PC User Reviews

Just a heads up, anyone reading this, these reviews are for the game over 15 years ago. Search for a realm reborn and you will find reviews on the game in current state.

It was basically FFXI 2.0 when it originally released. They learned nothing over the decade of losing to WoW. Good thing they redid the game.

In the (game) the developers allow people to die they do nothing against these poisonous spilers who stalk you threaten you mob until the players see no other way out than to take their own lives and no the whole thing is not exaggerated but corresponds to the truth!

FFXIV: A realm reborn is the NEW version of this and miles better. Also only accessible version.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

worth it and glad to play this game again. so much memories and nostalgia within this fourteenth game in the series.

Awful game, bad story, bad gameplay, bad UI, no redeeming factor. Much more playable with the ARR remake.

Trash. Endless email accounts made to register an account for a steam code to not work, too many variables to go wrong and it goes wrong. SE never get in touch to resolve issues and honestly I shouldnt have to spend hours on google trying to figure out to start a game.

Have not even played the game yet. Because I literally cant even figure out where to download the client. The FF XIV website is probably the worse user experience I have ever seen. It seems as though they are actively trying to stop you from playing their game. Also you have to buy the game more than once if you want to play it on mac and windows.

Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.

Good luck trying to even install this on your PC... No advice given from Square Enix. But if you go through user forums, some people have managed to overcome these difficulties by doing the following: - Disabling all anti-virus on your machine - Using a VPN service (which you may / may not have used before) - Changing your DNS settings (perhaps to something you have not used before) These are steps that you need to strongly consider before attempting to install this title. Is this even safe to do?! If the installation fails, it will usually fail because it cannot retrieve a patch files from the server (you will get a popup). Its about a 40GB download. If it fails at any point, you cannot resume your download. You will start from the beginning again. it is clear that no one in Square Enix has ever tried to install this themselves. What a joke. Zero out of ten.

this is THE WORST mmo i ever played THE WORST combat system THE WORST quest design THE WORST map design THE WORST fckin everything dont waste money

****.,.................................................. ..................

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Its a fun game with jobs and different options for the characters. it starts slow but you will access to more and more functions leveling up your character, like sell on the market and better items and stuffs. This game is great and the expansions are the best. Fully recommended.

Broken. Not much more needs to be said. The game came out in an unfinished state and that is inexcusable. I love final fantasy, but will skip this game.

Well, I have to say I've had every error that anyone has encountered on this game up until now. Unable to login, instances crashing and dropping me, the game crashing unexpectedly and being unable to log back in, limited full servers and poor connectivity when I do connect. I understood at the end of the Beta, I even understood during the early access, but now we're several days into the actual release and STILL several days away from a *potential* solution. I wish I could expand more upon the gameplay so far, but getting up through level 20 so far is the standard MMO fanfare. Good graphics, a familiar interface, lackluster story and characters, and quests you can play with your friends. Most of what this game has to offer is no different at all from what it's competitors have except the FF name. Nothing besides the graphics so far indicating the game is anything other than average, and all the issues I've experienced have dragged the rating far below that. Avoid this game like the plague AT LEAST until mid September 2013 and even then, proceed with caution. There was not a sufficient amount of testing and preparation on this game by the development team, period.

This game should be called "Log In Simulator: An Error Reborn" because if you can even get the character list to populate and if you can even create a character, when you try to log in, you get an error on your screen preventing you from logging in because the servers are full. What did Square Enix do to remedy this issue? They limited the server population and logins so the people that are already in-game can play without a server crash, which wouldn't happen in the first place if they had prepared for it. When you actually get in game it's pretty good, but the hardest quest in the entire game is logging in.

