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FF XI is new to me

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 39 / 41
Date: November 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I just bought this game a couple weeks ago so it is hard for me to give an extensive review. I will however let you all know what kind of impression this game has left on me.

To begin with I am a Final Fantasy fanatic so consider that as I continue my review.

The first thing I noticed which is impossible to miss unless you fall asleep is the lenghty install. To finish installing all of the expansions, get registered, perform updates, create a character, and start playing the game, it is probably going to take a few hours. This is assuming you have a broadband connection. If you do not have one expect this process to take considerably longer.

I won't complain too much about the install because a lot of other MMO games out there take quite some time to update as well. This is simply an FYI.

Character creation is pretty simple. The biggest problem I have with it is the lack of identity. There are few enough options that you kind of feel like you have the same character as 25% of the world. This isn't exactly accurate, but I never felt like I had anything original. It isn't a terrible thing, but it is one of those things I wish I could customize a little more.

The interface... well... lets just say it is different. I have played many MMO PC games and this interface and control scheme are way... way... different than any other game I've played. That doesn't make it bad though. I actually felt a little lost at first because the controls we so different than any MMO I have played. I actually had to look at the manual! That is like guy rule number one, never look at instructions. I failed! haha. The truth of the matter is once I got used to the controls I really liked them. As stated they feel very awkward for a while, but once I got it, I really liked it because it felt so fresh. It was something new. A different experience than I was accustomed to. I give the controls a 4/5 once you get it down. My only serious complaint is the fact that the mouse wheel doesn't control the zoom.

Gameplay... that is a large topic to cover. I will break it down a little.

Travelling around the world is a lengthy ordeal. Don't plan on getting anywhere fast. That is all I need to say.

Combat is what I appreciate about this game. I have only touched a small amount of it in my time playing, but I really enjoy the combat. I like the spell effects and ability effects. Good stuff. If you get this game learn to use the keyboard for targeting, it is far easier than trying to get your mouse on a moving monster and clicking it. There are Tactical Points you earn when you hit monsters or take damage. Once you hit level 10 in a weapon skill you get a new ability that you can use once you get enough Tactical Points. Then you will have to earn more Tactical Points to use the ability again. You also get job abilities. The job abilities I have are on timers so I can only use them so often. Square has always done an excellent job with effects. I already stated the spell and ability effects are great and I mean it. They have that Square/Final Fantasy style where they are just so visually appealing. You just want to perform the ability or spell again just so you can watch it haha.

The game also features tradeskills, but at this time I have virtually no experience with them so I cannot comment, just know they are available.

The game environment is really nice. I have not seen it all by any means, but from what I have seen I really enjoy it. The graphics are very dated by a 2006 standard, but it doesn't hold me back from enjoying the game. I won't defend the graphics and say they are great, but I cannot knock them too much either because they are as good as any Final Fantasy game to date. If you do buy this game I highly suggest looking up how to edit your registry to bump the graphics up a bit. When I first played the game I was shocked how bad the graphics were. I went into the FFXI config utiliy and bumped them up as high as I could. At that point they looked decent. Once I learned what to modify in my registry the graphics looked much sharper. Not perfect, but I am satisfied.

The sound is alright. I like the sound effects, but the music can get a little repetative. It is good enough that it doesn't get annoying though, at least not yet. ;)

So the big questions is how does this game compare to similar titles?

That is such a tough thing to answer for others. I will say if you do not have a lot of free time this game is probably not for you. That hurts me to say because I know myself I don't have a lot of free time. I really want to like this game, but I know how much of my time I will have to invest to really achieve anything. That kind of scares me. The people who do play it tend to play for ridiculously long periods of time. I get people messaging me all the time to get on. It is kind of a turn off. I don't like logging on and having people expect that I am going to commit to 4 hours of gameplay. I have a very hard time sticking around for 2 hours honestly. I have that problem with any game though. I just can't tune in for an excessive amount of time. I don't want to tell anyone not to get the game if they are interested, but realize what you are getting into. If you are like me you might want to avoid this one and get something else. Will that keep me from playing it? Not right now. I cannot say how long this game will hold my interest. I always wish that I could stay into MMOs just for something fun to do, but after a while I just lose interest. I don't imagine this game will be different just because of how much time everything requires.

The most appealing part of this game to me is the combat system comparing it to other MMOs. I like the fact that the enemies don't feel extremely stupid and the same all the time. The enemies have different abilities and spells just like in other Final Fantasy games. In most MMORPGs I feel like every monster is the same pretty much with different graphics and strengths. They just run up to you and keep hitting you the same way until either you die, or they die. Final Fantasy has gone beyond that. To me that is a massive improvement over other MMORPGs. The sameness has been reduced.

Final Fantasy XI actually has a storyline! Actually many storylines. That is another huge improvement over other MMORPGS. Sure other games have lore and quests, but I can't think of any that have a cohesive story like Final Fantasy XI. This is another untapped area for MMORPGS that Final Fantasy XI explores.

