will be to have 2-3 mobs putting the smackdown (oh and even con mobs can kill you pretty easy) only to find that you cannot fight them because you keep targeting everything OTHER than the mobs attacking you. It is the worst combat implementation I've ever seen in any game to date._________________

    Now lets talk about the world. It's big. Big and pretty. And repetitive. And virtually empty. If you are expecting the rich and full environments you are used to in games like WoW, EQ, EQ2, Aion, etc then don't get your hopes up. You'll be running quite a bit looking at grass and bushes and trees with little else to create any sense of story or immersion.________________

    Oh, and don't forget to avoid that 2 inch drop off! No you can't jump! How dare you ask! Go around! What do you mean it's only a 2 inch piece of tile on the ground? Of course you can't walk over it. What do you think, this is the real world? You're in our world now and you'll play by our rules of physics! No jumping and no stepping up or down!______________

    Quests. I have to ask, what quests? Other than the main "story line" (which btw seems completely unrelated to the stylish opening sequences) and a couple of sidelines I don't know what quests there are, if any. For one I am pretty sure they are few and far between. But for another you are forced to talk to every NPC (and I mean EVERY NPC) just to see if they have a quest, or if they are your next step. It's so outdated and frustrating that you'll give up questing altogether pretty quick.______________

    Guildleves... a very very sad replacement for leveling quests. They are meaningless, in far to short of supply and add absolutely nothing to the story of the game. At least in WoW the "kill x or gather y" quests were often written into a series of storyline related activities that made them somewhat meaningful. Here guildleves are like going to some kind of soda machine and pressing a button for a refill, only to find out that you've had your limit on refills for today._____________

    Now lets talk about UI and add further to the interaction mechanics discussion. Remember the combat lock and camera note above? Well the same applies for talking to NPCs. First you have to successfully target them, once you've done that and then navigate a few menus just to begin dialog (yeah get used to menus for everything) you'll be locked into that encounter until you click away (don't miss!) to end it. Hopefully that works. So no, you can't simply move away to end like you can with every other MMO under the sun.___________

    And how about that snappy UI! Well there's nothing snappy about this one other than hitting the logoff button.______________

    Storyline interaction? Very short paragraphs of text in a very small window with a very small arrow on the bottom to scroll. You'll have no idea where you are in the dialog, how far you have to go, nor any way to go back OR see the overall context of the dialog. __________

    Expecting NPCs to talk? Interact as you walk by with nice general voiceovers? Nope. _________

    I can go on. As you can gather from my post the game has me pretty seriously dissapointed and very frustrated that SE has taken a game that had such enormous potential and has completely ruined it due to their apparent arrogance and complete disconnect as to what the vast vast majority of gamers are looking for out there._______________


    I really think that SE should purchase the rights to the "You're in our world now" slogan since it so aptly exemplifies the attitude SE has taken to the player base in the introduction of this game to the market.    … Expand
  28. CaptElephant
    Oct 1, 2010
    3
    As a long-time fan of FFXI I was disappointed by FFXIV. It's a pretty substantial step backwards from it's predecessor, despite coming out 7 years later. Overall the game feels unfinished and rushed, the UI is very slow, combat is badly designed and content is sorely lacking. It certainly may become a quality game after a year or so of patches, but currently it's pretty terrible. Save yourAs a long-time fan of FFXI I was disappointed by FFXIV. It's a pretty substantial step backwards from it's predecessor, despite coming out 7 years later. Overall the game feels unfinished and rushed, the UI is very slow, combat is badly designed and content is sorely lacking. It certainly may become a quality game after a year or so of patches, but currently it's pretty terrible. Save your time and money for something better.… Expand
  29. richitt
    Oct 1, 2010
    10
    This isn't a turnkey MMO as Square Enix doesn't hold your hand with tutorials and the like. But, for gamers with a non-linear vision of what a game should be, FFXIV is engrossing-- taking a decent level of commitment to to the game's various modes of play-- gathering, crafting, shopkeeping and, to be sure, battle. It's still too early to tell what the game will really be like given theThis isn't a turnkey MMO as Square Enix doesn't hold your hand with tutorials and the like. But, for gamers with a non-linear vision of what a game should be, FFXIV is engrossing-- taking a decent level of commitment to to the game's various modes of play-- gathering, crafting, shopkeeping and, to be sure, battle. It's still too early to tell what the game will really be like given the player-driven economy and everyone's limited exposure to date, but directionally, it's a solid game with a lot of promise. I'm hooked.… Expand
  30. Tubie
    Oct 1, 2010
    0
    No search feature, no mail system, no AH and no support for party play are just a few of the things that are broken with this game. Stay far away from this, at least until they release it on the PS3. PC players are paying to play a game still in Alpha stage. I am slowing but steadily losing trust in SE a company I once admired.
  31. nevlos
    Oct 1, 2010
    10
    If you enjoyed FFXI, you'll enjoy this without a doubt. The game has really brought back the feeling of immersion, and why we play MMOs in the first place: Community!
  32. k3nt0456
    Oct 1, 2010
    2
    The game has made absolutely no improvements to the genre, every major feature is incomplete or riddled with bugs or downright bad in it's implementation. You'll find yourself dropped into an unfamiliar (by mmo standards) world with absolutely no technical guidance and UI that seems straight out of a '99 console game; all of this while running code so poorly optimized for the PC that itThe game has made absolutely no improvements to the genre, every major feature is incomplete or riddled with bugs or downright bad in it's implementation. You'll find yourself dropped into an unfamiliar (by mmo standards) world with absolutely no technical guidance and UI that seems straight out of a '99 console game; all of this while running code so poorly optimized for the PC that it makes GTA 4 (a notoriously bad console port) seem like the holy grail of solid FPS.

    All of this is truly baffling coming from Square-enix who should have had previous MMO experience. If you've played ANY mmo before get ready for some serious WTF'ing; if you've played FFXI and were hoping for the next-gen group based experience you'll be so furious you'll write a negative review on Metacritic.    … Expand
  33. Fensfield
    Oct 1, 2010
    9
    Honestly, I bought Final Fantasy XIV as just that - a Final Fantasy. The single player RPGs in the series have never rated high on my preference list, though I've enjoyed them, however I've always felt the worlds portrayed by the series would play so much better as online worlds.

    And, as such, just as I was excited for Final Fantasy XI, I was (and remain) excited for Final Fantasy XIV.    Honestly, I bought Final Fantasy XIV as just that - a Final Fantasy. The single player RPGs in the series have never rated high on my preference list, though I've enjoyed them, however I've always felt the worlds portrayed by the series would play so much better as online worlds.

    And, as such, just as I was excited for Final Fantasy XI, I was (and remain) excited for Final Fantasy XIV. And I honestly have to say, it delivered. Final Fantasy XIV presented me with a unique and compelling world and what's more, actually asked me to set about exploring it.

