GameSpot: Final Fantasy XIV Review

Final Fantasy XIV is a notable entry to the genre but only for what it lacks. It lacks character; bare-bones quests and audiovisual repetition fail to instill a sense of fantasy wonder. It lacks cohesion; communication failures, economic oddities, and stringent limitations leave you constantly directionless. And it lacks joy; the abysmal interface and boring monsters make it a struggle to stay invested. The open-ended classes, the stunning graphics engine, the focus on story--these elements deserve rightful praise. It's a shame they weren't put to use in a game worthy of the Final Fantasy brand. Certainly, Final Fantasy XIV will improve as features are added, yet the failures go beyond the superficial. Updates may address a multitude of flaws, but "fun" is not a feature that can be added with a simple patch.

[Seijoru]

Uh oh.

[pwnd_of_lol]

I want the old Square Enix back, the old company that settled for nothing less than quality in this gen..

[Dread]

that was when it was Square Soft
since they merged with Enix it went down hill fast.

[ELite_Ghost]

yea I don't think they're coming back, they're swimming in that pool of cash :S

[pwnd_of_lol]

I mean an MMO on a console? Somehow this doesn't sit well with me. As we all know with the exception of WoW for some reason MMo's=auto fail. Should we boycott FF14 just to ensure SE loses money and listens to what people want..

[meganick]

I used to love Square back in the SNES and PS1 era. Since then, they've just lost their way, and they're now one of my least favorite developers/publishers. I hope they can get their shit together and go back to greatness.

[Megaton]

I don't think they've made a single game I enjoyed this gen. They're completely off my radar at this point. If someone submits something about Versus XIII I might click it, but I'm certainly not tracking it. I honestly don't think they've got the talent to make good games anymore. Nomura might be the only exception, but what can one man possibly do to build something of quality in a garbage heap?

[Sarcasm]

Not surprised after seeing some videos online. *sigh* Enix sucks balls more and more.

[lastdual]

Eh, people are complaining about Enix, but the Dragon Quest games have actually been one of the few bright spots in SE's recent history.

It's not the merger that's to blame for their downfall, it's an overall design philosophy that has abandoned what they were best at (creating traditional, turn-based RPGs with towns and dungeons that were actually worth exploring).

[ChineseDemocracy]

Portable games have been great, everything else is rotten.

[bviperz]

I think we all want the Square Enix back. I hope FF XIII brings back that loving feeling. Whoa, that loving feeling. Because it's gone, gone, gone, whoa...

[DelbertGrady]

Sounds like Square Enix needs an interaction designer.

[Myze]

@lastdual

Well, Squenix seems to be terrible at making anything other than handhelds right now. The reason is simple: they are trying to cater to the western market. Wada has said so many times.

As for the Dragon Quest series, there have only been two from Squenix. 8, by far the superior of the two (although 9 is very good, but again, a handheld game), wasn't even made by Squenix. It was outsorced to Level5, and we know they can make good games.

[ABizzel1]

give it time, the game will get better. Most MMO launch's are underwhelming, and with time they become a lot better.

[bakasora]

Good job gamespot and $quareenix. Just continue pissing people off $E

[Danteh]

How the mighty have falllen...

First Rare and now Squeenix

Damn :(

[Duxer]

I agree and dream of a better Square that was before.

[Johnson41101]

You mean you want SquareSoft back.
Right?

[gman_moose]

After 2 weeks = fail.

However, they did say something that stuck with me.

"fun can't simply be added in a patch"

[nickjkl]

who reviews an mmo when its realeased all mmos fail on day one

a proper review cant be made util after you have played all classes of all clans up to a respectable level

and after the bug and content patches since if you were to release a game with all content originally planned you could cause bugs and not know where to start sorting them out

[Reibooi]

There goes whatever credibility Gamespot had left. Seriously Notice that NO OTHER site has had a review yet. Why? Um... it's a MMO. It takes a really long time to accurately review a MMO.

The only way this reviewer got enough play time in to have a review is if they are counting both the closed and open beta as well as the final release which is a no no in reviewing.

It's a really fun game but there are enough issues currently that it bogs down certain aspects but these will be fixed as SE has already mentioned they have plans. If I was to review it I would probably give it a 6 or 7 until the main issues are fixed.

[Perkel]

@ Above

Gamespot review is quite good IMO. Users give even less (like 35% in recent news)

Wada must be absolutly fired. He don't know what gamers like.

He is second Kot(d)ick

[MisterNiwa]

There is no need to even question it, these day's everything with Square Enix written on it is bad, to everyone.

They don't need a truth, let them think what they want.
The game is great and fun, I am somehow happy that this game isn't for everyone since the people in it are more fun to deal with instead of WoW where most people are stupid and can't quit to play it.

Even though I have to wait for the PS3 release to yet again play it, I enjoyed a fair time with it in the beta's.

Final Fantasy XIII aswell, is a great game, but people are filled with too much hatred to admit it. No open world? The story goes on too fast? It's too straight? Only one corridor to run to archieve the end?
Seriously, if these facts were valid back then, then Final Fantasy X would've been the greatest flop on the PS2.

People this gen need to get their head out of their arses.

Every disagree will only make me feel good as it proofs that I am right, and every agree will make me feel better because I know that someone understands what I feel.

[Solotov]

"The reason is simple: they are trying to cater to the western market."

If that is true, then why is Bethesda Game Studios, BioWare, & Blizzard's RPGs so good?

[Reibooi]

The one thing that blows me away about the video review is that it seems as if it was done by someone who did nothing but look at forums and message boards and see what people were complaining about and then talked about what he read for a video review.

And the whole thing seems like a person with a vendetta who doesn't want people to play a game at all costs as opposed to a opinion.

There was no "If you like this or that then maybe you can look past some issues to enjoy the game" It was nothing but "DON"T PLAY THIS GAME" which is the most retarded thing a review can do.

A review is a opinion but isn't supposed to force it's opinion upon you. The ideal review lists the good and the bad and then lets the reader/player decide if the game is right for them.

