I think it was back in 2012 I first gave Final Fantasy XIV a go. My partner and I played for about 50 minutes then we both logged off, never to open it again.
Until now.
Well, that's a small fib. He tried it again a couple of years ago and lasted a few months before turning it off. As for me, this is my first time since 2012 and the first time I'm giving it a proper attempt since back then I didn't really even try to enjoy it. I was just following along, not really paying attention to anything.
I'm not the biggest Final Fantasy fan out there. I was introduced to the title when Final Fantasy X was released on the Playstation 2. I loved it, but I haven't played any others at all ~ unless you count Kingdom Hearts since a few of the characters are in that.
I remember being disappointed because back around 2010 or so, a new Final Fantasy game was coming out and the trailer was full of teenagers driving a black convertible car. I was just, what? This isn't my fantasy game? And rolled my eyes at the series forevermore, preferring to pretend FFX was the only one that mattered existed.
After being burnt out on World of Warcraft for the time-being, my partner suggested we play Final Fantasy Online again and having no better ideas, I agreed.
And so far I'm pleased with the decision!
I'm enjoying being able to play more than one class on the one character. I'm enjoying the fact that profession and gathering skills have levelling and abilities/skills and quest-lines attached to each of them. Although I'm not enjoying throwing off all my clothes and strutting around naked every time I want to try something new.
Mmm, naked fishing.
I'm loving that there is so much to do in this game that's not just quest and dungeon and fight-all-the-things!!! related, though I'm not experiencing much of it at the moment due to my partner wanting to do the main story every time we're able to play.
There's the Triple Triad card game where you can find NPCs all around the world who are willing to play with you and for you to have the chance at winning one of their cards.
At the Golden Saucer there is a plethora of minigames for you to play, a daily and weekly jackpot, a random event game every half hour or so which are more fun than I thought they would be.
Apparently we just picked up the ability to do an Archaeology type thing like what's in World of Warcraft but I haven't had the chance to really look at it just yet.
I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of all the things that are available in this game!
Out in the world there are random event things called FATEs that you can use to level up, gain moneys, and tokens with your selected faction. You have hunting logs to encourage you to go out into the world and find creatures to slay. Crafting logs and journals. There are Levequests that give you more things to do -- they're basically quests that offer you a random assortment of xp, money, gear for doing profession related things or just fighting a few creatures, or escorting someone from A to B.
Actually, I'm finding the escort quests a bit annoying. You literally have to type /beckon to them every 5 metres or they won't follow you.
You're 10 metres away? Too bad! They can't see you! Move back a bit and try again. It's painful.
Actually, while I'm talking about things I find annoying. You can't multitask in windows. If you have a shop open as well as your inventory, you can't move things from one bag to another. If you have your character window open, you can't accept a party invite until you've closed your character window. If you have your crafting log open, you can't do this, or that, you need to close it first and pressing 'esc' just doesn't cut it.
Every time we play, I complain about these horrible windows. They're frustrating after playing MMOs with far better multitasking utility.
It's not quite frustrating enough to just flail my arms around and close the game, however. And now I would like to share with you some of the screenshots I've taken over the past couple of weeks!
For an old game, it really is quite pretty.
I hope you like them. 🙂
Beautiful! 😄🤩
Until next time,
Thanks for stopping by! ✨