Originally Published on the Official Blast Away the Game Review Facebook Page
Written by Sarah Monster

-History of the Game-

 When FFXIV (As it’s shortened to) didn’t have a good start to life. Final Fantasy 14 started life and was received badly by it’s audience. Players hated the game and let the development team and producers know. Since the game was received so badly, the producers decided to pull the game and start from scratch. Thus the game relaunched as Final Fantasy 14: A realm reborn, with a disaster showing the end of the old game/content, and that’s when all support ended for FF14. The new game was received much better, it had more content and a wider choice of classes, jobs, races and genders.

-Races and Classes-

 Eorzea offers players 5 different races to play. The race doesn’t make a difference to the game, as it is only your physical appearance. You can still play every class and job with each race, so this is purely for looks. The races are as following:

Hyur ­- Human race – One of the most common races in Eorzea, they originate from their hometown of Ala Mhigo, which has been destroyed. This race has been split into 2 parts, mid-lander and
highlander. Highlanders are more burly and built, where as mid-landers are of average size.

Lalafell ­- These are small people! Pint size! Perfectly formed, miniature human beings. Nobody knows where these people come from originally, but they are everywhere around Eorzea!

Elezen ­- Tall elf like people, these people come from the forests around Gridania, protecting the forest and it’s inhabitants. They are rumoured to be the original inhabitants of Eorzea. There are two different sub races within this race, Wildwood and Duskwight. Wildwood have a keen sense of sight where as Duskwight are reclusive and prefer to reside in dark shadowy places, giving them
better night time vision.

Miqo’te – One of the more popular races I have found. This race is also divided into two subsections, one being the Seekers of the Sun, their skin and eyes are bright and they look more cheerful; then there are the Keepers of the Moon, which have darker skin and eyes. Both of these are very unique and different looks.

Roegadyn ­- These are the brutes of the game, built tall and wide, their skin is dark or dull and they hail mainly in Limsa Lominsa. Hellsguard and Seawolves are the sub races within this singular race.

-Taking a Look into the Gameplay and Graphics-

Even when the graphics of Final Fantasy 14 are turned right down, they are still massively impressive. A lot of attention to detail has gone into the smallest thing. The trees have amazing detail and the night sky is just amazing to look at. One of my favourite things to do in this game is to just go around and look at all the beautiful scenery that is here. Of course when the graphics are turned up, the game becomes more impressive, with realistic shadows being applied, and movement of things such as trees. I like the fact that Square kept the game as graphically intense as they could, but still enabling the game to be played on less powerful systems.

One of my favourite features of the game is being able to play every class and job on one single character. On previous MMO’s that I have played, if you wanted to try something different, you had to roll another character, which can be a pain if you need to buy more gear and grind for everything again. Having this feature of everything on one character means classes with the same description (Such as Disciples of War) can share gear, depending on levels. For me, this is a more enjoyable experience, there is no needing to hop on another character if you are required to be another job.

-Content-

 The game is updated regularly, generally patching (small bug fixes, etc) once a week. However, every month or so a massive patch lands. These patches usually adding more content to the game and more for players to do. The development team watch the forums closely and actually listen to what the players want, which is a nice touch. Our voices and opinions are heard. Patch notes can be found on the website, detailing what has been added and what changes. Although this is generally announced prior to the patch landing in the live letters that the development team record. The only problem to these is that they are in Japanese! (Luckily we have subtitles!)

The game has a lot of content to get through for new players, the massive story line, which is ever increasing. Every patch that lands, adds more story. So when you think you’ve finished it… You haven’t! It’s enticing and interesting, to watch the characters you know and love evolve and move through the game with you. There is also a lot of end game content, with primals, (hard mode and extreme) and plenty of end game raids. (In varying sizes of 8 man to 24 man) which requires an entire team to work together to beat foes and progress. Some of them aren’t easy to complete, and require a good amount of communication with your team.

-My Experience with Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn-

My experience of this game has been an amazing one. I have been playing MMO’s for several years now, and it has to be one of the best I have played yet. The community and the players are some of the most friendly I have ever come across. Everyone is willing to help you; from dungeon guides, to materials for crafting. I have enjoyed leveling throughout the game and getting to the end game content. I have not yet got bored, nor do I think I’m going to get bored any time soon, it’s a game that keeps bringing new and exciting things to the table, which you can share with your Free Company and the friends you make in game! I would definitely recommend this game to my friends, as playing MMO’s with friends is a better experience than playing alone!

About the Writer:

 Sarah is Blast Away the Game Review’s U.K. writer and absolute goofball who covers almost anything MMO or Online related whether it’s for PC or Nintendo based products. Her passion lies heavily within Nintendo, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, and League of Legends. Oh, and picking wonderfully bloomed flowers in Animal Crossing: A New Leaf! Want to hit her up? Follow her on twitter with @SarahGibson91. Got Steam? Hit her up over at SarahMonstarr or hit her streaming page up here on Facebook over at www.facebook.com/sarahsstream