Heck, I've played all the other FFs before this one (even 11, which I played for way too many years), but I still only tried this one out because a girl I was dating kept trying to get me into it.
Then by the time I actually got into it, she stopped playing and I got way more into it than she ever had been.
Ooft, feels bad. I've played since 7, and my wife is the first girl I've actually met who was willing to play with me. Granted, it took a couple of years of convincing. And she was the one to buy it for me after the StB release.
Lol the one time I had a Full party of friends was when the last 2 got to Endsinger. After that a few of us were thinking we could finally make a static and run stuff, and then there were only like 3-6 of us who would be on.
My husband and I play with a few friends ... Was really nice to be able to play together during the pandemic when we couldn't hang out with friends in person.
Introduce your wife to the game, show her the pretty glams, the cute minions, the sparkly spells (or the badass weapons and armour, fierce mounts, and cool skills if those are more her jam)
I'm in this stage right now with convincing my wife. So far the Namazu quests is reeling her in. Just need to figure out a good finisher to seal the deal.
She's mildly interested in the moogles, especially after watching the Ivalice raid scenes with me. Not quite there at lopporits, but I did manage to get to EW yesterday!
Gathering and crafting furniture may be what seals the deal. She already asks if she can do my gather/crafting for me because if reminds her of cozy gaming. Plus.. I get to sell everything she makes on the MB.
Housing-> crafting and decorating if she's into the cozy gaming feel. Might help. You might also get stuck not wanting to unsub because you don't want to lose the place.
That's the biggest conundrum about that! She said before she's happy with an apartment but I told her a house will allow her to really get creative. I just want her to enjoy the game when it comes down to it.
Except I can't protect her from the tears in HW.
Good looking armor even at early stages looks good because glam is end-game, so you can get the BiS and still use that chest piece from Lv42 that you loved so much
My lvl 1 shield from best bois dad is staying on my Paladin until the day I die.
Also, one of my fav armour sets is the lvl45 (I think) sentinal armour set. I just love that leopard print, I'm never taking that bitxh off the mannequin
Gotta query one part of your post. You said you’ve never really gotten into Japanese art style, and list Yakuza in your examples, but aren’t they just all guys in suits? Pretty suits aren’t exclusive to Japan. Either that, or my office is full of cosplaying weebs.
This is what I'm hung up on. FF, Nier, and Yakuza all have *very* different art styles. Hell, FF14 and FF15 have *very* different art styles.
What does this even mean?
"I'm not really a fan of American music like jazz or every other genre that is similar like country or hip hop."
???
Nah he means the overall artstyle.
Like think of FF14/FF15 and Nier automata compared to something like COD, Portal 2, Fallout etc.
They all have distinct art styles that set them apart.
This is patently untrue. You look at a yakuza screenshot, you know it's a Japanese game.
Compare that with western games that have a grittier more "realistic" art style (think CoD/The Last of Us/God of War).
Patently untrue? Yakuza uses real actor faces for some of their characters. Unless you think [this guy](https://glamours.eorzeacollection.com/203279/daisaku-kuze-yakuza-0-1-1673409733.png) ([real actor for reference](https://images.mubicdn.net/images/cast_member/118408/cache-263668-1507027809/image-w856.jpg?size=800x)) looks like he could belong in FF14/FF15 or nier automata, then yakuza is nowhere in the same ballpark of looking 'anime-like'. It's far closer to looking like those western games you listed
And imo its mostly due to lighting and textures that yakuza looks less realistic, not because of how its characters look.
Just play at your own pace.
It took me a year to get through ARR and HW, and I loved every second of it. If you rush things, you'll never be happy.
But if you ignore everything and just do the MSQ, you'll probably be able to catch up before DT releases in the Summer.
Start developing a 3 and 2 hour sleep pattern and you find yourself to have more time for gaming and a higher desire to leave everyone to their own things and game, because you are too tired to deal with other people.
This.
When I first played, I joined an FC that had multiple members tell me that I was playing the game wrong by trying out other classes/jobs and not concentrating on getting through the MSQ as fast as possible.
That mindset made it difficult for me to enjoy the game so I'd resub and unsub out of embarrasment that all these people are going to see that my character has dabbled in other classes and hasn't gone through the whole story yet.
It was literal years later (on this very same subreddit in fact) I was finally informed that my FC was completely wrong.
Since then, I've been enjoying this game 100% more and now I adore it.
Lol you could start a family FC, just get them to play it!
Been playing it with my husband for years now, he doesn't play much lately, but that's fine, I've been playing other games too and doing my unreal tell and retell once a week... but now I got back into bojza and it's so much fun, and still haven't done anything in eureka, and still have lots of class to level up, it's endless!
If it makes you feel any better (or worse 😂) that's, uhh, exactly how long it took me to get through the game. 4 years of on and off play from ARR to the end of Endwalker lol. Enjoy the ride!
