E3 2010: Final Fantasy XIV Hands on

[Terramax]

I was a big fan of FFXI: Online. So much so I had to quit it because I was playing it too much and affected the rest of my life.

This is one of the very few games I'd seriously consider buying in the future.

 

[Yvl9921]

Yawn. Call me when they make an MMO with ATB battles that take place in a persistant world. (Think Crono Trigger)

Actually.. The 'lame combat' that's 'slow and unresponsive' in FFXIV (IS) ATB.
Your timer fills up and you pick your action. Depending on what that action is a global cooldown timer goes in to effect. So if you regular attack it'll take a quick (altho it seems like an eternity) 1.2 seconds for your time to fill back up. Use one of the class abilities 3 to 5 seconds. Heal or cast a spell greater than -ura 7 to 10 second timer. You can switch equipment in an old school FF manner during combat and set off a long timer because switching equipment changes your class.

It just feels dated.

I'd like to see how it works in an MMO, though.

Plus, this game has Nobuo Uematsu as the main composer again, so it'll probably feel more like a real FF game than either of the last two. Not really related to anything but just felt I'd share.

Anyway, I'm a bit over my anger, and now I'd like to thank Mr Tito for taking his time to review this. If he hates it, I know for sure it will be a great game.

 

[Ponchponcho]

I played FFXI a lot back in 06-08 fell out with it as WoW pouched most of my friends and LSs (guilds) and groups became populate only by the super hardcore. Like this article says FFXI came out before Wow was around and now everyone and there dog knows what an MMO is and what to expect, So I think FFIV is going to be worse cause its probably going to be stocked only with FF-fanboys from the get-go. I guess they could chance stealing away some players from other mmos but if this preview is evident of its quality it wont be very many for very long. I would have considered giving this a chance if it just wasn't taking place in f'ing Tolkienesque fantasy swords and shields universe. Would much rather had a Front Mission MMO, still no decent mech MMO out that I'm aware of and SE could have capitalized on that.

 

[cenebi]

So the only real complaint I've heard about this can be summed up as: "It's not WoW."

You don't criticize a game for not being like another game. If this was more like WoW, you'd all be calling it a crappy WoW clone.

 

[Taco of flames]

Yawn. Call me when they make an MMO with ATB battles that take place in a persistant world. (Think Crono Trigger)

Actually.. The 'lame combat' that's 'slow and unresponsive' in FFXIV (IS) ATB.
Your timer fills up and you pick your action. Depending on what that action is a global cooldown timer goes in to effect. So if you regular attack it'll take a quick (altho it seems like an eternity) 1.2 seconds for your time to fill back up. Use one of the class abilities 3 to 5 seconds. Heal or cast a spell greater than -ura 7 to 10 second timer. You can switch equipment in an old school FF manner during combat and set off a long timer because switching equipment changes your class.

It just feels dated.

I'd like to see how it works in an MMO, though.

There is actually a Flash MMORPG that uses a system similar to what is described above. It's called Sacred Seasons, and actually, that combat is probably its only good quality. It's an otherwise terrible game, but just for an example of how that works in an MMO, it might just barely be worth looking at.

 

[walhallafive]

Full Disclosure: I'm a Final Fantasy fan and really want this game to work, so I'll be defending it.

Actually.. The 'lame combat' that's 'slow and unresponsive' in FFXIV (IS) ATB.
Your timer fills up and you pick your action. Depending on what that action is a global cooldown timer goes in to effect. So if you regular attack it'll take a quick (altho it seems like an eternity) 1.2 seconds for your time to fill back up. Use one of the class abilities 3 to 5 seconds. Heal or cast a spell greater than -ura 7 to 10 second timer. You can switch equipment in an old school FF manner during combat and set off a long timer because switching equipment changes your class.

It just feels dated.

They've changed it. The Alpha was as you describe above. SE got complaints that it was to slow, esp. from the Japanese players apparently. Now you start with a full stamina bar and each action takes away from it as it recharges. Light slash would take away a little, heavy slash would take away more, Red Lotus Blade would take away the majority, then it charges back up.

He's right, it is pretty. And he will be right about the game being bad if the combat is boring. But he wasn't in a party, where FFXI and any other MMO actually excels, and SE has talked a great deal about fighting groups of monsters. SE has also talked a great deal about the story. You won't have your own personal story like may be found in The Old Republic, but there should be some good stuff.

The instant teleport is for alpha/beta. There will be some teleporting via crystal though, like after the quest is over.

There is a lot of info at ffxivcore.com and a fun group of folks on the forum at ffxivvault.com.

Bottom line from all the stuff I've read and researched: it ain't going to be as easy as WoW, but will be easier/more accessible then FFXI. If you want to max out crafting with ease, get money from every drop and find equipment that give you +150 of every stat, then WoW is your game and I hope you enjoy it. If you want to wait for hours just to miss out on a once a week spawn, farm til your fingernails bleed, or get ostracized for not having exactly the right build/equipment, FFXI is for you and I hope you enjoy it. I think FFXIV will be somewhere in the middle. I'm not drinking the Kool-Aid til I play it though and the combat turns out to be better then described above.

 

[Anarchemitis]

I hope I die before Final Fantasy MCXXVIII.

 

[ResiEvalJohn]

Yeah, this game sounds like crap, except for the visuals. I'm just going to watch people play it on Youtube so I can enjoy the movies without putting up with the annoying, repetitive gameplay.