    Now, I will not deny this game has flaws - it has quite a few. But I've always maintained it unbelievably stupid to judge an MMORPG on the flaws it exhibits in its first year, let alone first month. I'll come back and start niggling over resolvable issues then, maybe. For now, I see potential, and I like the basic systems I'm presented with, along with the world and the basis for the kind of roleplay I enjoy.

    I expected pretty much exactly what I got from Final Fantasy XIV; a good world, a good story, and enjoyable battle system, an actually fun crafting system, and a unique take on the systems so generally formulaic in modern MMO games.

    Is Final Fantasy XIV for everyone? Very likely not. But for me, it's very much the online RPG I've been looking for to replace Ragnarok Online the best part of a decade, and I'm pleased to have bought a Collector's Edition. What's more, it's remarkably friendly to the casual player - if you define casual as a player with limited time available, which describes me perfectly given my recent return to university. The experience system is geared to give large bursts for a short time after login, and then level out should you attempt to grind; just how I like it.

    Sorry if this isn't the most useful review ever, but simply put, I'm having fun and I'm sure there are a lot of people who will also, so long as their only definition of 'fun' isn't the formulaic, Western MMORPG, or bust.    … Expand
  34. stray
    Oct 1, 2010
    0
    If you haven't considered changing your name to "Cloud" legally, this probably isn't the game for you. Even then your loyalty might be questioned. I've played FFXI for a number of years, as well as WoW, and this game succeeds in little else but setting the genre back. Gone are auction houses, every player is now expected to open up their own shop. Which isn't horrible in principle, butIf you haven't considered changing your name to "Cloud" legally, this probably isn't the game for you. Even then your loyalty might be questioned. I've played FFXI for a number of years, as well as WoW, and this game succeeds in little else but setting the genre back. Gone are auction houses, every player is now expected to open up their own shop. Which isn't horrible in principle, but it's an archaic MMO design that was left behind for a reason. There's no search, so simply shopping can take hours dependent on what you're looking for. The quest system is the equivalent of 'dailies' in WoW, fairly short, uninspired, repetitive quests you can do once every 36 hours. There is a main story quest that I believe unravels once every 10 levels, the rest of the game is grinding dailies or just... grinding. NPC's rarely say anything useful, the entire world is incredibly beautiful... it just feels like cardboard.

    System requirements are absurdly high, and your results may vary on server lag or server queues, some of this is forgivable for a starting MMO. Stability is actually great, actually... but there's just nothing there. The game feels like a late alpha going into beta, not a release quality game.    … Expand
  35. Telenus
    Oct 1, 2010
    10
    If an individual wished for an MMO that did not feel it should copy World of Warcraft, this would be the one. Challenging and Complex to boot. It caters to a more hardcore gamer than those with a mentality that wishes for instant gratification. The graphics are outstanding, quite frankly the best of any MMO out there. It also has, in my opinion, one of the most in depth crafting systemsIf an individual wished for an MMO that did not feel it should copy World of Warcraft, this would be the one. Challenging and Complex to boot. It caters to a more hardcore gamer than those with a mentality that wishes for instant gratification. The graphics are outstanding, quite frankly the best of any MMO out there. It also has, in my opinion, one of the most in depth crafting systems out there. While it does have some problems with lag and other minor inconveniences. A die hard Final Fantasy fan should find the game to their liking.… Expand
  36. polyhedral
    Oct 1, 2010
    8
    I like the game, call me crazy, or addicted. No need for "alts", more need for reputation less trolling, win/win imho.

    Do everything on one character, all classes, all skills. Horizontal and vertical growth. The higher level behests are fun, and they are every hour. Localleves give you a ton of things to do regarding crafting, and guildleves come quicker now than in beta. I don't    I like the game, call me crazy, or addicted. No need for "alts", more need for reputation less trolling, win/win imho.

    Do everything on one character, all classes, all skills. Horizontal and vertical growth. The higher level behests are fun, and they are every hour. Localleves give you a ton of things to do regarding crafting, and guildleves come quicker now than in beta. I don't think many people even bother giving this game a chance beyond rank 20, just like they did with FFXI, which is rather amusing when I played FFXI for years as well. It's just one of those games, that begs people to bash it. Eh, video gaming in 2010 is not like it was in 1989. GET OFF MY LAWN!    … Expand
  37. Aericyn
    Oct 1, 2010
    8
    A lot of existing graphic and control comments. Here is my review on gameplay.

    The combat is more tactical, for example as a pugilist soloing I can swing behind a creature and attack before MOB responds and receive a "you hit X from the rear for X damage". Also works for left, and right. This is more of a to-hit bonus than a damage bonus from what I can tell so far, but still cool that    A lot of existing graphic and control comments. Here is my review on gameplay.

    The combat is more tactical, for example as a pugilist soloing I can swing behind a creature and attack before MOB responds and receive a "you hit X from the rear for X damage". Also works for left, and right. This is more of a to-hit bonus than a damage bonus from what I can tell so far, but still cool that I can do it.

    You are able to design a character from the ground up with skills and stats that affect both combat and gathering/crafting. You can increase your elemental stats to increase both your damage mitigation and spell damage. Say I want to have more powerful Lighting spells. I increase my lightning affinity. Affinity also affects drop rate for elemental shards used for crafting.

    Carry a sword and drop a fireball spell from time to time. The game allows it.

    Gathering is a good mini game and you can share nodes with other players so no more "Hey that was my ore site!" As you gain levels in gathering class you receive skills. For example, a speed buff when going from node to node.

    Crafting is also a pretty good mini game with things that directly affect results, like using facilities, (just a buff you pay for). Eating food to increase stat and effectiveness. There is still a lot of mystery to crafting, intentional though also a bit tough to figure out. I saw someone make a +1 weapon last night so the possibilities beyond normal results are there. Reminds me of D&D with +1, +2 gear.

    FF14 requires you to really give socialization a once over. I am used to doing most things myself in other games. I know this has been tried in the past with varying results, games like EQ2 tried interdependence at launch but they had to tone it down quite a bit. Folks are just now discovering Faction Leves and from what people have said seem grander in scope than the Kill X of X Battle Leves. Faction leves require a certain amount of faction points to receive. You gain points for completing Battle or Crafting leves. I don't even have 100 points yet, so haven't done one myself.

