[Video Games] A Return to Vana'diel

I am bored, to say the least. The drawback about shuffling between two hotels, every week, for going on 8 weeks, is the internet access. I can only get online to play my Xbox 360 at one of the hotels. The second hotel seems to have a NAT problem that won't let me play. I hear they are working on it, though.

Every week, at least two times a week, my girlfriend and I have been visiting Gamestop. We don't necessarily buy anything every trip, but we are averaging around one purchase a week. This week turned out to a Square Enix week. She wanted to watch me play Radiata Stories (PS2), and I wanted to play Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core (PSP). We got both. I noticed a stack of trial copies of Final Fantasy XI for $1.99, and I mused that it might be nice to put it on her new Sony Vaio laptop. She grabbed the disk, tossed it to the clerk, and away we went.

I played Final Fantasy XI for around three months when it initially came out on the PS2 in the US in March of 2004. I was also one of the lucky few that got to beta test the game. I say lucky because beta testers were rewarded with free 40GB hard drives and free copies of the game a week before it was released in retail. I say lucky because this retailed for around $100. Lucky.

I know what you're thinking. You're wondering why I would play a four year old game? Well, the game technically game out in Japan in May of 2002 on the PS2, so its really a six year old game. I'm playing it because I had a lot of fun playing it when it first came out. This was in large part due to the friends I was playing with at the time. I also thought it would be nice to introduce my girlfriend to the world of MMOs, dangerous as they are sometimes, and we kind of need something to do with our evenings.

We finally got into the game after the required two or three hours of updates were downloaded. I admit I made a mistake in hastily jumping into the game without reading any of the online game manuals. Can you fault me, though? After all, I did play the game already. However, our first half hour of play was hindered by me trying to work out how to do, well, anything. I was able to finally switch the input from standard keyboard to compact keyboard, once I figured out how access the menu. Yes, I didn't even know how to open something as simple as the game menu.

We played the game for two hours last night and for 20 minutes today at lunch. My girlfriend seems to like it so far, even if she is frustrated at my adventurous nature. I want to challenge monsters where the outcome is uncertain. I want, well, a challenge. She wants me to grind on lower level monsters and not risk my characters death. This is going to be long standing battle, I can tell.

We are having fun together, and that is all we really wanted. However, there are some problems that likely won't encourage us to continue playing after our 30 day free trial ends.

First, I knew the economy in FFXI was a mess, but I didn't realize it was this bad. It is simply impossible someone new to come into the game. Weapons and armor for low level, new characters is completely priced out of our range. Once we have enough money to buy these low level weapons, though, we won't need them anymore. We'll simply be upgrading to a less outdated weapon.

Second, this is a six year old game and it certainly shows. I think its time for Square Enix to phase out Final Fantasy XI and introduce a new Final Fantasy MMO. Final Fantasy XIV or XV, perhaps? I can hope, can't I?

Lastly, the heart of any MMO is the Massively Multiplayer part. Most of my friends moved on from Final Fantasy to World of Warcraft years ago. Many of those that moved onto World of Warcraft have even moved on from that.

In the end, I think this trip down memory lane will be a fun experience for my girlfriend and I. I may even convince her that she doesn't have to just watch me play, that she can take the controls for awhile, too. Maybe, when our trial period is up, I can convince her to even give World of Warcraft a try? We shall see, my friend, we shall see.