Rating: 
Summary: Final fantasy at its best
Review: This is one of the greatest FFs ive ever played. The best way to summarize it is that this game is a Real Time Final fantasy Tactics. You can choose your race, what kingdom you want to start in, and what Job you want to be. As you complete quests, you can unlock more Jobs. When you reach level 18, you have the choice of adding a sub-job, which adds variety.Some people say the controls are wierd. There not that wierd once you change a few things. In the game, go to the main menu, then go to config, and change the keyboard setting to compact. this makes the controls 10 times easier. The graphics are nice and the music is top-notch. What also good about this game is its EXTREMELY high replay value. Dont wanna fight, master 10+ crafts such as Blacksmith, GoldSmith, carpenter, and more. Dont wanna do that? Grow a garden or go fishing. Dont wanna do that? Open your own bazzar and sell items at your own prices. Forming parties is the key thing in this game. Battles can be much easier once you form parties. Its also good to have a mix of jobs in a party. Your party should not consist only of attackers or Mages. It should be a combo of both. One good idea is An attacker, a tank (person who takes all the damage), an Black mage, and a Healer (Bard or White Mage). Overall this game is a mustbuy. Read the other reviews if you dont believe me. By the way. If anyone wants to form a party and is in the Kjata server, contact me. My name is Acton and im a lvl. 5+ Galkan Monk. Im willing to join any plarty
Rating: 
Summary: If you're ok with the monthly Fee, then buy it.
Review: This game actually would be good if it didnt have a $13 dollar fee per month- just to play it. I have 15 other online games which have NO fees at all! They just want your money and if you want to play they get a lot of it. After 10 months they will have earned $130. Why not just price the game at $200 in the first place because eventually its going to cost that much anyway. This is the biggest rip off I've really ever seen. If you can handle the fee, then I guess it's an OK game. One more thing, there is no single player mode so when the servers go down in 10 years or so, you cant play this game at all. I cant believe how poorly they made this. Everything about this game is so bad, do not buy this. It looks great I know, wait until you get it, you'll see.
Rating:
Summary: More than a Mere MMORPG
Review: When I first read about Final Fantasy XI in gaming magazines, I had my doubts. I thought it would be like any other Final Fantasy game in which you go around, beating the game in a week or two, with the only new feature, online play. Oh, I was wrong all right. I first got my taste of this game at a local internet cafe. I played for about five minutes and I was immediately hooked. You have many options as far as character customization goes. Its gameplay is very in-depth. The world is so huge, that you could spend hours on end just exploring one city! It breaks the mold of usual turned-based Final Fantasy games. It hasn't completely revamped its gameplay, however. I thought a neat addition to the series was the idea of the 'Mog House.' The Mog House is your own little appartment (which happens to be free!), and you can decorate and customize it in many different ways. The only downsides: Square Enix charges you about $13 per month, and an extra $1 per month for Tetra Master and/or an extra character. However, you'll be more than satisfied with only one character. Even though this may be a little expensive for some of the kids with a small allowance, trust me, it's more than worth it. The other problem is that if you have a friend on one specific server, and you want to play with them, you have to do one of two things. Since the server you play on is random, you can delete and recreate characters until you get the right server, or you have to get your friend to buy you a world pass. A world pass is an item (bought with Gil, the Final Fantasy currency) which allows you to provide a number to a friend. When that friend recieves that number, it allows them to travel to that server and make a character there. Overall, this is an excellent game and I'd, personally, give it more than five stars, if I could. ;P
Rating:
Summary: Configure your Keyboard and Enjoy
Review: Everyone who complains about the menus needs to change the configuration to the alternate keyboard setup. You then use the familiar w,a,s,d keys for movement. There are macros you can create to do simple, or very complex thinks in simple keystrokes. For the people who say the graphics are bad, am I the only one who went into the setup and set my reolution and texture compression settings. Use the supplied tools to tailor the game's settings to the system you have people. I noticed one reviewer who stated he had a state-of-the-art nvidia card but not a geforce. Ummm I dont know of any state-of-the-art nvidia cards that aren't Geforce based (other than for graphics workstations, ie not for gaming). Geforce has been the standard GPU by nvidia for years. It clearly states on the box that you need a Geforce based or Radeon 9000 based graphics card or higher. If you cannot check the required specs when buying a game you need to be a console gamer, not a PC gamer. This game is great. The graphics are smooth when settings are correct for your card, and the game is not laggy at all. the menus are easy to use and easily accesible with a click of the 3rd mouse button or scroll if you have it. All MMORPGs take time to develop your character, I am surprised how many people say it took them 4 hours to level when I was level 5 my first night (3 hours play). I may be more used to a mmorpg world but even a newb should level in less than once every four hours at low levels. The combat adds several nice options with Technique Points (similar to Limit Break for console FF players). You can also do skill chains when multiple people in the party use their techique point special attacks. This game is deep and well though out. It is also a blessing to not have a buggy game since it has been thouroughly tested in the Japaneese market. If you don't liek teamwork this game is not for you, but if you want a fun game with lots of opportunities do do what you want this is the game for you. It is a much friendlier community for newbs than EQ so if you are new to MMORPGs this might be a good place to start learning.