    The game tracks things you do in the game but how you see results of that tracking is unknown to me. For example, I received notifications that I completed 10 Crafting leves and another one saying I killed 200 monsters.    … Expand
  38. Rofellos
    Oct 1, 2010
    0
    1. Bad UI that is worse even than some console games today
    2. Copy Pasted world terrain pointing to lazy developers
    3. Rushed release for PC marked when the game obviously was developed for consoles (release for them after 6 months). 4. Lack of any communication between the playerbase and the developers because " the japnanese developers do not understand english " - OH MY GOD! 5. No    1. Bad UI that is worse even than some console games today
    2. Copy Pasted world terrain pointing to lazy developers
    3. Rushed release for PC marked when the game obviously was developed for consoles (release for them after 6 months).
    4. Lack of any communication between the playerbase and the developers because " the japnanese developers do not understand english " - OH MY GOD!
    5. No direct payment method for the day - you need to use third party services like "click and buy" and paypal - Also points to SE not wanting to spend money to develop such service.

    All this just screams ka-ching. Paying to beta test the game for console release.    … Expand
  39. Edeor
    Sep 30, 2010
    1
    One of the worst mmorpg I've ever seen. The UI is very complex and not user friendly, the mouse-keyboard support is very poor, the combat system is slow and repetitive, anche the graphics engine is very heavy. The worst thing is the absolute lack of content, and at the end is just a matter of grind.
  40. LambdaChops
    Sep 30, 2010
    8
    I personally quite enjoy this game, however it is not for everyone! This mmo is very Archaic compared to more recently released games. The game does not hold your hand at all and is not afraid of repeatedly kicking your ass. If your expecting a game similar to wow then you should save yourself the trouble and move on. If you are considering this game then it would be in your best interestI personally quite enjoy this game, however it is not for everyone! This mmo is very Archaic compared to more recently released games. The game does not hold your hand at all and is not afraid of repeatedly kicking your ass. If your expecting a game similar to wow then you should save yourself the trouble and move on. If you are considering this game then it would be in your best interest to wait at least a month or two for a major patch.… Expand
  41. JustJack
    Sep 30, 2010
    9
    Final Fantasy XIV Online, We see alot of these MMOs come and go, right now we have a Saturated Market of F2P P2P and everything inbetween. I think that is why people tend to troll games that are fresh on the market threatening there safe places. I like this game, Im sure we all know of the issues that it has, but truely, what MMO does not have issues on release? CONTENT Promised WILL COME,Final Fantasy XIV Online, We see alot of these MMOs come and go, right now we have a Saturated Market of F2P P2P and everything inbetween. I think that is why people tend to troll games that are fresh on the market threatening there safe places. I like this game, Im sure we all know of the issues that it has, but truely, what MMO does not have issues on release? CONTENT Promised WILL COME, there is alot to do right now! without having to get our heads around MORE CONTENT at this time. its diffrent and thats what makes it special, it will grow on you and you will love it,or you dont want to learn? fairenough its nto a game for you, Pace yourself and enjoy the small things, thats what this game says to us, if you can do that it will reward you. NOT perfect but water it and it will grow into somthing special.… Expand
  42. Alaff
    Sep 30, 2010
    2
    (sorry for Grammar, not main language)
    I really really want to like this game. I've played FFXI for 3 yrs and had a lot of fun with it. However, FFXIV is not what I enjoy. I don't feel like I want to log in because there is nothing to do after I completed all battle leves. I tired crafting and harvesting but it's so boring - take so long time to do anything and I don't like it. So I have    (sorry for Grammar, not main language)
    I really really want to like this game. I've played FFXI for 3 yrs and had a lot of fun with it. However, FFXIV is not what I enjoy. I don't feel like I want to log in because there is nothing to do after I completed all battle leves. I tired crafting and harvesting but it's so boring - take so long time to do anything and I don't like it. So I have War and Magic to play. I have no choice but to grind mildessly , run kill , run kill errrr I just wonder I am playing RAGNAROK ONLINE 2010??? ... Also the skill up is buggy somehow or it's broken... I am Conjuror I suppose to skill up by casting magic such as Thunder , .. etc but belive it or not , after running around for 2 hour I've found that the best way to get skill up is spamming Spirit dart until enemy die even I use cure while fighting is not gain any skill point ... it's so strange and stupid I feel. Also, I feel sorry for those who don't have active Linkshell or Friends. They have no one to talk with! Nobody talk anything even in the Aetherite camp. Grats whoever get into LS and have a group going .. oh did I mention, as a Conjuror, in order to gain class skill in party as much as other melee class, I have to spam spirit dart as well! becuz I can't cast spell. I get aggro immediatly from only 1 heal or 1 nuke or 1 MPrecoverSkill - I've play EQ1 EQ2 FFXIV and I think I know by now the aggro system for caster or healer or Do FFXIV use other rule for aggro management ? If so they should have it in manual or something. Furthermore, why there's no Dev team or Community manager that communicate with player. Why SE never talk with their players? Where is official forum? All they have is Feedback system which won't be responded and E-mail system that takes about 3 days to get Copy-paste answer ... I can go on with so many disappointed things in this game. Sorry I feel very bad now I invest so much money to play this game. I bought a new computer i7 960 / GTX 480 / etc just to play this game and I thought at that time my money is worth it. Even in Beta, my friend told me it's better to use Controller and I bought it immediately in hope many things will be fixed when its released but it's isn't .... Map , Bazaar , Trade , even selling item to NPC is terrible .. slow and too much unnecessary progress... and WHY in the world I had to assigned the drop to myself when I am soloing ? I just don't understand... This is much worse than EQ2 Launch ... sorry for FFXIV fan ( I am also FF fan too but I had to speak the truth)    … Expand
  43. mickst3r
    Sep 30, 2010
    10
    A bunch of whiny spoilt kids that expected every game to be flawless at launch scores this game a '0'.
    Even if you hate FFXIV was a passion, you have to admit the graphics are way better beyond any mmo out there currently, which would at the very least be a +2 to the score ratings. The game in itself is unique, it is not like any of the other mmo's out there that are just WoW clones, the    A bunch of whiny spoilt kids that expected every game to be flawless at launch scores this game a '0'.
    Even if you hate FFXIV was a passion, you have to admit the graphics are way better beyond any mmo out there currently, which would at the very least be a +2 to the score ratings. The game in itself is unique, it is not like any of the other mmo's out there that are just WoW clones, the game-play is completely different, the combat system is completely different from other mmos; +2.
    FFXIV offers multiple classes that users can play on one character, by switching weapons on your character you will be able to play as a different class which is very diverse and an enjoyable aspect of the game; +2.
    The crafting system is in a whole league by itself, FFXIV made the most detailed, in-depth crafting system to date. The crafting system gives players various options on how they would like to craft their items; each with their pros and cons of course... The crafting system is not just a stupid point and click craft button like WoW and their mmo clone counterparts; FFXIV's craft system gets the players involved in the actual craft and makes the whole experience worthwhile; +2.
    The Storyline in FFXIV is very entertaining and will capture most people's attention with various cutscenes showing your character interacting in the short clips, the story itself which applies to the quests you do takes players through the actual FF journey. +2.

