Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Gives Franchise Fresh Start

It’s one of the great apologies in gaming. After the horrendously made “Final Fantasy XIV” nearly crushed the credibility of the entire series, Square Enix cleaned house and hired a new team to create “A Realm Reborn,” a mass multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). When the original “Final Fantasy XIV” launched in 2010, it met a sea of negative reviews, with fans citing bugs, structural and polishing issues, and claims that the seemingly unfinished game was downright unplayable. It received a 49/100 on Metacritic.com, the lowest of the franchise.

“A Realm Reborn,” on the other hand, is the pleasant do-over the Final Fantasy faithful was waiting for. It’s clean, stable and an overall better gaming experience compared to its unfortunate predecessor.

Graphics and Animation

To give “A Realm Reborn” more fluidity, the graphics are toned down from the 2010 release, but the sacrifice gives gamers a richer experience with a version that plays well on mid-level PC’s and the Playstation 3. What’s left is a visual compared to other popular MMORPG’s like “World of Warcraft” and “League of Legends,” and the vivid palette of colors and clever open-world designs give players the mesmerizing gameplay they expect from the “Final Fantasy” franchise.

The animations in both open-world and dungeon fights have colorful variety and smoothness that matches the graphical themes of Eorzia, the world where “A Realm Reborn” takes place. The lower-quality graphics are more noticeable during up-close engagements with NPCs and other users, but not enough to spoil the experience.

Gameplay

The original “Final Fantasy XIV” brought a new twist to the class system — when the player equips a new weapon, the class associated with the weapon changes the class of the character. It’s an intuitive change to the permanent class system seen in most RPGs but the game didn’t include any shortcuts to quickly switch weapons classes on the go. “Realm Reborn” lets you tab between multiple gear sets to avoid dropping individual pieces into their respective slots.

At first, the traditional MMO combat seems like a let down, given what games like TERA have accomplished, but “Realm Reborn” relies heavily on group cooperation and lots of movement during intense raids. The progression of difficulty from early to late game is smooth and consistent to avoid frustration but also keep a steady pace of challenges.

Companion Apps

Sorry Vita and tablet users, “Realm Reborn” didn’t integrate any native support for companion or mobile gaming. Companion apps are a growing demand in gaming, but one that will have to wait in the Final Fantasy series. If you’re desperate to use your wireless Internet for tablets in a Starbucks so you can play Final Fantasy over a latte, there are workarounds. The user in the YouTube below video streams “Final Fantasy XIV” from his PC to his Playstation Vita. It takes some tinkering, yes, but it can be done.

Final Verdict

Square Enix did right by their fans with this sort-of sequel/sort-of remake, “A Realm Reborn.” It’s a better game in every sense — gameplay, story, structure, stability, and even graphics despite the simpler interface. It looks like Square’s dedicating servers and support to this one for the long haul which is great for the fans. The game came out in late August and you should buy it if you’re ready to give Final Fantasy another chance.