WTF!? 6.0?! That is the most inaccurate score I've ever seen from Gamespot...
Anyway, this game is actually pretty good. I've been playing this on PS2 originally. It "feels" just like the PS2 version with PC resolution. Obviously graphically, don't expect anything outstanding. It is good though. It is tolerable. Gamespot says, "Preposterously long installation period...” Ok apparently their 360 is half dead or something because that didn’t take long at all. If 1hr, and 30 min is too long, then wow you guys are all impatient. "Virtually nothing done to enhance the experience for the Xbox 360." Can you define "direct port" to me please? What would you have liked? Voice chat? OK sure let's do that, except that everyone in FFXI would prefer Xbox 360 players over PS2 owners. I guess that's ok with you all. "Not a single unlockable achievement." OMG IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!!!!!!!!! :sarcasm: There are no achievements because there’s probably no way for the POL server to send achievements to the Xbox 360 server. Ever think about that? I was very disappointed in Gamespot after this review.
This game offers a lot for new and hardcore gamers alike. User-friendly controls are a plus also. There are 18 classes in this game. Warrior, Monk, Thief, White Mage, Black Mage, Red Mage, Dark Knight, Paladin, Ranger, Ninja, Samurai, Bard, Dragoon, Beastmaster, Summoner, Blue Mage, Corsair and Puppetmaster. Sound quality in this game is no 7 as Gamespot rated it, they gave the PC version an 8 in sound, and the Xbox 360 version sound is Dolby 5.1, not to mention you can add custom soundtracks. The music in this game is very good, sound effects are decent. Only bad thing, there’s no voice-overs. This game is displayed in 720p which is actually very good looking. Graphics are the same which baffles me on how GS gave graphics an 8 on PC, when it’s exactly the same. This game is one of the best MMO's out now. It won awards and I think best MMO of 2004 if I'm not mistaken.
In this game you can also chose any job in the game. For instance say you leveled Warrior to 15 then you decided you wanted to level up something else, you can without the troubles of restarting your character. Technically you can cap out every job in the game if desired. Which I personally feel is very fun. All the jobs feels very different yet the same in some aspects. When you create a character you have a choice of 5 races: Hume, Elvaan, Galka, Tarutaru and Mithra. And each of them plays differently. For example, Elvaan's exceed in Strength. They are the strongest class in the game. But their accuracy isn’t all that great, whereas Mithras have average STR but perfect DEX (accuracy). Tarutaru's are the masters of Magic. They have the highest Intelligence therefore causing a lot more damage when using harmful spells. Galkas are monstrous beasts who can take one hell of a beating. And a combination of a race and a class can be some of the best. The game runs a lot smoother than the PS2 version; the draw distance is a little further than the others as well. Loading times are much faster.
The game is definitely team oriented. You can solo at times but you will level up very slow. Weapons skills are awesome in this game. Weapon skills are the true damage. There are thousands of different weapons in the game. Whether you want to be a mage or melee job, you'll have a lot of fun. Basically a party is built as so: 3 Mages, 2 Melees and 1 Tank. White Mage, Black Mage, Red Mage/Bard are almost a must have in a party. Those jobs are desired the most from party leaders. Without them party sometimes tends to go slow. Unless you have kick-ass backups. Service for this is $12.95/mon. (Which is the exact same for the rest of them GS, so why didn't you complain on those versions then?) And if you're wondering if you have to pay for Xbox Live and Playonline, yes you do. But this game also is playable on Xbox Live Silver membership, which is free. So again, that completely negates Gamespot's complaint.
To be honest people tend to not like this game because of the auto-attack system. A lot of people I talk to don’t like that part of the game, yet they still enjoy it. So try it anyways. This game is extremely fun and I highly recommend buying this game if you've never played a MMO game before. This is a game to get your feet wet in the genre. Built for everyone who’s a fan of the series or MMORPG's. Definitely try this out. Read reviews before purchasing this game, except GameSpot's review. Read the reviews of other gamers who've played this game. They have mixed reviews but sometimes pretty accurate. Try this game you get a free 30 day trial. $49.99 is actually not that bad of a price, when you get all 3 expansions. So it's not bad at all. Get this game I personally think you'll like it.