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. strondbokken
    Oct 7, 2010
    0
    I really can't understand how people can give this game a "10" or anything higher than 4. I've played over 30 MMOs since I beta tested Ultima Online in the early '90s and have seen quite a lot of failures, but this game has to be one of the worst I've ever played. Every single thing about it is either outdated, sub-par, or simply stupid. There are absolutely no quests outside of the mainI really can't understand how people can give this game a "10" or anything higher than 4. I've played over 30 MMOs since I beta tested Ultima Online in the early '90s and have seen quite a lot of failures, but this game has to be one of the worst I've ever played. Every single thing about it is either outdated, sub-par, or simply stupid. There are absolutely no quests outside of the main quest line and that leaves you with 99.999% of your time grinding away on the same mobs with 1000 other people because the mob:player ratio is very poor. The UI is obviously made for a console and the entire game has been dumbed down for PS3 users to be able to use it. I cannot stress highly enough, DO NOT LISTEN TO THE FANBOYS HERE GIVING THIS GAME A GOOD REVIEW! This game is, literally, a taint on the MMO industry and should be avoided at all costs. I can't even begin to tell you in words how bad this game is. It makes STO look good. There. That's how bad it is.… Expand
  2. Josh312
    Oct 8, 2010
    0
    I was really excited about this game. From a financial side point, the worst possible thing they did was have an open beta. I didn't expect it to be fast or amazing based on its beta, but the entire game was just plain terrible. The introductions were nice, but they had no tutorial whatsoever. All in all it was just an extremely user unfriendly game and I canceled my limited editionI was really excited about this game. From a financial side point, the worst possible thing they did was have an open beta. I didn't expect it to be fast or amazing based on its beta, but the entire game was just plain terrible. The introductions were nice, but they had no tutorial whatsoever. All in all it was just an extremely user unfriendly game and I canceled my limited edition pre-order just in time. The company we knew and loved that produced FF's such as 7,8, and 10 is dead. 12, 13, and 14 are the epic failure of a declining masterpiece in gaming.… Expand
  3. Cookies5000
    Oct 10, 2010
    0
    As a FF lover this game completely disappoints. Only good thing is a bit on the graphics. List of disappointments:

    1. Graphics performance blows, especially on certain high end cards for no reason at all. If I can play Crysis on max settings on 1920x1200 I should be able to play this game on settings higher than all low. 2. No Square Enix communication. It's been over two weeks and    As a FF lover this game completely disappoints. Only good thing is a bit on the graphics. List of disappointments:

    1. Graphics performance blows, especially on certain high end cards for no reason at all. If I can play Crysis on max settings on 1920x1200 I should be able to play this game on settings higher than all low.
    2. No Square Enix communication. It's been over two weeks and there's been only one response to everyone's issues and requests for changes.
    3. No real community forums, go find one.
    4. Copy & Paste Land, seriously. Gets old real quickly when you have to run for 10 minutes and you see the same land over and over and over again.
    5. Terrible means of transportation. The copy and paste just to make a bigger world but force you to basically run blows. You can do instant teleport from one place to another but you only can do it so many times before you run out and the regen is endlessly long.
    6. Not allowed to just play a class you want. The game forces you to change jobs or be bored out of your mind if you just want to level one class. Why should I be forced to level a job I don't want to do?
    7. So few quests. Very repeatative. After you do your set of quests there are no more to do.
    8. No AH and selecting a person and clicking browse is terrible. Not only that but your store can run away from you while you're looking at it lol.
    9. Slow loading zones and areas. Turn around and await a few seconds before people appear on your screen.
    10. Loading, endless loading areas.
    11. Bugs, omg the bugs. I've passed hundreds of bugs/issues with the game, would take me forever to list.
    12. Terrible customer service. It's a joke.
    13. Slow loading interface, everything takes 2-3 seconds before appearing. What a joy.
    14. Cutscenes with no talking but you can see them talking. Uhh okay.
    15. No information on how to do something or how something works. I don't care that it isn't just all handed to me but at least show me how to do the simple things while starting up a brand new complex game.
    16. No armor/weapon seller besides level 1 gear. 100% community crafting. Now this wouldn't be an issue if there was an AH or something but since so few people want to stand around trying to sell and not only create 1-2 items the options are quite low. You can go through the main market area and see not one item for your job/class so you are forced to craft your own gear.
    17. Game gets boring after an hour or two. It just doesn't keep your attention span.
    18. Casting and selecting moving NPCs for AOE spells is painful. You click the ground instead of the mob, deselects off the mob now you have to reselect, click the spell again etc etc. By the time you start casting you've lost 25% of your health. So you're basically sitting on auto-attack...which gets boring to slowly hit the "1" key.