    +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 = +10

    Sure it has its cons as well, which game doesn't?
    The UI can be confusing when you start off, as the UI is unlike the standard normal typical mmos, not many people will be as comfortable with it at the start. It can be seen as very cumbersome and takes too much type going through the various menus, however one can argue that by doing so, players get more involved with their character that way, they get to control what their character is actually doing with this UI instead of just auto attacking... ;-2.

    At the least it should be an 8...    … Expand
  44. akumamage
    Sep 30, 2010
    10
    I find it funny that 2 of the reviews have sdfg spammed, people who only played beta and refer to lag that has been fixed, a couple reviews who look at the fatigue system as if they were like the rest of us when we first heard about it.

    Heres the thing about reviews in the first week of launch, reviews are gonna be terribad. Look at ffxi when it was released in jpn first couple weeks,    I find it funny that 2 of the reviews have sdfg spammed, people who only played beta and refer to lag that has been fixed, a couple reviews who look at the fatigue system as if they were like the rest of us when we first heard about it.

    Heres the thing about reviews in the first week of launch, reviews are gonna be terribad. Look at ffxi when it was released in jpn first couple weeks, bad,

    now, still considered better than wow.

    Just sit back, and relax, FINAL FANTASY (note the caps of the game, you know people play for the name too) XIV will be here to stay.    … Expand
  45. Deofiendwingles
    Sep 30, 2010
    10
    The online community of this game is far better then any other ive played with. no trolls no really way for people to annoy you. i havent seen anyone trying to sell gil or been bugged my someone to go to some site that sells it. people that play this game are great to interact with. ui is buggy, markets wards are somewhat if a mess but you can really find things out by interacting andThe online community of this game is far better then any other ive played with. no trolls no really way for people to annoy you. i havent seen anyone trying to sell gil or been bugged my someone to go to some site that sells it. people that play this game are great to interact with. ui is buggy, markets wards are somewhat if a mess but you can really find things out by interacting and talking with people. People who find the game hard should just stop and do something else. if you cant take the time to find simple forum posts on a on a question you have, go play something else. unlike some games this doesnt cater to the casuals as much… Expand
  46. jmegapac
    Sep 30, 2010
    3
    This is possibly one of the worst MMO's to be released relative to other MMO's of its generation. The main story line so far has been blend. The game was touted for its engaging plot and immersive environment. The main quest starts then quickly disappears for a while. The player is left to figure out what to do (the only thing left to do is grinding guildleves and crafting, aside from aThis is possibly one of the worst MMO's to be released relative to other MMO's of its generation. The main story line so far has been blend. The game was touted for its engaging plot and immersive environment. The main quest starts then quickly disappears for a while. The player is left to figure out what to do (the only thing left to do is grinding guildleves and crafting, aside from a small number of quests). I'm fine with allowing players to explorer the world and figure out what to do. But there's nothing to do but grind here! Then there's the environment. A large portion of the world is narrow, twisted valleys connecting rather small main zones. Sure, it takes a while to walk from one area to another. But all you see is narrow paths that twists and turns. You generally don't see a vast area to explorer.

    Perhaps the lack of content can be understood, since the game just came out. However, the issue with UI is unforgivable. SE has had almost a decade to look at and experiment with UI. There are plenty of other MMO's that have shown how a good UI could be implemented. SE decided to completely ignore that and implement an archaic system of accessing practically everything via a main menu. You want to equip an item? Go to the main menu and open equipped item window. You can't just select an item from your inventory and equip it. You have to select a body part in equipment window, select an item from an inventory list that shows up, then click the equip button. Did I tell you that the inventory list is not sorted?

    There are plenty of other issues that made me cancel my subscription. You should be able to find them easily online. I'm not the only one complaining about them. My recommendation is, the game has potential, but it may not be realized for another year. Save your money and play some other MMO until then.    … Expand
  47. Gothmog1065
    Sep 30, 2010
    7
    Haters gonna hate. The game is far from perfect, but it isn't horrible. The game isn't designed for power levellers or the people who play all day long. So far the game has been fun. The game is designed to make people craft their own items, and sometimes the crafting can be complex. This isn't a game where you just go do the "optimal build" and pound on baddies and pray for awesomeHaters gonna hate. The game is far from perfect, but it isn't horrible. The game isn't designed for power levellers or the people who play all day long. So far the game has been fun. The game is designed to make people craft their own items, and sometimes the crafting can be complex. This isn't a game where you just go do the "optimal build" and pound on baddies and pray for awesome armors. You have to make your own armor or pay a premium for it. There is no "optimal build" and there are a ton of ways people can customize their gaming experience. You can be a rogue character that can heal. You can be a caster that can beat the crap out of things. You can make your own items, or team up with a group to make items for everyone. There is almost too much to do right now, and people who don't have a big bad boss to go after first thing haven't a clue as what they should be doing and they'll lose interest. The graphics are gorgeous, naturally. There hasn't been much of a story line, but then again, the game isn't complete yet. I have a feeling it won't be "complete" until the PS3 release, and this is just a bigass beta test. The quests can get kid of repetitive, but there's a lot of things to do. I have a feeling this game is going to shape up well. It's not complete and there's things to do yet to finish it, but I think it will do well.

