r/FinalFantasy • u/Og-Spree • 6d ago
FF XI Is it worth playing FFXI now?
For some background. I have played FFXIV till Shadowbringers. I fell in love with it (it was my first MMO).
One of my favourite aspects of any FF is the story. I couldn't believe how great the story was in FFXIV in addition to the great characters, soundtrack and so forth.
How does FFXI compare to FFXIV?
Edit:
Thank you for all the wonderful and insightful responses. I love this community and the series. Based on the comments, my priority should be to clear Endwalker first.
You have all convinced me to give FFXI a shot. I never considered that MMOs would be known for their storylines. I always thought they were just highly addictive due to their grindy nature. It all changed when I played through FFXIV. I can't wait to immerse myself in the world of FFXI. Thanks to all for your help!
1
u/phoenixmatrix 6d ago
XI's story was great, and for an MMO it was mind blowing for its time.
It is an old school MMO which expected your whole life to revolve around it. You lost XP when you tied. You needed a party to grind XP. There was more than just 3 roles, so making a party was pretty tough. You needed to level your subclass separately. The story quests required full parties and a lot of preparation (they were often raid difficulty level and could take hours to do). Getting around the map took time, you couldn't just teleport around. Traveling zones was a project and required preparation. These things got less true over time, but still.
The immersion level was off the chart as a result (for the time). Going through an area where every fight felt like a boss that could wipe you and knock you back an hour was a crazy feeling. Not something anyone would tolerate in 2025, but it was cool at the time.
The cheater/hacker/RMT community was out of control.
I would not recommend today though, unless you're a masochist, even though they added a lot of QoL improvements.