Rating: 
Summary: Final Fantasy XI Rules !!!!
Review: Final Fantasy XI is a fun and addictive game. you may chose from five classes:hume, elvaan, tarutaru, mithra, galka.Their are 6 jobs u can chose from and 6 other jobs u can get by doing cetain quests.If u dont want to fight u can always fish, mine, harvest, and/or log. You can chose from 3 nations you want to live in Kingdom of San d'oria, Republic of Bastok, and/or Federation of windurst.Since its a online game there are lots of people on. there are around 20 worlds that u are ramdomly put in.there is a set back though there is a $12.95 fee every month. the game comes with 30 days free. If you dont have a PC dont worry it will be coming out on playstation 2 some time in febuary 2004. PS The offical Web site is www.playonline.com.
Rating: 
Summary: Some good, some bad
Review: This game definitely has some good points, with a cohesive story line, good character development system and decent quests. Where it falls down is technically. The UI is cumbersome, the graphics are last generation and the patching mechanism (how online games get updates) is hit or miss. Will provide hours of entertainment if you can get past the weak spots.
Rating:
Summary: Lame!
Review: Cookie cutter character creations, linear gameplay, lame monsters, boring classes and concepts. Nothing here hasn't been done before much better, it's a lame EQ clone.
Rating:
Summary: Final Fantasy Fans Will Love this MMORPG
Review: I'm a gaming madman. I've played well over 180 days of pure playtime on mmorpgs and probably approaching 365 if I haven't passed it already. That said I've probably played out at least half the mmorpgs out there. But before I was playing MMORPGs, I was playing Final Fantasy. I'm the biggest FF fan there is, FF XI, disappointed me because it didn't have a "Final Fantasy" feel like you get in the rest of the single palyer series, but it only disappointed me because I was used to such great games in the FF series. This game feels like an MMORPG, not an RPG. Don't expect too much gameplay like FF. I was hoping the fights would feel like FF, but it's your standard Player vs Evil MMORPG battles. However, I gave this game 5 stars, because even though it disappointed me when I compare it as part of the final fantasy series, I was impressed by it being an mmorpg. There are a lot of simpler elements in the game that hasn't been seen in other mmorpgs, like auction houses, weapon skills, magic bursting. Players knowledge, style of play, alertness, severely impacts how well a group does. I can't believe the difference when I party with a japanese group as compared to an American group. And yes, you have to play with Japanese players, which adds a whole new element to the MMORPG genre. I've never had to deal with people that didn't speak the same langauge on an hourly basis, it is definetely a good, new experience on an MMORPG. Final Fantasy has tons of quests, and you can be your favorite job, anyone who wanted to be a ninja can finally be one(although it's not as kick ass as you might have wanted it to be, haha) FF XI: A good MMORPG with some familiar FF elements, but not enough to have a real "Final Fantasy" feel. If anyone has wanted to play an MMORPG or loves final fantasy, this game would be a solid buy.
Rating:
Summary: Pales in comparison to Star Wars Galaxies...and Natalie!