    Oh, for the whiners about keyboard/mouse control: This is a game designed for gamepad use. Either use one or get over yourselves.    … Expand
  48. kathars1s
    Sep 30, 2010
    10
    Good game. In 3-6 months it will be an amazing game. Graphics rock, gameplay is fun. love the story. love the concept. lots to do even at launch.
    Ignore anyone who'se too much of a tool to give an honest review. A 0? seriously? give it a rest. It's at worst a 6 right now. Will easily be a 9 in 6 months
  49. Knup
    Sep 30, 2010
    7
    First and foremost this game IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. if your content with your MMO now this probably won't change your mind however im still gonna praise it for now. The UI has been bashed its not great, and could be soooo much better but apparently SE didnt take anyone to seriously about the UI in XI either o well. Compared to 11, this game is so much more accessible being able to changeFirst and foremost this game IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. if your content with your MMO now this probably won't change your mind however im still gonna praise it for now. The UI has been bashed its not great, and could be soooo much better but apparently SE didnt take anyone to seriously about the UI in XI either o well. Compared to 11, this game is so much more accessible being able to change classes anywhere just by the change of a weapon is fantastic and the main classes, War or Mage disciplines are fun and enjoyable to play. The game forces you however to build up a craft and gathering profession which IMO. hurt it, Not being able to simply repair all your gear at a repair vendor is annoying and forcing you to either, seek out another player to do so or level up your skill to do it your self is just a pain in the ass. No more long low lvl hikes back from your Homepoint to the zone you died in, dying is much more forgiving now with no exp loss anymore the big draw back of dying is weakness which is annoying enough to not want to die to often. Graphics are good yay. A teleport system is implemented which makes traveling throughout the world far less tedious once you get your initial experience doing it 1000x over is just a pain in the ass thankfully they cut this out. Im forgiving the lack of auction house right now because lets face it, with one RMT would over take the market and destroy the economy right away and prices would be outragous, atm money is easy to make through gathering or crafting, the crafting system is fun and frustrating a huge step up from XI however this and the gathering skills are huge signals that this is not for the casual audience because simply clicking once won't mine your copper or make your cotton cloth, a little thought and understanding of the system is needed to be successful in either of the two. If you want a simple MMO this isn't for you
    If you want something perfect in all aspects and expect nothing less this isnt for you
    If you love the Final Fantasy series this STILL MIGHT NOT be for you this is not your typical FF
    If you can come into Final Fantasy XIV with the understanding it has it flaws and is going to eek you the wrong way now and again but in the end the outcome will feel very rewarding give this a try, if your on the edge because of the flaws, wait a couple of months check what SE has fixed via updates through just the first week the UI went from almost unbearably slow to a good speed between windows. They will get some of the issues out i just hope it doesn't take them too long.    … Expand
  50. kitkat
    Sep 30, 2010
    10
    The game isn't as bad as these kids are whining. Anyone who rated 0 or 1 shouldn't be taken seriously. It's impossible to give this game a rating like that even with the problems it has. Theres no such thing as objectivity here.
    Theres a lack of mid-end range content. A few systems are broken and need tweaking. There are barely any bugs. The game runs great. The systems are fine. Gameplay    The game isn't as bad as these kids are whining. Anyone who rated 0 or 1 shouldn't be taken seriously. It's impossible to give this game a rating like that even with the problems it has. Theres no such thing as objectivity here.
    Theres a lack of mid-end range content. A few systems are broken and need tweaking. There are barely any bugs. The game runs great. The systems are fine. Gameplay is fun and exciting. Classes are well thought out. Anything thats wrong with it can be fixed with time. Server issues, content, missing systems, lag. The game officially launched TODAY for christ sakes. Kids these days have no idea what an mmo launch is like.    … Expand
  51. Sliph
    Sep 30, 2010
    2
    Wow i don't even know where to begin.

    1. The UI is a joke horribly slow and confusing 2. Overall controls are sluggish it feels like im slogging through water trying to move my mouse " and NO i dont want to play with a frikin controller I shouldn't HAVE to" 3. Spellcasting is overly tedious , I have to target mob, select spell, hit enter, hit spell agian ..just to cast a spell?! WTF?! 4.    Wow i don't even know where to begin.

    1. The UI is a joke horribly slow and confusing
    2. Overall controls are sluggish it feels like im slogging through water trying to move my mouse " and NO i dont want to play with a frikin controller I shouldn't HAVE to"
    3. Spellcasting is overly tedious , I have to target mob, select spell, hit enter, hit spell agian ..just to cast a spell?! WTF?!
    4. Crafting is horribly slow and painful and so much downtime waiting for menus to popup
    5. Fun Factor = 0 NOTHING in this game is fun to do, everything is a CHORE everything requires insane amounts of time to do mainly because of the horrid ui and controls.
    6. Con system, Has anyone actually figured out how to con mobs yet? Should it be this difficult to figure it out?
    7. Combat, slow and boring it makes me want to fall asleep its so boring
    8.Quests are tedious and boring I don't even know where to begin
    9. forming a guild/linkshell is a pain in the ass. Do you have ANY idea how ridiculously hard it will be to invite people to a large guild if you have to meet EVERYONE in person to actually do it?
    10. Chat system is horrible is it even possible to reply to someone w/o having to type there name out all the time ? Should it be this hard to figure it out?
    11.Death, It took me 10 minutes to figure out that when i died i had to open my menu and hit return...thats ridiculous I had to figure out what to do when I die. Unacceptable.
    12. Terrain , SO MUCH COPY PASTE its so obvious that they copied so much terrain its not even funny.

