No it absolutely can't and anyone seriously trying to(I don't care if people on this forum do it so they can say it's better than the rest of the series) is wrong. Being listed as a mainline does not suddenly make an MMO comparable to solo RPG experiences. They are so completely different in structure and content that the comparison is insane.
The only rational comparison anyone can even make is with the individual expansions and even that is limited to writing, gameplay and music. You cannot ignore the fact that these games are a specific type of experience and will not be for everyone. This does not mean the game isn't quality because someone couldn't handle the structure.
And guess what? The excitement for a mainline directored by XIV developers is for the WRITING, MUSIC AND STYLE. No one is hoping for XVI to be exactly like XIV.
I mean I appreciate that you're saying that it is radically different, because I do agree, but the whole being comparable to other titles in the series thing is very much a common line of thinking. And it is in the same series. It's a mainline game. It has to share some appeal or audience with the other titles otherwise it shouldn't have the FF name (and I'm not arguing that btw). Like if it's a Final Fantasy game - where there's massive storytelling, aesthetic, musical, visual, gameplay differences - it should definitely be treated as such.
At least in my experience, other than duties I never interacted with another player (ironically probably when the game was at it's best). It was mostly just teleporting from person to person with the occasional fight, like a very poor single player JRPG. I was also surprised that you can't even do MSQ missions with a friend, because I would have enjoyed if we could've made progress at the same time.
Also regarding the single player thing...
Because 14 is one of, if not THE best Final Fantasy games. It's legit a single player game and it's amazing lol.
People can't stop saying it. It seems to be the prevailing opinion.
Expecting quests to all be unique and interesting for a large open world multiplayer game is ridiculous. There is a reason fetch quests and repetitive exp grinds are common. It's simple and easy ways to get experience so that players can move past these parts into more interesting content.
Plenty of solo JRPG's can't even do decent sidequests but the MMO with a progression system is expected to do everything perfectly? Okay.
But I got the experience of doing those things in the first hour. Why am I still doing them 30 hours later lol.
What do you mean do things perfectly? I'm just saying do things that don't suck. Again, nobody is really saying this ARR content is great.
I can say it's not valid because you've only played part of one expansion and used it to criticize an entire game. Play the entire game and then you can have a conversation about writing and gameplay.
I mean it's the same as the "reviewers need to finish games" take. I don't really agree. I put in a good amount of time. I did my 30 hours and then my sub ran out so I can't play anymore. And I mean that's kind of the crux of my argument: no game is good enough to justify spending that much time on before it's decent, no matter how incredible whatever comes after it is. The game should be compelling in writing, gameplay and cutscene direction before then. I like the music FWIW. I think that
Civilizations is probably the best track from any FF game in a decade, maybe more, and I still haven't heard most of the XIV stuff.
