writing this review as of defeating the shadow lord in the nation missions and achieving rank 6
interesting experience lol. ff14 content drought and the incoming vanadiel raids have had me curious, and so here i am.
gameplay is interesting, its nothing like your typical mmo gameplay. its an attempt to convert traditional final fantasy atb gameplay into an open multiplayer mmo format, and it ends up being kind of cool. unfortunately due to how progression in this game works atm, i honestly don't know much about properly playing the game despite having beaten the initial final boss. npc "trust" avatar npcs carry you through much of the combat while progressing in this game and in my case, my beastmaster pets have picked up damage where the trust npcs could not. my actual playable character isn't doing much, and i assume that isn't really going to change until i hit the level cap at endgame. obviously, this makes for a less engaging experience in gameplay than the sister final fantasy mmo, and 14 already gets criticism for an unengaging gameplay loop at lower levels.
story is very mmo-y here lol. the nation missions are very basic and don't really start picking up emotional stakes until about the last second, but of course thats not really what the "story" is here. the story is how you explore the world, discover the game, meet people and make friends, etc. that being said i am hoping the expansions will have more of a traditional rpg story to offer like 14 does. as it happens i've already made some headway in chains of promathia and rhapsodies of vana'diel, due to how progression works here. the game doesn't really want you to move through expansions one after another, but rather open them up in bits and pieces to unlock stuff from them as needed. which is kind of an interesting way to do things given that the actual stories here are told in their release order.
funniest thing to me has been the timeline issues between the nation missions and the rhapsodies of vanadiel missions. the rhapsodies missions are intended to be played asap to help facilitate early progression, but the story within them assumes you have completed at least the nation missions. lion and zeid are introduced within these missions as your trusted allies, but of course you do not actually go through the scenes of meeting them until the last nation missions of the base game, where zeid in particular treats you like a stranger. feel like these rhapsodies "catch-up" missions could have had storylines that better suit the point in the game at which you are intended to play them?
the music is nice and the game looks nice too, its really nice just being in this world and getting to explore it. if not for "the vibes" i'd probably find this a lot less engaging.
on to rise of the zilart!
oh and general protip, level thief to 15 as a support job option. treasure hunter is a godsend to have when you need it.
interesting experience lol. ff14 content drought and the incoming vanadiel raids have had me curious, and so here i am.
gameplay is interesting, its nothing like your typical mmo gameplay. its an attempt to convert traditional final fantasy atb gameplay into an open multiplayer mmo format, and it ends up being kind of cool. unfortunately due to how progression in this game works atm, i honestly don't know much about properly playing the game despite having beaten the initial final boss. npc "trust" avatar npcs carry you through much of the combat while progressing in this game and in my case, my beastmaster pets have picked up damage where the trust npcs could not. my actual playable character isn't doing much, and i assume that isn't really going to change until i hit the level cap at endgame. obviously, this makes for a less engaging experience in gameplay than the sister final fantasy mmo, and 14 already gets criticism for an unengaging gameplay loop at lower levels.
story is very mmo-y here lol. the nation missions are very basic and don't really start picking up emotional stakes until about the last second, but of course thats not really what the "story" is here. the story is how you explore the world, discover the game, meet people and make friends, etc. that being said i am hoping the expansions will have more of a traditional rpg story to offer like 14 does. as it happens i've already made some headway in chains of promathia and rhapsodies of vana'diel, due to how progression works here. the game doesn't really want you to move through expansions one after another, but rather open them up in bits and pieces to unlock stuff from them as needed. which is kind of an interesting way to do things given that the actual stories here are told in their release order.
funniest thing to me has been the timeline issues between the nation missions and the rhapsodies of vanadiel missions. the rhapsodies missions are intended to be played asap to help facilitate early progression, but the story within them assumes you have completed at least the nation missions. lion and zeid are introduced within these missions as your trusted allies, but of course you do not actually go through the scenes of meeting them until the last nation missions of the base game, where zeid in particular treats you like a stranger. feel like these rhapsodies "catch-up" missions could have had storylines that better suit the point in the game at which you are intended to play them?
the music is nice and the game looks nice too, its really nice just being in this world and getting to explore it. if not for "the vibes" i'd probably find this a lot less engaging.
on to rise of the zilart!
oh and general protip, level thief to 15 as a support job option. treasure hunter is a godsend to have when you need it.