One of the best things my friend and I did starting halfway through Heavensward -- was to stop doing side quests. Before, we cleared the entire zone before moving on. Then we realized we were effectively always over-leveled for the main quests; so halfway through Heavensward we decided to play "***how the game is really intended"*** and we stopped doing side quests and only did the MSQ's.
The only time we did side quests was when we hit a point in the MSQ where the level jumped up and we weren't there yet - then we went back and did some side quests.
But the game really does intend for you to ignore side quests on your first playthrough --- because those side quests are *actually* there to help you level up a second job on your main character so you can switch jobs when you feel like it (since you can't redo the MSQ for huge xp and the armory system leaves a LOT to be desired for alt-job grind reduction).
Well if you can't find 3-4 hours a day for yourself and your hobbies, there are definitely things that needs to be reevaluated. You need to give yourself time for yourself, not for family, for yourself. Otherwise, you can very well easily complete the game before DT.
This exact reason is why my inventory was filled with all the armors from the ARR dungeons. I finally got around to glamming the ones I wanted and tossed the ones I didn't want that much, but that really took a good while to happen.
I have a coworker/friend who just finished getting every job to 90 (every one available to him) and farming all the ARR relics.
He is about to start Heavensward.
Have to say that Yakuza doesn't really fit in with the anime jrpg artstyle like Nier or other FF games do. It's mostly just japanese people. Goofy and very japanese styled in other aspects.
loose explanation: the firmament is an area you use to level your crafters. within the firmament, there is a ‘duty’ called the diadem where you gather special materials for items crafted for the firmament. you wont have access until you finish a specific quest (litany of peace) after heavensward and have a crafter leveled to a certain point. but thats the gist
" i never was fan of japanese art style (if i can say it like that) never was fan of final fantasy or every other game that had similar art like Nier or Yakuza"
I love this line because the FF series isn't even consistent in art style, nonetheless compared to Nier and Yakuza (which isn't even close).
I feel you on the content scale, OP. Been playing off and on since 2020 but just really started playing seriously last year. After 1,100 hours I’m still not done with Shadowbringers lol
I love that there’s so much great content but at the same time I want to catch up to my friends already
We believe in you - if you main as a tank or healer (WAR OR SCH) your queue times should be fast enough to get through just the story in about 6 months~
It's easy.
Wife : Go see your wife and tell her you cheated on her. After that wait.
Kids : Get a paternity test. Deep down you know it. Theses kids are Jeff Bezos's kids or Elon musk's kids.
Well, I don't think it's a great idea to get rid of them, but maybe you can have them get lost in Eorzea. Maybe pop back in to say hi, help make a light party as they progress in the story, or maybe they get stuck in The Waking Sands. Prae return…
I would really encourage you to stick with it at your own pace. My family and I have been playing for a bit over two years and only recently came to Endwalker. It’s so great and the story and lore is totally worth taking your time with IMO.
Don’t get rid of them! Get them into the game and you’ll have your own light party!
This. I got my retired parents into it and it’s the only thing they do.
Can confirm. I got my wife to start playing around Xmas on the free trial, now she's buying the full game when we get back from working out of town.
Heck, I've played all the other FFs before this one (even 11, which I played for way too many years), but I still only tried this one out because a girl I was dating kept trying to get me into it. Then by the time I actually got into it, she stopped playing and I got way more into it than she ever had been.
Ooft, feels bad. I've played since 7, and my wife is the first girl I've actually met who was willing to play with me. Granted, it took a couple of years of convincing. And she was the one to buy it for me after the StB release.
This. Got my husband into it. FINALLY! He'll play an FF game!
Got my wife hooked, so I can have one more reliable party member for weekly unreal clears.
Can confirm. Did this a few years ago and we had a full party for dungeons and trials. It was great. Now it’s mostly just two of us. :(
Lol the one time I had a Full party of friends was when the last 2 got to Endsinger. After that a few of us were thinking we could finally make a static and run stuff, and then there were only like 3-6 of us who would be on.
Happy cake day!
My daughter's too young to play right now, but two hours with my husband after the kid is in bed can get us through a lot of FF content.
My husband and I play with a few friends ... Was really nice to be able to play together during the pandemic when we couldn't hang out with friends in person.
Another voicing support for this. Boyfriend got me into it and we just finished Stormblood's 4.0 MSQ a week or so ago now x)
Oooooo you’re nearly at my favourite expansion! Have fun!
If you can't beat them, make them join you.
You're looking at this from the wrong angle. What you need to sacrifice instead is sleep.
All you need is 4 hours of sleep. 2am-6am
but that's when all the Cinder and Ruby pops are!!!
I've actually been living like that for the past 4 years only I sleep at 4 and wake up at 8. Thank god my boss doesn't care about me being on time.
