I’m back for my annual month on FFXIV, but I honestly admit I’m growing a bit tired of the gameplay loop, the “omg you’re the main hero !!” story and the sometimes very weird community. I love the world setting though, so I usually stick around anyway.
I would love to give GW2 more chances, but I’m not totally vibing with the combat system; plus, I wish art direction went a little differently, the game is not exactly holding up well these days (but I admit that square-enix is quite a high standard in that regard: even FFXI still looks artistically coherent, two decades and a half later).
FFXI ruined all other MMORPGs for me, because there is nothing like it and probably never will be again.
What made it so special and unique? I missed out on it back in the day and it feels a little late to try and solo it (if that’s even possible).
You had to team up to accomplish anything, so it was easy to make friends. The game also had zero handholding, which made it incredibly immersive. You can still experience the game as it was in 2004 on the private server HorizonXI. It’s popular and has thousands of people online at all times.
Actually, nowadays it’s very soloable: you can experience all of the story by yourself thanks to the Trust system. I only recently tried it, and control scheme wasn’t as bad as I expected (but you do need some patience). From what I gather you don’t really need to learn about macros and gear swapping mid fight in order to clear story content.