Needs tweaking, but interesting

User Rating: 6.5 | Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn PC
The Good:

As a jack of all trades and master of none, I often have multiple characters in MMO's / hack and slash games. To me, the most interesting and unique aspect of FFXIV ARR is how it ties me to just one character. I feel very attached to my little magic - throwing, craft - grinding, gather - loving Lalafell girl. A story seems to emerge about her as she moves from cutscene to cutscene, fashions her gear and pops around dungeon groups. The game is beautiful, as is this little unique whisk created by and experienced by yours truly.

The Bad:

Along the lines of being a jack of all trades and master of none, I often do a variety of things in video games, which is technically possible in FFXIV ARR. The truth behind the word "technically" is the game at its worse - what a grind! It is possible to level up every possible class in FFXIV ARR, but that involved billions of boring clicks, endless running around, etc. This is off-set a little by quests, dailies and fates, but not by much. To have more than one end game class involves a great deal of patience and tenacity, which feels too much like work or chores to me. A little bit more creativity, Square Enix, please.

I'm going to throw this in, too: the first "Seasonal Event", the "Moonfire Faire" was a major disappointment for me. The "Moonfire" story was blah, the activities were nothing unique and the rewards were useless vanity items that cannot be traded, sold or deleted. No, I do not want a stats-less bikini for my lalafell, but will have one hogging an inventory slot forever. This may be my least favorite MMO seasonal event ever (I enjoyed many in WOW, Guild Wars and LOTRO).

The Mediocre:

FFXIV ARR has all the standard MMO features: a variety of quests, dailies, real-world events, gathering opportunities, etc. What other MMO's do well is implemented well in this game.

Conclusion:

My friends are still excited about the game, so I play it and hope to level to endgame material on at least one of my classes. I still love seeing my little lalafell crawl into an inn's bed as I log out for the week, and grouping with friends. But, unless Square Enix implements changes to make the grind / seasonal events more interesting, I may not be a permanent fan.