Exploring The 18 Year Old MMORPG That Refuses To Die: A Look At Final Fantasy XI

When talking about Final Fantasy and MMO’s, most people will probably immediately think of Final Fantasy XIV. It’s not hard to see why. The game became infamous after an awful launch that Square Enix completely turned around by remaking the game from scratch and making the original version’s shutdown part of the lore. When the original servers shut down, players were greeted with an amazing and epic animation that’s still talked about to this day, and now the game has evolved into one of the most popular and highly rated modern MMO’s out there. While FFXIV’s story certainly is interesting, that’s not what I want to talk about today. Other authors have already done it justice probably 100 times better than I could. No, instead I want to talk about FFXIV’s oft forgotten older brother: Final Fantasy XI.

FFXI’s story, while not as well-known as FFXIV’s, is still pretty interesting. It was released in 2002, a few years before the big MMO boom and was the first MMORPG to have cross-platform play between a console and a computer. Online play was nowhere near as prevalent on consoles back then. Getting online functionality at all was a herculean task as was getting the PS2 to even process such a huge world. The game required both a PS2 hard drive and network adapter to be played on top of the game and a monthly subscription. It wasn’t an easy pitch to make to the gaming audience, especially considering the controversy over the game being a main numbered entry despite being so different. Yet despite these issues, FFXI thrived. It was extremely successful; no, not just extremely successful. Back in 2012 Square Enix announced that it was the most profitable Final Fantasy game in the series. That may be why it got five expansions and too many add-ons to list.

Fast forward to 2020, and somehow against all odds, FFXI is still kicking. After almost two decades, the game is old and archaic and it still requires a fairly pricey monthly sub on top of the initial purchase. By this point the game and its legacy have been mostly forgotten by the wider gaming community, and FFXIV seems to have completely eclipsed it as ‘the online Final Fantasy MMORPG’. Yet it also has a dedicated community that continues to play it religiously. The last big update was only three years ago and despite everything, the game still gets smaller updates on a regular basis. While looking into FFXIV I stumbled across FFXI unaware that it was even an MMORPG until I investigated further. Something about the game just intrigued me. I’d always wanted to give FFXIV a try but alas I don’t think my computer would be able to handle it. But FFXI was made for much older hardware, and I quickly discovered the game had a 14 day trial period. After mulling it over for a bit, I decided to check it out.

I’ll be honest, setting the game up is a pain. You see, when FFXI originally released, it was exclusive to Square Enix’s online gaming service ‘PlayOnline’. Never heard of it? That’s probably because it wasn’t all that successful and eventually Square Enix gave up on it before their next big MMO, FFXIV was released. In fact, FFXI is the only game left on the service. In 2011, PlayOnline accounts were partially merged into Square Enix accounts. However, presumably due to the service’s integration being too difficult to separate from FFXI, you still need a PlayOnline account to play it. This means you need to make a Square Enix Store account to buy the game or activate the free trial, a regular Square Enix account, and a PlayOnline account to be able to log in to the game. The sign up process is lengthy, archaic and confusing, but after some initial troubles I managed to log in to PlayOnline.

PlayOnline is truly a product of its time with an early 2000’s Internet vibe and cheerful music that I’m ashamed to admit I found myself humming along to on more than a few occasions. It’s the kind of interface that feels homely and nostalgic even if you’ve never seen it before in your life. But enough about that. Once I was finally logged in, I was almost surprised at how easy it was to open up FFXI. There were no more hoops to jump through, no more new accounts to make or verification checks to complete. At last I booted up the game and was greeted by a lengthy animated cutscene that’s surprisingly good for the time.

Once the cutscene was over, I was sent to the main menu where the camera swooped over a variety of massive locales and environments while epic, booming music played in the background. Instantly, I knew I was in for something special. Next, I went to the character creation screen where I was prompted to pick one of five races and my preferred gender. Each of them has their own unique animation and music that gives them a bit of character. The cat-like Mithra has playful music and does a few acrobatic moves. The male Hume(totally not a Human) has some adventurous music while he stares longingly at the horizon. Eventually I decided to pick the hulking Galka because I found its animation to be completely over the top and hilarious. Apart from that, you’re not given many options. You get to pick your hair style and a face type and that’s pretty much the extent of the customisation options you’re given. It is an 18 year old game after all.

Then it’s just a matter of giving your character a name, picking a server, choosing one of the six starting jobs/classes and selecting which city you want to start in. For my job I chose Thief and for my city I chose Windurst for its abundance of nature. My character finally entered the world of Vana’diel for the first time where I witnessed a short cutscene with some NPC’s. And then… nothing. No tutorial or guide, no direction as to where to go for the main questline, not even a quick run-through of the controls. I was directed to another nearby NPC who dumped information I understood or didn’t understand to varying degrees and that was it.

FFXI is very different from the games of today. These days you’d be hard-pressed to find a game that doesn’t spend ten minutes making sure you can walk and jump okay. FFXI doesn’t hold your hand and herd you to your next objective like a shepherd guiding a sheep, it drops you into its world and expects you to figure everything out on your own, like a mother shooing her kids outside to play. It doesn’t help that the game was originally designed with a PS2 controller in mind. It took me a minute or two just to figure out how to talk to the ‘guide’ NPC. I had to Google the controls to figure out how to open my main menu. I didn’t realise there was a second page to the main menu for two days. For a while I had absolutely no idea where to go or what to do. And I loved it.