Yes, I finally get to review a game and give it under a 4! Long story short, I am a huge RPG/Final Fantasy gamer, I have a lot of respect for FF 1-9, and for others on PS2 and XBox. Please check my reviews as I love the series and give my intake on a few, my lowest game is a 4, and that is SWG. Sadly though, there is one game that I thank my brother for showing me before I almost spent real $ on it, and that would be Final Fantasy 14 Online. I will say right now there are only a few other times in my entire life where I saw my bro so upset, after 1 hour of playing he was appalled that he spent money on this game. After witnessing it as well I felt genuinely sorry for him and told him I would try not to laugh about it. I know this is a superbly late review but I am new to reviewing so here it is. I have no idea what the creators of this game were thinking, releasing it in this condition. Also, having the nerve to charge more money for a supposed "exclusive pack" + $12.99 a month subscription. They refused to refund either of the 2 months that he paid for in advance and definitely didn't want to use. He literally paid $111 to dry dump a mushroom for an hour and a half. This game is a broken piece of trash and honestly I think all players deserve a FULL REFUND!!!

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

How can you give any game a zero out of ten...I wouldn't even give Atari's Swordquest that rating, and that's saying something. Now there is something mighty fishy going on here. To tell you the truth, it really is a good game. I just don't understand what all the bad noise is about. There were issues at launch, just like most MMORPGs invariably have during their first few weeks/months. Perhaps people were coming into it hoping it was another WoW clone, or something like that...which is outrageous, because how could a well respected company such as Square Enix ever release a WoW clone given their long tradition of "turn-based glamour in a box." Well, I knew exactly what to **** I must have been alone. Sure the game has what people call "clunky controls" and a extraordinarily complex user interface. It is a Final Fantasy **** it not? If you didn't want Square Enix's, at times, systematically laborsome turn-based **** opposed to the WoW keyboard-mash, noob-gank, high-vault, free-for-all...then you obviously came to the wrong place. Everything that was right with Final Fantasy XI was preserved in this game. It is true, the quest system is somewhat **** it's the kind of repetitive that feels more Zen-like to me, rather than blatantly contrived. In other words, despite the presence of rice in this oriental dish, there is still a large serving of meat as well. Has anyone ever quit an MMORPG because it was "repetitive"; I wonder if reviewers recognize just how absurd this sounds? MMORPGs are always about a style of game-playing repetitiveness; that is what makes it an **** kind of repetition that feels genuine and fitting, given the genre. Without any "grind", you wouldn't really have an MMORPG at all. Indeed, it is how all the repetitiveness and the novelty is blended together that makes a game like this **** necessarily that there is repetitiveness. It's the way that the recurring phrase reverberates or resonates. And another thing, the game is **** yet whole; and thank God for that. MMORPGs are judged on different standards than any other type of videogame; they are not presented all at once to their public: they unfold over the years. Some companies who do MMOs get it all wrong and try to produce a "finished product" from the very **** it comes across as too slick, hurried or sensational. People should be expecting small or limited worlds with somewhat brief storylines in the **** gives them much more room to grow and blossom in the years to come. And when all the puzzle pieces finally fit into place, it eventually feels more precise and exacting...because rigorous planning was made before each new addition to the world was cautiously made. And, last but not least, we must talk about the game's projected "Lasting Appeal". Can you believe that gaming critics gave the game a rating for this category within the first couple weeks of release? I can hardly believe it! It took me almost two years to figure out how to review this game...both because of the grueling real-life schedule I have had to deal with during this time, and because of the complexity of the product that I was holding in my hand. How can you play any videogame in a two-week period (especially an MMORPG) and critique it believably on "Lasting Appeal"? Do gaming critics have time machines...I didn't know this time-travel technology was even available to us yet? Somehow it must be possible for game reviewers, because it seems they are capable of making speculations on an MMO game's lasting appeal while it's still green...this particularly for a game genre that is generally understood to linger for decades in the hearts of subscribers, rather than a few hours after its purchase. Well, anyway...I believe that the game is quite good now, even before the 2.0 patch has been scheduled for release. I just hope Square Enix doesn't bow too much under the pressure of the western consumer, redesigning their game to be yet another insipid WoW clone...because that is all the western gamer seems to really want in an MMO: bocks of colorfully frozen treacle that can be jumped over in a single bound; beating down both one's friends and foes over and over again until one decides to look for something else to do; unpersuasive heroes that read more like villains in heroes clothing; crafting terribly ugly items to be fitted onto even less persuasive toons; and generic storylines that feel like they come straight out of a Cracker Jack box. I hope that Suare Enix intends to cling to their tradition, despite all this bad noise, because it is a valuable heirloom that they possess: adding a more graceful eastern aesthetic to their games...where "art direction" and game-play combine to make a product truly worth the time it takes to consider its cultural **** me, that adds up to about twenty months, so far.

