Tag: final fantasy xiv

Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward – The Latecomer Review

Posted on by Gazimoff

Last week, I witnessed a potent fantasy story come to an intense climax. Heroes took to the ramparts of an ancient citadel, joining battle against a monstrous foe that feasted on vengeance for a thousand years. It felt like the end of a journey, but the Warrior of Light could barely pause for breath before the nation of Eorzea cried out for aid once more.

And so, with the end credits of Heavensward rolling in front of me, I was minded to look back on where the expansion began. I last wrote about Final Fantasy XIV when sharing my latecomer review of A Realm Reborn, but nine months and ten levels have passed since then. Even so, I have a jumble of screenshots and scraggy notes to remind me of the steps I took.

So here it is, my Latecomer Review of FFXIV’s Heavensward expansion. It’s the middle slice of the saga, with Stormblood rounding out the current content and Shadowbringers arriving in summer 2019. But, as I’ve only been playing since the start of the year, I’ve seen very few mechanical changes. As such, my review is mainly limited to Heavensward’s content, plus some of the new bits and bobs I’ve discovered along the way.

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Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn – The Latecomer Review

Posted on by Gazimoff

As part of my New Year’s commitment to MMORPG gaming, I promised to finally give Final Fantasy XIV a proper go. And, over the last few weeks, that’s exactly what I’ve done. I’ve raced around Eorzea on a heroic adventure, uncovered sinister plots, and saved the world countless times. Even as an FFXIV latecomer, I’ve had a blast.

But that’s not everything. I’ve also started working on secondary classes, dug into the crafting system, pledged my allegiance to a Grand Company, and even bought an apartment. There’s a heck of a lot to do in FFXIV, and I’ve been desperately trying to sample as much of it as possible.

However, all this got me thinking: just how many people are in a similar boat? There’s a lack of good-quality and story-driven MMOs right now, and FFXIV promises to fill that niche in a major way. But is A Realm Reborn still worth trying some four years and two expansions later? To answer that question, I’ve put together this FFXIV Latecomer Review based on everything pre-Heavensward. I’ve also included some tips on the best ways to get started, should you be tempted to join in.

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FFXIV: Making Good on a Promise

Posted on by Gazimoff

New year, new game. Back in December, I mentioned that I’d be giving Final Fantasy XIV a try, with the Japanese MMO getting three months to win me over. Surprisingly, it’s managed to hold my attention in a magitek grip ever since I created a new character earlier this month. If my Twitter feed is anything to go by, I’m having a whale of a time.

However, if I’m honest, this isn’t my first time in FFXIV. Back in the original beta, rolled a new character and ventured forth, quickly stumbling on a quest to kill ten rats. Only the rats only had three spawn points, and the spawn timer was so low that a growing crowd of players swamped them. I logged out and never looked back, passing on the game until now.

That was almost ten years ago. Time passes and games change, but few have gone through as much upheaval as FFXIV. I interviewed producer/director Yoshida-san back when he was preparing to relaunch the game with the subtitle A Realm Reborn, and I couldn’t help but appreciate the energy and faithful commitment he brought to the job. A few years later, the reboot was a success and his team was already working away on an expansion pack.

I’d always promised that I’d give FFXIV a proper go, and even bought a boxed copy for PlayStation 4. But something else always got in the way, or trashed my plans, or caused a complication. Until this year, it always seemed not to be.

Today, I feel like an idiot for putting it off for so long. After playing for a few weeks, I’ve discovered that Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is huge fun.

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Warcraft Versus the Traditional MMO

Posted on by Gazimoff

Box art for the original World of Warcraft

I promise I’ll get back to talking about mages soon. I’ve been doing some research on the latest PTR patch which I think will make interesting reading, but that can wait a few more days. Today I’d like to ask you a question.

Do you play World of Warcraft because it’s an MMO, or because it’s Warcraft?

The reason I ask is because your expectations of the game were probably different depending on what angle you were coming from. If you’re a veteran MMO player you’d probably expected many of the genre conventions to be applied to this game. The game world would then have been moulded and shaped around those genre conventions, effectively making a Warcraft MMO. It would still be fun to play but it would probably have had a much more traditional feel to it.

If on the other hand you’re a veteran of the Warcraft games then you’d probably expected the game world, environment and storyline to come first. You wouldn’t have felt too worried about genre conventions being cast out and disregarded as long as the game had that Warcraft look and feel. It would still have been fun to play with that unmistakable Blizzard polish, but it probably wouldn’t have felt like a traditional MMO.

Why do I make this point? Because sometimes we need reminding that games aren’t designed with our individual tastes in mind.

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