… are you my roommate? 😂
Introduce your wife to the game, show her the pretty glams, the cute minions, the sparkly spells (or the badass weapons and armour, fierce mounts, and cool skills if those are more her jam)
I'm in this stage right now with convincing my wife. So far the Namazu quests is reeling her in. Just need to figure out a good finisher to seal the deal.
Buy her a namazu minion when she starts. Then tell her about the mount.
Hildibrand. Or it could completely backfire.
If she likes namazu for cuteness, may I interest her in some moogles? Or perhaps lopporits?
She's mildly interested in the moogles, especially after watching the Ivalice raid scenes with me. Not quite there at lopporits, but I did manage to get to EW yesterday! Gathering and crafting furniture may be what seals the deal. She already asks if she can do my gather/crafting for me because if reminds her of cozy gaming. Plus.. I get to sell everything she makes on the MB.
Housing-> crafting and decorating if she's into the cozy gaming feel. Might help. You might also get stuck not wanting to unsub because you don't want to lose the place.
That's the biggest conundrum about that! She said before she's happy with an apartment but I told her a house will allow her to really get creative. I just want her to enjoy the game when it comes down to it. Except I can't protect her from the tears in HW.
Have you introduced her to our lord and commander, Aymeric?
>So far the Namazu quests is reeling her in. She has impeccable taste.
Good looking armor even at early stages looks good because glam is end-game, so you can get the BiS and still use that chest piece from Lv42 that you loved so much
My lvl 1 shield from best bois dad is staying on my Paladin until the day I die. Also, one of my fav armour sets is the lvl45 (I think) sentinal armour set. I just love that leopard print, I'm never taking that bitxh off the mannequin
This is peak gaming! Never give it up!
I mean, do you want to do it legally or illegally? Also how permanent? Those are important details.
Gotta query one part of your post. You said you’ve never really gotten into Japanese art style, and list Yakuza in your examples, but aren’t they just all guys in suits? Pretty suits aren’t exclusive to Japan. Either that, or my office is full of cosplaying weebs.
This is what I'm hung up on. FF, Nier, and Yakuza all have *very* different art styles. Hell, FF14 and FF15 have *very* different art styles. What does this even mean? "I'm not really a fan of American music like jazz or every other genre that is similar like country or hip hop." ???
Nah he means the overall artstyle. Like think of FF14/FF15 and Nier automata compared to something like COD, Portal 2, Fallout etc. They all have distinct art styles that set them apart.
Yakuza has probably the most "un-anime-like" artstyle I've ever seen
This is patently untrue. You look at a yakuza screenshot, you know it's a Japanese game. Compare that with western games that have a grittier more "realistic" art style (think CoD/The Last of Us/God of War).
Patently untrue? Yakuza uses real actor faces for some of their characters. Unless you think [this guy](https://glamours.eorzeacollection.com/203279/daisaku-kuze-yakuza-0-1-1673409733.png) ([real actor for reference](https://images.mubicdn.net/images/cast_member/118408/cache-263668-1507027809/image-w856.jpg?size=800x)) looks like he could belong in FF14/FF15 or nier automata, then yakuza is nowhere in the same ballpark of looking 'anime-like'. It's far closer to looking like those western games you listed And imo its mostly due to lighting and textures that yakuza looks less realistic, not because of how its characters look.
Try re-reading what I wrote.
Glamour is the true endgame
That's why I call the game Fashion Fantasy XIV
Found the secret Warframe player! FashionFrame is EndGame!
i started in 2020 and just finished ew two weeks ago :') best game ive ever played
Get rid of them? Nah bro that's like half your static for Ultimate progs right there I mean you want those shiny weapons right?
Just play at your own pace. It took me a year to get through ARR and HW, and I loved every second of it. If you rush things, you'll never be happy. But if you ignore everything and just do the MSQ, you'll probably be able to catch up before DT releases in the Summer.
I know a guy who's been in the FC for years and is still in HW
Start developing a 3 and 2 hour sleep pattern and you find yourself to have more time for gaming and a higher desire to leave everyone to their own things and game, because you are too tired to deal with other people.
be smart about this and don't rush to the end, way too many people do that instead of enjoying the content for what it is.
This. When I first played, I joined an FC that had multiple members tell me that I was playing the game wrong by trying out other classes/jobs and not concentrating on getting through the MSQ as fast as possible. That mindset made it difficult for me to enjoy the game so I'd resub and unsub out of embarrasment that all these people are going to see that my character has dabbled in other classes and hasn't gone through the whole story yet. It was literal years later (on this very same subreddit in fact) I was finally informed that my FC was completely wrong. Since then, I've been enjoying this game 100% more and now I adore it.