Great/fun game, now that the changes have been coming in! And when version 2.0 hit, which is in a few months, it is going to be an even better experience. Don't judge this game based on its past as that is no longer a thing worth remembering.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

The changes made over time to the game are really starting to show, although it's got a bit to go before it lives up to the final fantasy name. With a complete overhaul due late this year to coincide with the ps3 release, making it one of 3 MMORPGS playable on PS3 in English, things are starting to look up for Square Enix's biggest investment.

Final Fantasy chapters should not be online, and if it is done, at least that is brilliant. It is not the case. The worst Final fantasy with a ton of really annoying bugs, restricting chat system and many wrong ideas. What demons is happen with Final Fantasy?

To everyone saying the game has improved: I have been playing since beta and this game has not improved in the slightest. I'm actually redoing my review in light of these new changes. The easiest way to explain how poor this game is, google "Is FFXIV Ready to Play?" Its a youtube video and it shows the simplest of bugs and as of this date it is still not fixed. They've finally added airships but those of us from FFXI will know its still not enough. "The airship ride is over in a matter of seconds." Wow, even in FFXI you could see the area below but a year later they still can't implement it in FFXIV. It seems to me that this was a last minute ditch effort to at least be able to claim they have airships. And chocobos. I'm sorry but if it takes a whole year to implement chocobos... how long will it take to make the game playable. Too little too late. The last time I logged in, the busiest city, Limsa Laminsa was bare. Only three people responded to my shouts. This does not bode well. When I asked where everyone was the reply I got was "They're taking a break until the new update" (chocobo update). We'll see. If they're smart they won't be on at all. There is a reason this game was awarded "Most Disappointing game of 2010". There's a reason it has the metascore it has. If you like this game and you rated it a 10 it only goes to show how blind you are. I've been playing Final Fantasy since Final Fantasy 6 on the SNES. After spending $80 on the Collector's Edition of FFXIV all I have to show for it is a stupid hardcover book. The Adventurer's Certificate never showed up and I'm realizing now, almost a year later, it never will. Not that I care at this point, I'm embarrassed to let any of my friends know I was ever interested. If you want to be frustrated and then spat upon by Square Enix, give it a try. If you have any sense at all, you'll come back here and rate this game a zero.

Decided to come back to the game for patch 1.18. Do not let those singing praises and ringing bells fool you, there are as many negatives to this patch as there are positives. For one, there is no practical hMP (Healing MP) solution in game yet. This is a problem because Cure costs were QUADRUPLED with the recent patch. This leaves mages with limited options as conserving and managing your MP is top priority. Secondly, Behests were completely ruined. Reformatted from large party adventure fun times into another solo grind activity which rewards minimal SP. Definitely the game's most fun feature so far was flushed down the drain. Thirdly, overall EXP/SP gain was nerfed down to accommodate the lack of Fatigue now. Unfortunately, you were able to grind FASTER pre-patch while on lower tiers of fatigue than you can now post-patch. The game really isn't in a position to be messing with new players, or bitter old players like myself, with fake fanfare. The only three good things to come out of the patch were AutoAttack/Stamina bar removal, the instanced dungeons and the CONJ/THM damage nerfs. The rest is objectively bad. Save your disk space. Save your bandwidth. Save your patience. The game is not ready yet. Wait for 1.2 if you'd like.

After the recent 1.18 patch the game is much better. The future only holds more developments. It's on its way! There are map redesigns, chocobos, airships, and many other final fantasy changes coming. I highly recommend checking the lodestone for updates as the game has finally begun to change in big ways.