I hate to do this but comparing this pile of crap review to the giant one in progress at IGN(yeah I know not much better) is night and day. The guy doing the IGN one has a ton of issues with the game but lists tons about the game he likes as well and no where does he flat out say don't play it. He is going far deeper into the game then this person ever did.(or at least I assume so based on this review.)

[Joule]

Square sucks at making games now, maybe they can redeem themselves with FFVXIII.

[ELite_Ghost]

versus 13 looks good on the other hand, we'll see in 2011 ;)

[AndrewRyan]

But it is not. Final fantasy 13 looked great, but it wasn't that great... Final fantasy versus 13 looks great... Who knows it may be another flop. The only reason people are hyping it is because it is exclusive (so far) to PS3.

[evrfighter]

At this point don't put much faith in versus. I bought f the ps3 for ff and twisted metal. I won't be suckered into buying versus.

I spent 80 dollars on this trash. I'm at 18 mrd and will be playin till my free month is up. Those of you looking for an HD ffxi get ready for some major dissapointment

[Sarcasm]

Given the fact noone has really seen how FFvsXIII is really like, there isn't much hope for a good game from them.

[rexus12345]

FF13 is a good game, but I agree with gamespot - ff14 sucks. I regret buying it

[Jazz4108]

Thank god Microsoft passed up this pile of steaming do doo.

[ShakeShakeShake]

another day, another bull pile of crap Square Enix made

[SonyPS360]

...that there were people violently defending this game.

Fanboys eh?

[frankymv]

trying to figure out which Japanese developer fucked up more this gen.......

Capcom or Square

[TooTall19]

While they haven't been as bad as the ones you listed I'd say Level 5. I'm so disappointed they are making WKC instead of Dark Cloud.

[westy552]

Actually very tough choice, I still think square comes out just on top, I mean look at capcoms games, they are aweful and yes so are squares but I think square still nudges ahead.

And honestly I dont wanna play ff as an mmo anyway, on my ps3 that is, and if I wanna play an mmo on my pc im not going to play a square enix game. lol

[Monkey521]

I wouldn't say disappointed. White Knight Chronicles was actually quite fun to play. I was hesitant at first because of the lower reviews, but the story was solid (a little cheesy though) and the combat system was quite fun.

While I do want another Dark Cloud, they should finish the story ark that they created now (which it's going to end with the sequel), then they should consider making another Dark Cloud or maybe a reboot.

[majdees]

you mean Sega not Capcom

[vhero]

At least capcom listen to their fans I mean we getting MvC3 and other great games SE constantly ignore their fans and screw them over.

[gamingdroid]

... and we saw how that went for Capcom's financials.

I love Capcom in general, they made some of the best games in the past. I have fond memories of Mega Man and of course Street Fighter, but let's face it as a business Capcom is not doing so well with a string of terrible games.

Definitely looking forward to MvC3 though!

[Solotov]

I would have to go with Square: Even though Capcom's RE5 was not as good as the previous game, it didn't totally go down the toilet like Square has

[darkziosj]

now blame the 360, *sigh* ps3 fanboys

[SyphonFilter]

maybe it was going to be on 360 and it burned down half the studio so they couldn't finish it on time and rushed it.

[wicko]

Nobody said anything about the 360, so please go away with your fanboy comments.

[Lyr1c]

Only fanboys use the word "fanboy" ;)

Oh....wait...

[King-Leonidas]

It´s 360´s fault. You asked it.

[YoshiMeetsU]

That's trolling but it is so true. 4/10 is like Deadly Premonition bad.

[Lord_Doggington]

the game really starts when you're 300 hours into the game, then it's pretty rewarding

[versusALL]

Yeah, Final Fantasy XIII is rewarding 10 hours in the game, I can wait 10 hours, but not 300, not in this life time

[lucifon]

So i have to play through 300 hours of shit to get to 'the game really starting'? Thats not how you make a good game. Infact i've heard a ton of talk of people who've maxed out and have nothing to do.

[buckethead_X]

I personally would have to say that this fellow is joking.

Is it even possible for anyone to have played 300 hours?

[Abriael]

Review written less than a week since a MMORPG's launch does not any credibility hold.

The reviewer obviously didn't play ffxiv nearly enough to review it. he review is an overdramatized, excessively early, overly generic piece of crap that skimmed or marginalized the many good aspects of the game and seriously overblown the negatives.

One would have hoped that the trainwreck of the rushed hasty reviews of Age of Conan that praised the game to the end of the world based on the first few levels (that were followed by an horror of boredom) would have thought those wannabe journalists a lesson. Obviously not all of them learned it.

[Blasphemy]

Don't really need any more time with the game with it lacking in content. I think he hit the nail dead on the head with the review.

[Abriael]

I played the game enough to be physical level 28, gladiator 19, armorsmith 17 and a bunch of other classes hovering around 10-11.
Which is obviously more than that reviewer did (and probably more than you did).

he overblown and overstressed the negative aspects of the game, or what he peceives/overheard as negative, and skimmed on and marginalized the MANY positive aspects.
This does not a decent or informative review makes. Just a misrepresenting rant.

[Dorfdad]

Shit is shit even 8 weeks in no? I swear these people out think themselves. Gamers are not goging to play this crap with all these restrictions etc.. Were NOT JAPANESE we require more than horse racing games in the west! Substance over style and no we don't want to be dropped in a world with no idea what or how to do anything.

Sure its pretty but I wont play a game where it takes 4 different steps to make an item.. WAY TO TIME CONSUMING. This is a game not real life!

[mikepmcc]

Dude, the game is garbage. Playing it for another ten or even twenty hours would likely not have changed his opinion, and it sure as hell wouldn't have bumped it up four points to an acceptable score.

[Abriael]

Lol what are you talking about? Horse racing? You must be talking about some other game.

Here's some more information to put this trainwreck of a review in perspective:

-The reviewer gave 8.5 (great) to Age of Conan at launch, one of the worst and most unpolished MMORPG launched in the last 10 years.
Funny that after that they still let this guy review any MMORPG at launch lol.

