Lajiaya

I don't think I ever fully realized how much I appreciate Giant Bomb and how it has affected me until now.

It's great that Alex, Vinny, and Brad feel they are able to move onto the bigger and better, but man there are few things in my life that have made me feel this sad. I hope for the best for all of them.

@zombiepie: "

There simply is no legal way to play that game on modern consoles or technology. That is, unless you count busting out a PS3 and going through the hoops of navigating the old marketplace and buying a "PS1 Classic" port of the game. It's bananas."

And the PSN version of the game emulates the PS1 version's load times. So you don't even want to play THAT version of it.

So progression carry over does NOT carry over any of your escalation progress from 2. And I had completed every escalation in 2, so that kinda sucks.

I think the final mission for WotG wasn't added until after Abyssea came out, either 2010 or 2011. It is a pretty long story from what I remember.

The missions for A Voracious Resurgence won't be finished until 2022 apparently.

Small correction, but the NM that made players sick because they were fighting it for too long was Treasures of Aht Urghan's mega boss Pandemonium Warden, not Absolute Virtue.

PW is a mega boss that has multiple phases where it transforms into every major boss from that expansion (10 total) in a sequence one after another. So it's basically a boss-rush boss.

SE updated that boss after that incident so that if you don't beat it within 2 hours, it will automatically despawn.

Everything else you said about AV is basically true though. But it was more that people for a long time couldn't figure out how to defeat it, not that the fight itself took a long time like PW.

I am a bit surprised you managed to lose enough exp to level down, but I feel your experience with FFXI is fairly unique for new players in the modern-FFXI era.

Most new players arrive because they have friends who play it and want them to try. Those friends will usually then use methods to get the new player to level 99 as quick as possible (which can be done in a couple hours if you know what you're doing), because the journey to level 99 (and basic gear ilevel 119) is not the real grind.

The real grind is fine-tuning all your gear sets and building ultimate weapons, which is where gil becomes relevant. Buying all the mats you need to complete an ultimate "rema" weapon can cost you 100 million gil or more depending on your server and the weapon. You can of course farm those mats, but doing so is usually unrealistic.

To be reductive (I guess) I'd basically agree with you that the story/lore is the attractive thing about the game, and not the actual gameplay (the ending credits to Rhapsodies of Vana'diel always makes me tear up). But I also have to get that piece of gear I want so my job does more damage faster, or helps my party survive better.

Most new players don't stick around for more than a few months in my experience (there are exceptions) even if they have friends on the inside who power-level them.

I started playing in 2010 because of a free trial, and in anticipation on FFXIV coming out later that year. But I got really invested in XI, probably because I was a kid with a lot of free time. And if XIV 1.0 didn't completely suck, I most likely wouldn't still be playing XI today. I bet it wouldn't surprise you if I said that FFXI is simultaneously my absolute favourite and least favourite game ever.

Sorry this post ended up being a train of thought. I love this game, but someone coming to it new and sticking with it NOW seems impossible.

The areas that seem to have the texture problems are the slum areas (sector 7, sector 5, and Wall Market) for the most part. But most other areas look fine; not Battlefield V levels of amazing, but fine.

Here's a winning materia combination I discovered online for anyone going through this game on hard (assuming all materia is max level).

Have HP absorption linked to Enemy Skill, and Elemental linked to the element your enemy is weak to. Have also First Strike and any other setup that can help you build ATB quickly at the start of battle.

Cast Algid Aura at the start, then Spirit Syphon once you build two ATB. Even though the description for Algid Aura says it'll be ice, it'll actually be whatever element is linked to your Element materia when that is applied to your weapon.

Because HP Absorption is linked to Enemy Skill, Algid Aura on top of Spirit Syphon will absorb HP from enemies around you, while hitting them with the elemental materia you linked. This way, I'm able to keep Cloud healed without using any MP. It is also good to have some Magic Up materia or accessories to increase damage.

@casepb: I'm in the camp of people who think it would be a good idea for the next game to start with the full village flashback, just so it can be made clear in this series of games as to who certain characters are.

As someone who has only had exposure to the Kingdom Hearts stories through trailers and second hand discussions, but has played every Metal Gear game to completion, the story surrounding the whispers in this game was easier to comprehend than both of those series.