Short and sweet: Pros: -Fantastic graphics, but it seems this is all they spent time on during creation of this game. -Good sound/music. Cons. -Horrible user interface. -No auction house. As it stands it is virtually impossible to find items that you wish to buy, and just as hard to sell them. -Horrid lag, even with a very good computer and a great internet connection. -SE lost a point just for the fact that they have ALREADY CREATED an online game, and you'd think they would have learned some of the mistakes they made from the past game. Instead they tried to start from scratch and just mucked it up. Played for a free trial and dumped the game. Waste of money.

I have been playing Final Fantasy XIV since Open beta until May 15th 2011, I have seen the many "Improvements" Square Enix has made and I can without a doubt tell you that this game is not worth your time, to this date the biggest changes they made were changes in monster and special effect sizes, they have changed the way you get Experience so that you get less, and altered non-combat Jobs so it's harder to get experience altogether for them. To this point Square Enix has promised many changes, as well as a big update Mid-June that adds more content, the problem being that added content is all it is, the game is still broken without any intent to be fixed, Just some of the general problems you'll experience are things like framerate drops (Don't think you are an exception if your PC is a beast, their engine is highly unoptimized, crippling even some of the high-end stuff) Alt-tabbing out of the game causes the game to shut down, there is a noticeable, and quite annoying Lag between activating action and the action being performed which can cause you a life or a Leve (timed quests which you are limited to 8 per 36 hours, win or lose) if you are not careful, Monsters you are supposed to kill quite often spawn inside aggressive Zone bosses which are way above your level, Square refuses to even acknowledge this particular issue, let alone do anything about it, several Leve monsters do not drop the quest items they are supposed to drop making you pretty much guaranteed to lose the Leve once again. Low level extermination Leves more than often have all the monsters you are supposed to kill spawn in a single large group making it impossible to solo on a solo difficulty, now many would argue that it's an MMO and should be played with a party, but there are two problems with this. 1: Square advertises this game as solo AND party based, you can in fact chose "solo" difficulty for each Leve which in theory should let you pass it single-player but is so broken it is impossible. 2: Community is awful (and if you mention this on the official forums your posts "disappear", thanks SquarEnix) when I say awful, i mean absolutely awful, when you start your game for the first time, the first thing you are welcomed by is some gold sellers trying to scam you out of your money, Then nothing, nobody wants to talk, nobody wants to interact, people want you to pay them for any kind of interaction that people in other MMOs would gladly do for free, and when you see people talking, it's some German, Japanese, or Spanish players who got tired of the same problems on their servers and decided to try the US server to see if its any different, Unfortunately it is not. And don't even think about having gear you like unless you're willing to level three or four jobs to level 50 because nobody will repair anything for you, even if you offer to pay them, making you either hunt down and craft the items yourself, or buy them in the marketplace for extortionate prices because the game has entirely player-driven economy, because apparently SE though it would be a good idea to have teens with no concept of finances be in charge of an entire world's economy. All in all, this game is an exercise in frustration, from the moment you log in it essentially does everything it possibly can to make you hate it as much as you can, most people here that gave it bad scores were probably in love with it at some point, rather than just straight-out hating on it, but the fact is, you can't love something that hurts you so much, at the end of the day you turn on your games to relax from a long and frustrating day, so what is the point of playing if the game frustrates you more than the entire day before it? The game does have potential, quite a bit, the problem is Square Enix is more obsessed with introducing more new broken features than fixing the current broken ones, and keep promising to fix the issues without even an attempt to deliver, the concept is fine, but execution absolutely terrible, and SE would do all of us a favor if it would just cut it's losses and kill this mutated beast that's choking on its own excrement.

This game is a joke. Navigation is the worst part. You will spend your time figuring out how to navigate around locked areas, how to get down the sheer cliff, why isn't this leavequest engaging? Worst game of 2011, and most likely of 2010 as well. They should have been ashamed to release this.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

When Final Fantasy XI was released the only good MMO ever made was pretty much EQ1. The genre has moved foward leaps and bounds since, but SE pretty much decided to ignore that. 6 months after release FF14 is pretty much a beta build of a bad EQ1 era game with fancy graphics. Nothing more really needs to be said about it.