    There are a million more things that are wrong. I would give it a higher rating than 0 but I can't give a game something higher when the game was clearly released before ready, lazy effort on so many things, and didn't listen at all to the complaints in beta. I did hear they fixed a but this last patch that was found in alpha. Huh.    … Expand
  4. freakytea
    Nov 2, 2010
    1
    Pretty awful game. Yikes. I can't believe anyone is giving this a good review. SE must be putting some interns to work! I could go on about the glaring faults, including the retainer system, the copy-pasted dungeon crawler like terrain, the UI lag (oh my GOD the lag), the lack of content at every level, the ridiculous skill point system, the grinding, the broken party mechanics, etc.,Pretty awful game. Yikes. I can't believe anyone is giving this a good review. SE must be putting some interns to work! I could go on about the glaring faults, including the retainer system, the copy-pasted dungeon crawler like terrain, the UI lag (oh my GOD the lag), the lack of content at every level, the ridiculous skill point system, the grinding, the broken party mechanics, etc., etc., etc. I could go on and on and on. The bottom line though, and the reason why people aren't going to play this game without serious improvements (if there's even enough left to salvage) is that FFXIV isn't fun. At all. Many people, including myself, bought this game because of the Final Fantasy name, and I have a feeling that we won't be making the same mistake again.… Expand
  5. Sixtigers
    Nov 18, 2010
    0
    Take FFXI, (which I played for six years) remove basically any activities beyond grinding on mobs for exp and grinding crafts, and you pretty much have FFXIV. Oh, and add a heaping helping of interface lag, maddening bugs, a near-inability to find the items you want for sale, and repair costs that quickly become comically expensive. (and only restore about 25% of the item's durability)Take FFXI, (which I played for six years) remove basically any activities beyond grinding on mobs for exp and grinding crafts, and you pretty much have FFXIV. Oh, and add a heaping helping of interface lag, maddening bugs, a near-inability to find the items you want for sale, and repair costs that quickly become comically expensive. (and only restore about 25% of the item's durability) Oh, I almost forgot.... Forget about pulling mobs to avoid links. They all have ADHD and will only chase you for a few seconds before giving up and going back to where they were. If you're really unlucky, a bug will kick in and instantly give all of their health back when they get back to their spawn point. The ADHD also means that there's very little danger in the game. It's hard to aggro things in the first place, but if something can't one-shot you, it won't chase you long enough to pose a danger anyway.
    I could probably reach the character limit listing the game's faults, but it sure does look gorgeous for an MMO. But the tl;dr version would be that this game isn't even ready for beta testing.    … Expand
  6. 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.
  7. 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
  8. thegorgatron
    Oct 8, 2010
    1
    This game was rushed to market by a company that doesn't listen to its player base. The updating system is garbage, and the game requires you to have a bleeding edge system to be playable. The game play itself is backed by interesting concepts that were executed beyond poorly. The crafting and gathering mini games are neat ideas but it takes forever to do or make anything. TheThis game was rushed to market by a company that doesn't listen to its player base. The updating system is garbage, and the game requires you to have a bleeding edge system to be playable. The game play itself is backed by interesting concepts that were executed beyond poorly. The crafting and gathering mini games are neat ideas but it takes forever to do or make anything. The interface was seeming planned out by someone who has never played an MMO before and coded by someone who failed out of junior college. It wasn't until maybe a week before release that they decided to allow a hardware mouse to cut the interface lag and make it usable. A great example of how out of touch Square is with the rest of the world as a whole is the fact that there is no auction house or mail system..... I mean really, take a second think about that. An major market MMORPG that does not have a mail system or auction house at release. Its as if the lead designer had a stroke half way through development. To make it worse they limit you to 8 "Guild leves" (for the love of God square why cant we just call it a quest, why do you have to go out of your way to confuse people by renaming things to which we are all accustom to some meaningless collection of letters?) ever 36(?) hours, but count yourself lucky, it was 48 hours just a week or two before release, I hear they cut the time down a bit just before release but I am not totally sure on that. On another note, each of these guild leves takes about 5 min. to complete leaving you with more than a day of wondering "ok...what now?". The graphics are pretty but there is a lot of cut and paste going on. A lot of people, myself included, were very excited for this game and really really wanted it to be good and enjoyable but it seems that the majority of use were let down in a big way. I can't help thinking that if the ideas, concepts and art for this game were given to literally any other company other than square it would be a good game but Square managed to pull defeat out of the cold clutches of success. I would recommend steering clear of this title, at least for the time being. I still hold out some hope that maybe they will learn their lesson and enact some sort of changes by the time the PS3 version is released sometime in March or April of next year.… Expand
  9. bil
    Oct 12, 2010
    3
    I can't believe I spent $50 dollars and updated my video card for this crap of a game. This game needs at least another 6 months of development but I guess they figured they could charge people to play a beta (if you could even call it that). Yes the only reason I bought it was because I love most FF titles but this is just a big turd wrapped in a popular brand name.
  10. Tricksy
    Oct 12, 2010
    0
    I had given this a 2, but after seeing all of the people that gave this game a 10 just because of its name and their hopes for the future. I am replacing my critique with this blurb and my 2 with a 0. The game creators should see a score that reflects what the game is at not what the game "might be one day" and so my 0 is an attempt to balance out the bell-curving that is going on here.
  11. nikkoleth
    Nov 18, 2010
    0
    The combat system in FFXIV seems to have been developed for toddlers. It is the most basic, infantile combat system I have ever seen in an MMO. No ability to jump, swim, or climb, movement feels like it has training wheels on. Simply put this game has the mechanics of a 1992 rpg covered in 2010 graphics.

