Quote Originally Posted by Starrya View Post
This is exactly how it is, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but it is still quite fun if you enjoy that kind of thing. The higher the tier of difficulty you go up, the more you and your team have to work to win. It's the same reason why some people love the Souls games and some people hate the Souls games. At its core, the game just presents you with attack patterns you have to learn how to navigate while doing as much damage as possible. Some people even decide they want to speed run those games, which would be akin to farming a fight in FFXIV. Everyone knows that, say, waterfowl dance is just a series of attack patterns you have to memorize and dodge, but that doesn't make it easy. And the sense of joy you get when you finally succeed is still every bit as real even though it's always the same.
There is a distinct thing where this comparison is lacking though - in Soulsborne games, you learn attack patterns, yes, but they do not always loop the same way, and are generally shorter and smaller.
Whenever I engage, say Malenia (since you mention waterfowl), the fight usually never plays out the same twice in a row. While her attacks have a pattern, the entire fight is more interactive. Did I get hit? If so, can I heal without provoking a heal punish from the boss? Whats my own build, how do I tackle the fight, do I tank some attacks, focus on dodging, or generally try and use ranged attacks primarily? Etc etc.
The fights in FFXIV are a lot more static in comparison, and imho, lack the same excitement in learning those learning patterns and applying what I learned. YMMV, of course.