GW2: Spiritual Successor to FFXI?

Given the title, you might think I’m a little crazy. The two games are hardly mirror images of one another, but every time I play GW2, I experience things that remind me of my first MMO.

* Skillchains (FFXI) and Combos (GW2) – in FFXI, you utilized a TP (tactical point) move in quick succession with (most often) someone else’s TP move to do a bonus damage attack. In GW2, you lay a Combo Field and proc additional effects by using Finishers.

* Better Together than Alone – FFXI was notorious for being the game where soloing after level 10 was impossible, unless you were a Beastmaster. GW2 can be played solo, but the greater experience comes by playing in a group, or at a minimum “following the zerg”

* Open World “Bosses” – FFXI did not have instances for most of the bosses. My memory is a bit hazy here, but I believe many could be spawned by using an item at a “???” spot. GW2 has events that can be triggered, and the chains often continue to an exciting boss conclusion.

* Cooking and the overall Discovery System for Crafting- I was a master Chef in FFXI – cooking skill at 99.6 (out of 100) when I hung up my controller. And I loved it. And I love it in GW2 – the recipes make sense. As for crafting in general, the discovery system is basically from FFXI. It was all trial and error, outside of the few recipes the trainers would give you when starting. And spoilers weren’t nearly so rampant online many years ago, so finding a new recipe was an exciting time. I’ve purposely avoided looking up spoilers for my crafting in GW2, as well.

* Missions and Personal Stories – FFXI had Missions that you performed for your country of allegiance with nice cutscenes and memorable characters. I’m enjoying the Personal Story in GW2, and the characters have been equally memorable.

10/3 Edit: In light of my recent comments on “Are We New At This?” regarding GW2 vs. TSW, the last bullet point deserves some follow-up.

 I am sorry I insulted FFXI like I did. The Personal Story in GW2 gets progressively worse, and the “memorable characters” I referenced were from the very initial segments of the tale who never resurfaced after the initial phases, and frankly, I can’t recall their names. Not so memorable after all, it seems. Trahearne is horribly boring, and the one character I did actually like died. Bah.

Bottom line:GW2’s personal story is rubbish. FFXI’s missions were not.

~ by Drew on September 14, 2012.