An Expression of Gratitude (An Essay of My Realm Reborn Journey)

Where do I begin? How do I summarize the details about a game that in my eyes, came out of nowhere and would become one of the greatest games that I would ever play and would become such an integral part of my life? I often think to myself, how I did I become such a fan of Realm Reborn? Because my acquistion of the game was something that almost never happened.

For months after its release, I was reluctant to get my hands on this game. I had a really bad experience with FF13, due to its high level of difficulty. I probably had Game Over more than 100 times, I only beat the game once, it was more or less by luck that I did and I was so frustrated that I could never duplicate my achievement. It served to become more of a deterrent than anything else, as I started to hear about the negative reviews of the FF13 sequels as well as the original FF14. I began to fear that the Final Fantasy saga was following the same dark road also taken by video game franchises such as Mega Man, Sonic The Hedgehog and Castlevania.

To play Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn would take some convincing. Fortunately, thanks to some live game streams during the Autumn of 2013 and the Winter of 2014 from some of my favourite gamers, who showed just how impressive the game was, I made the decision to obtain a copy of Realm Reborn. Upon my acquistion in February 2014, I came to discover just what I was getting myself into from the moment I started creating my character. In the selection of my character's race and reading their descriptions, the Miqo'te described me as a person perfectly. I have long been a lone wolf in life, so to read that Miqo'te were much like myself in terms of personality gave me the first indication that I would enjoy this game.

If that wasn't enough, the character creation screen would further give me a reason to enjoy the game before it even began. Upon reaching the point where I would choose what type of warrior I would play as, I saw that one of the options was to play as a "Lancer". This resonated with me, as the team name of the high school that I attended was the "Lancers". This provided me with a great sense of school pride that I could have the chance to represent my school, in a manner of speaking, within the context of Realm Reborn.

This discovery of the latter, would compel me to do something that I didn't think I would do prior to obtaining the game. With my high school celebrating the 75th anniversary of its founding occurring later that year, I would create a second avatar, with its name taken from the initials of my high school and make an online journal/playthrough with this second avatar complete with an intro using the opening of my school's fight song. This would take me 14 months, over 180 videos and more than 100 hours of content, but it was very much worth the effort that I put into it.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...q0shRco4YSv8kw

The connections to my high school would continue once the gameplay began. One of the game's primary points of importance was the reintroduction of the long forgotten title of "Warrior of Light" from the very first Final Fantasy. My high school's Latin motto is "Ab Obscuritate, Ad Lucem", which translated means "From Darkness To Light". What better may to take advantage of this amazing connection? It was just such a perfect addition to what was already an amazing game and I had barely even started.

As time went on, many amazing things were coming from this game but perhaps the icing was on the cake would come upon going through the elevated warrior class training for the Dragoon. The Dragoon had the oppourtunity to lay claim to the title of "Azure Dragoon", which upon obtaining the Dragoon's Level 90 gear allowed me to wear a set of blue armour that actually lit up, the only armour set that can do so. I have been affected by Autism throughout my life and knowing that blue has become synonymous with it, I became even more proud to be able to play this game, essentially serving as a representative of people who have been affected by it. As crazy as it may seem, I hope that one day, I can actually wear the Azure Dragoon armour in real life and represent people such as myself as a person of perseverance (which in of itself also can be relatable to Dragoons themselves) and be a strong role model.

With so much to love about Realm Reborn (including finding some characters to take the Ceremony of Eternal Bonding with, with my 2 avatars), it has made such a strong impact in my life on so many levels, it will be sad to see this chapter of the game close. However, it gives me a greater sense of optimism that Heavensward will take what I enjoyed about Realm Reborn and take it into a new level of excellence. I look forward to what I will get to accomplish in the game as we move into its next chapter.

Thank you Square Enix for reviving this franchise in my eyes and in the eyes of so many others who have rediscovered it. I know that I speak for us all that no matter what our motivations were for playing this game, we will always be grateful that you have brought Realm Reborn into our lives.