FINAL FANTASY® XI: Ultimate Collection Seekers Edition

Hard to get into, but insanely addicting once you finally break through the wall. This review is coming from the perspective of a completely new player experiencing the game for the first time. I just finished the Chains of Promathia expansion at the time of writing this review. The first 20 hours of gameplay are honestly rough. You have to overcome a lot of hurdles before the game starts showing its true colors. The controls feel outdated, PlayOnline is annoying, and the early nation missions aren’t exactly the most exciting content, both FFXIV and FFXI first pull you in at the start of the expansions. A lot of guides are basically necessary if you want to follow the story and understand the systems. As a new player, the game does a terrible job explaining many of its features and quality of life options. I didn’t know about Survival Guides until near the end of the standalone game, and I didn’t discover Trusts until around level 30. I also had no idea Unity Warps existed, so I walked all the way to Jeuno the old school way just to get my first mount. At the time it felt frustrating, but looking back, those moments are part of what makes the journey memorable. Without the help o…

I've been playing Final Fantasy XI since 2003, and it's still one of the best MMOs ever made. It's a truly hardcore MMO that requires dedication, patience, and commitment, but that's exactly what makes it so rewarding. Even today, despite never receiving an official graphical overhaul, FFXI remains one of the most immersive MMOs I've ever played. Its lore, atmosphere, world-building, and sense of adventure are simply unmatched. After all these years, Vana'diel still feels like a real world — and that's something very few MMOs have ever managed to achieve.

[h3]A terribly aged MMO.[/h3] I tried Final Fantasy XI for a short while on the Xbox 360 some 20 years ago but couldn't get into it. Back then, I didn't understand why anyone would want to play it when the much better World of Warcraft was right there. Now, two decades later, I decided to give this game another try. It's not gotten much better. While the game might have seen some updates over the years since, it's still a very slow and obtuse game I can only recommend to the most diehard MMO players and Final Fantasy fans. From its controls to the UI and gameplay itself, Final Fantasy XI has aged terribly. The only positive remark I can give this game is its story, which I liked a lot better than WoW's vanilla story, and managed me to push through for about 50 hours. That said, during all that time, I wished I was playing Final Fantasy XIV instead.

It's old but gold. Best played with a controller or on deck.

Bought all expansions, tried to log in and my god what a hassle it was i hated the log in experience this gave me. The fact they still charge a subscription for this game feels like a scam to me in my personal opinion. there's no map markers no nothing no quest markers, i was genuinely confused with what i was supposed to be doing, they did update this so it lets monstrous than it was before but still, there were cutscenes that just randomly happened as i was walking about, then i was like what, what am i doing now shantotto just appeared and i had no idea where i was supposed to go to see her as my quest log said go see her. i would have liked to have played through everything but its convoluted, frustrating, no QOL improvements no nothing i just gave up and left it and frankly will not be playing again. This game is so old it should be free at this point with how much the expansions cost and they are unwilling to improve anything else. Buy if you have no life and desperately want to feel like you are in a no handholding throw you and your wife down a sewage pipe with no protection equipment no map no nothing simulator then come on down this is the game for you.

peak