I love copy-pasta landscapes. I love slow as hell combat. I love bugs and glitches. I love the fact I'm the only person still playing. Therefore I love this game.

This game is absolutely awesome. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for FFXIV, and its players. The combat, the crafting, gathering, its all great. While its could use a little polish its an entertaining and fun to play game.

This game is pure graphics, nothing more. There is almost NO tutorial and you have to find out and guess the controls by yourself. And let's not talk about the UI... FF XIV is pure fail in my eyes and the only reason it got 3 Points from me is: Graphics = 2 Final Fantasy = 1

Checking in after six months, the game's most obvious flaws have been corrected. It's possible to search a centralized list for specific items sold in "market wards" (the game's version of an Auction House). Gaining SP (the game's version of XP) in parties has been tweaked. The most recent patch (3 March) introduced traditional NPC quests. The game remains free of a monthly fee, and the game box is available heavily discounted from retailers. The game still rates "average" even in this fan's eyes, though. Those new NPC quests I just mentioned do not award SP or gil (money)! Even the monsters killed on an NPC quest don't give SP/gil. Imagine finishing a quest to kill ten foozles in WoW, for instance, and not getting XP or gold from either the foozles or the quest. The sole way of advancing in the game remains killing countless mobs outside of the NPC quest structure. While that design decision is baffling in and of itself, the general attitude of _both_ development teams (since the original one was "reassigned" late last year) seems to be "grinding=advancement, and lore=background only." How that will ever translate into paying subscriptions is beyond my limited knowledge. In conclusion, I wish the gamers (and developers) the best of luck, but if you're not a devoted fan of Final Fantasy, this game still does not deliver anything other than an average experience.

Utter garbage, SE took a turd placed it inside a nice box and sold it to the masses. Shame on this company for selling such an abomination. This **** is one of the worst RPGs ever created. STAY AWAY FROM IT, do not touch it unless you want another JOB. It is really that bad. Bugs, glitches, no substance no quests. I would be surprised if this game reviews any higher than a 3, as this game deserves less than a 0. do not buy. There is a reason that dude sold his SE stock, there is a reason they changed management, there is a reason the apology letter was sent. This game is an epic fail and is really that BAD. Shame on you SE for trying to feed these fan-boys this **** Again shame on you Square Enix. FIX THIS GARBAGE, redesign everything; or scrap it, give us refunds and make another game. This time do not release it in Alpha stage. WE ARE NOT INTERESTED IN TRAVELING BACK IN TIME MMO-wise TO 1990.

Give it another try. There have been two major updates since the release (which I agree was incredibly sub-par), and there's one more major update scheduled to happen still this month. Many of the major issues have been addressed. The UI has been totally revamped, and is more responsive. Crafting has been streamlined. Controls are now more customizable, especially for mouse + keyboard people. There have been countless other improvements on top of those, and more are on the way, such as an item search in the market wards, and drag-and-drop functionality in the gear window. Also, Square Enix has done something that I personally have never seen a game company do. They admitted their failures, publicly apologized for them, promised to fix them, and they are repaying their customers by suspending all subscription fees until the game is an acceptable level of quality. They are making good on their promise. The game has vastly improved from where it was in October. It deserves another chance.

Recently tried this game. It was terrible! Even with the recent patch it still is terrible. There is no sense of direction and everything becomes a repeating boring tedious grinding task. Granted many MMORPGS have grinding but this game takes it to the extreme. The controls are clunky and although some features in the UI were enhanced it still seems cumbersome. The graphics are beautiful I'll give you that. However, this game feels like I'm playing an MMORPG from the 90's like an early version of Everquest when it comes to archaic MMORPG techniques.