-He didn't even TRY the main selling point of the game, the armory system that allows you to mix and match combat class abilities, and adds a lot to the game. He grinded a single combat class to 15 and that's it.
Reviewing a game after not even trying out it's main selling point is folly.

Protip for the reviewer: hide your name on pictures in a game with a site that will show how little you played to the whole world, exposing the fact that you hold no credibility at all.

[Reibooi]

The point Abriael is trying to make is the game opens up a bit more as you level up because of the job system allowing you to mix and match which is something the guy who did the review did not and never will find out because they didn't get very far at all in that perspective.

As far as the holding off. Every MMO has issues at launch and every single one of them continues to evolve and change. FFXIV is no exception to this. Many of the MAIN issues people have with this game are already being addressed by SE and will be fixed in upcoming patches(one of which is happening tomorrow) You cannot review something in the first month when this is when most of the worst problems are most evident. The update tomorrow will more then likely fix alot of the issues people are having however this review didn't wait for that because they wanted to throw a inaccurate and hastily put together review to get some hits.

Which they did. Look at this story on N4G here. It's the highest heat rating a FFXIV related story has EVER gotten and is also the most commented. Gamespot did what they wanted and that was to get a crap load of hits and further fuel a flame war that has been raging since this game was announced.

[Christopher]

@Abriael: As a person who used to manage and review multiple MMO Vault sites over at IGN, reviewers and many of the people who help out with the sites are given beta access very early. This person has likely played the game for months now, not just for a week. While there are some differences in the changes at release, they are extremely minor in comparison to the game he played for at least a month before the game was released.

While I cannot say that this review is accurate or not since I have not played the game, I can say that it is extremely unlikely that the person doing the review hasn't spent more time playing the MMO than you would think.

I played DDO and LotRO for three months in beta, right up to release, before I gave my review. Four months in EQ2. Two months for CoH. And an amazing six months for Saga of Ryzom.

***Protip for the reviewer: hide your name on pictures in a game with a site that will show how little you played to the whole world, exposing the fact that you hold no credibility at all. ***

Protip to irate comment makers. They create a dummy character that is used to capture gameplay videos and screenshots for the reviews because when they're actually playing the game prior to release, they can't record everything because it's against the NDA. So, after the game is released, if they make a video, they have to start all over from scratch with a new character. This doesn't mean they didn't have a lot more experience in the beta period.

[mikel123]

Sure, that would make sense if they had reviewed it less than a week since launch.

Too bad the Collectors edition came out on the 21st. Its been more than 2 weeks since this baby's launch.

[ThanatosDMC]

Holy crap! That's a powerful rat!

[Aaroncls7]

I knew it was going to suck, but those idiots don't have a clue, LOL!

[TROLL EATER]

ouuchhh why square enix waste their time

[Myth]

I enjoy Game Spot's reviews but there is no way they should be reviewing this MMO this early. I'm not saying the game doesn't suck but you need a lot more time to determine how good an MMO is.

[frostypants]

Sorry, it doesn't take that long to judge the mechanics. Saying "it just takes time" is the same as when people say a song gets better the more you hear it. Where in reality, it just sucks, and people are forcing themselves to tolerate it.

A great game makes itself known quickly.

[Persistantthug]

and assuming you spend a significant amount of time playing said game, that's enough time to get a good feel for the game....You know if you're having fun or not.

I realize MMO's can change over time, but if you release a rushed and/or unfinished game, well...it is what it is and you get graded upon it.

2 weeks of 2-5 hours a day is good enough time.

[Myth]

I'm curious Frost and persistan please list the MMO's you played.

[frostypants]

I've played WoW a lot, Guild Wars a little, and bits and pieces of a bunch of crappy others. The first one I played was Neverwinter Nights. Not the more recent one...I'm talking the real old MMO one back in the 1990s.

The fact of the matter is that claiming that a person must play a game that they hate for a month before they can appreciate it is a laughable proposal. WoW, for example, was fun from the start (I quit when I realized it was the same tasks over and over, but it took a real long time for me to get bored).

If a game sucks, it sucks. ANYTHING gets "better" when you get used to it. If someone actually keeps pushing through a game for 2+ weeks of utter hatred, that's sheer stupidity. And if that's what SquareEnix and their fans are expecting reasonable gamers to do, they're in for massive disappointment.

[Persistantthug]

I started with ASHERONS CALL back in 1999. I played it off and on for years.

I played WoW at launch for 1 year...Guild Wars off and on for a couple years.

I've tried Star Wars Galaxies, Ultima Online, City Of Villians/Heroes, Eve Online...but I didn't play long.

I haven't really played an MMORPG for a couple years, but I do have a pretty long stint and history with them.

[SonyPS360]

I'm curious Myth as to why you are still defending this giant piece of shit?

[frostypants]

Well, this franchise is officially dead.

I remember how awesome FFII (FFIV in Japan) was when it came out on the SNES.

Those days are so far gone...

Stick a fork in it, folks. It's done.

[vhero]

Sick of the excuse you can't really judge an MMO from day 1 or a week after it's released. YEAH YOU CAN. If your game isn't good enough for public consumption then you don't release it SIMPLE! I mean this is what BETAs are for. If they reviewed the BETA fair enough you guys would have a point but they are reviewing the retail version people actually PAID money for here. So yeah you do review a game MMO or not from day 1 launch. The fact is if it's not good enough from day 1 don't release it until it is.

[GameGambits]

I was in the open beta, I bought the collectors edition, and I 100% agree with everything this guy said. I probably have well over 200 hours of play, and this last week I stopped entirely. I can't be asked to bend over and grab my ankles any longer. I play games to have fun and this game provides none after its first few hours. It's a game that gets worse and worse and worse the more time you play it.

The first patch they added even made crafting WORSE. There is NO hope for this game at all. Worst MMO since Matrix Online or Vanguard. Guild Wars 2 is officially the new MMO to give a crap about or hell WoW catclysm is coming and worth your time.

I've never not agreed with Kevin on a review. He expresses everything perfectly like I would. Stay away from this piece of shit everyone.

[CaptainPunch]

Squaresoft where are you?

[versusALL]

I feel bad for square, hope this is a lesson for them, if not, then what does it take?

