The reviews are beginning to trickle in for Final Fantasy XIV, and critics are unanimously panning Square Enix's MMO.
Final Fantasy XIV fell through the cracks here at Game|Life; reviewing a massively multiplayer online game is always a daunting proposition and nobody had the bandwidth to take it on. Judging by what the major game enthusiast sites are saying, though, it's probably for the best that we elected not to put ourselves through the wringer on this one. While reviewers note the game's pretty graphics and stunning cinematic scenes, they also agree that all the fundamentals are broken.
The MMO is "an arduous experience that, in its current state, isn't worth playing," writes Charles Onyett at IGN, who gave the PC game a score of 5.5 ("mediocre").
"I can't help but feel that FFXIV is cosmic punishment, meted out by some avenging massively multiplayer online deity for my years of complaining about the state of modern online RPGs," writes Rory Manion at GameSpy, who gave the game 2 out of 5 stars. "It is the definition of obtuse: poorly designed, aggressively underexplained, and shoddy in almost every respect that matters."
Onyett also criticized the game's confusing, byzantine design. "It's disappointingly unfriendly toward those trying figure out all the various rules and systems churning beneath the surface that govern life, advancement, and success," he wrote. "If you've never played an MMO before, this is most definitely not the place to start. Even genre veterans are going to need to spend a good deal of time scanning fan sites and databases to understand how everything works, even for basic information on necessary functions like performing item repairs."
Specifically, many reviewers called out the game's "retainer" system. Instead of buying and selling items at auction houses, players have a retainer who goes to a special market and sells things on his or her behalf.
Clever in theory, but apparently not in practice.
"Cramming excess junk into your retainer's gaping pouches requires, like everything else in the game, lagging your way through the abysmal interface; just clearing the lint out of your pockets can eat up a solid 10 minutes. After you finish housekeeping, the retainer system ceases to be aggravating, and blossoms into abject idiocy," wrote Manion.
"If you want to buy a new sword, you have to visit one by one every retainer in sight until you just happen to by chance come across one in stock. It's a grossly inefficient process, and perplexing that it ever made it into the launch version of the game," wrote IGN's Onyett.
"Final Fantasy XIV is a notable entry to the genre but only for what it lacks," wrote Kevin VanOrd at GameSpot, who gave the game a 4.0 ("poor").
"It lacks character; bare-bones quests and audiovisual repetition fail to instill a sense of fantasy wonder. It lacks cohesion; communication failures, economic oddities, and stringent limitations leave you constantly directionless. And it lacks joy; the abysmal interface and boring monsters make it a struggle to stay invested. The open-ended classes, the stunning graphics engine, the focus on story–these elements deserve rightful praise. It's a shame they weren't put to use in a game worthy of the Final Fantasy brand," VanOrd wrote.
In the final paragraphs of their reviews, each writer addressed roughly the same point – it's possible for Square Enix to patch the game, but the issues may be too fundamental to tweak.
IGN:
GameSpot:
GameSpy:
Square Enix originally said that it would release a PlayStation 3 version of the game this year. It's not that surprising that it was bumped back to the spring of 2011. But if PC gamers find it so remarkably unpalatable, this could bring further delays.
Then again, the last time Square Enix had a PlayStation 3 port of a poorly-reviewed game get delayed, it just outright scrapped it.
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