Rating: 
Summary: Very mediocre compared with other MMORPGs
Review: The annoying features of this game start immediately when you first boot up the disks. After three registration codes and an "update" download that takes over an hour to download using broadband (!), you're in business. Well, if you want to call it that.The gameplay is confused and scattered. Not enough clear direction, no real record of what has happened, so that if you don't write things down, poof they are gone and there is no way to recall what someone said to you at all. It's pretty easy to wander around aimlessly in cities designed for the high-level Japanese PCs where you can only do window shopping because you can't afford a damned thing that they are selling. Get GILs with quests, you say? Sure, but good luck not getting killed with your subpar weapons and armor. And then, of course, you lose experience and your weapons and items, leaving you basically at wits end, reduced to begging other PCs to spare a few GILs so that you can buy another weapon. And don't think about trying to create another character if you get frustrated with the first one --- that will cost you extra, amigo! You pay for each character you create, in addition to the monthly fee for airtime! What a raw deal financially -- greedy, greedy, greedy. I mean $1 per character may not seem like much, but when you're paying $50 for the game to begin with and then $12 a month for access, you have to ask when will the greed end? The graphics? Okay, but I would have expected better. SWG has much better graphics than this. It looks like a console game, albeit a large one. The game world is certainly large -- that is true, but the graphic detail levels are adequate but disappointing. The same seems solitary and antisocial, there aren't groups easily formed, there is a cultural disconnect between the players in Asia and the players in North America. Frankly, bottom line -- in my view, it isn't really that much fun to play. When I play MMORPGs, I won't be spending too much time, if any, tooling around in this one. SWG and DAoC are both far more enjoyable, social MMORPGs than this one, and as a result a better use of the gamer's time.
Rating: 
Summary: Not sure yet
Review: I don't know what to think of this game yet, I just ordered it, I've read many reviews, some say it sucks, others say it's great. I don't have a super computer, so I hope that it all runs fine for me, I'm sure it is a great game, I love all the other final fantasies, and it is only natural for it to expand to the internet. All and all, I hope it is worth the money, if it turns out to be a dissapointment, I know that I will never buy another final fantasy that is online again.
Rating:
Summary: !WARNING!
Review: ive seen the website. ive read every last T and I. ive read these reveiws... ok not really. rating: This game ROCKS! but before you buy it, make sure your computer has the right parts, or youll get a bunch of slow moving blocks (like playing starcraft online).
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of fun, but costs lots of money
Review: The game is great but I thought someone should tell potential buyers the only way play this game is to pay 12+ dollars each month, so unless you are ready to pay $40 for the game and $180 a year to play perhaps you shouldn't purchase this game.
Rating: 
Summary: a trail back home
Review: Marcy is excited she got brand new shoes. Marcy watches her feet as she walks the avenue so she can see them move. Marcy runs into a telephone poll and falls down. Marcy drips a few tears on the ground then runs back home. Marcy takes off her shoes and hugs them knowing they'll eventually be outgrown. Marcy's friends all went bowling and she's left with nothing to do. Marcy puts in 'Final Fantasy' and pretends away the blues.
Rating:
Summary: Nice try - but there's so many little things
Review: I have a lot of opinions so let me just list them plain and simple. This is not a bad game, but it is essentially a playstation 2 game on your computer with all the good and bad things that come along with it. Let me begin with the bad so we can end on a high note. - horribly low resolution graphics. Everything looks grainy, with the distance looking horrible - just a bunch of moving squares that make you sick. The textures are lower res and look terrible upon getting too close. So PC users, welcome back to the long gone days of big square pixels that have been gone for so long. I'm sure this game looks great on a tv from ten feet away. - the navigation of menus and chat don't appear to have been changed either. And the manual mentions nothing about being able to use a gamepad which would be much better suited to the task. So yeah, just imagine trying to play a typical final fantasy game with a mouse... its not fun. And to bring up menus which you would normally do with a button you push things like "-" or "Ctrl I". And these menus and chat windows all take up an absurdly large ammount of the screen because of the low resolution. There is no transparency option, and there are only about eight window backgrounds to select from... no of which are subtle. And you cannot type in numbers with the keyboard. You have to use arrows to select how much gold to bid at the auction house. - There is a lack of races, and variation in the races. Everybody is going to look about the same for the most part. There are ten different faces to choose from, of which nobody will ever really notice the difference in real gameplay - There is no guild support. There are no guilds in town for character classes. And there are no player guilds. This is a huge mistake imo, as it makes players have even less control over their world, and is going to significantly take away from the late game. Yeah, you can use your linkshell or whatever, but why not just put in full guild support like most people would want - Lack of zone chat make for a very solitary experience, and the fact that nobody wants to group. Zones are overcrowded, there are too few monster spawns, and monsters do not spawn often enough. Noob zones should be swarming w/ monsters so noobs can lvl up and get out. Noob zones are swarming with players. - Its just not that fun. The game feels sluggish. Movement speed feels slow. Characters can only manage to swing at a monster every couple/few seconds. The difficulty in leveling up - it feels equivalently slow as everquest - makes combat boring as initial characters have very few skills so every battle is almost