I wanted to wait until the first main update of FFXIV before I sent in a review of the game. With all MMO's just starting out, there are many issues and "bugs" to fix and I wanted to give FFXIV time to do that. I have been playing FFXIV since the CE edition and I can truly say that FFXIV did an AMAZING job in the November 25 Update. Anyone reading reviews would always hear about how bad the UI was, right? Well, it is ALOT better now! I can not put into words how much better the game-play is now in FFXIV since that update. So if you got frustrated and quit the game, which quite a few people did, give it another try. I think you'll be glad you did. And if you haven't played FFXIV yet, now is the time to do so. FFXIV offers many things I personally have never seen in a MMO (and I've played a few). I'll name a few that I really enjoy: 1.) The job system. In MMO's that I've played you can choose between different DoW (Disciples of War) or DoM (Disciples of Magic) jobs. You might be able to craft or something (like FFXI and WoW) but it wasn't really a class of its own that you could choose. There is so much more to crafting in FFXIV. Not to mention the DoL jobs (Disciples of the Land). Which include Fisherman, Botanist, and Miner. I am a bit surprised at the amount of people in the game that prefer DoL and Crafting jobs in lieu of the standard DoM (Disciples of Magic) or DoW (Disciples of War) classes. I personally prefer the DoM and DoW classes but thats one of the things I really like about FFXIV....there's something for everyone! With that being said I also would like to mention the fact that you can rank up jobs and can use most of the abilties, spells, etc. you learned from that particular job on a different job. Lets say I learn "Cure II" and "Stoneskin" from CON, "Provoke" from GLA, and "Second Wind" on PGL but then I want to play as an Archer....I can *equip* all of those abilities and spells and use them on Archer also! If you love playing a certain job but you also want a great ability from a couple of other jobs, then rank up those other jobs for that specific ability and then go back to playing your favorite job. 2.) LEVES: -These "cards" you get from the adventurers guild are pretty fun and a way to get some extra gil and some pretty good items. It also lets you fight mobs that you may not have even seen yet i.e. imps. And with "Guardian Aspect", it's a good chance to get some really good Rank Points in a short amount of time. And on the Craft Leves, nothing beats not having to use up your items/shards and still be able to get Rank Points for your choice of craft. Not to mention the â

The graphics are fantastic and-- always my favorite-- the character creation had enough options to keep me happy. There was NO sort of tutorial to get me going and the wikis weren't much help, either. I had to talk to all of the NPCs to finally figure out what was going on/what I was supposed to do. The "guildleve" system is interesting but I still prefer vanilla quests. I was bothered, too, that I could only find SIX to begin with and when finished was on my own again to run around aimlessly (which I did -not- do) until finding something and I certainly wasn't going to create another character (what, a Miner? ha) to take up the rest of the time. The fact that I make crafting-only characters is bizarre to me, too. I like being able to do all sorts of things with one character. It's just weird to me to login to JUST craft. Maybe that's just me. Fortunately I bought it at a discount and WON'T be paying a monthly fee when the free-trial period expires. They really should make this a F2P game and call it a day.

After about a months play I would give this an 8. You can log in every night and do something different. Level a job, craft or gathering. None of it is simple so you can keep learning how to make new items, or do something better. I'd like more bagspace, or something to hold all your class weapons and gear. But you start out with 80 spaces yourself and then get one retainer that you can use to hold more with. It takes a while to travel between the cities but they are alll very varied and worth exploring. You also have the option of teleporting to a place once you have gone there, or if a member of your party has done so. I like the music and graphics. However you can not turn off all sounds if you turn off all the settings for music which isnt good if you are watching tv or listening to music while playing. I don't mind the interface because its like ff11 but it would be good if they had given more control over what it does. Like added optional chat filters. Its hard, not everyone will enjoy it but its not shallow. Which is something ive noticed is a becoming a trend in new mmorpgs.

