Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Provides a True MMO Experience

When approaching the Square Enix booth at E3 this year, I was inundated with sights and sounds from some of my favorite titles. At the back of the booth was a massive screen that streamed trailers from the new Deus Ex and Final Fantasy XV. Towards the center were stations for Lightning Returns and the new HD Kingdom Hearts collection. At the front of the booth stood an area that was fenced off; two announcers sat in the middle, encircled by 16 computers all accompanied by players incessantly tapping their keyboards and mice. 

I glanced up to see giant display screens that showcased a group of characters fighting a giant fire demon—it was a swag contest for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Intrigued, my colleague Robyn and I got in line to try it out. I admit that I was skeptical about the game—after hearing the reviews of XIV’s initial release back in 2010, my expectations were relatively low. But Square Enix put a lot of work into the new title, and it definitely shows. The demo for A Realm Reborn ended up being one of my favorite experiences at this year’s expo. 

Before entering the contest, we sat in a small theatre where one of the developers guided us through a few aspects within the game. First we got to see the character customization, which is done with beautiful lucidity. The layout is minimalistic in design and easy to follow but still offers a multitude of detailed customization options. Square Enix has put massive emphasis on character customization, and that is something not limited to mere appearance. Our guide made it clear that as a player, you are not restricted to the class you choose when you initially create you character—you can actually change it by changing your weapon. Customization does not end when you click “create,” rather it is something that can be done throughout the game itself. 

Square Enix has also added emphasis on the companionship aspect of the game, arguably one of the most important features within an MMORPG. They have worked to improve the party systems, including the addition of a level-sync system in which your character will actually adjust to the level of the players you are questing with.  A Realm Reborn will also support more autonomous players. Players who enjoy adventuring on their own can do so with the addition of AI companions… like a CHOCOBO. Who can be a mount and also help you kill things. And be your best friend. And take you to all kinds of cool places. And be super cute. Color me excited. Overall the game looks beautiful, filled with idiosyncrasies the Final Fantasy series is known for—and perhaps even some easter eggs. 

After showing us some of the game’s key features, it was time to cover the objective of the contests. In teams of 8 we had to successfully take down Ifrit, a summon that has been seen many times throughout the series. In this context, Ifrit serves as an end-game boss—talk about throwing us to the wolves.

Part of me wanted to back-out of the contest. While I consider myself to be an MMO veteran, I had never played Final Fantasy XIV before. I had no idea how the class systems worked or how to use the controls. Ultimately, I did not want to be at fault if my party was to fall, but I decided that if I chose to DPS I surely wouldn’t mess things up. 

Low and behold, out of the holy trinity of roles (tank, dps, and healing) I stood there amongst my seven other party members… as the main tank. Apparently I was one of the only players in the group that had previous tanking experience. So there I stood, a massive Hyur Gladiator, anxiously awaiting my fate. On my screen was an array of special attacks and abilities, and though I wanted to try my hand at them all, I knew that as a tank I would not have the luxury of button mashing. 

With the help of a Square Enix employee I was able to figure out my aggro rotation and proceeded to invite my teammates into the raid group. I ran around the starting area, nervously waiting for the announcers—praying that I could at least maintain aggro. 

Once everyone was at their station, we were put in an arena that was surrounded by flames. The announcers instructed us to avoid Ifrit’s flame attacks and told us that the key to taking him down was destroying the Infernal Fetter, an item that Ifrit deploys as soon as he is down to 50% health. If the Fetter is not destroyed within a certain amount of time, Ifrit releases a devastating attack called Hellfire, which wipes the entire party. 

Ifrit towered over us at the center of the circle, and once the ready check was complete I began my charge. Without the ability to speak vocally (E3 is absurdly loud) it was difficult to organize our party and the dps opened up before I could put a hit on the boss. I watched in a panic as our healers worked in over time to keep the party alive.  

After a few hits of my combo attack, I finally got aggro and turned the monster away from the group, making sure that I would be the only one taking damage from Ifrit’s fiery-breath. Within seconds I felt right at home; the controls felt intrinsically familiar and I beamed in delight at how swiftly I was able to pick up on the timing of my attacks. It seemed that our group had finally found our rhythm—the DPS was going full force and our healers were successfully keeping the party up. I never once fell past 50% health. The announcers praised our party’s organization and I firmly believed we could defeat this boss. 

That was until the Infernal Fetter landed on the field. Through my headset I could hear the announcers telling everyone to switch to the Fetter. Unfortunately, some of our dps did not switch, and within a matter of seconds Ifrit leapt into the air, landing with a massive inferno—his hellfire attack. No one survived. The crowd around us, which I finally noticed, gave a loud sigh.

Time was not on our side, and once everyone respawned I re-created the party and entered the arena once again. I turned Ifrit away and pulled him to the side of the circle. In my haste I lost aggro and had to fight hard to tear it from my party members. Finally we got Ifrit down to 50% and once again we were wiped by the hellfire. I began to think that this fight was near impossible, but overhead I heard the announcer mentioning that the other team—playing on the PS3—had downed the Fetter. There was hope. We just had to get organized… at this point we had less than three minutes to get Ifrit down. 

At this point the raid leader in me took over. I did the party invite and yelled over the crowd, asking my party to let me pick up aggro before they opened up their attacks. When the Fetter dropped again I yelled for everyone to switch—motivational cheers arose from the announcers and the crowd as we did everything possible in our last attempt. The Fetter’s health began to drop—first 75%, then 50, then 20…then hellfire. And with that last wipe, our time was up. As we walked away from the computers, the announcers commended our attempt and gave us passes for swag.

Although we failed at taking down Ifrit, I still walked away from the game with a smile. I didn’t get a polo shirt, but I did get to spend about 10 minutes with a rewarding boss fight that evoked fond memories of past MMORPG experiences. It is difficult to judge anything based on 10 minutes of game play, but with it I walked away with the reassurance that there is a definite hope for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. 

Want to get some time with Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn? Sign-up for the Beta at finalfantasyxiv.com. The game will be released worldwide on August 27^th, 2013.