Hooked on this game for over 2 years, yet feeling as though I want some of that time back
I'll go point-for-point
Sound: The biggest disappointment for me. I went in and actually changed the sound files to suit my needs--and in doing so, I brought in alot of reprised Final Fantasy themes for orchestra. It's hard to really emphasize how much this game could have benefited from a fully orechestrated soundtrack...but suffice it to say, the presentation would have benefited immensely. As it is, battle music is probably the highlight while the rest is its bane. Sound effects are actually HIGHLY impressive and, as stated in many other reviews, the game even details various spells with their own unique sounds giving each its own identity of sorts.
Graphics: For 2004, which is when I picked up the game for PC, the graphics were fine. Today, in 2007, they will probably disappoint. Though, I must point out that I prefer these graphics to those in WoW any day of the week. The game's visuals shine through via its unique art style and have a more "realistic" appeal to them than those of WoW. Unfortunately, there really isn't as much character customization as there aught to be in a game with 100s of thousands of players. Consequently, you'll be seeing alot of yourself in the form of clones throughout your journeys.
Presentation: By far, this is FFXI's strongest aspect. The game nails the "feeling" of its mythos perfectly. Spells sound so natural, you'll wonder why other games don't implement them the same way--Cure spells have a rising pitch which gives an appropriate snese of healing, lightning spells crackle and crunch as they course through an enemy, and enhancing magics conclude with a glittering sound as little magic particles dance around the appropriate character. Various special abilities like "sneak attack", "soul eater", "warcry", "jump", and "provoke" really sound as you might imagine they should.
Longevity: This game is LONG! Did you hear that? LONG! There is enough content here to keep you playing for many years...and then some. That said, the end of the game (that is, when you reach the game's highest level of 75), is, ironically, when the game becomes somewhat tyring. Getting into high level "linkshells" (the game's equivalent to guilds) can be challenging and the need to always have a huge aliance or party in order to accomplish things can really drag down the game's tempo. If you're willing to sit for hours and not really get anything accomplished, the few times you are able to do things as a group are very rewarding. Personally, at my age, I just don't have time to sit around an do nothing in a virtual world...I could do that in real life, and do so for free.
System: The battle system is very engaging...probably the most fun I've had in any RPG, let alone MMORPG. There are things like "sneak attack", "provoke", "weaponskills", "skillchains", and "magic bursts" which add a TON of strategy to fighting. Consequenty, there seems to be a clear-cut "right way" to fight battles and, after four years of testing, players will quickly beocme irritated if you don't uphold the status quo. Also, for all of the variety added by the game's numerous jobs, there seems to be much favoratism towards certain jobs, and resultantly, certain party configurations due to apparent flaws in the game's allocation of abilities across all jobs---that is to say that FFXI could benefit tremendously from job balancing as it seems to favor those classes which use one handed, faster-attack style weapons (ala Monks, Wariors, and Ninjas). All in all, take care deciding which class to play...doing so can make for an extremely easy ascent to 75 or an extremely miserable one.
Finally, the game is just old by today's standards. If you haven't already played FFXI, or just can't resist the urge to see what the FF mythos might be like online, then you really shouldn't bother starting this game. Hold out for Square's next MMO or play one of the more modern offerings available today. As for the amount of time I put into the game--chalk it up as wanting to protect my investment; that is, I put so much time and moeny into this game that, at a certain point, it became difficult to just throw it all away when I should have probably hedged my losses and moved on.