[silkrevolver]

I’m not one of those people who have been bashing Square Enix ever since they’ve been Square Enix, but... They need to get it together...

[Noami]

Im playing it and its fun. are U.s sad they are going through what we jp had to go through when ffxi released first in japan? bugs,nothing to do much,etc till 1 year after then u.s got ffxi tested and less buggy..
don't complain samething happened in ffxi u.s just got it later and dint have the problem

So now jp dont suffer alone in ffxiv, it will get better though

[John-117]

Ownt!

[demonddel]

cant blame it on the xbox wonder whats the excuse now

[KratosGirI]

The PC version?

[Theonik]

Surprisingly i think the PS3 version will be much better. having played the Alpha/Closed Beta for the PC i can tell you the game was designed with consoles in mind.
PS3 also has the advantage of launching later when the content will be there and a lot of the bugs will be gone.

[free2game365]

The PS3 version is likely to be more of a mess. I highly doubt those chinese programmers that Square outsourced it to have even seen a PS3 before in their lives.

[Dread]

trust me they will blame it on the xbox
give this thread some time and u will c.

@xsk

I know that , but i dont think it will stop the haters from hating.

[xskipperx82]

It's not on the XBOX

[Whoooop]

lol

Kinda funny when you want to troll and you miss.

;)

[Imperator]

It's all the 360's fault and you know it!! /s

LOL, anyways, from the review this game sounds horrible. I've never been interested in MMOs and I'll definitely will not go anywhere near this one.

[vhero]

Why do you fanboys have to bring up Xbox?? To bring it up just shows you for who you really are... Just because it's on PS3 too you bring Xbox up?? It's not released on PS3 yet anyways nor is this the PS3 version being reviewed. There is ZERO reason to bring up the 360 AT ALL.

[mittwaffen]

.

[SonyPS360]

Lol, good point.

If this had been on the 360, we'd see floods of comments about how it's the "360s fault".

All we see now is stupid people without ammunition.

[Relientk77]

Well, that sux doesn't it

[AntoineDodson]

Oh dear.. Looks like it's gonna be DC Universe for me then.

[Dr_Handsome]

Interesting how both DC Universe and this game have some pretty slick Pre Rendered Trailers. Here's hoping DC Universe actually delivers.

[vhero]

I'll stick with tried and trusted WoW for now only got into it 2 months ago but it does the job well.. Though Cata seems to ruin it probably stop playing when thats released.

[BannedForNineYears]

Whatever happened to "Don't review the game yet". DDDDDD:
This game got a 4.5/5 a while ago.....
I think reviewers need to give this game a chance......

[ALFAxD_CENTAURO]

I will take a look of FFXIV next year. I know a big improvement is in the works right now.

[darksied]

I'm pretty sure he did give it a chance. He did say he played it for dozens of hours. Now, if he found tons of problems after dozens of hours of play time, do you think that's any incentive for him to keep playing? It obviously is broken and not fun, so that's what his review is saying.

[SyphonFilter]

do you need to pay to play this?

[ApexHell]

yes

[Chapulin]

no matter what Gamespot says. I loved FFXI.

[maxcer]

i loved ffxi too, i played it for years but ffxiv just isn't finished yet, the beta needed another few months of testing/refinement in my eyes.

[Theonik]

Meh, XI was the same on release. The west was just lucky enough that the Japanese players tested it for them.

[lucifon]

I think the problem lies that this game is actually too close to FF11. It's like a game from 7 years ago that looks pretty but is unfinished and buggy. The whole game is riddled with things that get in the way for the sake of getting in the way, it's just plain and simple bad design.

[xskipperx82]

Glad my Beautiful 360 isn't getting this crap.

[SyphonFilter]

eww 360 is ugly and burns down houses.

[PokemonMaster]

My glorious PS3 will share the same fate!
*edit, not burning down houses part, I mean playing this horrible game

[Jazz4108]

Do realize square wanted this on the 360 and it was microsoft that said NO.

[Trebius]

But yeah this game would've made the 360 library look even worse.

[frankymv]

ewwww

[dkgshiz]

I knew this game was going to be garbage. Good thing the only MMO I care about is DC Universe.

[maxcer]

lol you wouldn't have known shit unless you played the beta

[Dark360]

Mega OUCH...

[jc48573]

I hope this bombs. I really can't stand square enix anymore. Microsoft did the right choice this time. Guys, save your money and get on with your life man.

[R_aVe_N]

I agree the game is crap. At least with XI it was fun and ran with other FF games. This one just plain blows. The best class ever in an MMO is the Blue Mage from XI omg they where so much fun.

[shadowmoses623]

Just like everyone says reviews mean nothing and here is a good example. I will play ffxiv forever o.o

[dkgshiz]

The game stinks. Ask anyone who played the beta. The PS3 version might have an improvement but this game stinks either way. Hopefully its not another APB.

[shadowmoses623]

Nope APB had no loyal followers because they never fixed the game and really a mmo shooter is just retarted you might as well play gta online if your just gonna be shooting people and not fighting bosses that take stradegy to beat. FFXI didnt start out to be a great game but with time it got really good. =)

[saint_john_paul_ii]

wow...

[ALFAxD_CENTAURO]

A lot MMORPG games in the 1st half of a year are not very good.

WoW was not good also in the 1st year when it was released.

I can tell, now in the next year, they will improve most aspects with a new version and that improvement will come for PS3 as for PC too.

[shadowmoses623]

Exactly thats how MMO's work. Bubbles for you.

[ApexHell]

that seems to be how many games work now adays lol not just mmo's

[Persistantthug]

I was playing WoW about a month after release, and I remember it quite well.

WoW did have issues, especially outages in the beginning with crappy customer service...But WoW had perhaps the greatest begin game I have ever seen. Hell, that's how they hook you in in the first place. It was a very fun and well made game with its play mechanics and gameplay...especially on a PVP server.

It was the End Game that sucked. 1-59 was great, but once you hit 60...the whole game changed and I hated it, and I quit and never went back.

At any rate, that's how I remember it.