*Note: This is coming from someone who hated both FFXII and FFXIII, so if you liked those games, then don't mind me.

 

[Charli]

Yeah I'm not bored of WoW yet. *Dances round the summer festival pole*


Weeeeeeeeeeeeespin.

 

[Jared]

I've actually been participating in the Alpha for FFXIV...I have to admit at the moment theyre still needs alot of tweaks to be done...and, it does seem like alot of the same but I have alot of promise for it...I just hope it comes through

Although my major issue atm, is the whole graphical thing, even at its lowest end settings its proving to be a struggle for even some of the most up todate machines. I hope its something they address along the lines

 

[Ridrith]

I'm sorry, why is the extremely diehard WoW fan reviewing FFXIV? Isn't this the guy that game a WoW PATCH game of the year for 2009? Of course he's not gonna say anything nice about a different MMO. Not trying to insult you, Mr Tito, but you've already shown you can't be objective when it comes to anything related to WoW.

It also seems like he knew nothing beforehand about the game, where it's at in it's development, etc. There is a *****-ton of customization on it's way regarding classes and how you use them, so reviewing this as an almost finished product is really not so good an idea.

I like how the foaming at the mouth rabid Square-Enix fanboi is defending the game by calling out the writer for being a "WoW fanboi". Maybe he considers it boring because it actually is? He's the one whose part of the industry, I think if I was going to take into account an opinion about the game it'd be his. By the way, your avatar gives you away.

 

[leonhart126]

Having watched a video of the gameplay it looks ridiculously boring, I don't think a game will be able to capture the fast pace yet meaningful combat of WoW without outright copying it.

 

[Fortunefaded]

I never got this fascination with being able to jump that many MMO players seem to have. It's one of the complaints I've heard most often about Guild Wars (so often apparently, that the devs have made a big deal out of how you will be able to jump in the sequel). In the majority of MMOs it adds absolutely nothing significant to the gameplay apart from breaking immersion whenever you see some big scary warrior skipping by like a retarded kangaroo[/i].

So much win there good sir! I also agree, hopping 'tards ruins the immersion.

FFXI was by no means the best, but was easily single game into which I've sunk the most hours thanks to its addictiveness and landing myself in a great community. I don't play it anymore, but thanks to all that I'm eagerly waiting for FFXIV and from what I've seen it looks like a vast improvement. (Just praying it comes out for 360 since I don't have a PS3 or a PC that could run it.)

This is the main reason I'm planning on getting FFXIV. FFXI is practically nostaligic to me. It was the first and only MMORPG I got into and I just want to re-vist those experiences. I know I won't play FFXIV religiously or put more than 20 hours a week into it but I'm sure I'll enjoy the experience regardless.

I played FFXI a lot back in 06-08 fell out with it as WoW pouched most of my friends and LSs (guilds) and groups became populate only by the super hardcore. Like this article says FFXI came out before Wow was around and now everyone and there dog knows what an MMO is and what to expect, So I think FFIV is going to be worse cause its probably going to be stocked only with FF-fanboys from the get-go.

This worries me too. FFXIV doesn't appear to have anything ground breaking or revolutionary in the MMO scene, so why would a large percentage of say WoW's fanbase switch over? I honestly think they game will be populated with 60% hardcore fanboys, 25% FFXI players returning as they enjoyed the first game and 15% gold sellers.

 

[Fensfield]

This game is sounding more and more like Mabinogi, sans the age system and focus on Celtic myth, with AAA graphics >.>

Still I'm looking forward to it, albeit a bit concerned about the controls. But then, given how much I love Mabinogi, maybe FFXIV will be fun and all (though good lord I hope they fix problems that could block access to the wider MMO-playing community. Nothing makes a good MMO like the financial success needed to expand and create the world on a whim).

Still, FXIV won't be quite the same.. not unless they dedicate an entire part of a custom graphics engine to rendering one NPC's boobs.

 

[Bellvedere]

An MMORPG that isn't called "The Old Republic"?

That's pretty much been my sole criteria for judging MMOs ever since I heard about TOR.

I haven't heard anything remotely interesting about this one anyway though.

 

[Aurgelmir]

Sounds like pretty much every other Square-Enix game created recently; great art with no substance. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy playing their games, but the gameplay never matches to the high quality the visuals set.

They seem to focus entirely on rewarding the player; but without the player doing anything difficult to gain that reward it just feels cheap and meaningless (see The Last Remnant in which players were basically transported to and from quests - this game appears to hold a similar system).

I pretty much agree with this.

I think the main problem with FFXIV is that it is made by the Japanese. No offence meant by that, but Asian MMOGs are fundamentally different from Western MMOGs. Therefore it means that any MMOG made by Square-Enix which they hope to sell in their own country will probably not be very interesting for the west.

Although I do wonder if Square-Enix would have made a game that was more or less exactly the same as lets say Mass Effect 2 and called it Final Fantasy XV would it sell like crap in Japan?
Or would they still love it?

 

[JediMB]

I stopped playing FFXI about a year ago. I enjoyed it overall, but the game felt dated and sloppily ported from the PS2.

I do have some hopes for FFXIV, but I'll most likely end up with TOR, since playing in the established Star Wars universe rather than a brand new Vana'diel knock-off is more attractive to me. Plus, BioWare.

 

[Woodsey]

Wow - it's actually pretty rare that you see a negative preview like this.

Normally, even if everyone knows the game's gonna be bad, people might say they're only a little worried.

I'm impressed with the honesty.