You've probably read it all before. A fan of the Final Fantasy series gets cold feet about engaging in an MMO installment. In my case it's an extreme aversion — if it ain't Nintendo couch co-op, I'm petrified of it. I get genuine anxiety playing online multiplayer of any variety whatsoever.
But mainline Final Fantasies are few and far between these days. And by "these days," I mean the past 17 years. Time flies; Final Fantasy does not. And when it does... well, let's just say I'm a bigger fan of the older stuff than the new.
So. After six years of growing, gnawing insistence from fellow fans, I have finally taken the plunge. Have my fears been misplaced? Do I feel the aforementioned anxiety? Do lalafel make me want to order takeout falafel? Read on to find out.
I chose archer as my starting class and human midlander as my race. Quinton Chloe is a blue-haired guy who looks like he missed the boat to Fire Emblem Protagonist University. I like him that way. I began my journey in cozy Gridania, which a friend of mine lamented almost immediately because she finds Gridania and its quests the most "generic" of the trio. Already feeling like I'd made a mistake, I let out a deep, deep breath and explored.
Impressed with the number of talkative NPCs, I made my rounds, leaving no character safe from my pursuit of narrative flavor. While some dialogue will inevitably prove somewhat uninspired in a project this large in scope, the majority has ranged from decent to great. Furthermore, I'm surprised by how good the game looks overall. I was expecting it to be a few leagues beneath FFXV, but I'd say it's more like... a couple of leagues beneath FFXV? Haha. Pretty vistas are a big-time plus for me in pretty much any game, but especially RPGs, and sunsets and starry skies have seldom disappointed. The art style is pleasing enough, and it's rarely too "noisy." It's solidified but leaves room to periodically surprise me.
Less comfortable upon first fitting? The combat. I've never really been a fan of cooldown-based semi-action systems; I prefer stuff that's either more overtly turn-based or takes a fuller step into action. As such, I was fairly bored for a while. But I didn't mind much. I was here for the story. And the characters. And the music. And... you know. Final Fantasy stuff.
As I've gained new abilities for archer and dabbled in rogue, I've learned to more properly appreciate FFXIV's system for what it is. I still wouldn't call it a blast, but there's a certain zen involved in executing techniques designed to damage and debilitate enemies gradually, increasing my regular damage output, and then carving through the path with knives and arrows.
The controls and UI were utterly daunting to me for a time. I quickly researched how to minimize the crazy amount of UI clutter, eliminating numerous bars and reducing the size of others, and I cleared up enough visual real estate to satisfy my soul. As for the controls, it all came down to targeting issues. Even now, I'm inexplicably targeting allied NPCs during FATEs and the like on occasion, and I don't understand why. But I asked Reddit for some PS4 targeting tips yesterday and learned some handy things, principal among them being that it's important to face your desired target head-on and tap x to quickly select it.
But all of this is basic journal work. How have I felt about playing a multiplayer title? Admittedly? Still pretty weird. It's harder to soak in the atmosphere of Limsa Lominsa with three dozen players jumping around at the aetheryte plaza, no fewer than six of them typing "TRUMP 2020" at a time. Thankfully, I haven't ran into that sort of thing elsewhere. A fair number of players on my server congregate at Gridania's aetheryte as well, but for whatever reason, they're blissfully quieter.
I am very slow with games that I enjoy. Reveling in a pretty environment is like my #1 jam. I spent so many evenings playing Breath of the Wild and "accomplishing" nothing. I'd find a mountain peak and, well, revel. Nothing like a nice sunset. And as a vagabond, myself, any game that gives me a sense of journey hits me in a good way. All that to say, I've been playing since September 24th and I only just this morning reached my first dungeon. I wasn't thrilled that these are a necessary aspect of the story, but I can appreciate the grander scope that they provide. Such was the case today, as I stalked a pirate captain in a cove for great justice.
Unfortunately, this is when my anxiety returned. I was being rushed. I got popup notifications explaining to me just what in blazes I was supposed to be doing, but my party ran off and I felt the need to follow posthaste. Near as I could tell, everyone was nice enough. They chatted a bit about objectives. I stayed silent. No one yelled at me, despite my feeling fairly confident I was... not great. But I felt taken out of the world somewhat because I was playing beside three other players whose characters are probably being told they're the chosen one, ha. It's not so bad, I suppose; I can just headcanon that they're random adventurers. But it sort of adds to other little nagging issues I've had that are almost certainly all merely necessary aspects of any MMO — like how silly it strikes me that passive goblin camps will set several seated around a campfire and I can pick them off one by one while their families don't budge an inch. Even if they hate each other, come on! Show a little survivalism here, I'm obviously coming for you next!
All told, I am really enjoying Final Fantasy XIV... usually. Whenever I can get lost in Eorzea and imagine I'm playing something of a spiritual FFXII successor of sorts, I'm in love. I got a cool cutscene the other day with an introduction to the evil empire and it feels rad, you know? It's just these moments where I'm required to be reminded that this is, in fact, precisely what it's advertised as — a massively multiplayer RPG — that I'm still feeling fairly apprehensive about.
I firmly believe I can overcome all that if I give this my all. I just hope that I have it in me to give this my all. Because underneath the multiplayer veneer, I can tell there is a brilliant game here not just for fans of its subgenre but for strange solo artists like myself as well. I'll keep diving deeper and deeper. I hope I come to love XIV as much as many of you do. It's a good start. :)
Oh, right. And I ate falafel twice last week.
