re: FFXIV Thread

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I've been thinking about this game too, I thought you hated FFXI/Square MMOs?

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The game has been essentially reconstructed and a lot of what I considered terrible idiosyncrasies that were carried over from XI have been removed in favor of mechanics from other games, like Guild Wars 2 and Rift.

Without having gotten to experience much of the content/features due to crippling server issues, I still have found the game satisfying and exciting when I could play.

I still maintain that Square has shown no capacity for coherent or interesting storytelling since the merger with Enix 10 years ago, and I am not biased against JRPGs. I have ended up disliking a lot of them in the current console generation, but I think that has something to do with low-effort pandering to weeaboos on the part of developers.

Most of the cutscenes are poorly written and exessively animated for my tastes, but there are some non-plot-centric quests that have surprisingly good text localizations. There are intelligent and funny references to other Western media, tongue in cheek objectives, and a handful of characters that break the fourth wall in a refreshing way.

Combat is extremely smooth... the TP system is no longer completely backwards and you don't have to autoattack on martial classes for 2 minutes before you can unleash something that does actual damage. It's been replaced with Limit Breaks, which add to the overall classic Final Fantasy nostalgia.

Nostalgia is not always the best thing for a piece of media, as you well know. It wears off and only its contemporary merits are left to hold it up. But I have to say, I melted in Yoshida's hand when the Crystal Theme started looping during character creation. It all feels like a return to 16-bit era form, and I think that's the best thing for Square in the wake of the XIII series.

frick being concise, because this is the meandering yet balanced review that you deserve. I want to make sure I can shape your impressions of the game before the noseless-child-and-cat-ear-lovers come in here with their brony-esque devotion to the product (this is an absolute troll). I hope you decide to pick it up once the servers have been expanded and the game is available for digital download again.