Platform: PC
Total Playtime: Umm, a lot
"An MMO?! But Trevor, how can you 'beat' an MMO?" - Everyone who reads this ever
Well, when the MMO has a dedicated series of story quests and over an hour and a half of cutscenes to end the base game, I think it is pretty safe to say I "beat" FF14. There were even end credits! Also, shut up, I can do what I want.
I say this at the start of this blog, but I think I need to reiterate here that although I am an employee at Blizzard Entertainment, the thoughts and opinions expressed here are ENTIRELY my own and do not represent the company I work for.
So with that out of the way, I just have to say that I love this game. Ever since WoW came out and changed the entire environment for MMO's forever, most (not all) major MMOs that have come out have followed a pretty standard formula.
I call it the "It's like WoW, BUT..." principle.
Rift is like WoW, BUT it has a ton more character customization options and classes. SWTOR is like WoW BUT it has lightsabers. Conan is like WoW BUT it has boobies. Now I know this is a gross oversimplification, but for the most part MMOs for the past decade don't stray too far from the basic formula of WoW but with a unique spin on a few things. Now the unique things that these MMOs introduce are often better than the way that WoW handles things, but the rest of the basics never seem to match up. I think that is a big reason why nothing has dethroned WoW in ten years.
I know I have experienced this myself. I play most major MMOs and I start to get frustrated when there are similar systems like dungeon finder that just aren't as good as WoW's. Or, more often than not, it functions identical to how the system did in WoW maybe 2 years ago but while it has been iterated on in WoW, it has just stayed the same in the competition. If I wanted to play something similar to WoW, I would just play WoW.
So how does FF14 come into this? Well, all the pieces of it that are similar to WoW, actually are as good as WoW's iteration of them. There's a great dungeon finder, combat is similar and functional, and the quest system is nearly identical. Add on top of that a heavy dose of Final Fantasy nostalgia and a very strong story line where YOU are the focus, not the heroes around you and, well, you got yourself a game I have kept playing consistently since it relaunched. It builds off of what Warcraft has established already works, but it also feels like a wholly unique game.
I seriously cannot wait for the expansion. I am thrilled that this game is performing well and it really is a result of the dedication that their Devs pour into this title. Keep up the outstanding quality, and I will keep playing.
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