FFXIV: ARR In-Depth Review

Ok so it's been to weeks, I admit it has been a combination of laziness, business, and absorbedness ( yes I just made up a word) that has contributed to the lateness of this review.

FFXIV: ARR has been out for a week now and although every WoW fanboy has a stick so far up their ass that they can't appreciate how awesome FFXIV is, I in fact can. So lets get down to the nitty gritty, the game has come up as only one word in my mind and that is fabulous. This review will be different from my other ones which list general pros and cons and will outline four major areas of any game: Story, Gameplay, Sound, Graphics.

Story: The story in FFXIV: ARR without giving any spoilers is a reminder of what good storytelling can really do. As a testament to how good the story is most MMO gamers should realize this by now but most players skip the story it tends to be inconsequential, poorly written, and just an overall mess. For FFXIV this is NOT the case, while I have not finished the story yet (Lvl 40 MNK) the parts that I have finished are filled with wonder and amazement, not only is the story cohesive but it actually makes you want to pay attention. (Amazing, right?) While there are no sweet Final Fantasy super CG animated cut scenes, save for the opening, the ones that do exist are quite good and keep you locked into this emotional roller coaster in the story. I give the story a 9/10

Gameplay: As with any good game  good game play will make or break a game and while FFXIV:ARR isn't what most people would want as an ideal combat system, it certainly blazes its own little niche in game play. FFXIV revolves around tab-target combat. Hold on before you guys start screaming how old and boring this combat system can get give me a few minutes to elaborate. While the bulk of the combat is tab-target it isn't a stand-still hit-chu and take damage to the face kind of tab target (although I've seen a lot of players do that irregardless). The tab-target in FFXIV:ARR fuses with free-form open world movement meaning to dodge spells, AoE's, DoT's you actually have to use timing and your brain! (Yay brainpower!). Positioning becomes crucial for tanks and healers as the levels drag on and you'll see some elitism for harder dungeons because yes they are that hard. Aside from combat the game features dynamic events called FATES (which are currently everyone's gripe) since later levels require grinding these bad boys, as well as a well varied list of quest types. Although after a while the questing does become kind of repetitive, the well varied quest lists will keep you interested for a good long while. I give gameplay an 8/10, simply because I'm still not a fan of tab-target combat.

(Once I get proper permissions for youtubers I will link combat here for now please settle for a picture of combat).

Sound: This is sadly where I think FFXIV: ARR falls the shortest and also is one of the highest, it'll make more sense as you read. A lot of the cut scenes are unvoiced this is really sad since the JP release has full voiced cut scenes there also is no option to change to a JP voice pack so those of us who don't have those voice samples are sadly missing out on a lot. To add to this is the lack of NPC voices, some might consider this annoying but a part of me wishes shopkeepers, main quest line npcs, and background npcs had a say in things even if they're stupidly reused lines. Ok now for the highpoint the soundtrack in the game is one of the most beautiful in a long time long time. MMOs have really struggled to make music enjoyable especially when you hear the same damnable song 2000 times but FFXIV does a spectacular job. I've listened to the Chocobo riding songs at least 600+ times now and I'm still not tired of it. Because of the lack of voice overs and proper npc audio I have to give sound a 7/10. :(

 

Note: I do not own this music, nor did I publish it I just wanted to give you a sample.

Graphics: Graphics, while not important to some; I'd say to a lot of new generation gamers is important. For me its a pretty big factor whether or not I become immersed in a world, is largely due to the graphical beauty in a game. FFXIV: ARR delivers in most senses. environment looks spectacular in all zones, the maps are varied, the weather is well optimized (for PC at least), the textures are stunning. etc... The thing the graphics fall short on right now is character models/armor models and textures. The Elezen look horribly mis-proportioned (I'm not talking about heights, etc... its the relation of head size to body size and its completely out of whack, whether or not this was an artistic choice I don't know but my Elezen female has a body far too big for her head. The armor models and texture is another big thing lots of reused armor models from lvl 1-30 and the textures on some of the armors are really bad. At close range even on maxed settings on PC they look horribly under-textured. I'm hoping this in large part is due to the choice to release FFXIV:ARR in DX9 script instead of DX11 and hopefully with the PS4 release of the game will be rectified. Graphics get an 8/10, despite the problems it really is a beautiful game to look at.

This reviewer gives FFXIV: ARR a harsh but fair score of 32/40 or 8/10. It's an amazing game and any true mmoer will be drawn to play it. I have been in love with it since I started and with more amazing content to come in patches later on FFXIV: ARR will have a long long life span.

Also I understand that digital sales have been restricted and are still restricted but when the game finally goes back on sale if my readers could help support me please purchase below.