This game feels like Final Fantasy, in a new way. In all other games parties were involved and travel was fairly quick. This game puts you into the Final Fantasy world on another level. I feel like they took all of the great things in the Final Fantasy experience and put you into Final Fantasy "the life." You live out all of the little stuff you otherwise miss in the traditional games.

So... what is my final verdict?

I am happy I bought it. I am disappointed with how much time is necessary to play this game, but I have a good enough time playing it that I will certainly keep an active subscription for a while.

Worst Final Fantasy Game Ever

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 20
Date: December 18, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Oh where do I start with this one. First off let me say I own this game and have completed allmost all of it and have achieved the highest level
obtainable. This game does not start off so bad. However once you get to the level where you need to make a little gil for equipment and get a party to earn experience points the whole game starts going bad very quick. On the money situation , years of explotation by child run sweat shops in third world countries has given this game an out of control economy of inflation. Most ways to earn money in this game are completly controlled by the "RMT" ,or real money trade, forcing you to buy gil on your credit card to get that equipment you want. You will face an endless amount of hackers and 24/7 "bots" standing in your way of making money and ever enjoying this game. There are "Game Managers" that are suppose to control this issue but most of them offer very negative responses to any report of offenders and rarely act. I have personally seen the same
botter in the same place for over 2 months now. If all this wasn't enough, there is the experience points issue. Most of the time while trying to get experience points you will have to wait for many hours to form a party if you can get one at all. Then , you have to hope the people you play with are competent enough to have an effective party.
If the boring redunancy of fighting the same kind of creature thousands of times wasn't enough.So all in all, do anything but buy and play this game.It is horrible.

Prepare for a lot of wasted hours

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 8 / 14
Date: December 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I am still in the recovery process from this game. For over a year I would spend 4-8 hours a day playing this game and even though its been a year since I've quit I still have the desire to go back and play more. The game involves hours and hours of sitting around waiting for everthing to work together so you can spend minutes actually fighting. When everything works together it is fun, don't get me wrong, but I assure you that everything working together is rare.

There is another problem with gil. It takes a lot of work, and I mean work, to get money on this game and to add to your troubles item and equipment are ridiculously overpriced. The time you need to commit to this game is again increased.

If your interested in buying this game to try it I will tell you what to look forward to: Hours of frustration as you wait. You wait for a party, wait for it to get organized, wait for them to find something to fight, wait for people to recover, wait for new party members because people leave. And after all of that waiting, what have you accomplished? Nothing!!

Strangly the game still manages an alure that will have you comming back to it over and over again hoping for the world but recieving nothing but frustration. It takes real commitment and sacrifice to play this game, more than I'm willing to give.

Great For Square's First Attempt

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 12
Date: December 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I've been playing Final Fantasy XI for a few years on the Unicorn, Fenrir and Titan servers and have much to say abut the game itself and some tips for beginning players:

For starters, it should be noted that this is Square's first MMORPG and that if they can learn from the mistakes they made in this game, they'll only make it better. They are indeed planning another MMO and it will no doubt be better than this and if Square does a good enough of a job at it, it may even exceed the now-legendary World of Warcraft in popularity, in my opinion.

Now, let's continue with a very important detail indeed: difficulty and learning curve. The learning curve isn't that bad, depending on the job desired. There are six jobs available at the beginning of the game: Warrior, Monk, Thief, White Mage, Black Mage and Red Mage. The mage jobs I personally recommend once you game some party experience in the fighter jobs. This is because they not only need to learn their proper duties in the party, but the spells required in addition to the armor and weapons becomes rather expensive.

Speaking of expenses, new players will have trouble finding money, especially the Final Fantasy veterans who are used to obtaining gil from EVERY enemy in the game. In this one, you can only FIND gil on beastmen (goblins, orcs, quadavs and/or yagudo, depending on the country you're nearby, though goblins appear in every area). The rest must be earned by fulfilling quests and/or missions or selling items obtained off of enemies to various vendors or at the Auction House, though there's more money to be made at the AH. What people say about RMT's (Real Money Traders) is indeed true, however they do not really seem to "control" the economy. On Fenrir it actually seems fairly stable and said RMTs are being constantly banned. This month alone I believe about 20,000 RMTs were banned (or 10,000; I don't have the exact numbers on-hand) so, yes, it is being taken care of.

Also, the travel and leveling up is fairly difficult in the earlier levels. A subjob can be obtained at level 18 and a Chocobo License can be earned at level 20 if you have the evasive skills to reach Jueno. On foot, getting from Bastok to the Valkurm Dunes takes an average of about an hour. Once you obtain a Chocobo, it takes maybe 15 minutes at the most. Then at much higher levels when you work on your missions and quests, (or, in other words, the story to FFXI) you'll get Airship Passes that take you to other from Jueno to other cities or the Outlands and vice versa in mere minutes.

To obtain said levels though can be a fair challenge. Soloing the first ten levels is generally fairly simple, but then it begins to become much more difficult. Then you must make your choice of partying in Konschtat Highlands (until about level 12-13) or in the Valkurm Dunes (until level 20) or you can solo until level 20. It's recommended that beginners party as much as possible to gain experience for level 20 up, but for more experienced players, soloing the later levels is perhaps easier than having to get into parties if you don't want to have to deal with the new players. Beyond that, it should become easier for players to level up their various jobs.