[tda-danny]

Really? 1-59 were awesome? Fetchquest kill 10 rats for me, and then i'll send you to a different spot to do the same?

Leveling in vanilla WoW was terrible - no story or anything. Then once you got to endgame, there was nothing to do until MC and BWL came out.

Sorry dude, but WoW sucked for the first year, imo.

[BYE]

Wow got 90+ Reviews when it came out and it was damn good. The first year was the biggest year for Wow.

If anything, it got worse over the years.

[Odion]

ya I am with Ceekay, played WoW from the start the first three weeks were bad cause they had more people at launch then any other MMO had ever gotten so they were trying to handle the traffic but the game itself was amazing, nothing will emulate the magic of getting to Booty Bay for the first time and feeling like your out of your element and in a strange place.

[Sarcasm]

Just another reason why I wouldn't want to play MMOs. You have to wait a whole year before it's any good??? Sounds silly to me considering the monthly fees.

UNLESS there's a starcraft MMO, i'd be all over that. LOL

[frostypants]

WoW got GREAT reviews as soon as it was released.

There's a massive difference between an MMO taking time to mature and a game simply sucking balls.

This looks like a case of the latter.

Stop making excuses for it, people. Don't let your hopes for this game get in the way of reality.

[Newtype]

REDEEMED THEMSELVES!

This score reflects the game, very much.

[Abriael]

Not even nearly. This review reflects lack of any sizable experience with the game.

Bottomline, any journalist that thinks he know a MMORPG well enough to review it a week after launch should look for another job.

[Blasphemy]

You really think he only had the game for a week?

[Abriael]

Even in the case he had the game since the early access (which isn't launch, anyway), that's not even enough time to get halfway to cap. That's the barebone limit one needs to be able to say he known a MMORPG in depth enough to review it fairly.

[lucifon]

There are many people who have hit the cap already, whats to say he hasn't? When a journalist gets a game allocated to them they spend all their time playing that game.

Also if an MMO is crap 50 hours in then it's not magically going to get better when the issues lie within core serious elements of the it. Everything negative in this review isn't something which will change as you level higher.

[Beahmscream]

Squenix Fails yet again...
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[The_Devil_Hunter]

Bummer.

[BlackSharinganX]

always knew it was going to fail really didnt heard much of FFonline for the ps2 either

[fight4love]

damn. thats bad. oh well.

[LordMarius]

lol, oh well
sad for those that wanted this

[INehalemEXI]

They thew it out there now in a meh state and will collect money while improving it. I just wish the resources for this had been put into other projects, and they kept this on the back burner. I mean this came out pretty quick IMO rushed.

[Dice01]

Man..I hope FF13 versus is good.

[Allowen]

Ack !

Well, I guess the next Final Fantasy game that I will buy will be FF6 remake for the 3DS.

[xtremeimport]

damn, i wonder what the Ps3 version will be like. I figured it'd be worse than the PC version.

versus doesnt look to have much hope.
Square sucks these days.

[earbus]

LOL well at least eidos make great games now se owns them bsp , deus ex should get more attention if they dont kill it .

[Denethor_II]

Eidos have always put out quality, its a shame they were bought buy a company lacking direction or future progress.

[Leonesaurus]

.... What a shitty review....

Nice job Gamespot.... Nice job raping another good game ithout giving it s chance...

[No FanS Land]

ouch! that was bad! for once the fans and the critics agree!

[MoreRPG]

4! that's pretty low for a Final Fantasy game

[TheObserver]

Aw... I enjoyed FFXI too. Looks like FFXIV suck balls.

I'll look forward to Phantasy Stars Online 2 instead.

[JonnyBigBoss]

I already canceled. SE needs to patch this game before it'll be worth playing.

[GoldPS3]

I bet none of you guys played the game but yet ya'll think it suck becuz GameSpot says so. Play the game yourself and then judge it.

Anyway the game sucks lol.

[Servbot]

I was so excited about this game, but after playing it my heart just sank. It's obvious that SE has lost sight of what makes a good game.

[Godmars290]

And as much as Square wants to blame "newness" for problems with the game, say that it should be given a few months before its reviewed, it very much sounds like the issues GS is talking about should have been ironed out in the beta. Before the game even went to beta.

[NeoMagus]

I'm not surprised by this review, the beta ran terrible for me I wasn't impressed with it.

[InfamousHero]

The game didnt sound too different from Final Fantasy XI in the review and if thats the case im fine. My only issue so far is no auction house but if they bring that back in time for the PS3 release then i don't see myself with any complaints.

[Quietpower10]

You had again wasted another numerical numbered Final Fantasy game, instead of it being an original storywise Final Fantasy game.

*clap clap clap* I'll be sure to see XIV as one of the years biggest disappointing games of 2010.

[Denethor_II]

You're only damming FFXIV because it went to the 360, oh wait.............

[Leonesaurus]

I'm enjoying the hell out of FFXIV right now and without future updates and patches, like with FFXI, it's going to fix a lot of the problems and get better and better. Gamestop should have listened to Square-Enix and gave the game more time before judging it, a lot of those intro issues would have been fixed in due time. But it's their opinion and their review, even if I think it's a bullshit review, I'm enjoying the FUCK outta the game and that's all that matters to me. Fuck the haters, better off without them crowding up the servers anyways...

[Jazz4108]

@ leonesauraus Why are you blaming GameStop?

[McLuvn]

wtf

[Myst]

This is kind of a shame especially since this is coming from the people who made FFXI. An outstanding MMO, but this one just makes me wonder though I suppose by the time of PS3 release most things ironed out, an expansion will already be out or in the works and most of the asked for things will be out as well.

[The Milkman]

I don't care about the rating this game got to be honest. This is an MMO and can be totally different within a year. I just hope people don't start jumping the bandwagon that this game sucks. I have friends who actually enjoy this game and then some who don't. Pretty much if you don't have some MMO experience this game is going to be hard to get used to. For those of us who have actually played FFXI we will have less learning to do. I have yet to invest on this game but I'm going to trust my friends word over a reviewer. Because me and my friend always played FFXI together and we had a lot in common as to what we liked in MMOs. I know I wont be blown away by the game the first year. But I'm pretty sure I'll be addicted. Something just tells me that this game has potential and it will show later.