identical, and slow at that. Some dungeons would certainly add to the game as well. If they are there, great, but I haven't seen any. And if its one of those things that you have to wait until higher lvls to do... well I am sick of rpg's that are suppossed to get "fun" once you reach x level. They should be fun from the start. This feeling of being a great adventurer is not helped by the fact that you are killing bunny rabbits, worms, sheep, and such. I have played several characters up to lvl 10. So I'm sure there is better stuff later, player grouping, and more fun, but would it kill them to make the beginning of the game fun? - Steep learning curve. Useless manual. Playing the game essentially requires accessing 3rd party websites for information. Stupid quests and abusrdly difficult quests that could never reasonably be completed without help from the web. The goods - Its final fantasy.. come on. Graphics are creative and the monster models are good. - The towns are filled with npc's which makes for a good feel as opposed to some rpg's with vacant towns. The towns are also large. - Save points near many exits of towns so you don't have to walk forever. - Its a hell of a lot better than many other mmorpgs... but not good enough for me to play anymore. I guess I'll get back to waiting for Blizzard to finish WOW. There is just nothing in this game to draw me in and hold me. The game feels very static and sterile. I guess its just like playing your typical final fantasy game only it moves much more slowly, combat is not as fun, and there is not any story line, or atleast one that moves quickly enough to care about. Frankly I just don't think pc users will put up with the shortcomings of a console designed game. If it were made for pc and slimmed down for the playstation that'd be fine. But the other way just doesn't fly, because pc users expect a lot more than this.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful but weird
Review: I never really thought much about Final Fantasy XI. I knew it was some online console game in Japan and wasn't particularly anticipating it. But a few friends were playing it so I jumped on the bandwagon and ordered it. What a shock. I almost missed what is without question the best Massive Multiplayer game released for years. The graphics are top notch and don't require a supercomputer to reach a playable level. The world is very original and large. The quests are involving and including "cut scene" videos that make you feel like the world is alive and involving. The first weekend after release was a major in-game halloween event. But it's the gameplay that makes this a winner. The gameplay is just plain fun. The game has a very slow level curve and can be very harsh losing experience or even a level if you die. But it doesn't seem like a problem because fighting is such a pure pleasure! There are enough special attacks to keep everyone interested and attacks can combine with those of other members of the group to produce additional effects. Challenges are very well measured, offering a reasonable reward for work. Each class has a large number of things to do and is useful to a group -- you can also take a subclass at level 18 and can swap between classes at your house in the city. Tradeskills are workable and in the game, requiring both purchased and quested materials. There's a great system for auctioning items. It has tools for finding a group. Oh, and the game is bug free. Not relatively bug free. Not mostly bug free. It's bug free. Really. The only crashes I've heard of relate to some installation problems and issues with video card drivers. The game itself is flawless. Systems work. It doesn't crash. That's the wonderful, now for the weird. This game is a Japanese market console game designed for the Playstation2 and it shows. Square Enix, the publisher, did a great job porting the game to the PC, but it is a copy of the client slightly adapted to the PC. It is not a separate game from the PS2 version and the controls and assumptions of the game come from a console market. Most players find the controls very confusing at first, but for me after a few days of play they became second mature. Along with controls, there's a small single text window -- again because that's what can be displayed on a PS2/television. You are making compromises. SE also did not introduce any new servers for the North American market and as a US player, I'm aware that I'm definitely a stranger in a strange land. It may also make finding a group difficult. You are also limited to a single character with your basic subscription; additional characters are $1/month for each. And you can only play on one server, which is randomly assigned which may mean creating and deleting until you find the one your friends are on (or they can buy an in game item called a "world pass" for you). None of these is in my opinion a major problem, but they do irritate a lot of players. If a player can't accept that this is the way it is, they won't be happy with FFXI. Pity for them. This is a winner.
Rating:
Summary: Unbeliably good game!!! 10 stars!
Review: First let me say that I trully, trully love this game!!! Ok, so here is what makes this game the best game i have ever ever played: -Graphics are stupendous. Considering that this is an online game with thousands of players, the graphics are very detailed and they run very smoothly. I sometimes like to just take in the beautiful scenery. -Gameplay is wonderful. Never a dull moment. There is really too much to say about this topic since what you can do in the game would be hard to say in 1,000 words here. You can do missions, quests, create items of different kinds (as in bone items, gold items, and many other types of items), you can join other players and go on a killing rampage accross the land against difficult monsters (this is my favorite part of the game :) ), you can fish, etc, etc, etc... There is never a dull moment. If you get tired of fighting you can create items for other players and make yourself some good money. You can fish and make $ that way also. Ok, on to another topic.... (too much to say here) -Cost of the game is low. They give you 30 days free trial, which is very good. Considering how much work went into this game and how well it is done, I think the cost is very low for this game. If you buy this game, I highly doubt you will be dissappointed. It is an excellent, excellet game :)
Rating:
Summary: A Very Good Game With a Few Lil Things Here and There...