    This game has along way to go to even be considered mediocre. If you are a true    The combat system in FFXIV seems to have been developed for toddlers. It is the most basic, infantile combat system I have ever seen in an MMO. No ability to jump, swim, or climb, movement feels like it has training wheels on. Simply put this game has the mechanics of a 1992 rpg covered in 2010 graphics.

    This game has along way to go to even be considered mediocre. If you are a true fanboy of Final Fantasy, you will stay as far away from this abomination as you can. Stop supporting horrible game design.    … Expand
  12. Troggie87
    Oct 7, 2010
    0
    One of the worst mmos I have ever played in 20 years of playing online mmos. The only reason this doesn't have a zero rating on fansites is a decicated effort assembled on Final fantasy fan forums to give perfect 10's to try and boost ratings. In reality, if this wasn't based on such a powerhouse IP, there would already be talk of server closures. Don't waste your money. The problemOne of the worst mmos I have ever played in 20 years of playing online mmos. The only reason this doesn't have a zero rating on fansites is a decicated effort assembled on Final fantasy fan forums to give perfect 10's to try and boost ratings. In reality, if this wasn't based on such a powerhouse IP, there would already be talk of server closures. Don't waste your money. The problem here isn't that its a niche mmo, its just a bad mmo. Oldies like Everquest 2 do the same things better, so if you want gameplay go there. Or if graphics and story drive you, wait for Star Wars the Old Republic in the spring.… Expand
  13. Kyrgsh
    Mar 5, 2011
    5
    Checking in after six months, the game's most obvious flaws have been corrected. It's possible to search a centralized list for specific items sold in "market wards" (the game's version of an Auction House). Gaining SP (the game's version of XP) in parties has been tweaked. The most recent patch (3 March) introduced traditional NPC quests. The game remains free of a monthly fee, and theChecking in after six months, the game's most obvious flaws have been corrected. It's possible to search a centralized list for specific items sold in "market wards" (the game's version of an Auction House). Gaining SP (the game's version of XP) in parties has been tweaked. The most recent patch (3 March) introduced traditional NPC quests. The game remains free of a monthly fee, and the game box is available heavily discounted from retailers.

    The game still rates "average" even in this fan's eyes, though. Those new NPC quests I just mentioned do not award SP or gil (money)! Even the monsters killed on an NPC quest don't give SP/gil. Imagine finishing a quest to kill ten foozles in WoW, for instance, and not getting XP or gold from either the foozles or the quest. The sole way of advancing in the game remains killing countless mobs outside of the NPC quest structure. While that design decision is baffling in and of itself, the general attitude of _both_ development teams (since the original one was "reassigned" late last year) seems to be "grinding=advancement, and lore=background only." How that will ever translate into paying subscriptions is beyond my limited knowledge.