Review: I just have to say, this si the worst game ever made in the history of mankind. All the quests are soooooooo boring and pointless. I have a certain unnamed friend who is obsessed with this game and it baffles me, because he should be playing SW:G instead. He's mad, I tell you! If I were him, I'd be worshiping Natalie Portman nonstop 24 hours a day rather than wasting his time with a pointless chat fest. Natalie Portman was supposed to come over my friend's house but then she abandoned me! I forgive her, though. Who can't? Anyway, enough baabling. In the immortal words of Arwen (pretty, but Natalie is a goddess next to her), "lasto beth nin, dolo nan naglad" My friend take these words to heart and abandon his childish whims...and Natalie is...(gah! *dies*)
Rating:
Summary: Straightforward
Review: After reading a couple of reviews over this game I've come to the conclusion that several players, particularly the jaded "MMORPG experienced" ones, have either grown tired of the genre or have lost sight of what an MMORPG should be. These days, the average player wants to be spoonfed information and power quickly and to have complete control of the virtual situation. That way there's more direction and less exploration involved; if your path is already mapped out, there's no trial and error, just methodically follow the path with the knowledge that everything will turn out right. I can tell you right now that if you think you're going to be able to pick up ANY MMORPG and have a good idea of how to play simply from reading the manual than you are a certifiable idiot. Sorry! Hate to be harsh, but that's the way it is. The manual is there to give you just enough to get you started; a brief lowdown on the controls and some of the mechanics like combat and very brief job descriptions. If you want more, then you can pay for a dummy guide (a.k.a. Strat Guide) or do the smart thing and look it up online or ASK PEOPLE WHO ARE ALSO PLAYING THE GAME. The only thing I needed the manual for was to figure out the controls, after that, I asked my fellow online players for help; all of whom were happy to aid me (Japanese and NA players) or go around talking to NPCs and PAYING ATTENTION. One of the appeals of this game is that you are immersing yourself into a vast world; there would be absolutely no appeal (at least for me) if I knew exactly how everything worked. We have to play with advanced Japanese players. Many people like to spin this as a bad thing, either because they resent having to play with people better off than themselves or are childishly jealous. Many of the high lvl Japanese players are often more than happy to lend a hand to lower lvls. Most of the people who complain about higher lvl Japanese players only do so because they asked them for gil or equipment; in other words, they asked the Japanese players to ruin the game for them. It's true that you'll need to rely on your fellow players in this game to lvl up and advance very heavily, but don't expect them to let you take advantage of them. The economy is stiff, but it's not broken. It's true that getting good gear is a task in of itself. Most of the time, you learn a lot about how to make money and where the best place to buy/sell things are. Supply/Demand rules definetely apply and there are often individual markets depending on what activity or job you're partaking in. You can succeed in it; many reviewers have skewed it as a "Japanese-Elite" that are dominating the economy. From my perspective, that's a lot of hollow crap. The graphics are great, but my favorite part of the game is how straightforward combat is. You don't have to repair equipment, you don't have a lot of choices even about what equipment to use, so you don't waste time worrying about your equipment, saving you time to actually USE it (novel concept here!!). In may other MMORPG's that I've played like Ultima for example, this was the case, and it detracted from the action. If you get a party together that's solid, you can go out and hunt for hours uninterrupted. That's appealing to me at least. The streamlined play of the game may seem unrefreshing to many, but I think it allows gamers to focus on the task of improving their character and questing. Honestly, I don't play video games to perform menial tasks, I play them to do amazing things. Aside from the hours of lvling required to power up, this game lets you do that. The job system is pretty standard; it allows you to change gears anytime and try on any different role you want, whenever you want, with no penalty other than your time. If you want to stop being a lvl 65 samurai and become a lvl 1 white mage, then go for it. You can always go back to being lvl 65 samurai whenever you want. It's almost like consolidating almost a dozen characters into one, which is kinda cool. And race differences don't really hinder your job choices so much as they can potentially help them; you can play any job effectively with any class. Give it a try if you like MMORPG's. You may like it or you may not, just please remember to think for yourself. This review is more to encourage you rather than compell you to play. If you have the funds and are willing, give it a shot. We're a fairly warm gaming community and it's extremely newbie friendly.
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