Review: I'm gonna make this quick... The game has alot of ups and very few downs... I've played quite a few mmorpgs and this one is resembles them in one way or another. Don't take it from idiots who put it down becuase of the name, this is an acual solid hit. ONE WORD OF WARNING TO PPL WHO DO NOT PLAY MMORPGS (at all that is) - Yes, this is an MMORPG, MMO being the main part of the formula. Thus it is an online ONLY game. No single play, and unlike the Final Fantasy series, this doesnt really have a story (although it does). If your looking for another Final Fantasy clone then dont go rampagin on how it isnt like what it was. Im sick and tired of ppl going off like that, ppl who dont even play mmorpgs in the first place. If u hate this game b/c of this then stick to ur consoles for all we care... It is true that u need 3 keys for this game alone, making it one of the longest step-by-step installs I've EVER was required to do. To add to this, there is also the issue of the newest patch update that tied up alot of loose ends in the game, an update for a few still in the stoneages of 56k land, is hell, for it is 200+ Mb = to 9 hrs for 56k or 1 hr for broadband. Past that, the PlayOnline Interface they required u to use is a really neat tool. If u and a bunch of your friends get in on the game (or u make a few in-game) this interface allows u to start up chat lines and even gives u a email address to use to send and recieve messages from ppl in the game (which gives u an indication if u have mail while playing). This can come to an annoyance to the few who just want to play the game, for u HAVE to go through PlayOnline to play the game, but then it is a really nice interface. The character creation proccess isnt much at all. At some point you'd be wishing there to be more character designs, but with all the different armors and weaponry, there shouldnt be much to complain about. Graphicly, this game is stunning. Everything is in the proper place with a few areas being a bit bland, which alot of ppl tend to blow on, but I still like it anyway (a desert is a desert unless someone tells me otherwise =P). The gfx in the environments are some the best ive seen in mmorpgs (up there with ac2 and star wars galaxies [even tho that game still sucks]). Oh and I should really mention the very nice summons and magic. They look very very nice. Summons are a spectial in their own right and isnt everyday that one gets to see or use the powerful beasts. One big beef on this system of gfx- the use of Alt-Tabbing or going to ur start menu with the game running will crash the game and close it down automatically, very annoying if someone happens to IM u... It is obvious that this game is made for the console. Anyone playing this will want to not only bring up the gfx to full (not much needed to actually do that) but u might want invest in a gamepad, its alot more confortable than using the keyboard for anything other than talking and macros. Without the gamepad, the game is still a breeze to play, and ull find urself not using the mouse at all after a few times of play. Battles are good, and you can always check what type of monster you are attacking and how you will put up against it (a HUGE plus) so there shouldn't be any complaining about that. It is true, if u try to run, u sometimes cannot make it out fast enough, but u gotta run when u know ull lose, not at the last minute. Other than that, there isnt much wrong with battles. Like any other popular mmorpg, the battles are real-time and depending on ur job lvl and weapon, u attack at a givin rate. The game really influences the use of parties on missions (which i highly recommend) monsters and bosses are too tough for a single character to take on (with the exception of VERY HIGH lvl PCs). Exploration can really bog down when ur in town. The real expansiveness of it all can take a while to get from one point to another when u dont know where u need to get to. Outside, enemies tend to get stronger the farther u go from town. Quests and missions are a must to do. They not only give u money and items, but unlock abilities and options (like mog jump in a particular area, allowing u to go to any part of town once u exit ur mog house). And like EQ or anyother mmorpg, they are the usual, kill blah and give it to blah. But there isn't really anyother way to do it these days so stop complaining already... Anything other than these few tidbits are things you really wont be needing to be putting urself in over your head about. About the servers, U CAN PICK WHICH U WANT TO BE IN!!! Its right there before u create a characer. After u make ur character, u either have the choice to go straight to the game (random server) or chose a server. And if u do find urself wanting to join another server, the world pass does take a bit to buy and u start on that server at lvl 1 (hopefully they will change that) but u have no need for this feature if u choose the server urself... This game is FUN and the lil things here and there are just somethings u can live with after u go through the game a few times. For those looking for an easier experience, ask ppl in game or buy a guide. The Japanese PCs that are already in the game sometimes can and do talk in English (that it is being taught over their is just one of the reasons why) so dont feel too alienated about such things...
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: this is one of the best mmorpgs yet
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