We’ve all been there when Final Fantasy XIV, or 1.o was shut down. Did it deserve the brutal criticism as a rushed, unpolished game that was doomed from the very start? Absolutely. The key lessons learned from that mess was used in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, and how times have changed. FFXIV AAR is a success and comeback story that will be talked about for a long time to come.
Therefore, if you’ve been thinking of checking out the modern iteration of FFXIV, here’s why it’s never too late to jump in.
The Quality Increases With Every Expansion
Everyone agrees that A Realm Reborn is indeed way better than its predecessor. Progression had a better flow, and the game’s engine and graphics are a significant upgrade. But the thing with FFXIV is that it’s never stagnant, and continuously improves. And we’re talking about in all departments. If you thought the Main Scenario Quests (Main story) is good in the base game, it only improves further in the two expansions since. Heavensward introduced more immersive storytelling and got rid of the annoying cut scenes in raids and dungeons. Stormblood on the other hand, completely blows everything we’ve seen so far out of the water. It’s safe to say that if you plan on dropping money for a sub, you’ll eventually find that it will be worth the money the farther you progress and play.
The Class Changes Are Improvements
With that many Professions and Jobs in game, balancing is a hard act and any MMO worth its salt gradually makes changes. With the two expansions now live, the tweaks and changes to FFXIV’s classes have been excellent. The game merges bloated skills and traits to offer a better class progression experience. At the same time, the classes maintains their uniqueness from each other and are still able to do what they need to do, be it DPS, Heal or Tank. On top of that, they keep adding new classes too. Stormblood’s brand new Samurai class is a joy to behold, adding more content to an already diverse lineup of classes.
Square Enix Listens To Their Players
When it comes to MMO developers, we judge them on a multitude of factors, especially how they react to player feedback. Square Enix does indeed care, albeit they take their time implementing improvements to the game. The benefit of jumping into Final Fantasy XIV four years after release is that you’re getting the best of the changes now. One of the major complaints of the base game is that PvP requirement. The new Stormblood expansion now makes it faster to get into PvP, beginning at level 30. This is a significant change that allows the PvP enthusiasts to experience it sooner and the scaling is great too.
