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[Review] Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn: A Realm Revitalized
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is a game living its second life, a rarity in an ever-increasingly crowded market. It's rare to get another chance at magic. In our latest review, we take a look at FFXIV: ARR to see how this iteration pans out. Read on and then offer your critique in the comments.
I am willing to admit I was wrong. I did not think that Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn would be as successful as it has become. Producer/Director Naoki Yoshida was not the only one to undergauge fan interest in Square Enix’s reimagined title. I assumed that most of the original XIV players would check the game out (it was free for them afterall) but all of the unique new users is staggering. The reason why the game has been so successful though at this point really is not a secret. The game is great. It also helps that every other big name MMO due out in the second half of 2013 pushed into 2014.
Read more of Rob Lashley's Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn - A Realm Revitalized.
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Comments
OK I'm not arguing for or against the ultimate success/failure of FF. But isn't it a tad pre-mature to be making sweeping statements barely a month past re-launch? TOR at this point still had over a mil subs.
That along with this statement "Gameplay is the biggest detractor in A Realm Reborn" seems a bit of a dichotomy with being "revitalized" Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't gameplay one of the core factors to enjoyment of a game?
1M Subs after 30 days is meaningless until you compare it to the boxed sales. The number that was important was how many people had canceled their subs 1 month in. So 1 mil subs after 30 days is a lot, but considering they sold 2M boxes, now the number isn't so impressive.
Unfortunately, I've no idea what FF's numbers are beyond just over 1M initial accounts. But I can tell you that as recently as earlier this week, I was still seeing log in queues. The next milestone date will be 10/7 since mos tof the free time is over on 10/6.
I don't know what crappy internet you people have but i have zero skill lag and i play from Europe. Maybe want to check out your provider.
Yeah, I think it doesn't make any sense to only look at the time between patches as the meter for added value.
A patch every month for 1x content or a patch every three months for 3.5x content? You really have to take the volume of the patches into account to understand what you're getting for your money.
The lag issues are not universal, nor does the majority suffer from them, but they are there. However, for a game that hasn't been cleared by the hardcore in a month post-release 7 for gameplay could be as well bumped up to 8. The issue is not the "lag" either for why they haven't been cleared, it's pure and distilled lack of skill that stops people in that instance.
I didn't notice whether the horrible customer service was mentioned, but I think it should be.
If you compare the aesthetics to the MMO genre - not something like The Witcher 2 - 10 is most accurate number. It is the cream of the crop of MMO visuals.
Longevity a 10?
Take one combat based job to 50, then see how many quest's you have left to level a second combat based job, then, once you have finished grinding fates over and over again, see how much you really feel like levelling a third combat job, never mind all of them.
Even if you pay the sub fee that allows 8 character slots, knowing what grind lays ahead will put many people off making alts.
A creative person is motivated by the desire to achieve, not the desire to beat others.
I think the review is fair, the usual haters are hating on this review so no surprise there.
I've heard a couple things about this "ability lag", but no one in my FC experiences it consistently. I can expand that same statement to a half dozen link shells and dozens more in the friend list. It's probably not as widespread as the review hints. There is lag, but it's pretty agnostic about who lags and when.
The longevity is deserved. People that don't see it, don't like crafting or gathering. That's fine, but perhaps the game isn't for you. There is a distinct grind between Titan HM and BCoB to fill out your Darklight gear prior to raiding BCoB. Fortunately, that's really only one grind and once you get the gear you are only on the hook for 8 AK runs per week. That leaves oodles of time to do pretty much anything else. I personally plan on gearing up both a SCH and WHM, but there's no real need to do something like that.
I'm curious to see how much content they can pump out in 2.1. Adding things to this game is what will define the sub rate. The core of the game is clearly solid.
Leveling two battle classes simultaneously is quite easy and there is little need to grind.
But that's just my personal experience grounded in reality.
You can pick out games that do a certain aspect of the visuals better (aside from the music) but they all fall short in everything else. FFXIV:ARR is the most balanced effort out there in the MMORPG genre and thus deserves a 10 out of 10. Other MMO's may excel in one area but fall short in everything else, thus they don't deserve a 10.
10 is not perfection - 10 is better than what most MMO's can accomplish overall.
I disagree, you are confusing skill lag with the fact that instant abilities don't go off instantly, they take the animation length to go off.
You can tell if you have 'skill lag' by when an ability hits a monster that has an instant animation. Also, jump off a cliff, how long does it take the damage to register? Instantly right?
Exactly.
Edit: I've not had ANY problems with interrupts, I'm a paladin, it's all we do. So I'm sorry Suzie but I disagree with your assessment. I've literally NEVER had this problem, maybe you are trying to use an 'instant' and thinking that the animation doesn't relate to it, which it DOES.
The ANIMATION interrupts, not you hitting the button, so you need to time the animation.
Thanks for reading.
This is by design, it is not an accident, you don't have 'skill lag' you just have not adjusted to the games rules yet.
That's server lag, not ability lag...
All depends on your viewpoint, of course.
I see it this way:
"TOR at this point had already lost almost half of it's players from launch"
I'm not disputing that I just feel it's a bit early to be saying it's a success it's a failure. Then the whole gameplay the biggest detractor statement in the same article it's called a success feels odd. Maybe it's just me but game play is a reflection of enjoyment/satisfaction derived from playing the game. Which I always thought was the whole point of playing games...silly me
Have you logged into the game? I would be very interested in your FFXIV - WoW comparison. The only thing I see they have in common is quests. Very interested in how you compare these two very dissimilar games.
If you want a new idea, go read an old book.
In order to be insulted, I must first value your opinion.
Have you ever played a Final Fantasy game? The gameplay is not the strong point of those titles.
Audiovisuals, story, strong presentation matters much, much more.
Granted, even with a 7 this game can challenge an MMO player just like any other MMO. So I don't think the 7 has to do with the difficulty level, unless the reviewer wants to give every MMO since 2005 a 7 in gameplay.
As long as we get content updates every 3-4 months I think the sub is more than justified. On the off-chance I run out of things to do I have a big list of Steam sale buys to keep me going
Also interesting that you make the comparison to TSW.
Firstly, TSW's problems wasn't simply keeping the numbers they need, it was getting those numbers in the first place, with its first quarter's sales being very, very poor to the point of almost destroying FunCom.
Secondly, the sub fee for FFXIV is much better priced than TSW's, at least for UK players, TSW's sub price is pretty high. FFXIV can cost as little as £7.39 a month or £8.99 for the option with more character slots. Compares favourably to TSW's £11.49 per month. Even with multiplan options FFXIV's 6 months sub still marginally beats TSW's 12 month sub (£7.39 vs £7.99).
Lastly, TSW's content updates a) weren't all that big and b) soon started to fall off schedule. Those promised monthly updates have become 7 updates in 14 months, with the last one being almost 3 months ago. If SE sticks to 3 or 4 major contents a year that's good enough for me.
Think about it, nobody wants to die, there's rules to this game son, I'm justified.
since when did gameplay = purely challenge
game
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play
/ple?/ Show Spelled [pley] Show IPA
1.
a dramatic composition or piece; drama.
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Those of you having issues with ability lag, I would recommend downloading Leatrix Latency Fix. It increases the frequency of TCP packet sending, and reduces the effect of that lag tremendously.
Dude, EVERYONE has the ability lag, that you can't see it or understand what it is doesn't mean that it's not there. [mod edit]