    In conclusion, I wish the gamers (and developers) the best of luck, but if you're not a devoted fan of Final Fantasy, this game still does not deliver anything other than an average experience.    … Expand
  14. IhlinaFrost
    Oct 10, 2010
    5
    If there's one positive thing that can be said about Final Fantasy XIV Online, it's that it's fairly different from everything else on the market. Those looking for a change of pace from typical "quest grinders" may find something refreshing in FFXIV, however, in it's current state, it's difficult to recommend this game to anyone. While certainly playable, critical elements of the gameIf there's one positive thing that can be said about Final Fantasy XIV Online, it's that it's fairly different from everything else on the market. Those looking for a change of pace from typical "quest grinders" may find something refreshing in FFXIV, however, in it's current state, it's difficult to recommend this game to anyone. While certainly playable, critical elements of the game seem as though they were designed to keep people from doing exactly that. Arbitrary limits impede player progress, furthered by the cumbersome interface, lag from extra-continental servers, and the deliberate pace of play. Whether a purposeful attempt to level the playing field between the "casual" and "hardcore", as Square Enix has stated was one of their missions, or simply a stopgap measure by the company to keep players from rushing through content too quickly, the result is punishing for those seeking to invest more than a sparse few hours at a time into the game. Ironically, those seeking to accomplish anything in quick sitting will likely also find disappointment, as the plodding pace of play becoming blindingly obvious. FFXIV seems best suited for those with plenty of time on their hands, but are unwilling or uninterested in playing the game obsessively.… Expand
  15. Swampy
    Oct 14, 2010
    5
    Firstly FFXIV has some interesting a worthwhile ideas.. and the character flexibility, that's not tied to specific classes is right up with some of the best mechanics to appear in the genre. The crafting system is top notch and much more than the usual sideline or afterthought as seen in so many other games. The graphics are first rate, of a quality probably usually reserved for firstFirstly FFXIV has some interesting a worthwhile ideas.. and the character flexibility, that's not tied to specific classes is right up with some of the best mechanics to appear in the genre. The crafting system is top notch and much more than the usual sideline or afterthought as seen in so many other games. The graphics are first rate, of a quality probably usually reserved for first person shooters rather than MMOs. And that's it for the good stuff!

    The problems then... there is little to no actual content, I've yet to divine an actual reason for wanting to do anything in the game, other than to grind the requisite 10 levels for each chapter of the so far weak storyline line to be revealed. There is no incentive or story to carry a player along through this game, there is nothing other than grind.. and even that is limited by an arbitrary cap. It's not like you can grind mobs for gear drops either, because there doesn't appear to be any other than crafting materials. Crafting is one of the high points of the game to a degree, but even that has been screwed up by some crazy thinking/design.. 'recipes' appear to be so out of whack with character level and progression, low level 7 items requiring level 11 skills, and level 20something ingredients to make is just insane. I'm not going to try and describe how shambolic the UI is! It needs to be witnessed first hand as I couldn't possibly relay how badly designed it is, and while the game is very pretty the engine appears to be very poorly optimised!