But mainline Final Fantasies are few and far between these days. And by "these days," I mean the past 17 years. Time flies; Final Fantasy does not. And when it does... well, let's just say I'm a bigger fan of the older stuff than the new.
So. After six years of growing, gnawing insistence from fellow fans, I have finally taken the plunge. Have my fears been misplaced? Do I feel the aforementioned anxiety? Do lalafel make me want to order takeout falafel? Read on to find out.
I chose archer as my starting class and human midlander as my race. Quinton Chloe is a blue-haired guy who looks like he missed the boat to Fire Emblem Protagonist University. I like him that way. I began my journey in cozy Gridania, which a friend of mine lamented almost immediately because she finds Gridania and its quests the most "generic" of the trio. Already feeling like I'd made a mistake, I let out a deep, deep breath and explored.
Impressed with the number of talkative NPCs, I made my rounds, leaving no character safe from my pursuit of narrative flavor. While some dialogue will inevitably prove somewhat uninspired in a project this large in scope, the majority has ranged from decent to great. Furthermore, I'm surprised by how good the game looks overall. I was expecting it to be a few leagues beneath FFXV, but I'd say it's more like... a couple of leagues beneath FFXV? Haha. Pretty vistas are a big-time plus for me in pretty much any game, but especially RPGs, and sunsets and starry skies have seldom disappointed. The art style is pleasing enough, and it's rarely too "noisy." It's solidified but leaves room to periodically surprise me.
Less comfortable upon first fitting? The combat. I've never really been a fan of cooldown-based semi-action systems; I prefer stuff that's either more overtly turn-based or takes a fuller step into action. As such, I was fairly bored for a while. But I didn't mind much. I was here for the story. And the characters. And the music. And... you know. Final Fantasy stuff.
As I've gained new abilities for archer and dabbled in rogue, I've learned to more properly appreciate FFXIV's system for what it is. I still wouldn't call it a blast, but there's a certain zen involved in executing techniques designed to damage and debilitate enemies gradually, increasing my regular damage output, and then carving through the path with knives and arrows.
The controls and UI were utterly daunting to me for a time. I quickly researched how to minimize the crazy amount of UI clutter, eliminating numerous bars and reducing the size of others, and I cleared up enough visual real estate to satisfy my soul. As for the controls, it all came down to targeting issues. Even now, I'm inexplicably targeting allied NPCs during FATEs and the like on occasion, and I don't understand why. But I asked Reddit for some PS4 targeting tips yesterday and learned some handy things, principal among them being that it's important to face your desired target head-on and tap x to quickly select it.
But all of this is basic journal work. How have I felt about playing a multiplayer title? Admittedly? Still pretty weird. It's harder to soak in the atmosphere of Limsa Lominsa with three dozen players jumping around at the aetheryte plaza, no fewer than six of them typing "TRUMP 2020" at a time. Thankfully, I haven't ran into that sort of thing elsewhere. A fair number of players on my server congregate at Gridania's aetheryte as well, but for whatever reason, they're blissfully quieter.
I am very slow with games that I enjoy. Reveling in a pretty environment is like my #1 jam. I spent so many evenings playing Breath of the Wild and "accomplishing" nothing. I'd find a mountain peak and, well, revel. Nothing like a nice sunset. And as a vagabond, myself, any game that gives me a sense of journey hits me in a good way. All that to say, I've been playing since September 24th and I only just this morning reached my first dungeon. I wasn't thrilled that these are a necessary aspect of the story, but I can appreciate the grander scope that they provide. Such was the case today, as I stalked a pirate captain in a cove for great justice.
Unfortunately, this is when my anxiety returned. I was being rushed. I got popup notifications explaining to me just what in blazes I was supposed to be doing, but my party ran off and I felt the need to follow posthaste. Near as I could tell, everyone was nice enough. They chatted a bit about objectives. I stayed silent. No one yelled at me, despite my feeling fairly confident I was... not great. But I felt taken out of the world somewhat because I was playing beside three other players whose characters are probably being told they're the chosen one, ha. It's not so bad, I suppose; I can just headcanon that they're random adventurers. But it sort of adds to other little nagging issues I've had that are almost certainly all merely necessary aspects of any MMO — like how silly it strikes me that passive goblin camps will set several seated around a campfire and I can pick them off one by one while their families don't budge an inch. Even if they hate each other, come on! Show a little survivalism here, I'm obviously coming for you next!
All told, I am really enjoying Final Fantasy XIV... usually. Whenever I can get lost in Eorzea and imagine I'm playing something of a spiritual FFXII successor of sorts, I'm in love. I got a cool cutscene the other day with an introduction to the evil empire and it feels rad, you know? It's just these moments where I'm required to be reminded that this is, in fact, precisely what it's advertised as — a massively multiplayer RPG — that I'm still feeling fairly apprehensive about.
I firmly believe I can overcome all that if I give this my all. I just hope that I have it in me to give this my all. Because underneath the multiplayer veneer, I can tell there is a brilliant game here not just for fans of its subgenre but for strange solo artists like myself as well. I'll keep diving deeper and deeper. I hope I come to love XIV as much as many of you do. It's a good start. :)
Oh, right. And I ate falafel twice last week.