    13. The world map, we really can't zoom in or out? Really? No really?! wow....

    This is quit possibly the WORST mmo I have ever played and that's really saying something. I've been gaming for over 15 years now and this is literally the worst. Even ff11 played better than this and its not that much better. It literally makes me want to spread the word out and make sure no one ever even thinks of buying this horrible excuse for an mmo. How anyone could possible give this game a good score is beyond me. They either are complete and total FFanbois or have just never actually played a good mmo before and are basing this game off of FFXI other than that it makes no sense when there are so many obvious flaws with this game they practically scream out to you.    … Expand
  52. reileaboss
    Sep 30, 2010
    10
    It's fun. Just a bunch of whiny kids with no patience.
    A zero? It doesn't even make sense to give this game a zero. Metacritic reviews are worthless. Noone gives an honest review.
    The gameplay is fun. Graphics are great. Story is good. I've never run out of stuff to do. Are there problems? Hell yes there are. Not one of them can't be fixed with time. They already have a ton of stuff    It's fun. Just a bunch of whiny kids with no patience.
    A zero? It doesn't even make sense to give this game a zero. Metacritic reviews are worthless. Noone gives an honest review.
    The gameplay is fun. Graphics are great. Story is good. I've never run out of stuff to do.
    Are there problems? Hell yes there are. Not one of them can't be fixed with time. They already have a ton of stuff planned to improve the game.    … Expand
  53. axeaxaxe
    Sep 30, 2010
    10
    Theres a lot of butthurt kids throwing out zeros because they feel insulted. Grow up and learn to look at something objectively when rating.
    The game has problems, that will be fixed. The gameplay is fun. Graphics great. Story is great. They've already laid out a roadmap of all the things they'll be adding to the game. Don't take these reviews seriously. Some of these people are pathetic.
  54. Eilidh
    Sep 30, 2010
    10
    This game is AMAZING! The graphics are stunning, Character creation is light years ahead of FFXI, and gameplay is amazing! The most amazing aspect of this game is the crafing and harvesting. While I have always been a crafter in MMORPGs, the crafting system in FFXIV is far more engaging than any other MMO that I have played. Even the harvesting is addicting, which is refreshing. I haveThis game is AMAZING! The graphics are stunning, Character creation is light years ahead of FFXI, and gameplay is amazing! The most amazing aspect of this game is the crafing and harvesting. While I have always been a crafter in MMORPGs, the crafting system in FFXIV is far more engaging than any other MMO that I have played. Even the harvesting is addicting, which is refreshing. I have been looking forward to this game for years and I am NOT disappointed!… Expand
  55. sams
    Sep 30, 2010
    2
    This is a most definitely "wait and see", or "skip entirely". Major problems exist, caused by the game not containing the basics of an mmorpg. The UI issues can almost be forgiven. The terrible performance can be overlooked. But the lack of content, missing of core systems (even the map doesn't work properly), terrible billing system, and complete lack of direction to this game is theThis is a most definitely "wait and see", or "skip entirely". Major problems exist, caused by the game not containing the basics of an mmorpg. The UI issues can almost be forgiven. The terrible performance can be overlooked. But the lack of content, missing of core systems (even the map doesn't work properly), terrible billing system, and complete lack of direction to this game is the nail in the coffin. Do not buy.… Expand
  56. Musai
    Sep 30, 2010
    9
    People are overreacting about this game. Yes. It isn't perfect, but the game reminds me of games like Asheron's Call, popular during the early mmo days. Don't believe the hype, the game is not for everyone and is loaded with problems, but if you like ffxi, give it another chance later on.
  57. Meyeri
    Sep 30, 2010
    10
    Everyone complains about this game because they want it to be perfect and they can't handle the lag with the menus, and how it's so hard to do a trade, when really it's not hard at all. Most people who play FFXIV have played XI and they're so used to how they played XI that they don't want to be open minded about XIV. For example, my dad complained all day about how the Journal doesn'tEveryone complains about this game because they want it to be perfect and they can't handle the lag with the menus, and how it's so hard to do a trade, when really it's not hard at all. Most people who play FFXIV have played XI and they're so used to how they played XI that they don't want to be open minded about XIV. For example, my dad complained all day about how the Journal doesn't help at all, whereas XI didn't even help you with quests. I just think it takes some getting used to. I have no problems maneuvering around town, getting into battles, or doing any crafts. All the menus are easy to figure out and I don't find it to be a hassle. It just takes some common sense and hard work to figure out a game that has no guides.… Expand
  58. Yahwey
    Sep 30, 2010
    10
    This is an amazing game so far. Yes the UI has got some issues, but it's beautiful and there is a lot of potential. I'm spending 6+ hrs in day in it easily each day, getting lost in this amazing world and throughly enjoying myself. Find yourself an amazing LS (I was really lucky to have found one before OB), and off to adventuring you go!
  59. GreenEyedMonste
    Sep 30, 2010
    0
    Really disappointed. I have been looking forward to this game for quite a while. I put up with all the problems in beta because, well, it's beta. But nearly all the problems made it into the release. The only saving grace in this game is the graphics, however.
    -Simply moving around is not fluid at all. You can get stuck on 2 inch tall pebbles and even the slightest incline.
    -Combat is    Really disappointed. I have been looking forward to this game for quite a while. I put up with all the problems in beta because, well, it's beta. But nearly all the problems made it into the release. The only saving grace in this game is the graphics, however.
    -Simply moving around is not fluid at all. You can get stuck on 2 inch tall pebbles and even the slightest incline.
    -Combat is clunky(nothing to do with lag)
    -Empty world.(Nothing in it but monsters and the occasional crystal camp)
    -Lacking in story(You literally have to grind four hours on end just to see 30 minutes of storyline every 10 or so levels)
    -Completely backwards party system(It's actually better to party up then solo on other sides of the map because of the way you get exp)
    -Aggro system is broken. A single heal spell can completely peel any mob.
    -Lack of content, you can craft, do a few daily style quests that are more bland than any WoW kill quest, then you grind until you can do more of those poor quests.
    -Frustrating UI that requires you to flood your whole screen with menus in order to do ANYTHING even opening a simple door.
    -Mobs are not balanced, randomly something that registers as "Weaker than you" can kill you in two shots, and others that register as "You don't have a chance" hardly does any damage -Crafting is the only way to reliably get gear(you very rarely get them from the quests)
    -Crafting even the lowest level newbie gear requires several crafts and lots of failing and losing items. It should not take several hours just to assemble a pair of level 5 pants.
    -Many many more problems.

    They rushed the release of this game, and forced through a poorly implemented quest system.

    Don't believe all the mindless fan boys. Unless you like grinding hours on end and don't mind a frustrating UI, you will not like this game.    … Expand
  60. 1er
    Sep 30, 2010
    0
    Run as fast as you can from this game. Unless SE makes drastic changes this thing will be f2p within its first year. If you dont believe me just buy the game. Most disappointing mmo Ive played.
  61. Knyteguy
    Sep 30, 2010
    6
    I think it needs some polish, but I personally like the core gameplay here. Definitely is fun, despite its flaws. I like the retainer system, the graphics, the sound and music (which are amazing!), the cinematics, and the the story so far (story is really good!). I don't like the user interface, the controls, and the lack of content currently missing from the game. I'd hold off onI think it needs some polish, but I personally like the core gameplay here. Definitely is fun, despite its flaws. I like the retainer system, the graphics, the sound and music (which are amazing!), the cinematics, and the the story so far (story is really good!). I don't like the user interface, the controls, and the lack of content currently missing from the game. I'd hold off on buying now, but reconsider in a few months after some patches.… Expand
  62. Jennifer
    Sep 30, 2010
    0
    Stay away from this trash. I will tell you that after 48 hours I closed my account and they won't even let me back in for the remainder of the first 30 days, so be aware. You can't even talk in chat, no auction houses, you have to get the quest and then go to a quest hub to start the quests. The Graphics are quite spectacular compared to the 6 year old WoW but that was about it.
  63. Lans
    Sep 30, 2010
    3
    The best way I can describe it is if somebody took out all the good things about FFXI and made the problems even worse. Some lag and bugs are to be expected at launch so I'm not even counting those against it. Partying is broken due to the way skill gains are awarded and an exp bug that has been in for a long time since beta that prevents some people in groups larger than 2 from gainingThe best way I can describe it is if somebody took out all the good things about FFXI and made the problems even worse. Some lag and bugs are to be expected at launch so I'm not even counting those against it. Partying is broken due to the way skill gains are awarded and an exp bug that has been in for a long time since beta that prevents some people in groups larger than 2 from gaining SP. The market wards are a complete joke and you have no idea if the item you are looking for is actually for sale anywhere. The lack of content is appalling. The one saving grace could have been the story but even that is falling flat (maybe the others have better but Limsa's is pretty lame up to 20). The UI is quite possibly the worst out of any PC game in the past decade. No drag/drop, clicking on things typically doesn't do anything, and you have to go thru more menus than an old DOS MUD to get anything done.

