I've always enjoyed role playing games. In fact, I would say that my role-playing began in the dimmest memories of childhood, and continued with an impressive collection of paper dolls drawn by my favorite aunt.
I encountered AD&D shortly before my 30th birthday, and continued playing through-out most of my thirties. Shortly after my 40th birthday, life got more complicated with full-time work, graduate school, teen-age children—in a nutshell, I didn't have time to be a guest or to host sufficient amounts of game-time to make playing enjoyable.
A friend and co-worker introduced me to Final Fantasy Online four years ago. While it is not, in the strictest sense of the word, true role-playing (the scenarios are too rigidly set for that), it was a viable alternative for the weekly games I had been missing.
The game scenario is set in an imaginary world called Vanadiel. The world has been brought into being by living gems. For reasons best known to themselves, evil beastmen wish to destroy the cultures of the Elvaan, Tarutaru, Galka, Mithra and Hume. The player characters engage in several series of missions and quests, ostensibly to vanquish the beastmen. The plot, while reasonably interesting, is not precisely earth-shatteringly original.
There are two factors that make the game especially enjoyable for me:
- First, the artwork. The character renderings are nicely done. Even the monsters and beastmen are believably drawn. The scenery is animated—leaves fall, various terrains have rain, snow, dust storms and other phenomenon; the sun rises and sets, there is a moon and stars at night. Some aspects are not as interactive as one might wish (the giant bird races leave something to be desired), but the scenarios are many and varied. Characters may do battle against evil, or they may create craft items, grow plants, raise riding birds (chocobos), go fishing, or just take a pleasure cruise or two. Each and every scene is beautifully crafted.
- Second, the ability to “meet” and speak with people from all over the world. Although I am not fluent in any other language (my only nodding aquaintance with another language being a smattering of Spanish), the in-game translator affords at least modest communication; and many people from other places speak English.
The down-side of the game is paying a fee to play. However, at $13.00 a month for a basic account, one can scarcely travel to a friend's house or go to a movie for that amount. Furthermore, it is easy to boot up the computer, spend an hour or two playing, log-out, and return to the ordinary world.
Is it for everyone? Probably not. The world sprawls, the plot is untidy, with many small side stories—as one might expect in a large world. Every month, there are updates to “fix” problems that have arisen. Over-all, however, it is enjoyable—and I have made several friends over the course of the last four years. It has been well-worth the investment of time and money.
