AuthenticM
Member
Over four years ago, I tried Final Fantasy XIV 1.x. The game had been receiving extensive patches to make it better, and people were saying how much better it was. What prompted me to try it though was the promotion that Square was having. If a player registered for two months (which cost 30$), they would get a permanent reduced fee for ARR; 10$/month instead of 15$/month. So I saw that 30$ as an investment. If I really liked the game and subscribed to it, I would make back that 30$ eventually. I had never played an MMO before (except for the original Guild Wars, briefly).
What I played was kind of okay. It wasn't good enough for me to keep my subscription. So I let it lapse. That marked the end of my first time trying to get into FF XIV.
Just two years later, in mid-2014, after many Gaffers kept repeating just how much better A Realm Reborn was over the original 1.x game, I decided to try the game again. It was just going to cost me 10$; a small fee. I tried it for some days (I forget for how long), but I just couldn't get into it. So many fetch quests, so much filler in the main story quest itself, almost no voice acting... it was just boring, I thought. I couldn't see what people liked about the game, really. It was yet another reminded that "MMOs aren't for me".
However. This all changed very recently. Square revealed the game's newest expansion, Stormblood. Gaffers went nuts for it, and I got sucked into the hype. After trying the game twice, one would think that I would have put it behind me for good. But, being the Final Fantasy fanboy that I am, I had to give it another go. I wanted to see what people loved about it. "Surely they are not all crazy", I thought. "I have to be missing something." So I subscribed again. This time though, I would play on PS4, my preferred platform (you can't beat cozying up on the couch with a controller in hand).
I asked the fine folks who hang out in the community thread of the game what I should do to get into the game. Should I stick to the main story quest? Do every dungeon? What about sidequests? The answer was unanimous: I should stick to the main story quest, and do only the sidequests that unlock content. If I tried doing every single side quest, I would get burned out from the game, just like what had happened two years ago. Though I was warned that even by doing that, I would have to suffer through a plethora of filler quests that bog down the main story quest's pacing. I was assured that this issue would be lessened once I beat the base game and got to the 2.x patches, and that it would be remedied entirely once I got to Heavensward (3.0).
So that's what I did. I stuck to the MSQ and did only the sidequests that were blue and marked with a "+" icon, the ones that unlock content such as dungeons, raids and game mechanics (yes, you read that right), such as logs, hunts and weekly bonuses. That was a weird one. For those who have played Destiny (I come from this game), you know how you can do daily and weekly missions that give you bonuses such as legendary marks and the such? In FF XIV, there is that, but you must have to unlock that feature by doing a sidequest; meaning, I think, that a player could miss it. Weird, but that's how it is, so you better do those blue sidequests.
So I did that, and it finally happened: I "got" it. I understood why people love this game. If you avoid all the bullshit sidequests, it's just so much fun to play. The combat, the music, the dungeons. Oh, the dungeons. Playing this game with a party of other players is just fantastic. Every dungeon is different, each boss has its own mechanic. And I started doing raids recently, which are played by 24 people. 24! It's amazing, really.
The only negative about this game still, is the slog of the base game's main story quest. For every quest that progresses the story, you get two or three filler quests, and sometimes much more. "Oh, you are trying to go kill Titan before he goes on a rampage all over the country? I will help you... but only after you get all of these wine ingredients so that I can make more and better wine." FUCKING WINE! I'm trying to save the goddamn world, lady. Fuck off with your wine.
Anyways, after you beat Titan, the number of fetch quests start to go down. They go down even further once you get to the 2.x patches, and I was told that they almost but disappear in 3.x (Heavensward), which I finally reached last night at 4:00 (yeah...).
The story is great. Just last night, some Game of Thrones type shit happened that caught me completely off guard. I got teary eyed during one scene, then in another shouted "WHAT. THE. FUCK." when the game went somewhere I thought it wouldn't go. And that was just patch 2.55. I was told that Heavensward's story is some of the best storytelling in all of Final Fantasy. If it can top not only the story beats that happened last night, but the narration of the story, then holy shit am I in for a delight.
I'll play some more tonight, after I hunt a bit for an internship. You don't get hired at a law firm out of nowhere.
So yeah, here's what I have to say to you: try this game. If you've never played an MMO: try it. If you've played an MMO before but didn't like it: try it. If you're a Final Fantasy fan: try it. Go ask some questions in the community thread if you need guidance. The GAF community is great.
This game is great. Try it.