    Not even sure this game has potential anymore. It HAD potential, but given that it's release and they haven't accomplished anything of significance and made so many bad decisions already I don't think they can dig themselves out anytime soon. The graphics and music are nice but the rest of it can hardly be classified as a game.    … Expand
  64. Nikki
    Sep 30, 2010
    9
    I played FFXI for four years and loved it. FFXIV comes back with a similar feel but totally different gameplay. Its still a lot of work to get things done like FFXI, but thats what I loved about the game, the feeling of accomplishment when you get something done is impossible to feel anywhere else. Tons of classes and complex crafting systems is going to have me playing for years.I played FFXI for four years and loved it. FFXIV comes back with a similar feel but totally different gameplay. Its still a lot of work to get things done like FFXI, but thats what I loved about the game, the feeling of accomplishment when you get something done is impossible to feel anywhere else. Tons of classes and complex crafting systems is going to have me playing for years. Furthermore, the graphics are beyond any in any MMO yet released. If you didn't like FFXI, I doubt you'll like this one, but if you did, definitely try this one out.… Expand
  65. Ferrsai
    Sep 30, 2010
    2
    I'm going to give this game a score of two. I think this is a fair score considering they didn't F up two things. Graphics - AWESOME! 10/10

    Stability - Pretty damn good here for me and a couple of friends of mine. I crashed once, but I think it was my fault. I crashed hourly during Age of Conan's launch. 9/10 Everything else (i.e. the bazaar system, leve system, macro system,    I'm going to give this game a score of two. I think this is a fair score considering they didn't F up two things. Graphics - AWESOME! 10/10

    Stability - Pretty damn good here for me and a couple of friends of mine. I crashed once, but I think it was my fault. I crashed hourly during Age of Conan's launch. 9/10

    Everything else (i.e. the bazaar system, leve system, macro system, equipment/character level progression...) Sucks big. I understand it takes a little time for the market to mature and such, but other than that I don't see a game overhaul happening to fix the other things I don't like. 0/10

    I wouldn't recommend this game, there are more mmo titles just around the corner. As a side note, this doesn't surprise me, I thought FF13 sucked too.    … Expand
  66. Aepervius
    Sep 30, 2010
    3
    Too long do not read : poor UI, poor gameplay, pretty graphic. To be honest, I have to admit I am not a fan of FF14. I am OTOH a fan of various type of MMO (from UO, to AC, EQ, AC2, WOW, AION, Conan, LOTR....). I like to explore, level a few class , solo quest. Oh boy, this game fail on that on all level. Graphic : they are very good. From time to time I stop to watch at the environment.Too long do not read : poor UI, poor gameplay, pretty graphic. To be honest, I have to admit I am not a fan of FF14. I am OTOH a fan of various type of MMO (from UO, to AC, EQ, AC2, WOW, AION, Conan, LOTR....). I like to explore, level a few class , solo quest. Oh boy, this game fail on that on all level. Graphic : they are very good. From time to time I stop to watch at the environment. You need a good graphic card, but the result is excellent. Not much to say. UI: HORRID. They very very obviously made this game with console in mind, and quickly rushed the PC version. I can give numerous example of this. As a mage, I have to click/hit a key to cast a spell. But instead of hitting the target, I have to click a second time (only mouse) on the target other wise the spell don#t go out. The map CANNOT be scrolled with the mouse, you have to use the i,j,k,l keys, it can't be zoomed. UI is clunky you can't hit a key shortcut you have to open a main menu, hit inventory to see what you got , and a different menu (top one can't remember how it is called) to ready a weapon. Havign a single inventory and double click to equip unequip ? Not for FF14. Lookin at inventory take a LOT of time many seconds, it is as if UI and the rest was located on the server. Changing action bar is clunky and takes many seconds too. Also to switch class, you have to go in inventory (takes seconds) or use macro ! If you heard of the rest system , well it really is stupid. Not only they limit to 8 quest (battlequest) and 8 work order (crafting) but also it refresh only once in maybe 36 hours. Do your quest in 5 MINUTES, then wait 36 hours to be able to to remove it from the lsit and do a new one !!! And the limit after which you earn NO XP (faitigue system) is invisible. So you have to guess. Gameplay : I had a lot of fun with the various classes (except mage due to clunkyness) but the crafting / mining miniga,me is Much MUCH too slow. You have to click in a menu to begin gather stuff, then click a second time in a menu to "strike" "chop" etc... Why ? They could have done it a single click. And the wait time are horrid. Crafting is also laggy and you can only craft a SINGLE itme at the same time (I did not see a way to craft stack at least). But worst is that there is *NO* receipt book ! You have to note them, and manually add ingredients (not even counting that crafting talke ingredients from many other craft skills). And the menu are too deep. Click on a SINGLE material slot to add a material, do it for all material, then click craft, then click on what you want (if there is only a single possibility you still MUST click that one) then confirm , then confirm again somehow , then start. For a single item I hestimate it could be anywhere around a single minute. Also levelling is sloooooooooooow. I haven't been able with normal play to go above 7 levels in 24/48 hours before "fatigue" kick too much. But it felt slow, because you have to stop after a while because you get ZERO XP in that skill. The trick I use is to switch various fighting class, and once I am finished with the last one, level a bit the first one. But it is sub optimal. It forces you to do sutff you might not want to do, or just stop playing for 24/36 hours. There is no auction house, only single vendor which takes hours to "load" the UI, and you can't search among them. When I tried to find an overpriced item , I had to manually click 12 vendors, then I gave up. There were , I dunno, 40 vendor each side. And you can't preview or know what they sell. The payment system is not good, but I don't count that in the review.

    Bottom line : STAY AWAY. Rushed. Clucky. MMO technology wise, older game 15 years ago got much of that right. FF14 did not.    … Expand
  67. Ultan
    Sep 30, 2010
    7
    Im a big Final Fantasy fan for starts, but I cant give this game 10. Im just going to keep this simple for now on what I think of the game.

    Graphics = 10 (amazing graphics if your computer can handle it. I have an average computer with a 3000 benchmark and it lags alot with open night sky or wind / shadowed areas) Gameplay = 7 (mostly solo play so far. No one is really grouping and its    Im a big Final Fantasy fan for starts, but I cant give this game 10. Im just going to keep this simple for now on what I think of the game.

    Graphics = 10 (amazing graphics if your computer can handle it. I have an average computer with a 3000 benchmark and it lags alot with open night sky or wind / shadowed areas)
    Gameplay = 7 (mostly solo play so far. No one is really grouping and its mostly grinding crafting or leveling a class. Game was aimed more for solo play yet to see anything in group play as it is to early to tell.
    Funfactor = 7 (still have not grouped or played in dungeons as of yet)
    UI and controls = 6 (needs some work still for smooth play, still to much like Final Fantasy 11)
    Payment method = 4 (They could have done alot better in this area, everything is using a 3rd party pay site and it cost 10 per month for game and 3 per toon owned. Also additional charges apply to these sites)

