It's almost unfair, really. A massively-multiplayer role-playing game isn't all that exciting in gameplay execution, it hasn't got much in the way of story, and the people who play it determine a majority of the experience for others who play it. And on top of that, the game doesn't ever really end until the servers are taken off-line, so there's no real way of "beating" the game completely, and each person who plays the game will have a different experience playing the game, as they will interact with different people and do things at a different pace, not to mention the myriad of race, job, andnationality choices. So how does one review a game that is literally massive, and unique for every experience? One simply must review the game based on their own experience, and hope that this is enough to go by for others. At first, the game seems simple enough. Pick a race, a face, a hair color, a job, and a nationality. The game offers the player the choice of five different races, ranging from huge and bulky asexual Galkas to the tiny, adorable Tarutaru's, and there is a race for each approach to the game, which factors into the plethora of jobs eventually available to the player. After picking the look, the player chooses a starting job (which is arbitrary, because jobs can be changed whenever the palyer goes back to their moogle house, or personal hub), then a nation to belong to, and they begin their journey. After a short cutscene, the player is cut free, and ready to begin an adventure of thousands of hours... and for first-time players of the genre (like myself), it may be the most daunting gaming experience they have ever had since first picking up a controller and trying to remember what does what. There is so much to do at first, and so many options to take, that it is rather disconcerting. Most players will try their hand at combat first, and this is generally a good idea; in this way, the player can begin to build their character, and as they do so, they will partake in the main reason behind games such as this: to build an avatar, an online super-representation of oneself, and in the process take part in a very large social atmosphere of peope from all over the world, especially in the case of Final Fantasy XI, in which a good half of the players hail from Japan or Hong Kong. The game's battle system isn't really an exciting system of fast reflexes and superhuman coordination, but the best players do have to have a good sense of timing... whether it's casting spells in the right order or time as a mage, or hitting the right timing for combination attacks (called "skillchains" in FFXI), or trying to obtain and hold a monster's hands-on attention, the battle system typically does have something to offer every player who can deal with the basic premise of the battles. Some people have a great time as spellcasters, whereas others love nailing combo attacks, and yet others like to mix it up. As with most portions of the game, it's open-ended to a certain degree, and it's surprising how different the job classes can feel, even among seemingly similar professions. The visuals themselves, on the PlayStation 2, are pretty good as a whole, with a fair draw distance and, at times, a good several dozen characters on the screen at a given time. Still, the textures can get pretty weak, and the framerate bogs down heavily on a semi-regular basis. Overall, the graphcis are good, but the game suffers at times from scale. Still, when one considers evrything the game is doing, and on the hardware it's on, it's not as big of a deal. The sound also has shortcomings, but these are going to become apparent in any title after hundreds to thousands of hours. Even the best songs get old after a while, and since the "beginning" part of the game will be roughly the first 100 hours of game time... well, even the best soundtrack on the planet gets old at 700 hours. That being said, the music does a good job, generally, of not being annoying, and some nice background music that never gets horrendously grating is always a bonus. The sound effects themselves are all good and enjoyable, but of particular delight is the sound an enemy (referred to as a "mob" in FFXI) makes when it detects you and decides you look like a good lunch (termed "aggro" in FFXI). The grunt of a goblin, or the delighted squeal of a bat, become Pavlovian messages of fear. The controls themselves are very complex, and it is for this reason that players absolutely need to invest in a keyboard. Not only is the PS2 soft keyboard an atrocious and obtuse system for talking in the game, which in and of itself is a huge component of FFXI, but the keyboard itself often affords quicker methods to get to certain menus, commands, and other characters, and as mentioned earlier, timing is the one big factor when things heat up in FFXI, and wrestling with pages of menus while employing limited hotkeys is not conducive to a smooth gameplay experience. When equipped with a keyboard AND a Dual Shock, however, or Logitech's superb NetPlay controller, which has a roughly laptop-sized kebyoard bracketed by respective halfs of a Dual Shock setup, the control scheme really becomes intuitive after the initial learning curve, becoming a very flexible and user-friendly interface. However, if FFXI was all about levelling up, attaining advanced jobs through lengthy and involved quests, and expanding the story, which, at its best, is only mildly interesting, it wouldn't be any fun, and even the most compulsive levellers would burn out before long. Instead, FFXI is very much a game based on the idea of community, and the community is strong, with a mix of relaxed players and hardcore alike, and, as mentioned, many players are Japanese. The Japanese players are a real treat to play with, even with the somewhat limited auto-translate features, and are typically very polite. Players from north America and Europe range across the board, but it's not too ahrd to find some like-minded folk, and before long most players are in a "linkshell", a group of people that typically help each other accomplish goals and act something as a large clique or clan. Although most of the time spent in the game is spent levelling, players can also engage in a myriad of other activities, such as crafting, fishing, questing, taking missions for one's nation, and fighting special battles with extra rules for potentially huge payoffs. Also, many players "camp" special foes, "farm" specific enemies for the items they drop, "bazaar" their spare items, or just hang out and socialize with friends. Overall, Final Fantasy Xi is a very large, very complex game that takes not only a large investment of time to get into and enjoy, but also a very large investment of money, as PS2 version requires players to purchase the HDD, the network adapter if they don't have one, the game, and after the first month, the monthly fee, not to mention the extra $1 per month required for additional characters. That being said, for those who really play the game, the investment of time and money is actually worth it, and many consistent players wil find themselves with a better dollar per hour deal than with just about any other game they've ever played. It's a big, intimidating world out there, but for those with the patience and determination, there are rewards of fame and fortune, success and a story the player creates. Final Fantasy XI asks a lot of those who play it, but it gives back just as much as it requires. It's not perfect, either, but it's a very good game, and a good way to test the MMORPG waters for those willing to take the genre for a spin.
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