Good game for someone who has never played Final Fantasy?

[Haze]

I keep seeing gameplay of this game and I would love to play a game I'll spend hours and hours on. But man, it all looks so confusing. So much stuff on screen at once!

Anyway, I have never played a Final Fantasy game, well I lied - I've played maybe an hour of Final Fantasy XIII but that was a long time ago. The only MMORPG that I've ever played was maybe a few hours-worth of World of Warcraft which I did enjoy but found it difficult because I had never PC gamed before.

So would you recommend this to someone who has never played Final Fantasy or played for long in a MMORPG?

I love open-world/free roam games with lots of quests. Don't know if that helps lol.

 

[Ciel]

So would you recommend this to someone who has never played Final Fantasy or played for long in a MMORPG?

As someone who plays Realm Reborn every day, it is my job to convince you to play.

To be perfectly honest I have only played a handful of FF games myself--and have enjoyed them thoroughly. Be that as it may, the game is completely appropriate for people who are not fans of the series. It is basically only Final Fantasy in its appearance. Like you this is, essentially, my first MMO. Sure I played some MMOs here and there, but not quite how I play Realm Reborn. If there is a story in the game... I'm not paying attention to it. I mean its there, I dabble, but its really not needed. This is your story. Otherwise I mean its a pretty standard affair of bad vs good.

I admit there is a lot of stuff on screen--you do have the option to reorganize and take things off. However it does not take long to get used to what you're looking at and look passed it to the point where it is not even bothersome. Further, the controller is the only way to play. I have tried playing with a mouse and keyboard, but the controller is integrated so well into the game that, ugh, it makes my heart swoon with just how good it feels and how simple it is to use and navigate menus, hotbars, and so forth.

Speaking of too much stuff on the screen, posted below is what it looks like when the majority of the server comes to "Hunt" (a new side-quest update thing just recently added that yields great rewards) an S-Class mob! RAAAARE! Hunts are a great social project by the way. Basically someone will find this mob, call it out by giving its cords, those cords spread across the server, and before you know it everyone is rushing over there. Those that arrive first tend to wait until a specific time (also called out) and once that time hits and everyone arrives, the battle commences.

Here is a handful of us lined up to fight a B-Class "Hunt" monster:

Spoiler

And here is us taking on an S-Class (SLOPPPPY!):

Spoiler

One note about the community--its one of, if not the best, community in gaming right now. I could go into this more if you wish. Further, the dev-team are always working on updates and always working on providing patches and news updates and so forth. The expansion pack is supposed to be as large, if not larger, than the base game.

There is always something to do, craft, or grind for. Hell, sometimes I get on just to platform for no reason or to dance in the middle of town with some randoms. Last night I was in the middle of doing this exhausting quest/grind and I ended up stopping for two hours just to sit there and chat with someone else who was in the same boat as I was.

Oh and the new 72 player (24 v 24 v 24) PvP is super fun as well!

 

[Haze]

Wow. So much info. All of which is most appreciated so thank you very much. Just looking at those screenshots you posted my head was spinning. So many players haha.

I have heard that the community is amazing in this and that's a big positive in my book. I'm guessing you've put in some major hours into the game? Does everything become basically second nature control-wise? Might have to hop on "Live on Playstation" on the PS4 and watch some gameplay from somebody playing it. So many questions lol.

 

[Ciel]

Wow. So much info. All of which is most appreciated so thank you very much. Just looking at those screenshots you posted my head was spinning. So many players haha.

For the most part your experience will look less like this (taken from my Twitter) and more like... open. Haha. The game feels less cluttered when you're actually playing. Seldom do you have so many people on your screen or in your way, unless of course you are participating in the game's FATEs... which you will be doing a lot, but expect no more than 10-15 players at once, on average. In these screenshots here there is probably like 30-50 people. For example here is a photo I took with the hud turned off (easy to do on the controller) while participating in a high level FATE. A lot of the end-game raids and so forth tend to get cluttered, but it is completely manageable at that point.

Does everything become basically second nature control-wise? Might have to hop on "Live on Playstation" on the PS4 and watch some gameplay from somebody playing it. So many questions lol.

Yes. It does not take long for the controls and the controller to feel like second nature, and again... the controller feels more natural than the mouse and keyboard. I can get on right now and answer any questions live as well as show you things; I can just give you my Twitch page.

 

[Haze]

For the most part your experience will look less like this (taken from my Twitter) and more like... open. Haha. The game feels less cluttered when you're actually playing. Seldom do you have so many people on your screen or in your way, unless of course you are participating in the game's FATEs... which you will be doing a lot, but expect no more than 10-15 players at once, on average. In these screenshots here there is probably like 30-50 people. For example here is a photo I took with the hud turned off (easy to do on the controller) while participating in a high level FATE. A lot of the end-game raids and so forth tend to get cluttered, but it is completely manageable at that point.



Yes. It does not take long for the controls and the controller to feel like second nature, and again... the controller feels more natural than the mouse and keyboard. I can get on right now and answer any questions live as well as show you things; I can just give you my Twitch page.

That would be awesome if you're willing to Thank you so much.

 

[Ciel]

Here you are, here is hoping the video is not laggy--a handful of people using the bandwidth in my house at the moment.

http://www.twitch.tv/spokeywho

I am not sure where you'll be commenting so I have both Twitch and the PSN chat up...

 

[Haze]

SO I thought I'd update this thread in case anybody is on the fence for this game. After many many many hours in, I am so glad I took Ciel's advice and purchased the game. I'm addicted to it so much so - I bought a PS3 copy so my fiancée could play with me

Amazing game thus far and I'm only up to Level 27 as an Archer. You know a game is good when you say you're going to play for 30-45 minutes and end up playing for 3-4 hours at least