6 mo. ago • 95%

If you've done the Final Fantasy marathon did you include FF XI? Was it worth it?

I've been playing through all the numbered games and its been great. I could write an essay or two on any of them. In general I'm only including base games and no expansions or DLC so it wouldn't be a huge undertaking to beat 11, but I'm trying to see if it's worth it from others who have done the marathon.

I was already a XIV player before I started this so that base game has been covered for awhile now.

31 comments

I genuinely thought they killed it off. Wow.

But no, I wouldn't include any MMO in a game marathon. XIV has a "story" but compared to a legit single player rpg, yeah no way.

22
- XIV's story is insanely good though but I guess we're not counting DLCs here (although the first 2 expansions are free now)
  
  11
  
  The story being told is good but the gameplay is eeeurgh. Endless boring ass fetch quests punctuated by pretty cool dungeons.
  
  Granted that's just the early msq. I enjoy the game and have several 90 combat classes, but it really was a slog to start.
  
  7
- I'll be honest compared to many of the main FF games like X, XIII or XVI, XIV's story from ARR->EW, especially once you're in the last segments of ShB and EW, easily outdoes them. It's slow as molasses since it has to fit a whole MMO with 2y release cycles into it, but it's also damn good.
  
  5
Not related but an old memory.

Bought the game when it came out was around 12 y/o, and was so happy since my parents rarely got me games. Got home, told them I needed a card for online monthly payments.... The game just sat there and picked up dust. Never got to play it.

17
- Aha thats brutal. Thats why the MMOs should never have been numbered games! Final Fantasy: Online would have gotten the point across.
  
  13
- I bought it at the time without realising you need an internet connection. Good times...
  
  11
  
  Oh dialup days. There was the monthly AOL trials. Just had to keep waiting for them lol
  
  5
- I got my copy free when I bought my PS2 hard drive and never played it once.
  
  I lost my best friend to that game. He got into playing it so much after high school that he basically stopped doing anything else. I'd call him to hang out and he'd ghost me to play the game instead. Eventually I gave up trying...
  
  My friends now want me to get into FFXIV and I absolutely refuse.
  
  7
Oh hi! I played XI from release until recently (with some breaks). IMHO the original story (basically up to Rank 6 where you defeat the Shadow Lord) is fine, but it’s really more of a prelude and setting up the stakes. If you stop there it’s not really worth your time.

Rise of the Zilart and Chains of Promathia (+ optionally Apocalypse Nigh) are pretty good from a story perspective. These can be completed solo. This is what I’d recommend playing through to anyone interested in the real story.

From there it’s somewhat diminishing returns. Treasures and Wings add some interesting bits to the lore. Rhapsody is actually great but will take a lot of time and effort and is probably only worth it to a die hard fan.

10
- Thanks for the details! I might try to beat the Shadow Lord and then see how I feel about continuing.
  
  2
  
  You must be clinically insane to start XI in today's time
  
  Just watch a couple of cinematics
  
  0
I do not include XI or XIV. Also, I still haven't beaten II, IV, or VI. But I've beaten the rest and some of the spin-offs.

5
- I think II is really cool! I recommend the GBA version though.
  
  2
  
  I already bought the Pixel Remaster version. Maybe I'll start it after next month's FFV Four Job Fiesta challenge.
  
  2
I've played all of the mainline games over the years, but my only experience with FFXI was a couple of hours of the beta. Tried the marathon as a set of replays several years back and only made it to the start of IX. The load times and the glacial pace of the battles was too much by that point. I think I was planning on skipping XI.

You could also try asking in !finalfantasy@lemmy.world and !jrpg@lemmy.zip.

4
Have you done Eureka? If you love Eureka, you'll be fine. Otherwise, id recommend playing it separately on its own

4
I have been in the process of doing the marathon slowly but surely over the past year and a half.

I play XIV when I can and I enjoy it, but hardly have time for one MMO, much less a second one. I decided that trying to do XI was too big an ask, so I opted to replace it with Tactics (the PSP War of the Lions version specifically).

Tactics is a much-praised game that, despite not being numbered, is considered part of Final Fantasy's core identity (and comes up a lot in XIV), and it provides a nice tie-in to 12, both being Ivalice games, so I thought it worked well.

The only difficult part is that there is no PC port of Tactics. I had to emulate it. Though I do know that there are iOS/Android ports of it which may work better for some.

2
No of course not. Plus XI nowadays is a bit tricky to play anyways, and with XIV, there's also no reason to for the average player.

2
Might as well ask if we included Tactics.

2
- Tactics doesnt have a number though
  
  2
  
  That's my point.
  
  1
- Of course it should be included. It's the best game.
  
  1
  
  It is the marathon.
  
  1

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