[Tikicobra]

I just don't get it. Why can you only do 8 quests every 38 hours? If you're paying a monthly fee, you should be able to play however much you want. I don't even understand the benefit of something like that. It's not saving or making them money somehow, it's not "safer" in some way, it's just restrictive and ridiculous. Maybe I'm missing something. If so, could someone please explain the thinking there? Because it bugs me like crazy.

[shysun]

Damn, some of that stuff is in FF11, how the hell did they take 10 steps back?!

[Kluv]

Versus XIII is the only ps3 one I'm interested in.

[stephmhishot]

Haha, this isn't even a review for the PS3 version and yet you have 360 guys in here sarcastically saying "gee is it the 360's fault?" Little sensitive no?

[tweet75]

ouch!

[CrzyFooL]

Fucking OW!!! I felt that one way up here!

[darthdevidem01]

THIS is the first bad FF title guys

Not FF8, FF12 or FF13

This is the first legitimately bad FF title.

[-Gespenst-]

You're quite possibly right...

[The Milkman]

FF13 was crap I don't care what console you played it on. By judging FFXIV already is like judging a book by it's cover. You cant really review this as an mmo so early. You can't always take the reviewers word for it. MMOs are different types of games. The best part of the game doesn't always hit you right away. I don't see how they can say the things you do are not rewarding when they haven't even reached the max level yet. In ffxi it wasnt the start of the game that was fun, it was the end game events you did when you where done. As time went on there where more things for you to do in groups. I'm an experienced ffxi player and most of you never even played that one to understand SE MMO. Anyway I'm sure you will hear about an cool updates for this game and regret not getting a head start before the release.

[darthdevidem01]

FF13 was awesome

[rob6021]

He kept bitching about instant gratification, sounds like he never played FFXI. I don't know why he has any place review MMOs. In this type of game, the payoff is the reward of finally getting something you worked to get for a long time. It works the same in FFXI. Instant gratification kills any depth in a game, and makes the whole experience too easy.

I do understand the comments, half of the gaming community wanted to hate this game before it even released because it was an MMO with monthly fees.

[saimcheeda]

I bet no one expected the score to be this low!

[EpsilonTeam]

The best reviewer in my opinion, is ME. Just because one man gave the game a 4, doesn't mean the game suck . I'll give it a shot myself.

[-Gespenst-]

F*ck, that's really terrible. Realistically the console versions can't really get much better. Hrmmm, I'm so worried for Versus XII now. I mean it looks really good but sh!t. I'm not totally sure SE have dropped the ball; I liked FFXIII, but this game is really getting battered.

[Johnson41101]

This makes me miss SquareSoft so much. That was when JRPGs had hope. :(

[bustamove]

Ouch. :/

[Xfanboy]

4/10 Wow!!

Guild wars 2 4 me please...

[jneul]

guild wars 2 will be better!!

[MaideninBlack]

Gamespot gave WoW a 9.5, EQ 8.4, FF11 8.2, AION 6.5, FF14 4.0.

[AusWarrior]

Square Enix deserve it, the only thing good coming from them this gen are their graphics engines. Unfortunately that doesn't make a game and I don't think they know that.

[Dno]

It's wonderful. One bad review this game gets 100 hits but the good reviews people do not even reply on... Theres a lot of ff hate isn't there?

http://n4g.com/news/620953/...

Heres a 4/5 for this game and it has 2 reply's lololol also on metacritic it has 3 more 8/10 reviews as of 10/7. I love how gamespot is the place to go now. Didnt they get caught taking money for that kane game? This site is trash and 1 review (that is of base) will not change it.

[riksweeney]

I think we should demand that Squenix release this on the 360 and Wii too, so that everyone can suffer together :)

[Claudinho69]

had to be the idiots at gamestop to rate the game already

[NeoMagus]

The article is from GameSPOT, not the video game store

[Fel08]

Get the name right first, than go calling people idiots.

[Claudinho69]

sorry i think both of them suck equally

[ATi_Elite]

you can not make a MMO for a console and expect PC quality because all MMO's will be compared to World of Warcraft which is the benchmark.

It's unfair cause if an editor feels like the first 20 minutes of a MMO is different from WOW then they think the game is bad, sorta like this editor who wrote this review.

The graphics look good but the game play was dumb down (instant fun versus strategy) for console then ported to the PC. The content will be fixed via patches but the overall mechanics will always be a tad bit off because it's for a game pad versus KB/M

Give the game some time, it's a MMO for crying out loud. I prefer IGN review as it is a review in progress. The editor is adding more info as he/she plays the game. At first he hated it but as he powers up you can tell he is getting into FFXIV more and more.

Leveling up is tedious but it's a MMO, it's about long term versus 8 hours of fun then trade it in a Game stop. I think this game will be Excellent for those who love the FF universe but a bit hard for newbies but a 4 out of 10 is dumb unless the editor has 100 hours into it and I know they don't.

So far no PC only website has reviewed FFXIV yet because it's too soon. The info from PC forums so far is that this is a good game that's gonna require some time before it opens up the story. Also it needs to establish a community just like WoW did upon it release.

Turn base RPGs aren't my thing but a lot of people love them and I think a 4 out of 10 is not realistic because Square Enix has never made flat out crap.

[-Gespenst-]

Your point about controllers is kind of invalid. You can use a 360 controller with the PC version.

But yeah, I think implicitly most PC MMO's are compared to WOW, which is a little bit unfair.

[evildeli]

I played XI for a few years. I played the open beta of XIV and was lost. It felt like they changed names and classes just to make it feel like a new game, even though it looked exactly the same, which made it overly confusing. I was looking forward to XIV but I'm doubting this purchase now.

[-Gespenst-]

Hmmm, come to think of it, out of all the Final Fantasys (The recent ones at least) This one definately seemed to take the least amount of time. Watching this review, I'm convinced the game was super rushed. Which is pretty annoying.

