Final Fantasy XIV is a game that increases exponentially in quality, but that unfortunately does require starting at the bottom of the curve. A Realm Reborn is a typical, I would even say uninspired, JRPG story to which I was only paying half attention to the majority of my playtime. However, the gameplay itself is very fun and satisfying in classic MMO fashion, and packed together with some legitimately interesting worldbuilding the game managed to hold my attention long enough to get to the 'good stuff' - and thank goodness for that, because it's only going up from here.