do you like waiting? if you do try this. if you don't stay away.
graphic:
both good and bad. i am writing this for pc version. so depends on what pc you have. i will write this category based on what i have. spec below.
cpu: amd 64 4000
ram: 1gig pc3200
video: geforce 6800 ultra 256mb
now, my opinion. it's great! world is huge, so huge it takes place to place about 10-20 min running. buildings are detail enough, characters are about average. what i really didn't like was its draw distance. it's fairly short.
sound:
it's beautiful. no more comments ^^
gameplay:
this is where this game falls apart. i am not saying FF11 isn't a bad game, but to me it kind of was. when you start a character, you can only have one per account. if you want extras, each costs $1. pc version game is now $20 + expansion $20 or if you buy the bundle that's $30. with $13 a month, and some extra characters. that's quite of an investment for people who don't have jobs. i also suggest you to buy a pc version. as you might already know sony's lack of support on hdd and no more big ps2, it's quite risky to play on ps2. if you really prefer console version, go for x360.
when you first start, you will be lost. i was and most of people from my linkshell (kind of like hmm clan or in-game cell phone) was. you absolutely don't know what to do and where to go. learning curve is fairly difficult. FF11 community is nice enoough that if you ask random people, most likely they will answer your question. unlike diablo 2 where their favorite words are "noobs" "newbies" of course there are always idiots on every online games, but FF11 was first game for me that i felt community was pretty friendly.
you can only level up your character to 10 - 12 by yourself. since this game focuses on team oriented system, you will have to find parties. when you are in a party, this is where friendly community becomes evil. it's all depends on how you do. a death penalty is very critical in this game that people are very sensitive. if you don't do your part, they most likely kick you out and remember you so they don't need to invite you anymore. now, i am not going into what jobs have what responsiblities. it's your job to find out.
finding parties is most annoying part in this game. if you are in luck finding parties can take you from 10 min - 1 hour. if you aren't, then it will take you couple hours. what's worse is, to prevent hacks and cheats, you can't switch back to the desktop while you are in the game. if you do so, game will automatically shut down. basically all you will do while waiting is, looking at your monitor for long time, some characters showing off with their skills, or see other people join parties but not you. it will seriously test your patience. not just that there are popular jobs and unpopular ones, if you unfortunately picked unpopular one (monk) you will have hard time as your character gets higher level. speaking of high level, more higher your level gets, it even gets harder for you to find parties. if you are super lucky, then hour to hours. if you aren't then couple of days. yes couple days.
now for the second annoying part. leveling your job. there are main jobs and subjobs. now, you will immediately think leveling those two jobs shouldn't be too hard. well think again! don't think your main job gets full exp where your sub job gets half. it doesn't work that way here. you will need to level your main job then switch back to subjob then level that too. it takes extra time, extra money, and revisit those places again for a long time. if you have unbalance levels with your main and sub, really~ good luck finding parites. quests are quite challenging. some early quests you will be able to do it yourself, but later on you will need to be in parties.
if you played diablo 2 before, then you will know what i will say next. trading in that game is just annoying. people will always try to rip you off. such as "and?" "add more" where the item you are trying to get is enough with your offer. FF11 actually works better. there is still character to character trade option, but you will use more auction houses than other method. money is very important in this game. in order for you to make money, you hunt items. you keep items that are hot. you sell them to the auction house. if you are selling hot items, you will be able to get your money in no time. this way you don't need to deal with jerks to trade.
there are many more stuff to do in this game. crafting, fishing, decorating, make food, and etc.
i already wrote a dictionary here. i hope my review helps and for you to decide. it's a good game, many FF theme is in it, and also feels like better looking version of everquest. if you are a fan of FF series and dying to try this game, go for it and see for yourself. but, you are a fan, and you hate waitings, i say.. stay away.