    All in all, as it is I couldn't recommend a purchase of FFXIV.. maybe in 6 months to a year if Square Enix get's it's rear in gear and listens to what the community is telling it then it may well prove to be the success some of it's better points indicate it could be!    … Expand
  16. Exiledraven
    Oct 16, 2010
    6
    The game has potential, but as of now there are definitely some serious flaws that make the game rather frustrating to both newcomers to MMO's and veteran players. The UI is probably one of the most standout problems, since it's so unintuitive (Only 1 menu open at a time, no key-binding? Really?) and has some annoying lag issues, as well as a pretty lame targeting system in battle (MostlyThe game has potential, but as of now there are definitely some serious flaws that make the game rather frustrating to both newcomers to MMO's and veteran players. The UI is probably one of the most standout problems, since it's so unintuitive (Only 1 menu open at a time, no key-binding? Really?) and has some annoying lag issues, as well as a pretty lame targeting system in battle (Mostly the reason behind me dying while fighting). Another major problem is the Market Wards, which have random player-made shops hosted by 'Retainers'. This system would be fine if there was some organization, rather than randomly named, and randomly stationed shops in a room. While these aren't essential features, the game does not have any jumping or swimming. For me, I can deal with them not being included, but I can see how it takes away from the immersion aspect of the game. As for questing... well, I don't really count the current 'levequest' system as questing. Basically, all it entails is you being told which mobs to kill, then you get Gil and other rewards for doing so. These quests repeat, so you end up killing the same monsters over and over. You're also only allowed 8 of these quests a day, so afterwards you can either do local quests, which are for crafting professions, or just grind. Main story quests only come at certain ranks, so if you're a Gladiator, you won't be able to continue the main story until Gladiator rank 10, which is separate from physical level. As for the good... the graphics are amazing. For any MMO currently out, it is without a doubt the best looking game out there. Everything from character models, equipment, to the cities and fields are very detailed. However, there is also a drawback from this, since even at lower settings, many computers will still be unable to play the game smoothly. The music in this game is also a plus. It's very fitting for the game and Final Fantasy in general. In my opinion, I think the songs have more personality than the last few FF games. (XIII, XII, XI, X-2) Another positive thing is that Square Enix seems to be taking an extremely active role in fixing this game's flaws. Although it would have been nice to have the game released without so many obvious problems, itÃ¢â… Expand
  17. Jez89
    Mar 9, 2011
    10
    I love copy-pasta landscapes. I love slow as hell combat. I love bugs and glitches. I love the fact I'm the only person still playing. Therefore I love this game.
  18. 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
  19. Ragnarok07
    Oct 11, 2010
    6
    I'm not going to say that this game is good, right now it deserves a 5. BUT i feel this game is a diamond, of course unfinished, unpolished and still in the facade of a rock (an ugly rock). the game has extreme potential and lets face it: square never aimed to storm the market of pc mmos... this game is for the ps3, everything in it screams for a console and a controller, so what didI'm not going to say that this game is good, right now it deserves a 5. BUT i feel this game is a diamond, of course unfinished, unpolished and still in the facade of a rock (an ugly rock). the game has extreme potential and lets face it: square never aimed to storm the market of pc mmos... this game is for the ps3, everything in it screams for a console and a controller, so what did square do? A six month extended public beta ( let's call it gamma :) ) until the console version comes out. I believe that in the ps3 version they will have taken all the feedback about gameplay issues, bugs, exploits, balance, lag ect and they will deliver a version of FFXIV as it should have been....... but all this sadly to the expense of thousands of people,who had their hopes up for the pc version, serving as guinea pigs (including me) . So to all who still ponder, wait. Wait a few months and buy the ps3 version and if you don't own one, wait until the ps3 version comes out then buy it for pc, it will be a different game… Expand
  20. reclinemusic
    Oct 7, 2010
    5
    I played FFXI for a long time. I was very much looking for an updated version of this game, with better UI and keyboard and mouse support... that was basically all I was looking for, not asking for much. On the graphics front, its top notch, and my fairly old computer does ok. I have a core 2 duo, 9800GTX+ and 4 gigs of RAM. I run at a fairly low res, but with high textures and such,I played FFXI for a long time. I was very much looking for an updated version of this game, with better UI and keyboard and mouse support... that was basically all I was looking for, not asking for much. On the graphics front, its top notch, and my fairly old computer does ok. I have a core 2 duo, 9800GTX+ and 4 gigs of RAM. I run at a fairly low res, but with high textures and such, so it looks good. The UI and controls for kb and mouse are a step forward, I must say, at least I'm using my mouse to look around and move now and am clicking on things more than tabbing, like in FFXI. Battles are actually fun this time, much more fast paced without the auto attack. One thing that is going to suck for me is no auction house. Having just started, I haven't had the need to upgrade a weapon, but I know this time will come and I'm going to be frustrated. Hopefully my linkshell or shouting will help a little bit. I can't see square not implementing some sort of ward search or AH feature.

