We’ve just started what may be the second major arc in Final Fantasy XIV… maybe. Like, the developers are understandably reluctant to commit to “and now it’s time for another decade-long story arc” akin to what was done with Hydaelyn and Zodiark, and just the sheer weight of trying to successfully pull that off in an MMO a second time after pulling it off once is a minor miracle means that, y’know, not giving it another shot is an understandable decision! Maybe that’s not even close to what we’re getting this time, and that’s fair.
But the thing about this latest story is that it does still expect you to have played the prior story in a straight line. With the crossover with Final Fantasy XI right around the corner, I think it’s interesting to compare and contrast how the two different MMORPGs both handle that storyline, especially since at this point it’s less of a given that people who are playing FFXIV have more than passing familiarity with FFXI. So how are the two different?
Normally, I’d start by explaining how FFXIV tells its story, but I have a feeling that nobody reading this needs that introduction because you already know. It’s a long singular story arc. The events of the base game lead to Heavensward, which leads to Stormblood, so on and so forth.
FFXI does not work that way. Now, there is some interconnection between the game’s major story arcs. Rise of the Zilaart requires you to reach a certain point in the storylines of the main nations, and Rhapsodies of Vana’diel will frequently stop to either wait for you to reach a point in each expansion storyline or will just continue on if you’re already past it. But for the most part, the major story beats of the game happen on their own different tracks, and each expansion is its own thing.
That doesn’t mean they’re entirely separate from one another, of course; Rhapsodies touches on every story arc, characters recur in Wings of the Goddess (albeit in an odd fashion), many of the concepts from Rise of the Zilaart are directly tied into Chains of Promathia, and so forth. It just means that they are not sequential. You can do all of Chains of Promathia without ever touching most of Rise of the Zilaart if that strikes your fancy.
Of course, you probably won’t. The fact of the matter is that FFXI introduced its level 75 level cap in December 2003… and subsequently kept it there for a very, very long time. While Rise of the Zilaart, Chains of Promathia, Treasures of Aht Urhgan, and much of Wings of the Goddess did not explicitly require level 75 in order to take on every mission, there was definitely the assumption that most players would indeed be at the level cap. The missions were very strongly tilted toward being on the upper end, with only a handful of things for lower-level players to do. Rhapsodies is highly different because it really does expect to allow players to progress through it as they level.
But that’s a different issue than dealing with the structure, and FFXI’s structure itself (regardless of levels) does contain some pretty useful elements. Sure, it’d be misleading at best to say that players of any level could enjoy a new expansion (you could unlock the new jobs, at best), but considering how bulky and challenging some of these missions could be, it was nice that you didn’t need to finish them up first. If Chains of Promathia hit you cold? That’s fine, you can just jump straight into Treasures when it comes out and put that off for another time. Indeed, considering the addition of newly potent gear, it could even be advisable.
Plus, it doesn’t require the same sort of lengthy commitment. If you don’t remember who Eald’narche is because you did those missions ages ago, that’s all right, because Seekers of Adolin is not about him any more. You can let yourself eschew that knowledge. Oh, sure, there’s a limit to what you’ll be able to do in those zones if you’re lower level, but you do not have to clear your way through old content just to see the cities and so forth.
So let’s be honest, that’s nice. It’s nice that if you want to theoretically join your friends in some capacity, you don’t have to clear through every previous expansion. But there are some other issues, and one of the major ones is implied just by the structure: Whatever of import is happening in today’s story, it is only ever going to matter in that story specifically.
In FFXIV, for example, Tiamat is first encountered at the end of Heavensward but then has a larger role at the end of the Shadowbringers storyline. Midgardsormr shows up at the end of the base game, then has a recurring role throughout Heavensward, then becomes part of the story of Omega in Stormblood and then gets brought up more in Endwalker again. Everything weaves back into itself, and it all stays relevant.
Chains of Promathia seems like it really should have something to do with Rise of the Zilaart because the main antagonists of the latter inform a large chunk of the antagonists you face in the former. But instead, they exist in their own little buckets, and you spend most of Chains of Promathia wondering either why this guy’s boss isn’t involved in anything going on or why this guy is still doing things when his boss has already been dealt with.
In and of itself this doesn’t have to be a problem, but it does create an ongoing issue because no story can have a larger problem than its immediate stakes. Every expansion needs a wholly disconnected threat apart from the last ones. Indeed, it’s not until Rhapsodies that all of the characters from your adventures are actually connected in any fashion – because they all had to sit out in their own unique special silo.
You also have a problem that because things are geared much toward the higher levels but not uniformly, it’s possible for you to, well, lose track of large chunks of the story. Several of the missions unlock rather important elements, and since there aren’t hard level checks, you’re advised to do things like the mission to unlock airship travel as soon as possible. But even if friends can pull you through that mission at a lower level than intended, you’re then likely to forget why you were doing that mission at all, much less what the point of the story developments were.
So while the story is not gated as a single unbroken line, it does have a problem: It becomes more disconnected and is also structured to be much harder to follow as a whole, especially since it’s no longer the main thing you do to progress but rather a side activity after you do your leveling.
“Well, then, which one is better?” I don’t think that either one is better; I think they both have good elements and bad ones. Both of these games are a lot of fun, after all, and at this point it’s pretty easy to hit the current level cap of 99 and use Trusts to solo your way through basically all of the stories. They’re worth seeing in FFXI and still good! But I can also understand why the game never really acquired the story reputation that FFXIV has: because it was sidelined a bit more thoroughly. I’m curious to see which parts get pulled in for the raid crossover, as a result; without a single throughline, there are both more options and more things that players might not find as emotionally relevant.
Feedback, as always, is welcome in the comments down below or via mail to eliot@massivelyop.com. Next week, I’ll naturally be reacting to the most recent live letter.
The Nymian civilization hosted an immense amount of knowledge and learning, but so much of it has been lost to the people of Eorzea. That doesn’t stop Eliot Lefebvre from scrutinizing Final Fantasy XIV each week in Wisdom of Nym, hosting guides, discussion, and opinions without so much as a trace of rancor.
