Final Fantasy XI Online
By Alex Gordon
Xbox 360

I got the demo of this FFXI, from an edition of OXM (Official Xbox Magazine). Although the game had appeared in several formats before the 360, I was still looking forward to playing it. When you first insert the disc, you are taken to a download screen. Where you download PlayOnline Viewer (FFXI doesn’t use Xbox Live, instead uses its own creation PlayOnline). After about an hour or so of a blue progress bar slowly filling up, you are then taken to a registration page. The part of this, which makes it such a chore, is using the silly, virtual keyboard. But I’ve used these keyboards many times before, I hear you say. Well, not like this one. This keyboard is a total pain in the rear end. Normal analog stick moving isn’t used in this, and if you get a character wrong. You are forced to delete the whole thing, as there is no way to move the cursor backward without deleting. The keyboard color scheme isn’t in any way helpful either. A painfully light blue neon glow surrounds each letter making them almost impossible to identify.

Anyway, after that horrific ordeal, you remind yourself that you are about to play the game now. But to your horror. Yet another download screen comes up. You realize it is downloading numerous game files, which are required to play. Why these were not on the disc to start is a mystery. So, now you’re curled up in a ball in the corner of the room, rocking back and forth. To your relief, you here the ‘download finished’ noise. “Phew!” you say.

Well you spoke to soon my friend. Next is yet another stage in the preparation progress. By this time you will start to question whether this was all worth it. Maybe you should just go and read the magazine that it came with? Well after fighting these thoughts, and completing the 2ndregistration. You can then, finally. LogIn.

Even the logging in process is a stress, I won’t go into that. Then you finally move on to creating your character. This is actually a good point in the game. Good range of races and abilities to pick from. Then, after all that stress and annoyance, your find yourself in the game. But wait! As you look around. You see faded out surroundings. “Hmmm” you utter. Then, and this is where the game totally dies, you start to move. The movement in Final Fantasy XI is utterly ridiculous. When I was shuffling along, a snail moved past and left a trail of smoke behind it. I mean, you move so slowly that you nearly go back in time.

Everything is just slow, movement, combat. It’s just not fun to play. To rank up one level you have to fight thousands of monsters. You will try and work out how to talk to get help on quests and other elements of the game from your fellow players. But some stupid quick, shortcut thing keeps popping up with displaying some crappy text that makes no sense. Then you discover that the only way to communicate is by the dreaded virtual keyboard.

I cannot tell you anymore about the game as I quickly ejected the disc, returned it to it’s sleeve, locked it in a safe and dropped it from a bridge.
So, my verdict on Final Fantasy XI is this. DO NOT buy it! Seriously, the above is not an exaggeration. It’s just ridiculous. Okay, I know it’s the first Online RPG to hit the 360, but do yourselves a favor and just wait for an actual GAME to come out. Get oblivion, hell get anything, just not Final Fantasy XI Online.

For those who still aren’t taking the advice, the release date is:

US – 18-April-2006
UK – 20- April- 2006