For a game that went to the depths of MMO hell and danced its way out it does pretty well for itself.

User Rating: 9 | Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn PC
Nothing truly innovative but it's a blast to play even still.

The difficulty seems just right (could be upped just a tad IMO) especially as you begin to hit the dungeons. The boss fights are entertaining as some of them are a bit of a puzzle that needs to be figured out if you want to win. I'd say difficulty is in between casual and hard core, but never the less it can keep you on your toes.

The user interface is a give standard from other MMOs out there, but hey it's like they say, "Don't fix it if it's not broken." Macros through the hot bar menu make for easy accessibility and fluid adjustments. The action and traits menu allows for organized functionality of your abilities making them easy to find and equip into your hot bar.

The grind is a far cry from what it used to be like in FFXI when you were lucky to make a few levels a week (pre aby). Now you can cap in about 1 to 3 weeks depending how much you play and how often you play. FATEs, leves, dungeons, and guild hests make gaining experience easily accessible thus allowing for steady and consistent leveling. Again nothing new but it works well.

As far as story is concerned it's sub par when compared to the single player stories of past FF titles (though that should be a given). While I find certain aspects of the story somewhat silly, cheesy, and even melodramatic at times I still found it to be entertaining.

All in all 9 out of 10. Definitely a must try, and if you don't like it there are plenty other MMO fish in the sea. It gives a nifty 30 day trial at start to see if it's indeed for you or not. Although I will recommend that you should wait till about a month or so from today (28 Aug 2013) before you try it. As server populations are high.