One thing that bothered me about this review though, is the fu*king condescending music that played constantly throughout it. You're not superior just because you can review and crush a game's chances. Ditch the music; it cheapens the authority of the review.

[-Gespenst-]

Oh yeah and if this game bombs it's really gonna suck for SE. It'll be the first legitimately bad numbered Final Fantasy game...

It could be a sign of the times, but I'm holding fast hope for Versus XII. That's quite possibly SE's last chance. But this isn't to say that ALL their recent stuff has been rubbish. I love XII. But it's just that critically, a lot of their recent games have been super divisive, which was never really an issue with previous generations.

[Fadetoblack69]

My 2 week Review:
Conjurer 20
Physical 28
Miner 15
Goldsmith 16
Alchemist 14
Botanist 10
Fishing 10
Thamaturge 10
Blacksmith 8
Cooking: 10
etc. etc. 6-7
Gil: 450,000+
Anima: 22

Some of my opinions....

Combat system: Pretty good so far. A lot of things to take into account which makes it not boring. Positioning, Elements Weaknesses, Skill Chaining, etc. If you're just standing there mashing away, you're doing it wrong. The only thing I have against it so far is the damned targeting system! That definitely needs to be tightened up.

Crafting System: Love it! Highly addictive and easy to use. The ONLY thing I would change on this is maybe to add a "Make last item" command.

UI: Definitely still has some lag. I have a fairly decent PC running this so they definitely need to tighten this up. It doesn't make the game unplayable or anything, but it is an annoyance.

Lack of Auction House/Moghouse: I see this complain over and over; and it's been said many times that yes these systems will be added. The areas are already in game and just need to be activated. This was the exact same in ffxi on it's original release. Remember, it was released in japan quite awhile before we got it. Use this time to level and get used to the game as many new additions will be added soon and a lot more as the game grows. This isn't a "give all" game.

Graphics: Lots of good and bad: While I will give them credit for doing excellent on most of the graphics, I will also concede that they went overkill on the reused terrain. I don't really notice it much when I'm actually playing but I can spot it on the maps easily enough. Most games re-use their graphics and the only reason I can see for the high amount in this one is that the maps are huge. There's a lot of terrain to cover and many systems already have trouble running on any decent graphics settings. (Especially since most try to run on higher graphics settings than their systems are rated for and then get mad that it becomes laggy ;) ) Still even I wish they would have spent at least a little more time on the terrain layouts, so far I like FFXI's maps a lot better.

Mobs: Look good but there is definitely not as much variety as I was hoping for and they did not do enough animation detailing! FFXI had MUCH better mobs in my opinion (Personality, animations, etc.). These ones do look a lot better, but they seem pretty 'cold'. They need to let us know whats coming because I am somewhat disappointed with this so far.

Lack of quests/content: I don't see a problem with the current system myself. It seems to be working as intended so if you were hoping to just powerlevel yourself up to 50 in 3 days, forget it. This isn't that type of game. The quest rewards get better and better and there are a lot of places to go grinding out levels and skills.

Player bazaar system: Has it's goods and bads. A lot of complains will disappear once the Auction House goes active. I like having this system as well. Right now it's painful to find exactly what I need, but it also opens a lot of possibilities to make gil easy ;)

Anima regen: Used all mine but hasn't slowed me down. Maybe could stand to see it regen a 'little' fast but not much more than it currently is.

[Fadetoblack69]

Anyway, that's my initial take so far. Don't have to agree or disagree with it, you aren't me so you aren't going to like what I like. The bottom line is, if you enjoy the game, ignore the trolls. If you hate the game, go play your 'game of choice' then. All this idiotic "My game is better than yours" trolling has just become pathetic.

[BigPenguin]

Bubbs up because you listed both pros and cons, and came at it from a fairly balanced perspective.

I have not played FFIV, but you come across as a better reviewer then the on gamespot had.

[Dno]

Bubs up to both of you

[artsaber]

If that Quake Bombs like this, I am done with them for good... I mean PERMANENTLY. People work too hard for their cash (and their parent's too - in some cases) to buy half-assed efforts or while someone decides to conduct an "experiment" in the Final Fantasy world, ruining the franchise for gamers all over the world.

[FwanK]

if it wasn't bad enough you have to pay monthly...

[MrChow666]

OUCH!

[Dawale]

It's funny how Ten Ton Hammer's review was ignored, while this one get's the attention.

[ngecenk]

i hope they fix it before it reach ps3. if its hard to use in a pc, i cant imagine how hard it is on the ps3.

[limewax]

Dont be so sure that the good Squenix games are gone for good. they HAVE messed it up a lot recently, However they have the sales and ratings of the current gen console and handhelds to compare and now use as the guide to what people want in their games. Its not that unlikely that we will see the turning face of final fantasy games again, 13 wasnt great, and 14 was so far along that make any relevance of figures useable as references was never going to happen, hence 14 flops too. Now we finally saw a few seconds of versus gameplay, and we know its been overhauled, chances are this will be the beginning of the return of good squenix games, but only time will tell.

[SteveSmith]

This review is pure garbage... The guy is probably a 360 fanboy who would praise the game if it was released on the 360 instead of the PS3. Anyway I am still buying the game and don't care about the opinion of a fat Gamespot fanboy. I'll see for myself how good/bad it is. I am sick of biased fanboys on gaming sites giving their opinions so I have to see for myself.

[jneul]

everyone or nearly everyone who has bought this game has posted bad reviews for this game, for once it's not gamespot, just thought i'd warn you

[PSK22]

Damn, I'm done with Square Enix, they better do it right with versus XIII!!

[LinuxGuru]

lol oh dear

[Solotov]

Square just can't compete in the new era of Western MMO/RPG domination.

[Defiantmac]

Is garbage, complete garbage... I'm honestly surprised it even got a 4... This is one of the worst games I have ever played and the single worst MMO I have ever purcahsed. Everyone saying that it's only a week or two into it's cycle have no idea what they're talking about. This game needed at least another year in development and someone standing over their shoulders so when they came up with half of the ridiculously bad concepts in this game they could have gone "WHAT THE **** ARE YOU THINKING" and fixxed the problem then.

