Final Fantasy XI - FF meets EQ,
does Dinner, Drinks.
 Final
Fantasy XI has been around for a while now, and is a veteran
of the Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game market.
Not to the same extent as EverCrack, of course, but long
enough to have the bugs ironed out and to be looking at
ways to retain its market. FF went in with one of the best-known
names in computer RPGs, and an audience it needed to not
disappoint. It's got a few quirks that make it different
from a lot of other MMORPGs, and overall, Square Enix has
delivered a pretty fine experience.
 When
the Final Fantasy series first launched, it raised the bar
for overall game experience, especially in graphical quality
and sound. Big sweeping orchestral scores and movie-quality
animation were pretty rare back then. Given that's a large
part of what their reputation rests on, the games have had
to keep that level up over time, and they've succeeded.
Even this long after launch, FFXI's graphical quality is
really excellent, especially in its backgrounds and vistas
that give you a really sense of the huge size of the world
you're in. Of course, they're still FF's distinctive style.
If you love that, you'll love this. If the appallingly cute
TaruTaru make you nauseous, the good news is FFXI recently
went PvP, so you can now indulge your fondest fantasy of
making adorable little shish kebab. (The fact that 800 FFXI
characters were just permanently deleted for griefing and
other user agreement violations can be interpreted a lot
of different ways.)
 What
makes FFXI different from other on-line role-playing games?
Well, apart from the whole chicken-riding thing, FFXI is
using the old AD&D dual class system. After level 18, your
character can take on a second profession in addition to
your first. The game is really flexible about switching
jobs, actually: you can change any time you want, though
you'll be starting from scratch again, and some of your
items may not be of any use to you. If it doesn't work out,
you can always change back. In some ways, this eliminates
the urge to have multiple characters in the game, which
is good because you only get one for your $12.95/month,
and every extra slot will cost you another buck.
You also can't choose your server. So if you have friends
you want to play with, that's going to be a problem. You
can buy a world pass in the game that lets other players
create characters on 'your' server, but you still can't
transfer existing characters over. This does ensure player
load is evenly-spread over the servers, but it's kind of
a pain from a player point of view, and that's what we care
about.
 FFXI
is also missing some but not all of the little annoyances
that come with role-playing games. Your character doesn't
need to eat, and won't get tired from running a lot (which
early on is just as well), but you will still have to spend
a lot of time all crouched up, 'healing'. Because FF started
off as a console game, the controls will take a bit of getting
used to for PC gamers.
Like EverQuest II, FFXI allows groups to work weapon skill
chains and magic bursts, giving well-co-ordinated groups
the advantage of pooling together to produce devastating
(and spectacular) combat effects. A little more effort has
been put into the monster deaths, too - there's nothing
like the big ugly's tongue lolling out when it hits the
ground to give you a real sense of achievement.
FFXI includes crafting, and trading aspects as well as
questing and combat, giving you a well-rounded experience.
You even have a little home, or Mog House, where your Moogle
will look after your stuff and water your plants. The game
is stable and relatively bug-free, and seems to cater quite
well to the needs of both FF fans, and lovers of the MMORPG
genre. Though both will find a few things hard to get used
to, the game should more than make it worth it.
Overall Rating: 7.7/10
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