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Final Fantasy XI (PC)

• Developer:
• Publisher: Square-Enix
• Genre:
• Official Website: http://www.playonline.com
• Score: 1 of 5: Save Your Cash

Let me forewarn everyone by saying that the Final Fantasy series is my favorite series of all time, so I had a lot of expectations coming into this game. Not a single one of them was met. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as the game was certainly entertaining, but the tediousness of the game drove me to quit playing and cancel my subscription after about three quarters of a year, and I honestly don't miss it. However, where Final Fantasy XI failed to deliver us the charm of its predecessors, it added new charm that made a lasting impression on me-sort of.

The long-running series of renowned RPGs has finally taken a shot at the MMORPG market. I had mixed feelings about this at first, but the thought that drove through my mind most often was, "Why is Square Enix making an online game?" This being the first time I had heard of an MMO, when I discovered that a $13 monthly fee was going to come attached to the game, four-letter words started making their way into that dreadful question. I swore I would never buy it. I found out that they were releasing the game for the PC as well as the PS2, and I still swore I would never buy it. The game actually came out on PC a few months before the PS2 release and was on the shelves, and still I refused to invest the money. A shopping trip to Wal-Mart and seeing "30-Day Free Trial" stuck on the front cover finally led me to (reluctantly) purchase Final Fantasy XI.

For starters, the setup process... sucked. From the time I first inserted the installation CD to the time I actually was able to run the game, four long hours passed. This was because you had to install PlayOnline, update it (which took an hour by itself), set up your PlayOnline account, then install Final Fantasy XI and update it (another hour or two), then create and set up your Content ID, then create your character, then finally you were able to play. Already being totally turned off by the setup process, I told myself that the game better be good, as I was going to try to make the most out of that 30-day trial period. So I began playing, and the following is what I experienced.

During the character creation process, you can choose your race, gender, appearance, job class, and place of residency. Although this allows for a totally customizable character, sadly everyone ends up looking the same anyway once fully equipped. Once you create your character (I chose Tarutaru, the mini mage) you are thrust into the world, starting in the town you chose as your residency. A cutscene ensues, and you are given a helpful hint to trade a ticket in for 50 gil. Let me warn you that this will be the easiest 50 gil you will ever make, and it never gets that good again. But my initial days in Vana'diel (the world where this game takes place) were exhilarating, and I ended up playing past the 30-day trial by many months.

The leveling process is extremely tedious, because you have to level your jobs separately. If you're a level 15 red mage that wants to try black mage, you start back over at 1. Experience in battles is never very high, making the process of leveling extremely slow. When you are able to equip two jobs, you can only level one job at a time. So if you want to level your sub-job, you must change that to your main job and level it separately. This idea was HORRIBLE, and I will never change my mind. Another major problem I had was that gil (money in Final Fantasy world) is impossible to come by, almost solely dependent upon other players buying your items at the auction house. If you're not properly equipped with items purchased at this auction house, then the online jackasses (whom I like to call Elitists) will give you a hard time and possibly refuse to form a party with you. These Elitists are very bossy and order everyone they party with to play their way or else. This ruined many of my gaming experiences, but since Elitists can be found in any game, I will stop at that. A third problem was that there is virtually no story whatsoever. The story is advanced through missions, but the story for each nation is so terribly dull that the desire to do missions soon flew out the window. I still can't tell you what this game was about, even after almost a year of playing. Everything in the game boils down to leveling, and because of the repetitiveness and tediousness of leveling, this game lost any fun it might have initially had. The most fun I had was in the first 10 levels when I could play on my own, because finding a party sometimes took hours. This game assumes that everyone has no life, and I'm sorry, but that little warning that it gives at the beginning about not neglecting your real life duties is full of crap. In order to advance, you must be able to play everyday for five or more hours.

Let's talk about the game mechanics, as the layout of the game is simple enough. You travel around your town, picking up quests from the townsfolk, meeting new people, and attempting to make a living by crafting, fishing, or hunting and then selling items (called farming). With these people you meet, you can form a party (up to six people) or an alliance (up to three allied parties) to go questing, killing, or just exploring. You can travel to other towns and pick up quests, and you'll eventually have to travel to farther places to fight harder enemies. As you perform missions, you rise in rank, which is nothing more than a tool for someone to "examine" you and see that you're not a "newb," or "noob," as some people spell it. You can also form a linkshell (which is basically an in-game chat device) for your friends to join and be considered part of your "group," thus adding to the cliquish element of this game.

A cool aspect of this game was the Conquest system, where depending on the nation you are from, if tons of people from your nation fight enough battles in an area, that area will be won over by that nation. Conquest tallies occur every Sunday, and whoever is in first (meaning who owns the most land) gets access to cool benefits, such as the availability of extra items for purchase with Conquest Points. Since Conquests rely on battles, let's discuss the horrid battle system, which is really boring and slow-paced. You must engage in an on-screen roaming enemy and proceed to auto-attack until you tell your character to do something different-be it cast a spell, drink a potion, or execute a class ability. If you build enough tactical points by attacking, then you can use a weapon ability. Several weapon abilities strung together by party members create a skill chain, which is another burst of damage. Yawn. At the end of a hard battle, you and/or your party must rest to regain health and mana, and resting time can last many minutes, thus slowing down the battle pace even more.

In essence, Final Fantasy XI is just a normal MMO with nothing special to offer; however, the game experience is what you make of it. I had a blast with the friends I made, the linkshell I ran, and the linkshell forum I moderated. My level 45 red mage was really cool, and I was able to see every single job class and what they could do through the parties I made. The music was really addicting (I still whistle the Kazham theme from time to time), and the graphics were crystal clear. Traveling and seeing the world of Vana'diel was really fun. Unfortunately, I am going to have to speak against buying this game. It is being overrun by Elitists, a fluctuating economy, and just overall has a very tedious and aggravating feel. Constant update sessions (some of which lasted a couple of hours) became tiresome. This game doesn't deserve a Final Fantasy title, as there is nothing Final Fantasy about it. If MMOs are your thing, there are other and better titles out there. Final Fantasy XI is not good, and while I miss the experience, I've decided that MMOs are not good either. I enjoyed many things I did and many of the people I met, but in the end, an MMO is only a glorified chat room that costs you $13 a month.

Mar 23, 2005 | 9 comments
Matt Karam