So disappointed with SE

[juggulator]

I messed around with it for a bit during the PC beta to get an idea of how it would be and it wasn't that bad.(Although I was using a PS3 controller), I had trouble with the whole "leaving the instance" thing but eventually it becomes a no-brainer, just talk to the NPC. I guess they don't want to seem like the game is holding your hand. Things should pick up after the PS3 version comes out.

[TheGameFoxJTV]

Birth By Sleep is the only good thing they've put out since KH2. That's the only franchise I still care about. FF is dead.

[sjaakiejj]

Although I never played the game.. Why? Never managed to get past the update. If an MMO can't be updated within 20 minutes, but doesn't even manage to update itself within 2 days and finally comes up with a "Connection Timed-Out" error, isn't worth more than a 4/10 in my book already.

[Fel08]

Looks like this is going to be just as bad as 13

[jneul]

This is not good but I was expecting this after major fan backlash everywhere...
WKC is miles better for multi-player, honestly go out try it, it's a steal for £20 new, now I demand lots of apologies from certain people who said WKC was the worst RPG ever lol, WKC deserves 8.5/10

[jackwei22]

RIP in square-enix :( What has happened??? I hope Final Fantasy Versus XIII is makes up for this disappointing review.

[DeathGazer]

I just realized I haven't bought a single SE-made game this gen.

How can a developer be so great for three generations and then just fall flat on their faces so quickly?

[jneul]

the creator of FF left at the formation of square-enix, now he is making the last story and is part of mistwalker make sense now, then only good games that come out of SE now are games which have Nomura deeply involved, Nomura tweeted lots of things fo FFVs which seems to look like FF may be heading back to what we want as fans, hopefully FFXIV does not hurt them too much

[Gambit07]

I don't care what anyone says! I'm buying this day 728!

[Doletskaya]

No wonder why M$ doesn't even want that game on 360.

[Lex Luthor]

The Old Republic for me.

[BlueEye]

Uggh! Come one SE! Stop with the MMO's its a waste of time and money, focus on making some good games! Should have thrown this away and focused more on Versus and Agito XIII

[Denethor_II]

Oh, how I truly miss the day when, after inseting the disc, I would see the noble image 'SQUARESOFT' and instantly know somthing great was sure to follow.
But who is to blame for the sewer, that floods and drowns SQUARENIX?

[Raoh]

they are being too harsh.. mmo's in general need time to grow, all of them do and get better as they add more content and tweak the jobs, mobs, quests etc..

i've been playing every night since sept. 22nd when i bought the collectors edition and have been having a lot of fun.. broke night almost two nights in a row i didnt want to stop playing..

now for it to be a long lasting experience they need to tweak somethings. but still i think its a good game.. i'd give it a solid 8 maybe an 8.5..

its also hard to review mmorpgs early on, i've been playing since sept. 22nd and have my maurauder up to level 16, my pugilist to 6 and my conjurer to 4, i just completed my rank 15 quest.. and i'm no where near taking in all the content and seeing the world..

so its a poor review on gamespots part to review a game with a score of 4 when it requires a lot more time to play than they have given it to judge it fairly..

if you played ffxi then consider ffxiv a more streamlined version of ffxi, you dont need to go to your moghouse to switch jobs, you dont need to party for every time you want to level, crafting seems easier although i havent tried it..

for the people co signing gamespot and attacking the game.. have yall played mmorpgs before? i gave up on World of Warcraft after 3 months because it was too easy, it was meant for casual gamers who want instant gratification.. ffxi was a much more deeper experience with the sub job combos and vicious mobs you would have to take on.. the only bad thing about ffxi was the currency and that also seems to be so far working better in ffxiv.. i only hate the lack of an Auction House and the menu lag.. other than that its a great game

[akumous]

Despite what may think of Gamespot these days the review did make some legitimate complaints, and from what I heard and read this is not a game for me. I am guessing the developers had intentionally made the game that way because of lack of substantial content and the more hours put in the more money they receive.

Square-Enix, however, has gone to the shits; I am sorry but I am hating this company more and more with their mediocre games and lack of direction of what to do with the FF franchise. If FF13 versus is not good then I guess I am completely through with the company.

[Raoh]

http://dualshockers.com/201...

1. You have to have the review out RIGHT NOW because you’re on a deadline just like that 10-hour-campaign shooter you reviewed last week.
2. You think World of Warcraft is the best MMO in the world because it has 12 million subscribers.
3. You’ve played less than 30 hours, have a class at level five and/or have only fought bunny rabbits.
4. You can’t figure out how to create an account and sign up to play, thus zinging the game because of your stupidity (seriously, it’s 2010, this should be second nature to us by now).
5. You think everything has to be hand-fed to you (we’ll dub this “WoW Syndrome”).
6. You think you can do everything in-game in less time than it takes you to heat up a hot pocket (see: “WoW Syndrome”).
7. You are anti-social (again, “WoW Syndrome”).
8. You think everything has to be a World of Warcraft clone and anything that does something even slightly out of that norm is garbage (seriously, do I need to mention “WoW Syndrome” again?)
9. You will mark off points because you actually have to explore and figure stuff out on your own in the game. (While partly “WoW Syndrome”, this can also be referred to as “FPS Syndrome” or “Xbox Live Symdrome”.)
10. You dislike RPGs to start with. (click above link for image)

[Light Yagami]

Bomb!

[Rhapsody_]

I cant say im surprised, having only watched gameplay videos i could tell it looked unispired and boring - it's a damn shame ...

[scritty]

You have to review a game when it comes out or very soon after.
It's not the reviewers fault the game is terrible
The Japanese seem to hate it more than the Western audience
This game is utter drivvel, and more bad reviews are on the way.

My guess.
The PS3 version will never happen, the PS3 owners will see the user reviews (averageing 4.5 out of ten on the West and 4 out of 10 in Japan) and start looking at other games instead.

This is SE's worse game EVER worse than X-" and LAst Remnant.

A terrible mess of a game with basic mechanics either missing altogether or implemented in a retarded way.

It will fail no matter how hard it's fanboys bleat and moan