MMO Search 2014: What’s my Favorite so Far?

I thought now would be a good time for me to do a short update on what MMO I have enjoyed the most so far. Quite a bit of time has passed since I originally started this featured, and I must apologize a bit since it has taken me awhile to get to many of these games and finish writing many of these summaries. I would have liked to have finished them more quickly, but not much can be done at this point.

So far in MMO Search 2014 I have looked at: EVE Online, Planetside 2, Star Wars the Old Republic, World of Warcraft, RIFT, TERA, Final Fantasy XIV, and a little bit of ArcheAge (links lead to my write ups). Of those games I found Final Fantasy to be the most interesting of the bunch. Special mention should also go to EVE Online and Planetside 2 as well, which I believe could all be very enjoyable for someone looking for a sandbox style game or an expansive and dynamic FPS game. They weren’t my ‘cup of tea’ since I tend to enjoy more structured games more than ‘open world’ or ‘sandbox’ style games.

I have had quite a lot of fun Final Fantasy so far. Some of my favorite features of the game are that it feels well paced, offers some entertaining dungeons and bosses with some interesting mechanics, provides lots of different classes to experiment with (and the freedom to easily switch), gives players a cohesive and interesting game world to explore and experience, and just has a great feel to it overall. I don’t get the feeling that Final Fantasy is the deepest MMO available in terms of story or game-play. Players won’t have access to hundreds of skills or lots of class customization options. Final Fantasy never feels like it is trying to break out in to new MMO territory, but the game provides a great overall package with many bells and whistles. Final Fantasy has a beautiful game world full of creative monsters, a moderately deep crafting and gathering system, lots of dungeons with varying difficultly levels (I am told some later on are nearly impossible without proper teamwork), tons of quests and other activities (treasure hunting, duties, hunting logs, world bosses, ect.), dynamic events, raid events, and a high level gear progression system that will keep players occupied for quite some time (and content is still being added). Yes this game is certainly a ‘theme park’ MMO, so users who are sick of the typical World of Warcraft style MMO will not find much to like here, but those who are looking for a fun and well crafted traditional MMO (though possibly less ‘hardcore’) should find quite a bit to enjoy about Final Fantasy. I should note that some people will be turned off by the ‘cartoony’ fantasy style of the game though, but some people, like me, will be drawn to the graphics which appear to be largely inspired by classic Final Fantasy games.

There are still lots of exciting new MMOs on the market and coming out soon including ArcheAge, Wild Star, Blade and Soul, Everquest Next, and Star Citizen, which I will hopefully be able to give some input on in the future.

As always thanks for reading and please leave any comments below!