Even on modest hardware (the reviewer played on a 1GB ATI 5750 paired with a 3Ghz Core 2 Duo), the results can be fantastic as long as you're prepared to fiddle with graphical menus (accessed solely outside the main executable). Each is rendered with genuine style and detail, matched with a draw distance that occasionally staggers.
It might be a little too pristine and model-like for some, but it feels like a logical aesthetic for Eorzea's rolling and verdant landscape.įor the most part, that positivity also transfers to each of the initial three city states that you can choose to home your avatar. Texturing is excellent, lighting first-rate, shadowing believeable. Each of the playable races are pleasant on the eye, with the graceful, tall Eleven sitting comfortably alongside the likes of the rather bizarre and miniature Lalafell. Some way short of the complexity found in a City of Heroes but far advanced on the simplicity of WoW, the capable graphical engine renders figures with clean lines and some exquisite detail and facial animation. Leaving aside frustrations that may well be fixed by the time you read this, at least XIV's character creation system manages to leave a positive impression. But this isn't a console and given that the vast majority of people will play with a mouse and keyboard, such criticism is entirely warranted. Indeed, plugging in a controller and playing the game on its own terms is somewhat of a revelation the menu system, sluggish character movement and targeting suddenly makes sense, and previously restrictive interactions are transformed through a logical interface. From the painfully over-complex signup process (it has to be experienced to be believed) to the lack of keyboard shortcuts and nests of in-game menus for even the simplest of commands, the PC release of XIV is marred by a clear focus on next year's PS3 iteration. Right from the start, it's fairly obvious that interface development was never high on the list of concerns. It isn't a title that's streamlined or advanced in any significant manner at best manages to hold its own against contemporaries at worst borders on unplayable. Whilst Square has some authority within the genre after the moderately successful Final Fantasy XI and a determination to mark itself out from the pack, the suite of upgrades introduced in XIV are often baffling and at worst painfully reductive. Follow the template wholesale and you run the risk of becoming just another copycat, introduce too many new and confusing features and you alienate a playerbase waiting to make the leap to a new experience. Launching an MMO against the might of WoW is a tough business.
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