I will admit that I was afraid of what I was getting into when offered a chance to hop into the closed beta a few months back. As the initial download ticked away the bytes, I just kept thinking to myself, "please don't suck, please don't suck, please don't suck." Thankfully, A Realm Reborn does not suck. In fact, you may look at this as an entirely new game when compared to the original Final Fantasy XIV from 2010. If that alone doesn't excite you, allow me to elaborate. First and foremost, this is still a Final Fantasy title at heart. There are still beautiful and sometimes elaborate magic spells to cast, there are Chocobos a plenty, Gil to earn, Moogles to handle all of your in-game mailing needs, and races and species common to the Final Fantasy franchise.
A look at the character creation on left. On right: In-game cutscenes blend together almost seamlessly with actual gameplay sequences.
Gone is the horrible performance from the previous version. Framerates were near rock solid throughout the beta even with the visuals cranked up. If you're worried that visual fidelity was sacrificed to get the framerates up to snuff, worry not. The game world of Hydaelyn looks gorgeous. Main city hubs are large but not overwhelmingly so like in some games. A number of NPCs inhabit the towns alongside other players making for city environments that feel alive and rich with history. Outdoor areas are full of flora, fauna and hostile foes, most of which will meet their end by your own hand through a variety of quests. The musical score is a blend of franchise veteran Nobuo Uematsu's work and others such as Masayoshi Soken. I've always been a sucker for the Final Fantasy soundtracks, so I may be a bit biased in my adoration of A Realm Reborn's music.
Lots of help thanks to these tips and look at that built-in UI customization.
The game strives to pull in gamers of all experience ranges. Players new to the genre will find an abundance of help through a multitude of dismissible pop-up hints and tips. These tips detail just about everything a new player could possibly want to know, from the elements of the UI, to items, to how you play the game, and well beyond. Even veteran players of the genre will find these to be an invaluable resource as there are a few new tricks up FFXIV's sleeve. First and foremost, while there are a variety of classes in the game, your character is not strictly tied to just one. In fact, you can make one character and switch their class skills at just about any time you want thanks to the game's Armoury System. Start out playing as a magic casting Conjurer and then switch over to the more melee focused Gladiator class before starting your next quest. At the start of the game, there are eight classes to choose from, all of which have their obvious strengths and weaknesses. Later on, you can utilize this mix-and-match system to specialize your jobs. For instance, you can turn a Gladiator into a Paladin simply by focusing on and leveling up both the Gladiator and Conjurer classes.
The brilliant part of this class system is that you can change up your skills, class, abilities, and armor to meet the specific needs of a quest or group event. Before, players would have to log out, log into another high-level alternate character and then proceed from there. It should be noted that each class will level up independently of each other. This simply means players will still need to level up each class on its own but this at least eliminates having to switch to another character slot. These eight classes can be applied to any of the game's five races. Unfortunately, the character creation appearance customization options seemed to be a bit lacking. As such many characters of the same race and class ended up looking a lot like clones of one another, especially at the start of the game.
Just a very small area of a town at night on left. On right: Running through a forested area.
The big question here is if Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is going to be worth the wait. In short: Yes. The game is actually fun to play now, especially if you find yourself in the mood for some old-school style MMO in the vein of World of Warcraft. A Realm Reborn doesn't escape the staples of MMORPG games such as fetch quests or "kill X number of Y enemy type." However, the lore, environment, and level progression do enough to pull you into the game world, blending these types of quests with story progression quests almost seamlessly. Group play is quite enjoyable though it may sometimes get to be a bit too cluttered with the flashy spells being cast all over the place. Finding a group is made to be a non-issue thanks to the newly added group finder. This is an incredibly valuable tool to have given how there are special group-based skill unlocks that you may know better as Limit Breaks.
Those familiar with games like Rift or Guild Wars 2 will be thrilled to hear that random world events are now a common occurrence in A Realm Reborn. Called FATEs (Full Active Time Events), these events typically feature randomized events that individual players in an area flock to. These players may not be in the same group but they are there for the same purpose and that purpose is to complete the FATE and earn some better than average rewards upon completion. Though these events aren't new to the genre, they are always fun and often exciting to be a part of. Again, it's something small that goes a long way to making the world feel alive and random, just as the real world often is. Then again, the real world doesn't have a bunch of invading monsters but you get the idea.
Two very early level FATEs from the game.
While much of the early gameplay is as you might expect, the real meat and potatoes of any MMO lie with the dungeons and end-game content. While I cannot speak for the end-game content, I can say that the few dungeons I played as part of my story progression were varied and a joy to play. They offered up a high level of challenge when compared to the generic world quests and that is how a dungeon should be. These early game dungeons focused more on story progression than simply running them for high level loot items.
The only real concern I have for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is its lasting power. Had this game come out three years ago in the state it's in right now, it would have been almost revolutionary. As it is, it still features a lot of old-school gameplay in a world that may have evolved a bit beyond simply standing still to cast long spells or doing fetch quests for early level content. However, for me, it almost feels like a breath of fresh air after having played other MMOs that attempted to change this tried and true formula.
Even early level instances offer up a decent challenge when you go in solo.
I would also be remissed if I did not mention that A Realm Reborn will make use of a monthly subscription fee. You will receive a free month when you purchase A Realm Reborn but after that period there will be a few monthly subscription options to choose from. Those who stuck it out with the original game for at least 90 days will get a specially discounted price of $10 per month. This will grant them access to eight character slots per server for a total of up to 40 total characters on their account. Those who are new to the game, or did not stick it out for at least 90 days on the first go around, can either pay $15 per month for the same number of character slots. A more basic "Entry" level membership at $13 per month will grant players just one character slot per server for up to eight characters total.
Even with these monthly fees in place, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn does, at least to me, feel like it is worth a second look. Throw aside those old fears you had from the game's initial launch. It has come a very, very long way since 2010. In fact, just forget that version of the game ever existed and you will be pleasantly surprised by what Final Fantasy XIV now has to offer when it launches on both the PC and PlayStation 3 on August 27. The game is also slated to arrive on the PlayStation 4 in 2014.
Humble beginnings. On right: Inns let you recover health, store items, and prepare for your next adventures.
Special bonus images:
I bet Yoshiro thought I forgot about these screenshots of him in his male booty shorts armor
Relevant Link:
Final Fantasy XIV website
(Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn beta was provided to Total Gaming Network for preview purposes. I would have loved to have gotten this up sooner, but our site has not been the most reliable nor the most stable these past two months.)
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