Back into the swing of things

Arcken

Recently after a 4 year absence from FFXI, I decided to return. However this time around I did it with an xbox 360 and a 1080i tv.

So far after my first month Im nearly 25 and having an enjoyable time. Ive found a decent linkshell with mature like minded folk and have found plenty of help with both completing quests or leveling thus far. Strangely my experience the first time around wasnt nearly this smooth, so bear in mind that I might just be lucky.

I completely started over from scratch, and so far my biggest gripe is the amount of effort I have to put into farming in order to obtain decent gear. Ive found that leveling multiple jobs in low level areas where you can find things to sell on the auction house to be helpful. ie hunting crawlers for their silk and selling a stack for 10k gil.

The leveling for me isnt so bad, but I can see how some folks would consider it a grind. However this can be offset a bit by magical rings one can obtain that give EXP bonuses.

There have been 3 expansions released since I played last, Chains of Promathia, Treasures of Aht Urhgan, and most recently Wings of the Goddess. With these expansions have come the new jobs Blue Mage, Corsair, Puppet Master, Dancer, and Scholar.

I havent yet played any of these classes, however upon speaking to various folks that have, and in some cases seen the job in action, I must say Im impressed by the way they function with the older classes. Theyve not pushed any classes out, theyve merely added classes that bring a little something different to the table. Unfortunately though some classes, like the dragoon, face a harder time finding groups because they dont fill a specific role.

The graphics arent bad, theyre not vanguard quality by any means, but they dont feel quite as cartoony as say WoW. I really do like the soundtracks as it takes me back to the days of playing ffxi on the super nintendo. It just has that instantly recognizable FFXI sound.

Id suggest a fair try of this game, bearing in mind it can be a struggle to get yourself off the ground, and I will say nothing comes easy or without a price. If you are looking for a long term game with a variety of things to do, this might just do the trick.

Id also like to throw out there that I bought a messenger pad for the 360 controller as opposed to an actual keyboard, and thus far, I really like it. Its a little slower than using a keyboard, however Ive adjusted to it pretty well. Its very similar to texting on a phone with a full keyboard on it.