After spending a day or two chasing and brutally punching rabbits to death outside my starting city’s walls I figured I should probably look up a guide. Going through it, I was shocked at just how much I’d missed. There was an entire section I missed called “Records of Eminence” that gave me various goals to complete(Defeat X Number of Enemies, Complete X Mission etc.) and rewarded me with valuable EXP and a unique currency for doing them. I’d completely missed the game’s fast travel points: Home Points and Survival Guides. I’d walked straight past the NPC responsible for giving main story quests several times. But the biggest thing I missed was a little something called Trusts.

Trusts were added in a 2013 update as an option for solo players; AI companions you can summon that take the place of regular players and allow you to form a party even if you don’t have friends or strangers to help you out. The game was designed to be played solely as a multiplayer game where you were forced to party up to take on the game’s content. However, as the game’s popularity dropped, Square Enix added several features to make the game’s content more possible for solo players, eventually culminating in trusts. Many of these trusts are important characters in the game’s storyline and it feels pretty cool to have them watching your back. Some of the game’s veteran players claim this defeated the point of the game which was to work together with others to take on seemingly impossible foes together. Honestly, as someone who started playing less than a month ago, I’m in no position to oppose them.

Now I was capable of progressing, I quickly got to levelling my character and completing quests, continuing to follow the guide I found when needs be. I had heard that there was a lot of content and with it being an MMO, I expected it, but words can’t do justice explaining how big the game feels. There’s a main storyline, five expansions to go through along with several addons and the game’s final major content update, Rhapsodies of Vana’diel tying them together. There’s too many sidequests to count. There are over 20 jobs each with their own quirks and playstyle for you to grind with to the level cap of 99. Each of these jobs has multiple quests for ‘artifact’ equipment. I’ve heard talk of a unique endgame separate from all of that but it seems so impossibly far away that I’m scared to even research it. And as I mentioned earlier, the game still gets updates that add yet more to do to this day. Doing even the smallest task can take a while and most of that is due to how long it takes to travel.

There are fast travel points of course, but even once you’ve manually activated them so you can use them in the first place, in most areas they’re few and far between. Some areas don’t even have them at all. You can’t get a mount until Level 20 and even after than many areas don’t allow their use. Areas are huge and vast and can be difficult to navigate without the help of a map. Unless you’re a high enough level or you take the time to hide yourself, many enemies will aggro and relentlessly chase you until you stop to fight them. Combat can be complex, but at the same time feels straightforward and repetitive. Most of the time, your character just attacks automatically without direction. Abilities have relatively long cooldowns and depending on the job, the game may only give you a handful to utilise until you’re high level. Describing it like this, it probably sounds like I didn’t like playing this game. But it was quite the opposite. I loved almost every moment of it. And I’m still trying to figure out why.

If it was any other game, I would probably hate it, but for some reason FFXI feels special. Exploring the world has this magical feeling to it. The sense of accomplishment I felt upon making the long journey to Jeuno is something that can only be experienced firsthand. My first (accidental) encounter with a notorious monster was as thrilling as it was terrifying. Sneaking through a high level area without the knowledge of invisible and sneak was one of the most intense gaming moments I’ve experienced. FFXI drops you into its world without explanation and invites you to figure it out, to get to know it and to master it.

This ties into the story as well. When you start off, you’re not some prophesied hero with godly powers destined to save the world. You’re just an adventurer. One ant among a colony. FFXI makes it clear that the world is a very big place, and you’re a very small part of it. Unlike other games, the world doesn’t revolve around you. If you should fall, it will carry on undisturbed. It’s a sobering feeling that makes the world feel even bigger and scarier than it already is but also shows you the freedom you have in the path you choose to take.

Going through the story missions I got the impression that my character really sucked. There were many times where I was knocked out or intimidated into an action by enemies far stronger than I. In an ironic twist of fate, my thief character was tricked and robbed by thieves much more skilled and saved by a mage much more powerful in an early mission. But that made me feel even more proud and accomplished when I defeated the Shadow Lord and became the hero of legend I would have started as in many other games. The lack of quick gratification won’t be for everyone, but it gives FFXI a rewarding feeling like no other.

While doing a Nation Mission that involved visiting the other two nations to provide help, I ended up taking a wrong turn unknowingly and wandered into a swamp. The only way forward was to take a ferry which showed up periodically every few in-game hours and I was unwilling to backtrack so I decided to sit and wait for it to show up. It was the middle of the night in-game and the swamp seemed hostile and unwelcoming, but there was also something peaceful about waiting on the dock for my way forward to come sailing down the river.

Eventually, it arrived. I purchased a ticket and boarded and after a short wait was treated to a cutscene where the boat left the dock. From there, all I could do was wait longer and beat up the occasional fish monster that made its way on to the deck. My only company was a weird lizard creature, a crew member and the ship’s old and wrinkled captain. As the boat made its way through the swampy waters, I felt oddly content and zen-like. I stood and watched the scenery pass by while listening to the captain talk about how he couldn’t wait to have some of his daughter’s soup once he arrived home and this beautiful track played in the background.

A lot has happened since then. I’ve broke the level cap several times, defeated the Shadow Lord and saved my nation and racked up an unhealthy amount of play time. Yet despite that, sometimes I take a journey to that swamp again. I wait for the ferry to arrive, purchase a ticket and board it. I listen to the captain ramble about his family while I look out at the path ahead and patiently wait for the journey to finish. I don’t have any reason to, but I do it regardless. Final Fantasy 11 isn’t a game about the quests or the bosses or the long grind to max level, it’s a game about the journey. The journey of a small, insignificant adventurer visiting fantastical places and interacting with people of all walks of life as they seek their purpose and place in the world. I’m sure many people will say the game is outdated and ancient and not worth the effort. I’m sure many veteran players will tell me I missed the game’s glory days and I have no idea how good it used to be. But there’s one thing I’m sure of: Final Fantasy XI is a special game like no other.