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Final Fantasy XIV
15 years ago
I played the open beta test for Final Fantasy XIV and I have to say, this thing is better put together than I thought it would be. It seems that there were some things that weren't in the beta that they're planning for in the final product which is fine by me. It's even constructed in such a way that someone can actually put in some time on FFXIV one day and then play another game the next, which is starting to make me think they intended for FFXI players to keep playing that game as well.
The Good - The guildleve system ensures that you have mobs to fight every other day instead of having to fight for mobs. While doing this your skill increases are boosted. The same thing goes for harvesting and for synthing guldquests, where you're given a certain number of item sets to work with instead of having to find everything. While the zones are a lot larger, there are lots of these aetherlytes that people can freely use to transport to town or to camps. The game seems focused on fast gameplay so that should people choose to they can just jump to a location, get things done, and get on with it.
The bad - The game has a definite affinity toward Nvidia video cards which I suspect is purposeful. With my onboard video (ATI X4200 HD) I had to reduce my settings to the bare minimum in order to get it to work properly. I understand comparable Nvidia cards don't require this treatment. You get so many teleport points that restore over a long amount of time that people would be afraid of using it themselves, though this is somewhat balanced by the fact one member of the party can teleport up to 14 people for the cost of one it seems. Tab targeting is awkward, however it seems to be the main way to target in the game. Also, after a few plays I got this status icon that it seems a lot of people have. I believe this is the material fatigue, but I can't tell since it wasn't translated in the beta. Problem with this is that the weakest item I had on me... was my underwear, and naturally it cannot be removed, only replaced. They should've included two sets so you can repair one while wearing the other.
The ugly - In the beta test there was already some RMT shouting in the main cities, which I'm certain might drive some people away. The poor saps that are duped into buying gil and/or power leveling from them will be the ones most upset by the system reset when the game goes retail fairly soon. Sorry people but, you have been had.
The verdict - I'm willing to give this a shot with the final product, and with which I'm probably going to buy a decent video card to upgrade my computer and make sure it'll play at a decent rate.
The Good - The guildleve system ensures that you have mobs to fight every other day instead of having to fight for mobs. While doing this your skill increases are boosted. The same thing goes for harvesting and for synthing guldquests, where you're given a certain number of item sets to work with instead of having to find everything. While the zones are a lot larger, there are lots of these aetherlytes that people can freely use to transport to town or to camps. The game seems focused on fast gameplay so that should people choose to they can just jump to a location, get things done, and get on with it.
The bad - The game has a definite affinity toward Nvidia video cards which I suspect is purposeful. With my onboard video (ATI X4200 HD) I had to reduce my settings to the bare minimum in order to get it to work properly. I understand comparable Nvidia cards don't require this treatment. You get so many teleport points that restore over a long amount of time that people would be afraid of using it themselves, though this is somewhat balanced by the fact one member of the party can teleport up to 14 people for the cost of one it seems. Tab targeting is awkward, however it seems to be the main way to target in the game. Also, after a few plays I got this status icon that it seems a lot of people have. I believe this is the material fatigue, but I can't tell since it wasn't translated in the beta. Problem with this is that the weakest item I had on me... was my underwear, and naturally it cannot be removed, only replaced. They should've included two sets so you can repair one while wearing the other.
The ugly - In the beta test there was already some RMT shouting in the main cities, which I'm certain might drive some people away. The poor saps that are duped into buying gil and/or power leveling from them will be the ones most upset by the system reset when the game goes retail fairly soon. Sorry people but, you have been had.
The verdict - I'm willing to give this a shot with the final product, and with which I'm probably going to buy a decent video card to upgrade my computer and make sure it'll play at a decent rate.