    Im not going to say much yet about this game as its only been about 3 days playing and have not gotten far. But this is what my first impressions are so far.    … Expand
  68. zone16
    Sep 30, 2010
    0
    This game is an insult to the Final Fantasy series which always strived to be games of superb quality. It's as if this game wasn't even made by SE. Only good thing about the game are graphics. There is a ton of really annoying bugs, no one ever talks because of restricting chat system, no content because of their brilliant idea to restrict people to 8 leves (quests) per 36 hours, marketThis game is an insult to the Final Fantasy series which always strived to be games of superb quality. It's as if this game wasn't even made by SE. Only good thing about the game are graphics. There is a ton of really annoying bugs, no one ever talks because of restricting chat system, no content because of their brilliant idea to restrict people to 8 leves (quests) per 36 hours, market and economy is terrible because they didn't provide necessary tools to let you search for items or use an auction house. Everything takes ages to do. Crafting is overly complicated and grindy. 98% of this game is just grinding monsters or annoying yourself trying to craft by searching for 20 different items just so you could create one single weapon.… Expand
  69. PopPhonic
    Sep 30, 2010
    1
    After trying my very hardest to love this game in the Beta, the only advice I have to fans is to run. Run far, far away from this game. Never look back. Horribly designed, sluggish, with nothing to keep you involved or enmeshed in the game's pretty graphics. After a month, you will feel like you have wasted your money.
  70. Liszt
    Sep 30, 2010
    2
    I bought the game simply because I'm a fan (but not so much anymore) of the Final Fantasy series. I was hoping FFXIV would be a step forward from FFXI (as I really didn't like FFXI at all). Unfortunately, it isn't. In fact, it almost feels like a step back. Yes, graphics are nice, but the UI is just horrid. Everything feels clunky and slow. Developers certainly didn't haveI bought the game simply because I'm a fan (but not so much anymore) of the Final Fantasy series. I was hoping FFXIV would be a step forward from FFXI (as I really didn't like FFXI at all). Unfortunately, it isn't. In fact, it almost feels like a step back. Yes, graphics are nice, but the UI is just horrid. Everything feels clunky and slow. Developers certainly didn't have user-friendliness in mind when they planned FFXIV.

    Lack of quests and content is also appalling. You get around 15 minutes of playable content every 36 hours (Guildleve system). There is no auction house as of now (I don't know if one is planned), so getting new items and trading is a NIGHTMARE. Believe me.

    For hardcore fans only, and even then, I'm sure SE just hurt themselves badly by releasing this unfinished and incomplete product.    … Expand
  71. progamer
    Sep 30, 2010
    0
    I was really hoping that this would be the new mmo that i really could get into but the game fights you from the very start.It felts like SE has been living in a cave for the last 10 years.The one thing that is great is Graphics but that doesnt make a good game.There is no AH they use a bazaars system where people put up insanely high prices, you may have to click through hundreds ofI was really hoping that this would be the new mmo that i really could get into but the game fights you from the very start.It felts like SE has been living in a cave for the last 10 years.The one thing that is great is Graphics but that doesnt make a good game.There is no AH they use a bazaars system where people put up insanely high prices, you may have to click through hundreds of bazaars and spend hours looking through them, npc markets are not labeled.The game is soloable to max level which i dont have a problem with but there is no endgame and you get only 10 quest per 48 hours.That alone make this a game very hard to play.You can just level with out the quest but the respawn rate on monster seems to be off to when theres are so many people going for the same monsters.Every action you make in this game has a 3 sec delay before you do anything.If you played final fantasy 11 there were at least classic classes to be played,in this game you could max all the classes and pick what ever abilys from them you want so in the end everyone will be mosty the same class set up or your not going to be picked if and when thiers ingame.The UI is the worst ive ever played.If you want to open a bag or in this case your inventory you would think just hiting I would do that but no its doesnt.Its seem they want you to make macros for everything and that is just insane in the modern times of MMOs.There was also very bad lag not on the first two days but on the 3rd and 4th i couldnt even start my quests and for some reason and i almost never see anyone chatting unless they wanted to sell or buy anything.As for crafting is takes why to long to gather and make stuff.Lets say you want to mine some ore it goes into a mini game and thats not the problem there are mini games for fishing mining gathering herb BTW, but the problems is its take like 5 sec or more per action you can spend two hours just mining 3 or 4 times,and why doesnt the game show you what you can make this option is even in the wrost of MMOs.You have to log out then go to a site and look up what you need to make something!! REALLY!I say log out because if you try any other way the game crashes most of the time.Oh yeah another thing about crafting is you have to do them all because they all seem to rely on each other.I could go on and on about the many problems about this game it seems very rushed.They needed about a year or two more.The races are the same as final fantasy 11 and alot of final fantasy 11 problems seem to of been port to FFXIV.When 11 came out i could look over most of them but in 2010 this isnt acceptable.Everything that made FF11 great like Notorious Monsters classic class isnt here.So if you think its like a prettier looking Final fantasy 11 you are mistaken.Now i bring up WoW and most fans of final fantasy will ream you for this,but the maker of this game wanted to target the WoW players saying that FFXIv will target a more casual friendly audience and i would say that this game seems only geared for the hardest of core fans.Just playing the game is hard.maybe in 2 years this game will be playable but for now dont buy this let Square enix know that if you make a bad game people wont just buy for thier name on the product. PS:Ive been a FF fan since the start in 85 so please dont get on me for misspells and grammer just because your upset at my review. thank you Sorry i forgot the score in my last review 2 out of 10… Expand
  72. Chaiwallah
    Sep 30, 2010
    0
    The game is an insult to the Final Fantasy fanbase. It's an abomination. Poorly conceived, poorly designed and poorly executed. The fanboys are saying that the graphics are cutting edge, and the game is challenging, that it doesn't hold your hand. Aion's graphics are superior, and the game is impossible and it won't hold anyone's interest . . . for long. Check the reaction of the JapaneseThe game is an insult to the Final Fantasy fanbase. It's an abomination. Poorly conceived, poorly designed and poorly executed. The fanboys are saying that the graphics are cutting edge, and the game is challenging, that it doesn't hold your hand. Aion's graphics are superior, and the game is impossible and it won't hold anyone's interest . . . for long. Check the reaction of the Japanese gamers on Amazon.co.jp. This could be Square-Enix's swansong. It's a Titanic fail.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

23
#23 Most Discussed PC Game of 2010
27
#27 Most Shared PC Game of 2010

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
49

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 26
  3. Negative: 13 out of 26
  1. PC Games (Russia)
    Mar 21, 2011
    50
    Positively, there is nothing to do in Final Fantasy XIV at the moment. It's not even close to a completed product. [Feb 2011, p.82]
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 15, 2011
    40
    MMORPG with great potential is sunken by fatal bugs and errors – first comes a catastrophic interface followed by the absence of player-to-player communication. [Issue#199]
  3. games(TM)
    Jan 11, 2011
    40
    For hardware nuts, Final Fantasy obsessives and PS3 owners, FFXIV does offer a fairly distinctive MMO experience. [Christmas 2010, p.94]
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