[Review] Final Fantasy XIV (14)

Genre: MMORPG

A little bit about SquareEnix:

SquareEnix is the developer of the Final Fantasy series and collaborator on some other games on the market. However SquareEnix’s success definitely comes from the Final Fantasy series. From Final Fantasy Tactics to the recently released Final Fantasy XIV(14), they are rolling in the dough. They’ve made lovable characters like Aeris and Cloud, iconic characters whom you could mention to almost anybody and they’d know who they are, generally. They’ve also made some badass characters such as Sephiroth and from my memory most of the characters in Final Fantasy: Crisis Core(For PSP(PlayStationPortable)), hah. The most popular Final Fantasy game to my knowledge (and the internet’s) is Final Fantasy VII (7). This was released for PS1 (PlayStation 1) only, back in 1997! It’s still selling solidly today, selling more than 10 million copies around the world yearly.

About Final Fantasy XIV:

Final Fantasy XIV, I’ve heard it said, is similar to 11 but has a lot of differences in gameplay. Where you would take a very long time to get to max level or even just level up, XIV has shortened that and made the game more of a casual scene. However that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t play it as it has quite a lot of mechanics that need remembering for end-game content. As I mentioned previously, Square Enix has developed this game and what a development it is. They’re pumping out patch after patch and improving the game every month/week with maintenance on keeping the servers up, and the player base is growing by the day. I currently don’t actually have a subscription to FFXIV at the moment because my free trial ran out but I implore you to purchase this game with every fiber of my being and play it at least an hour a day. The storyline will grip you, the characters are lovable and you’ll make many friends along the way. You really don’t want to miss out on this game. The game is available on PS3/PS4 and PC. Sorry Xbox fans!

Gameplay:

This game is, I would have to say, pretty close to (and I use the term very, very, VERY loosely) being a World of Warcraft Killer. However it is somewhat grindy so there’s its Oriental roots showing, but it’s not too bad. The gameplay is a solid 9.5/10 for sure. The skills, the mounts, the players, the NPCs, the NPC stories, dear lord. It would be a crime to say this game isn’t at least halfway decent with all the work put into it.

The gameplay does differ from general class to general class. You have the melee attackers who are obviously always up close and personal. 2 of the classes are automatically assigned to be tanks and two of them is DPS.

The Lancer and Pugilist are DPS, and the Gladiator and Marauder are Tanks. Also, there is a class within that general class area which is the Archer because it deals in physical damage. The Plate-wearing classes are the Marauder and Gladiator, and the Archer and Pugilist wear leather.

The other classes are the Spellcaster general classes. The Conjurer, Thaumaturge, and the Arcanist. The Conjurer is the Healer-assigned class, and the Thaumaturge and Arcanist are DPS. All of the spellcasting classes here wear robes(cloth).

There are a multitude of different gameplay factors and here, I’m only going to touch on one of them, because I believe they did a really good job with them, and that is FATEs. FATEs are similar to Rift’s Rift system, or the world events in Guild Wars 2, etc. They’re basically world events that anyone can participate in, and you get rewards based on what you do in the FATE, namely the damage to the monsters/monster the fate is around. Later in the game there are large fates that take many people to do, that give large amounts of EXP and are sometimes multi-part FATEs. The FATEs are ranked by Bronze, Silver and Gold medals that reward various amounts of EXP, which is the same for the multi-part fates. Of course you do have to be around the correct level to do them or you’ll be beat to a pulp, and they prevent power leveling by setting level brackets for mobs in the game too.

The reason I took off .5 is because some of the skills are… less than favorable in terms of timing that I’ve noticed. If you’re casting a skill it doesn’t cast the rest of the skill if you’re trying to spam another skill like in most MMORPGs. I know it’s cast times and all but I feel like that should be fixed.

Story: 

I’m not even going to mention any part of the story here, I’m gonna have you play it. It’s well worth the money, I’ll just say that. 10/10.

Graphics and Sound:

The graphics and sound are spectacular. Here’s a screenshot and video from the game:

And here’s a video:



I apologize for the lack of music, but I do have to attest that the soundtrack is fantastic for the game and is one of the main selling points for the game for sure. Also every skill you use on every Disciple of War class (The damage dealing/healing/tank classes) all have unique sounds, every single one, and unique graphics.  I cannot praise this game enough. The score for this section is 10/10.

Controls:

The controls for this game are well done for PC and I can only assume the same for the PS3. There isn’t much to say for controls, typical MMORPG controls of WASD/Arrows keys, and of course skill hotkeys on the keyboard. I can definitely see how this game would be on PS3 though and I can only say it’d be fantastic as much as it is on PC. 9.5/10 for controls. The only issue I have with it is again part of the mechanics with the skills cutting off.

In essence, this game is very much worth the full price and even more worth it on sale. If you ever see it on sale I would definitely pick it up, the game is phenomenal. I’ve included links to purchasing the game on Amazon below if you do decide to pick it up. (THIS GAME IS NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE ORIGINAL XIV. THIS GAME IS FINAL FANTASY XIV: A REALM REBORN.) (TO GET THE PS3 VERSION YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE LINK AND SELECT PS3 AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS.)

This is the Collector’s Edition:

And here’s a time card for the game in case you wanted to purchase that along with it for $29.95:
Don’t forget to sign up for Amazon Prime! Only $99 per year, that’s less than $10 a month! Amazon Prime is a program that many items on Amazon use for free shipping, no matter the cost of the item. Just go to the link at the top left that says “Try Prime”!