Now, for the graphics. These graphics look incredible. They are indeed rather laggy, but it is to be somewhat expected in what I believe is also one of Square's first PC games. Blizzard, the makers of WoW have been working tirelessly at nothing but PC games, so they are able to figure out how to cause less lag and make their graphics (which are not quite as detailed as FFXI) run better and with less lag (I also happened to notice the battles go by much faster in WoW than in FFXI because there is a second or so gap between attacks in FFXI. This is not present in WoW's battle system).

The sound is fairly good. It's not exactly the best music one would expect from a Final Fantasy game, however it is still good nonetheless. Some areas, namely dungeons such as the Palborough Mines and Ghelsba Outpost do not have music except during battles. The battle music itself has various forms, including solo in the field, partying in the field, soloing in a dungeon and/or partying in a dungeon.

The story is here and it kind of works it's way into more a means of reason for travel around the world. For about the first 20-30 levels one should mainly focus on leveling up and completing simple quests rather than missions as they become progressively more difficult, requiring a much higher level and a firmer understanding of how parties should work together. It should also be noted that the Chains of Promathia expansion missions are for generally only extremely high leveled groups and the Treasures missions are great after level 50, but this means you shouldn't expect to dive into the missions anytime soon.

The replay value is moderately high. While the game may at first seem a bit aggravating, it becomes much fun once you begin to get the hang of the game's various aspects. It provides much challenges, brings together many various real-life countries (you'll find yourself communicating with people in Japan, North America, Europe and perhaps the occasional person from another area of the globe who imported the game) and introduces people to the world of Vana'diel that Square-Enix has so cleverly created.

Final Word: Well, I've said all I can really say and made my point in many various ways. If you have any in-game questions, send a friend request to "Sephioverlord" or send me a /tell (in-game command) to the same name if you wind up on the Fenrir server. I will soon include World Passes and update them weekly for people who would like to join the Fenrir server.

**** 4 Out Of 5 Stars ****

EDIT: World passes no longer exist on FFXI! You get to pick the server upon registration :D

BEST MMORPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 12
Date: January 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is the game of games. It has so many things to do in it. You get great interaction with other people while playing. Game is constantly being updated so as to bring more enjoyment to the game. Would recommend this to any age group.

Not very good at all...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 14
Date: January 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought into this, expecting a more cutesy version of EverQuest 2 or World of Warcraft but, unfortunately, the game just blows. The graphics are weird-looking and dated... the controls are REALLY unintuitive... the game itself is complex and slow. Yeah, I just didn't like it at all. Admin-wise, even setting up an account is overly complex and you can't seem to find the information you need. Case in point, I could barely find a way to cancel my account, two weeks into the first free month.

so-so for an MMO

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 9
Date: January 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I was sick of waiting for the expansion to WoW and had heard some good things about FFXI. The graphics were descent, but the character control was very ackward. I ended up canceling it before the 30 day trial and went back to playing my old standby of UO while I wait for BC.

Fun Game, Awkward Controls.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: January 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

So you think the game isn't fun because of all the people posting bad about it. Well it isn't its your choice if you buy it or not people here are just here so they can advise you. I want to advise to you that even though this may be a great fun game, you will need a good graphics card to go with it. Some good thinking on how to set up playonline and its complicated account, and some testing time for playing so you get used to the controls. But when you get all settled in it will be worth it. But remember dont spend all day playing it because it isnt fun spend like 2 hours or less once in a while so you can have fun. Dont forget about your life because of a fun game like this.

This game is very fun, trust me (after learning controls .__.)

final fantasy 11

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: January 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I have been playing this game on ps2 for quite some time now. With the new expansions, and a brand new computer I decided to get it for pc now. It's still the great game it has always been and alot of fun when you have friends playing online with you. All the people online are friendly and nice so they will help you out if you show some effort. This game has more items then most other mmorpgs out there except for world of warcraft. I can't get into the cartoon world in WoW so I play Final fantasy because everything looks far more realistic.

Horrible.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 42
Date: February 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is quite possibly the worst Final Fantasy game ever created. There is no way to describe the garbage that this game is. I am amazed that they would even put something like this out and make people pay for it. If it was free, I could see it, but to pay for a game as weak as this is ludicrous. The graphics are absolutely horrible for today's standards. The franchise doesn't make enough to bring the game into 2007? Free MMORPG's look better.

The character look stupid as all get out, and the controls are slow and sloppy. The interface and overall game play is far worse. The monetary aspect of this game is astonishing. You need so much money to even purchase the simple things. You quickly loose interest in the game after about three hours. This one was no fun at all.

The biggest stinker that Square has ever put out. Not to mention, you won't find many people playing this game which makes it equally unbearable. This will be one of those purchases where you will feel like you were taken after you open it. That's exactly what Square is doing with this one.

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