After spending 15 years in World of Warcraft, I think I've finally found a new home. Final Fantasy XIV is at once familiar and unfamiliar for an MMO veteran, and likely will not appeal to anyone who plays these games solely for the dungeons and raiding. But if you've been dying for a well-written MMO that isn't held back by schlocky, fan-servicy plot twists, then look no further, my friend. Final Fantasy XIV may just be for you.

Unfortunately, the time commitment it takes for the story to pay off here is quite steep. Things begin incredibly slow, and if you're put off by long-winded and flowery monologues, you'll likely find yourself falling asleep through the first 40 or so levels of gameplay. But for anyone who's considering buying a level boost to get to the GOOD stuff as soon as possible, I STRONGLY urge you to hold off. Yes, that means trudging through menial tasks for far too long. It means running numerous errands that'll have you backtracking all over the world in what feels like wild goose chases. But it also means you'll be building and nurturing relationships with the main characters of the story, and this is vital for the enjoyment of important plot developments further into the game. Characters I'd once been annoyed with had become dear to me over the dozens of hours I'd spent with them. And when the ♥♥♥♥ hits the fan, which it is wont to do, it makes the emotional beats of the story that much more poignant. So skipping past a good chunk of the story just to hit Shadowbringers right away would mean missing out on what makes the story in Shadowbringers so good in the first place, the excellent build up of its plot and characters.

https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1873056544
Ah but I've barely even touched upon the gameplay. Well, if you've played WOW or one of its clones, FFXIV will be quite familiar, although with several small caveats. With a 2.5 second global cooldown on abilities, combat can feel sluggish in the beginning. This improves as you gain more abilities, including several that are off the GCD. But even when you start getting all of those lovely skills, the Duty Finder (Group Finder) scales your level down for lower dungeons, somewhat like Timewalking in WOW, and you often don't keep all of those abilities. So if you end up outleveling the Main Scenario Quest, which will likely happen, you may end up losing useful buttons when running certain dungeons. And when a smooth and satisfying rotation relies on said buttons, losing them for a dungeon or raid can be quite the annoyance. Then there's having to click through several menus to get to things, and being unable to click out of them without having to backtrack through those very same menus. I'm sure all of this is a result of the game being developed for PC and consoles alike (and needing to be playable with a gamepad), but it's an irritation I could live without. Still, none of these things are deal breakers when the lore and gameworld is so beautifully and deeply crafted that you simply don't want to log out of it.

FFXIV looks and sounds beautiful. Perhaps you may be scratching your head over that statement as the game is nearly 6 years old with graphics and animations that are already dated by today's standards, but the art design, lighting, and camerawork does wonders with the older game engine. The way the action is framed, the swells of the fantastic soundtrack, and the gorgeous particle effects all combine to create something uniquely stunning and emotive. No, this may not be as beautiful as the more recent Final Fantasy games, but it has the same charisma and charm. And did I mention the fantastic soundtrack?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7ForHMX-xs
Which once again brings me back to the story. As someone who has probably put more than an entire year's worth of game hours into WOW, I have never been more invested in an MMO story as I am now. All of the characters are interesting in their own ways with clear story arcs that make sense for them. There are deaths. There is politics. There are ACTUAL shades of gray in the storytelling. There are villains with motivations that I understand and don't entirely disagree with. There's loyalty and betrayal, humor and pathos. I love these characters and I love this world, and I truly TRULY hope Square Enix continues adding onto it in the way they have. If they do, I swear I will be here for it all.

After spending 15 years in World of Warcraft, I think I've finally found a new home. Final Fantasy XIV is at once familiar and unfamiliar for an MMO veteran, and likely will not appeal to anyone who plays these games solely for the dungeons and raiding. But if you've been dying for a well-written MMO that isn't held back by schlocky, fan-servicy plot twists, then look no further, my friend. Final Fantasy XIV may just be for you. Unfortunately, the time commitment it takes for the story to pay off here is quite steep. Things begin incredibly slow, and if you're put off by long-winded and flowery monologues, you'll likely find yourself falling asleep through the first 40 or so levels of gameplay. But for anyone who's considering buying a level boost to get to the GOOD stuff as soon as possible, I STRONGLY urge you to hold off. Yes, that means trudging through menial tasks for far too long. It means running numerous errands that'll have you backtracking all over the world in what feels like wild goose chases. But it also means you'll be building and nurturing relationships with the main characters of the story, and this is vital for the enjoyment of important plot developments further into the game. Characters I'd once been annoyed with had become dear to me over the dozens of hours I'd spent with them. And when the shit hits the fan, which it is wont to do, it makes the emotional beats of the story that much more poignant. So skipping past a good chunk of the story just to hit Shadowbringers right away would mean missing out on what makes the story in Shadowbringers so good in the first place, the excellent build up of its plot and characters. https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1873056544 Ah but I've barely even touched upon the gameplay. Well, if you've played WOW or one of its clones, FFXIV will be quite familiar, although with several small caveats. With a 2.5 second global cooldown on abilities, combat can feel sluggish in the beginning. This improves as you gain more abilities, including several that are off the GCD. But even when you start getting all of those lovely skills, the Duty Finder (Group Finder) scales your level down for lower dungeons, somewhat like Timewalking in WOW, and you often don't keep all of those abilities. So if you end up outleveling the Main Scenario Quest, which will likely happen, you may end up losing useful buttons when running certain dungeons. And when a smooth and satisfying rotation relies on said buttons, losing them for a dungeon or raid can be quite the annoyance. Then there's having to click through several menus to get to things, and being unable to click out of them without having to backtrack through those very same menus. I'm sure all of this is a result of the game being developed for PC and consoles alike (and needing to be playable with a gamepad), but it's an irritation I could live without. Still, none of these things are deal breakers when the lore and gameworld is so beautifully and deeply crafted that you simply don't want to log out of it. FFXIV looks and sounds beautiful. Perhaps you may be scratching your head over that statement as the game is nearly 6 years old with graphics and animations that are already dated by today's standards, but the art design, lighting, and camerawork does wonders with the older game engine. The way the action is framed, the swells of the fantastic soundtrack, and the gorgeous particle effects all combine to create something uniquely stunning and emotive. No, this may not be as beautiful as the more recent Final Fantasy games, but it has the same charisma and charm. And did I mention the fantastic soundtrack? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7ForHMX-xs Which once again brings me back to the story. As someone who has probably put more than an entire year's worth of game hours into WOW, I have never been more invested in an MMO story as I am now. All of the characters are interesting in their own ways with clear story arcs that make sense for them. There are deaths. There is politics. There are ACTUAL shades of gray in the storytelling. There are villains with motivations that I understand and don't entirely disagree with. There's loyalty and betrayal, humor and pathos. I love these characters and I love this world, and I truly TRULY hope Square Enix continues adding onto it in the way they have. If they do, I swear I will be here for it all. [code][h1]Curated by: [url=https://gtm.you1.cn/storesteam/curator/33004802-Chudah%27s-Corner/]Chudah's Corner[/url][/h1][/code]