5.3 sort of perfectly encapsulates everything I love AND dislike about this game. It is FFXIV's highest point.
Narratively, there's just so much good stuff going on, all beats expertly crafted so they deliver continuous emotional gut punches. The pathos of the Unsundered and the way Elidibus wavers under the weight of mission he can no longer understand, for instance. The Scions' farewells are equally beautiful and bittersweet—this was the moment all their talking about wanting to save the world because they love it unconditionally really felt tangible, where we got to see how saddened they were to leave their friends of the First. I might have shed a few tears while watching Seto's cutscenes. These are the reasons why I play and love this game.
But then there are the actual gameplay bits. The trial encapsulated everything I dislike about playing MMOs. Mechanics stacked on top of mechanics, making it hard to find my own character in the middle of all the flashy stuff going on, let alone understand what I was supposed to do. While of course keeping some sort of awareness as to what the other 7 players were doing, maintaining oGCDs on cooldown, and performing a decent enough rotation. For me, this sort of situation feels more like artificial difficulty than an interesting challenge, even more so because it felt more like a cross of an eyesight test and social challenge than a fun game: who has the shiny stack up marker and who has the shiny move away marker amidst the 5 other shiny explosions? How to get these players to understand they shouldn't stay close together? Is the villain saying something relevant? Who knows, ain't nobody got time for that when all party members are at <10% HP. I don't get anxious about these things anymore; my only reaction is "I hope this ends soon".
Narratively, there's just so much good stuff going on, all beats expertly crafted so they deliver continuous emotional gut punches. The pathos of the Unsundered and the way Elidibus wavers under the weight of mission he can no longer understand, for instance. The Scions' farewells are equally beautiful and bittersweet—this was the moment all their talking about wanting to save the world because they love it unconditionally really felt tangible, where we got to see how saddened they were to leave their friends of the First. I might have shed a few tears while watching Seto's cutscenes. These are the reasons why I play and love this game.
But then there are the actual gameplay bits. The trial encapsulated everything I dislike about playing MMOs. Mechanics stacked on top of mechanics, making it hard to find my own character in the middle of all the flashy stuff going on, let alone understand what I was supposed to do. While of course keeping some sort of awareness as to what the other 7 players were doing, maintaining oGCDs on cooldown, and performing a decent enough rotation. For me, this sort of situation feels more like artificial difficulty than an interesting challenge, even more so because it felt more like a cross of an eyesight test and social challenge than a fun game: who has the shiny stack up marker and who has the shiny move away marker amidst the 5 other shiny explosions? How to get these players to understand they shouldn't stay close together? Is the villain saying something relevant? Who knows, ain't nobody got time for that when all party members are at <10% HP. I don't get anxious about these things anymore; my only reaction is "I hope this ends soon".
Dieggster
1 year ago