Why do you like this game?

[sexythaumaturge]

The good:
- Graphics. I can't believe how good this looks for a game this old. Some of the environments are breathtaking.
- Story . Once you get past ARR and into Heavensward (and this is quite a chore, I hear they are working on fixing it), things improve and get that soothing, nostalgic vibe Final Fantasy is known for. At the end of Shadowbringers, they really capture that sense of wonder good RPGs have.
- No microtransactions. What's there in the shop is entirely optional, doesn't affect gameplay at all, and is in many cases recycled event content or tacky-looking mounts. Other than buying a couple Fantasias, I never had a reason to go there.
- You can catch up quickly. The game respects your time and you are, at worst, just a step behind even savage raiders with obtainable gear.
- Housing. It's fun to design your home, and exploiting the glitches can result in some stunning-looking interiors.

The bad:
- Battle/gameplay. It's so... inconsequential. The feedback and satisfying feel of combat is not there. You might as well be hitting air with that giant sword. And the accompanying visual effects are gnarly, tacky overkill that MMOs are famous for. Do I really need to set off fireworks when I swing my weapon? No, I don't. Recently, I've been replaying FFXII: Zodiac Age, which also has an MMO vibe to its combat, but it feels so good in the way your skills and enemies sound, etc. It was classy and satisfying. Why couldn't they just copy that sort of gameplay? It would allow people to chat while fighting, and then they could design compelling content around it. In FFXIV, they try to distract you with having to press three buttons per second so that you forget it's all very, very boring. It's the main reason why the game feels so empty in the end - running a dungeon or a trial feels like a chore rather than something you're looking forward to.
- Outfits/glamor. Most of it is very tacky, something I've complained about here repeatedly. Lots of colorful robes and cloaks you can't dye well. Everyone looks gaudy due to lack of real choice. It's a sad thing when collaboration events result in better looking outfits than the base game - as of today, almost everyone out there is running around in a Nier: Automata outfit.
Character customization. There are a lot of choices, but almost everyone from the same race/gender combo looks interchangeable - all catgirls look the same, all Midlanders, all Au Ra. It takes real effort to make a character that stands out. Some of the less popular character choices, like Elezen and male Au Ra, have bafflingly bad running animation that the dev team refuses to acknowledge for some reason.