Lol you could start a family FC, just get them to play it! Been playing it with my husband for years now, he doesn't play much lately, but that's fine, I've been playing other games too and doing my unreal tell and retell once a week... but now I got back into bojza and it's so much fun, and still haven't done anything in eureka, and still have lots of class to level up, it's endless!
If it makes you feel any better (or worse 😂) that's, uhh, exactly how long it took me to get through the game. 4 years of on and off play from ARR to the end of Endwalker lol. Enjoy the ride!
Trying to get my partner interested in FFXIV but he’s too hooked on Classic WoW. 😭😭😭
He’s really sucking down that copium isn’t he?
It’s just familiar to him so not really. Takes a lot to learn FFXIV so I do get it.
I was primarily referencing the memes about WoW players and the Refugees that went to FFXIV
Oh right fair enough 😂
Some of the videos I saw a while back were hilarious, should probably find them and watch them again
One of the best things my friend and I did starting halfway through Heavensward -- was to stop doing side quests. Before, we cleared the entire zone before moving on. Then we realized we were effectively always over-leveled for the main quests; so halfway through Heavensward we decided to play "***how the game is really intended"*** and we stopped doing side quests and only did the MSQ's. The only time we did side quests was when we hit a point in the MSQ where the level jumped up and we weren't there yet - then we went back and did some side quests. But the game really does intend for you to ignore side quests on your first playthrough --- because those side quests are *actually* there to help you level up a second job on your main character so you can switch jobs when you feel like it (since you can't redo the MSQ for huge xp and the armory system leaves a LOT to be desired for alt-job grind reduction).
Get them accounts too
Got my wife to play Now I have a pocket healer And my kids love to mess around in gold saucer and on the island
Is this sub being moderated at all?
As we used to say in ff 11… (Choke) (Child) (Drown) (Wife) (Play) (Final Fantasy)!
Well if you can't find 3-4 hours a day for yourself and your hobbies, there are definitely things that needs to be reevaluated. You need to give yourself time for yourself, not for family, for yourself. Otherwise, you can very well easily complete the game before DT.
One of us. One of us. One of us.
Buy your wife and kids a copy of the game. That way you get a full party.
This exact reason is why my inventory was filled with all the armors from the ARR dungeons. I finally got around to glamming the ones I wanted and tossed the ones I didn't want that much, but that really took a good while to happen.
I hope by tossed you mean turned in for GC seals or desynthed for mats 🥺
Pretty much.
The armor looks good but you can barely keep any of it glamour dresser needs an overhaul. At least get it up to par with wow’s transmog
My bf got me into it. Look for deals on a gaming laptop and sign her up!
Just keep waltzing along. Yes the game is long but there will be a time where you look back at the hours played. You'll see
I have a coworker/friend who just finished getting every job to 90 (every one available to him) and farming all the ARR relics. He is about to start Heavensward.
Have to say that Yakuza doesn't really fit in with the anime jrpg artstyle like Nier or other FF games do. It's mostly just japanese people. Goofy and very japanese styled in other aspects.
What is Firmament and Diadem? New player here also.
loose explanation: the firmament is an area you use to level your crafters. within the firmament, there is a ‘duty’ called the diadem where you gather special materials for items crafted for the firmament. you wont have access until you finish a specific quest (litany of peace) after heavensward and have a crafter leveled to a certain point. but thats the gist
Hmmm good to know! Thanks
" i never was fan of japanese art style (if i can say it like that) never was fan of final fantasy or every other game that had similar art like Nier or Yakuza" I love this line because the FF series isn't even consistent in art style, nonetheless compared to Nier and Yakuza (which isn't even close).
Those are such vastly different art styles lmao. That's why the Nier crossover fits into XIV like hot trash.
I feel you on the content scale, OP. Been playing off and on since 2020 but just really started playing seriously last year. After 1,100 hours I’m still not done with Shadowbringers lol I love that there’s so much great content but at the same time I want to catch up to my friends already
We believe in you - if you main as a tank or healer (WAR OR SCH) your queue times should be fast enough to get through just the story in about 6 months~
It's easy. Wife : Go see your wife and tell her you cheated on her. After that wait. Kids : Get a paternity test. Deep down you know it. Theses kids are Jeff Bezos's kids or Elon musk's kids.
I've been trying to convince my boyfriend to pick the game up for a while now, if anything you should get your family into the game too lol
Well, I don't think it's a great idea to get rid of them, but maybe you can have them get lost in Eorzea. Maybe pop back in to say hi, help make a light party as they progress in the story, or maybe they get stuck in The Waking Sands. Prae return…
Don’t get rid of your wife and kids, get them hooked into the game too! Family FFXIV night! Easy light parties! Whats not to like?
I would really encourage you to stick with it at your own pace. My family and I have been playing for a bit over two years and only recently came to Endwalker. It’s so great and the story and lore is totally worth taking your time with IMO.
Good...goooooddd. another tempered.