    I have high hopes for this game's future, but for right now its tedious. I'm going to keep playing though.    … Expand
  21. 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
  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. 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
  24. 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
  25. shadus
    Oct 13, 2010
    7
    First lets discuss the bad. The control scheme is dedicated to controllers, you will not enjoy the controls on a mouse and keyboard, which is fairly inexcusable. The second item is the UI, S-E in their infinite wisdom decided to prevent botting they would store portions of the UI server side... unfortunately this means the UI is amazingly unresponsive. There are times when the latency forFirst lets discuss the bad. The control scheme is dedicated to controllers, you will not enjoy the controls on a mouse and keyboard, which is fairly inexcusable. The second item is the UI, S-E in their infinite wisdom decided to prevent botting they would store portions of the UI server side... unfortunately this means the UI is amazingly unresponsive. There are times when the latency for clicking items in the interface exceeds 20s. It's wretched. There are not enough quests, they limit the "guildleve" (eg: quests) you can complete to 8/3x hours. That being said there are good points to the game, the combat is slower (think pre-eq1 days slow) which I enjoy as a nice change of pace and I find it interesting and a bit more tactical since agro shifts very easily between members, it is largely a sandbox and the role-play community is great (besaid), the crafting system doesn't have formulas you learn, you must find or lookup the recipes and learn them through experimentation, which I find to be spectacularly fun. The class system has both horizontal elements that are generally only seen in skill systems and vertical elements you see in level based games and they mesh well together. The graphics are bar none the best on the market present, the sound is stellar, and the fmv are completely unmatched. That being said ffxiv, because of the speed, difficulty of crafting, and horrible ui will turn off about 60% of people off the bat... and unless the major issues with the ui are corrected soon they will drive the game into a small niche market which would be a sad occurrence because the game has good potential. If you're optimistic about the ui changes being made soon, I feel its an acceptable buy, otherwise hold off, watch, and wait. It has good potential and I find it fun, but the ui overshadows almost everything else.… Expand
  26. TreborLocke
    Nov 16, 2010
    9
    If you are a fan of WoW, you probably wont be a fan of this game or its interface.

    Yes, the interface is DIFFERENT however, it is not bad. It looks that there are several people who have no idea how this MMO was designed. It was DESIGNED to be less cluttered than a standard mmo. Ever looked at someones WoW interface who plays alot? Holy crap its cluttered with stuff that isnt    If you are a fan of WoW, you probably wont be a fan of this game or its interface.

    Yes, the interface is DIFFERENT however, it is not bad. It looks that there are several people who have no idea how this MMO was designed. It was DESIGNED to be less cluttered than a standard mmo. Ever looked at someones WoW interface who plays alot? Holy crap its cluttered with stuff that isnt needed! You have all the same things in the FFXIV interface that you do in WoW and then some. The two things many people will be confused by is "Lack of Jumping" and "I hit spacebar to start chatting? o_O". Other than that, everything including interactions flash on the screen like any other mmo (either by cursor or at the top).

    The quests are easy enough to find. The MMO focuses more on exploration than the quests though and the guildleves system is very efficient and actually EASIER to use than the system in WoW if you do want them. Do you NEED a giant billboard for "Quest is here?" Honestly, I like a littkle adventure in my MMOs. Yes leveling and finding gear is harder....its almost the exact same as what happened in FFXI (which btw, most of you have probably never played and I'll bet some....no...quite a few are lying about playing too).

    This is an MMO for patient people who enjoy scenery...high magic...tons of crafting options...and lots of exploration.

    Also, quite knocking the class system. It's virtually identical in nature to the class system of FFXI and resembles tactics (with equiping weapons to change class).

    Yes, the game has some glitches (Slow inventory loads and character loads....and that is ONLY if you have a slow machine).

    If you intend to run this game, please make sure your computer meets a few or all of the recomended system requirements (I7 processors are very new and expensive for most people right now but, the graphics card is FAR more important than the actual CPU speed of the computer. All you need is a dual core with a good graphics card).

    I highly recomend this game to anyone who has the explorers mindset (A mindset that is usually required for games like Ryzom and EVE-Online).    … Expand
  27. nisolas
    Nov 21, 2010
    8
    After about a months play I would give this an 8. You can log in every night and do something different. Level a job, craft or gathering. None of it is simple so you can keep learning how to make new items, or do something better.

    I'd like more bagspace, or something to hold all your class weapons and gear. But you start out with 80 spaces yourself and then get one retainer that you can    After about a months play I would give this an 8. You can log in every night and do something different. Level a job, craft or gathering. None of it is simple so you can keep learning how to make new items, or do something better.

    I'd like more bagspace, or something to hold all your class weapons and gear. But you start out with 80 spaces yourself and then get one retainer that you can use to hold more with. It takes a while to travel between the cities but they are alll very varied and worth exploring. You also have the option of teleporting to a place once you have gone there, or if a member of your party has done so. I like the music and graphics. However you can not turn off all sounds if you turn off all the settings for music which isnt good if you are watching tv or listening to music while playing. I don't mind the interface because its like ff11 but it would be good if they had given more control over what it does. Like added optional chat filters. Its hard, not everyone will enjoy it but its not shallow. Which is something ive noticed is a becoming a trend in new mmorpgs.    … Expand
  28. 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
  29. 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
  30. 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
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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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