This game is not like every other mmo out there. That in itself deserves praise. Soon enough everyone will see this game reach its potential and come in droves. I like it now and its only gonna get better. It retails for a reasonable price. Try it. Square-Enix is listening.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Take FFXI, (which I played for six years) remove basically any activities beyond grinding on mobs for exp and grinding crafts, and you pretty much have FFXIV. Oh, and add a heaping helping of interface lag, maddening bugs, a near-inability to find the items you want for sale, and repair costs that quickly become comically expensive. (and only restore about 25% of the item's durability) Oh, I almost forgot.... Forget about pulling mobs to avoid links. They all have ADHD and will only chase you for a few seconds before giving up and going back to where they were. If you're really unlucky, a bug will kick in and instantly give all of their health back when they get back to their spawn point. The ADHD also means that there's very little danger in the game. It's hard to aggro things in the first place, but if something can't one-shot you, it won't chase you long enough to pose a danger anyway. I could probably reach the character limit listing the game's faults, but it sure does look gorgeous for an MMO. But the tl;dr version would be that this game isn't even ready for beta testing.

The combat system in FFXIV seems to have been developed for toddlers. It is the most basic, infantile combat system I have ever seen in an MMO. No ability to jump, swim, or climb, movement feels like it has training wheels on. Simply put this game has the mechanics of a 1992 rpg covered in 2010 graphics. This game has along way to go to even be considered mediocre. If you are a true fanboy of Final Fantasy, you will stay as far away from this abomination as you can. Stop supporting horrible game design.

If you are a fan of WoW, you probably wont be a fan of this game or its interface. Yes, the interface is DIFFERENT however, it is not bad. It looks that there are several people who have no idea how this MMO was designed. It was DESIGNED to be less cluttered than a standard mmo. Ever looked at someones WoW interface who plays alot? Holy crap its cluttered with stuff that isnt needed! You have all the same things in the FFXIV interface that you do in WoW and then some. The two things many people will be confused by is "Lack of Jumping" and "I hit spacebar to start chatting? o_O". Other than that, everything including interactions flash on the screen like any other mmo (either by cursor or at the top). The quests are easy enough to find. The MMO focuses more on exploration than the quests though and the guildleves system is very efficient and actually EASIER to use than the system in WoW if you do want them. Do you NEED a giant billboard for "Quest is here?" Honestly, I like a littkle adventure in my MMOs. Yes leveling and finding gear is **** almost the exact same as what happened in FFXI (which btw, most of you have probably never played and I'll bet ****...quite a few are lying about playing too). This is an MMO for patient people who enjoy scenery...high magic...tons of crafting **** lots of exploration. Also, quite knocking the class system. It's virtually identical in nature to the class system of FFXI and resembles tactics (with equiping weapons to change class). Yes, the game has some glitches (Slow inventory loads and character **** that is ONLY if you have a slow machine). If you intend to run this game, please make sure your computer meets a few or all of the recomended system requirements (I7 processors are very new and expensive for most people right now but, the graphics card is FAR more important than the actual CPU speed of the computer. All you need is a dual core with a good graphics card). I highly recomend this game to anyone who has the explorers mindset (A mindset that is usually required for games like Ryzom and EVE-Online).

I wanted to love XIV, I really did. I bought this game knowing there was a huge chance it would be hard to get into and a major timesink like FFXI was. In fact, I WANTED that. I played FFXI for over 4 years and those years were the highlight of my gaming history. But what I got instead was some terrible trainwreck **** that falls short of any expectations one could possibly have. Bogged down by menus for the sake of menus, leveling that somehow manages to **** the life out of you, LACK OF AN AH, subsequent failure of the bazaar system, the list goes on. I almost want to rant for this game wasting my time. Why is it 100x worse than it's predecessor? Why weren't the flaws and annoyances worked out during the beta (which I took part in)? Why, why, why? I feel like I should take SE to court for defacing the Final Fantasy series and MMORPGs as a whole (though their projected profits next quarter should be punishment enough). Oh, and the 2/10 is SOLELY because FFXIV is nothing short of graphically amazing. All looks and no substance.

A very beautiful game, but mostly alternates between boring and frustrating. Coming from a total Final Fantasy fanboy, this one hurts. Why Square-Enix? What have done to you that was so bad?