antilaser
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--
Days in Journal
1 day
Last played
May 19, 2022
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[This is a review for A Realm Reborn and its patches up until Heavensward]
After much consideration, I decided that my next step with the Final Fantasy series should probably be a long-term dive into the world of XIV, the second MMO in the series and (currently) the most popular MMO in the world right now. I grew up at a time where World of Warcraft was inescapable, even for someone with zero interest in playing an MMO, so the idea of a Final Fantasy MMO being so good as to unseat that king of the hill was interesting, add to that the fact that what seems to make this experience special is the story, and you have me seriously intrigued. I love a good story.
A Realm Reborn in particular is treated as a sort of obstacle to overcome for new players, and honestly I can totally understand that. However, I think in retrospect its sort of cool that the game takes so much time to fully set up its world and show you how things connect before going full tilt later on. It's sort of like DUNE having that glossary of terms, except at the front of the book instead of the back. For anyone playing this as their first MMO, there's also the obvious obstacle of just... learning how MMOs work, which is a process. One made easier by the 6.1 patch's inclusion of NPC party members in the base game. This will greatly speed up your path through the story of A Realm Reborn as well as give you ample time to learn the ins and outs of your role and how dungeons and trials work before going out and playing with real people later on.
Once you're introduced to the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, or as I like to call them: "The Characters", the game gets a lot more engaging and before you know it, you're deep into taking down primals and staring down the barrell of an extremely Star Wars-feeling endgame arc. It kinda rules, and the refreshed boss fights for the 6.1 patch make some of these fights incredibly engaging, definite highlights gameplay-wise. Then you get your happy ending with the "or is this just the beginning..." hook right at the end.
Which brings us to the patches. I absolutely love what they did here and how they built on the base game to deliver genuinely fascinating intrigue rolling toward the next big arc in Heavensward. The strange discoveries with the primals, the Ishgardians and the Dravanian threat, the crystal braves and Ul'Dah's corruption, Yugiri and the Domans, the Ascians... it's all very good and leaves the story in a really great spot for Heavensward to deliver an absolute home run.
If A Realm Reborn is an obstacle, then I've definitely overcome it, but I'd be lying my ass off if I said that I didn't end up enjoying myself thoroughly by the end. Now I just wanna see what's next.
After much consideration, I decided that my next step with the Final Fantasy series should probably be a long-term dive into the world of XIV, the second MMO in the series and (currently) the most popular MMO in the world right now. I grew up at a time where World of Warcraft was inescapable, even for someone with zero interest in playing an MMO, so the idea of a Final Fantasy MMO being so good as to unseat that king of the hill was interesting, add to that the fact that what seems to make this experience special is the story, and you have me seriously intrigued. I love a good story.
A Realm Reborn in particular is treated as a sort of obstacle to overcome for new players, and honestly I can totally understand that. However, I think in retrospect its sort of cool that the game takes so much time to fully set up its world and show you how things connect before going full tilt later on. It's sort of like DUNE having that glossary of terms, except at the front of the book instead of the back. For anyone playing this as their first MMO, there's also the obvious obstacle of just... learning how MMOs work, which is a process. One made easier by the 6.1 patch's inclusion of NPC party members in the base game. This will greatly speed up your path through the story of A Realm Reborn as well as give you ample time to learn the ins and outs of your role and how dungeons and trials work before going out and playing with real people later on.
Once you're introduced to the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, or as I like to call them: "The Characters", the game gets a lot more engaging and before you know it, you're deep into taking down primals and staring down the barrell of an extremely Star Wars-feeling endgame arc. It kinda rules, and the refreshed boss fights for the 6.1 patch make some of these fights incredibly engaging, definite highlights gameplay-wise. Then you get your happy ending with the "or is this just the beginning..." hook right at the end.
Which brings us to the patches. I absolutely love what they did here and how they built on the base game to deliver genuinely fascinating intrigue rolling toward the next big arc in Heavensward. The strange discoveries with the primals, the Ishgardians and the Dravanian threat, the crystal braves and Ul'Dah's corruption, Yugiri and the Domans, the Ascians... it's all very good and leaves the story in a really great spot for Heavensward to deliver an absolute home run.
If A Realm Reborn is an obstacle, then I've definitely overcome it, but I'd be lying my ass off if I said that I didn't end up enjoying myself thoroughly by the end. Now I just wanna see what's next.