Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn – our first impressions

It has been around a month since Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn was released to the world. Given that it was riddled with launch issues such as full servers and outrageous waiting times for party finders, we decided to purchase the game three weeks later in the hopes that things had been repaired. It hasn’t been long since we started playing, but we’ve already realized how big the game is, and so we’ve decided to split the review into three parts, which will be released as our adventures in Eorzea (the name of the world of Final Fantasy XIV) continue. With that said, here’s our first look at Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is the sequel to the highly disappointing MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV. The original Final Fantasy XIV was launched on September 22, 2010 after a 3 month beta. It garnered terrible reviews across the board and was even awarded “The Most Disappointing Game of The Year” and inducted to the “Top Ten Worst Game Sequels” on GameTrailers.

A shot of the first Final Fantasy XIV

Two months after the launch date, Yoichi Wada, president of Square Enix announced a major shift in the development team, which resulted in resignation of Hiromichi Tanaka, the producer of Final Fantasy XIV. It should be noted that Hiromichi Tanaka was also the producer of Final Fantasy XI, the only other MMORPG in Final Fantasy series, which garnered much more success. Nevertheless, in less than one year after Final Fantasy XIV_’s release, Square Enix announced its plan to relaunch the game as _Final Fantasy XIV 2.0, which was later renamed Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. The servers for the original game were shut down on November 11, 2012, with the alpha test for A Realm Reborn starting shortly after. They definitely nailed the remake, as the new game has received much more favorable scores and attracted a lot of new players.

The new yet familiar UI of A Realm Reborn

Class and race

There are a range of classes and races to pick from Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. There are five main races in the game:

• Hyur: Humans with fancier name.
• Elezen: Tall and slender humanoids that are very reminiscent of Elves.
• Lalafell: Short and extremely cute gnome-looking things.
• Roegadyn: Huge muscular humanoids with unnatural skin colors.
• Miqo’te: Cute humans with tails and furry ears.

The game offers a very broad range of classes. However, these classes are further divided into four kinds of disciples: disciples of War, Magic, Land, and Hand. Note that Disciples of Land and Hand can only be unlocked later when players have progressed through enough of the game.

Final Fantasy XIV has many class variants.

Disciples of War includes the physical-based combat classes, which are:

• Gladiator: Sword, shield, tank. Enough said.
• Pugilist: Claw wielding fighter with unique chain combos.
• Marauder: Powerful, massive axe-wielding warrior.
• Lancer: Spear specialist with many position-based skills.
• Archer: The only real ranged physical warrior.