A Realm Reborn

I don’t think I would’ve ever completed the base game without the enormous hype brought around by Shadowbringers and Endwalker, by friends who throughly love FFXIV. I came into the game a novice of MMO gaming, my only previous experiences being the games of my childhood (i.e. Club Penguin, Wizard101). When I entered the world of Eorzea, I instantly felt a sense of wonder. I loved the feel of New Gridania and the Black Shroud. Certainly, a strong suit of ARR is its expansive environments in which I could explore through seemingly endless missions. However, those initial hours of curiosity were quashed by overwhelmingly boring dialogue, numerous fetch questlines, and uninteresting characters. Overall, ARR works best as a setup for what is to come, it is an arduous monotony broken up by small shining moments:

(1) The Community: I had overwhelmingly good experiences with other players. They provided so much help and advice to me as a new player.

(2) Dungeons: This was the most fun. You get to put all your job’s skills to the test, in the only challenging way for ARR. You get to interact with other players and see how they construct their skillsets in unique ways.

(3) Job Quests: The best early game story content. Upon becoming a bard, each time I interacted with my mentor Jehantel was memorable; this questline was so emotional for me. I really liked the sense of improvement that came with these quests, very satisfying.

(4) Ocean Fishing: I stumbled upon this early on, and it became my favorite part of the game. No RPG is complete without fishing content, and this is one of the best instances. The competitiveness, the continual improvement and skill-learning, THE SPECTRAL CURRENT?! This is real gaming.

I am keeping my mind open for what is to come!