LogFAQs > #973151874

Aight I'm just gonna go ahead and add Realm Reborn and Heavensward to the ranking. I haven't played the others yet (just wanted to put that out there before anyone gets their hopes up about Shadowbringers being on the ranking. But definitely look forward to me playing more FF14 in the future. But for now-)

#10. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/3/9/AAK53VAAEbdP.jpg

This game is so novel now that everyone's accustomed to the later expansions. But I think it's important to remember ARR was originally a Ps3 game from 2013. And not only did ARR miraculously fix FF14 1.0, but it's also crazy how well it works on console. The HUD customization is so great.

And even looking back at vanilla ARR without all today's improvements, people were still impressed with its visuals, combat, music, and overall mmo design. Shit, it was one of my first games when I got my Ps4 in 2014. And as someone who played FF11 in 2002, I thought ARR was pretty exceptional.

The story is well written, but poorly paced, so it can definitely feel like a giant wordy slog to get through at times. And the characters are generally underwhelming, but the worldbuilding and lore are top notch. Its definitely the most fully realized FF world. And it all culminates into a truly amazing cliff hanger by the end.

Back in 2013, the general audience seemed to give ARR around a 9, but the hardcore mmo people gave it around an 8.5, saying while it could hold its own against WoW and Guild Wars 2, it's late game experience was pretty lacking.

So for it's time, 8.6 for ARR seems right.

The ranking so far
#10. FF14 ARR - 8.6
#11. FFX-2 - 8.5
#12. FF12 - 8.5
#13. FF11 - 8.4
#14. FF7R - 8.4
#15. FF1 - 8.3
#16. FF15 - 8.0
#17. DoC FF7 - 6.0
#18. FF2 - 3.5
#19. FF13 - 3.0

And if you're like me, and you're not into MMOs (my wife had to force me to get into FF14), but you're curious about FF14 - I'd say just be patient and open minded and take your time with it. At first I was daunted by the hundreds of hours it would take to get through all this, but now that I'm in - it's actually kind of exciting that there's hundreds of hours more for me to play.