Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5207 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Square Enix
• Released on: 2004-09-17
• Platforms: Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows XP

Customer Reviews

Awesome Online Adventure
Final Fantasy XI has awesome storylines, yes, thats right, there is more than 1 storyline in this game, and it's not just the missions for the nations, or the expansion missions, there are awesome quests that involve character backgrounds, the histories of the races, the job stories, the list goes on and on. The players are real people and therefore, have emotions, lives etc. so you can make friends in England, America, France, Italy, Germany, and even Japan. Currently, there are 3 expansion packs, each with their own unique items, storylines, etc. and this game will just keep on going. I seriously recomend this game, but before you join, you may want to visit some forums and decide which server may be the best for you, thankfully Square Enix has no implemented a server selection list instead of randomly assigning players to a server. To be honest, what I have described here, only scratches the surface, the choices you make in the game, the friends you make, are all up to you. I seriously recomend this game, it is awesome!

FFXI a Square Enix Masterpiece
I originally bought this game in early 2005, not noticing it was an online game (was walking through pc world and saw it for £20, picked it up without looking lol).
so i bought it, i got it home, and saw on the packaging that it was for online use and had a monthly charge.
I threw it in the drawer, didn't touch it for 2 months.

So one day, i'm going through my stuff and there it is, and i thought, well what the hell i'll give it a go, 30 days free subscription, if i don't like it then i can stop, and it costs me nothing.
out come the discs and wow, there was 8 of them, you don't know how lucky you are they they've now produced this on dvd lol

It takes about an hour to install the game fully on your pc, and i warn you it's huge, it's about 7 gb of memory, but on the plus side, you don't need a disc in to play it.
once you're all set up and ready to play, beware you've got a massive online update you do, as SE (square enix) are constantly updating and adding to this game then you can expect alot of updates.
now it doesn't matter how fast your connection is, your update will run no faster than a speed of 1mb, that's what SE's server allows, so that's what you get.
so best idea, go get a cup of tea/eat something/watch tv, whilst it's updating cos it's gonna take like an hour, maybe a little more.
I know this may seem off putting, but believe me it's worth it, on the plus side, updates shows you how much they are always adding to this game.

So finally you get to play, choose ur character, choose a name for yourself and in you go...
Welcome to the fantastic world of Vana'diel
the graphics and intergrity of this game surpass all over online role playing games it will truly blow you away.
unfortunately the game instructions don't tell you too much about what you're doing so it can be a little daunting but there's always people around happy to help new adventurers.

so you're in, you're set up now what do you do?
the possibilities are endless, you can level a job (very much like the usual final fantasy games with levelling, kill stuff get experience points) there's many jobs to choose from;
warrior, ninja, dark knight, paladin, monk, thief, dragoon, beast-master ranger, white mage, black mage, red mage, summoner, bard, samurai, blue mage, corsair, puppetmaster and as of winter 2007 Dancer.
don't wanna level a job? that's no problem do something else,
you can fish, or craft as well, countless things to do to keep you occupied.

Now i warn you, if you want to play this game, don't take it lightly, it's not easy, you'll hear about people who quit FFXI and start playing World of Warcraft because it's easier.
yes FFXI is difficult, but much more rewarding i can promise you that.

The beauty of online games is playing and interacting with others from accross the globe, sometimes you'll find yourself standing around on your character doing nothing for hours but just chatting to your friends you've made.

so my over all rating 5/5, it's worth the money, and it's worth the download waiting, just be careful, because once you start playing you're going to be hooked.

If you find yourself on the Asura server, drop me a line
Character: Xzion, 75 red mage and 75 corsair.
Have fun

Readers beware your in for a scare
ok i have played this game for a real long time. I kept on hearing WoW come up (World of Warcraft) and decided to try it, i never looked back.

This game will devour your life. It takes hours to do stuff.
The xp only goes upto a maximum when u solo regardless, u could be lvl 5 and only need 750xp therefore an even match gets u 100xp and ur real close to your goal, with 30,000xp needed that same 100xp is daunting so u need to party to get xp. This is where ffxi's good and bad comes out. The game is extremely party based. Once u hit lvl15 everything is party, xp gathering, questing etc. This would be great if getting a party only took 5 min (if only, 10days out of 30days play would have been saved, and thats in game play)but in reality a party could take upto a couple of hours especially if u have a job not everyone wants. Yes the story is good as well as the graphics but its a game u can't go on for an hour do some crafting ( ha, another thing that takes ages to learn and u loose more money when ur lower lvls )then leave.
Biggest problem when i was using it was each server was international ie u could be playing with Japanese (which if u have chance to, do cos they will decimate any other party in xp gathering) and Americans. Only probelm is time difference so when the most people r on ur not lol.

Sorry to take up so much time but i think this game has run its course now, the horse is dead and its getting flogged constantly due to FF covergae. Try to get a friend to get u free trials to both FFxi and WoW and play them for 30days then make your choice thats the only fairest thing to do.