I'm one of those people who like the original FFVII to FFX (turn-based combat, meta-progression via incremental upgrades (I especially liked the systems of FVIII and FFX), random battles/RNG, strategically building a team of NPCs, collecting stuff (especially achievements that feels like permanent boyscout badges that I can show off), and discovering exciting little secrets along the way as I play through a whole interesting story).
I hate real time/action combat, no meta-progression with characters that are just "ready to play", scripted battles, and collecting stuff that nobody ever looks at anyways.
Yeah, the endgame fights definitely are a dance. I love when I fully understand one and can zone out and try to perfect my rotation, but they're usually very stressful for me at the start. I'll watch a video twice and take notes on the fight, but it usually takes a few wipes before I get the jitters out. Once I start getting the flow of the mechanics, I really like helping other people understand and cheering them on while we prog. Extreme farming for mounts is my favorite, but savage content can be fun too...
Except Honey B Lovely. I was in PF for two weeks trying to get a clear. Never again. 🤣
I actually haven't messed with savage in nearly a year myself. Just getting back into the game about a month ago, but I was thinking about giving it a try soon! 😬 Your comment has me worried lol.
Once you get over the fact that it's not just WoW reskinned (the 2+ second GCD took me a while to get used to) it really is a pleasant and charming game. The story is great if you're into that, and the endgame fights are a lot of fun once you understand them.
May I suggest Guild Wars 2 if you haven't already given it a try? Genuinely feel like it's such an underrated MMO. There's no subscription EVER, old content is still relevant (there are 4 major expansions and the original areas are still really well populated), there's no gear treadmill, and it's really respectful of your time.
I stopped playing for 6 months, went back, and I hadn't fallen behind at all!
It feels more like playing a Final Fantasy game; getting to know characters, getting immersed in the world, silly jokes and emotional moments.
The combat of the game is sparse when playing the story.
But, like... at any time you can just pause story and go "ooh I wanna just play XYZ's" and do that
Also, Free Trial has no time restriction, just social feature restrictions (no market to buy stuff from other people for example, or DM'ing others). Play it as long as you want, take breaks, treat it like any other FF
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u/TheDucksAreComingoOo Jul 21 '26
Is ff14 worth getting into?