Newbie in Vana'diel

When my fiancée talks about her adventures growing up with Final Fantasy XI, there’s always this sparkle in her eye. Tales of nuanced story-telling, crazy times with her compatriots, all of the days spent grinding…

What strikes me, mainly, is how much of her life she spent in this game. And I will admit, there is a part of me that worried what would happen should nostalgia make her return to the world of Vana’diel. Would I ever see her again? Would she ever come back to bed? Would she remember to make it to our wedding? And so when nostalgia inevitably struck her, and I could see that determined sparkle, I made a decision.

If she’s going to spend that much time in an online world, then I was going to go with her.

So here it is, my ramblings as a newbie into the world of Final Fantasy XI. These musings are not in any strict order or cohesion, as if I tried to do that, this article would turn into a book. Let’s get started!

The only time I will ever be tall. Final Fantasy XI - ©Square Enix

Introducing Vyrella, an Elvaan Summoner who’s just really happy to be here! On the left is my partner, Ryusa the Mithra Dragoon and her wyvern, Nanaja. Why Elvaan? Pretty simple, actually. I knew I wanted to play a Summoner character, so Galka were out (also, not my thing). I wasn’t going to copy my fiancée, so Mithra were out. Humes are boring and I have a rule of never playing human when I have the choice of other races. While Tarutaru would be a “logical” option, I was not going to be caught dead playing one as a newcomer. So, Elvaan it was!

We choose to hail from San d’Oria, and as I am taking in the background, I am struck with a lot of… “French.” I actually learned a bit of French in high school, so these names look like actual travesties to me. How on Vana’diel did they get the word “bijou” correct for jewel, but name someone “Fittesgate”!? My head is already hurting.

Me praying to Altana for better Fake French names. Final Fantasy XI - ©Square Enix

My adventures started out as a lowly Thief because—wait, you have to BUY all of your spells!? Holy Yagudo, this is going to be expensive! But it’s okay, because this game doesn’t give you choices in leveling up, which I am actually very glad for. I am terrible at micromanaging stats to make the best character, so this function is definitely a stress reliever. The controls are funky and I try my best. But I swear, everything BUT the thing I want gets locked on!

I have to make sure to not only keep up with my Records of Eminence, but also use the grounds tome to pick out appropriate monsters to fight so that I can get all the extra experience points. On top of the fact that apparently monsters these days drop way more than they used to. My fiancée tells me horror stories of how it could take her two days of consistent play to level up once, while we just leveled up five times in less than two hours. I am making sure I sound grateful.

But hey, there are warp crystals everywhere, and also transportation guides! They’re so handy and nifty. Then I learn that you all originally had to walk everywhere and use the water and airships. When I use one “for the experience,” I suddenly start to understand how and why my fiancée sunk so much time into this game…

This game has all the expansions, and they’re supposed to be able to occur individually and separately from each other. This led to a very troubling and confusing experience where every random spot would trigger a prologue cut-scene announcing yet another reason the world is going to end. I still struggle to differentiate the many kinds of apocalypses.

So is this the “Dragons are Mad” Apocalypse or the “Dragons Need Help” Apocalypse? Final Fantasy XI - ©Square Enix

All is well, however, when we finally start to get enough gil to buy spells, so now my class is White Mage! Which is…yeah, I’ll save you the time on that. It’s a lot of Cures and some excitement when your Dia goes off well. I’m then pumped with Teleportation Spells and realize that I have become yet another warp stone for my fiancée.

We’re not alone in our adventures. Since the game is populated more by high-tiers who refuse to leave the game, a lot of newbies like myself are stuck. Some of these fights require full parties, and a struggling White Mage and Red Mage are just not going to cut it. So the game has Trusts; essentially, NPCs who can make copies of themselves to fight alongside you in battle. I appreciate that every time an NPC gives you their Trust, they make the same joke about making a hundred copies of themselves.

In order to continue on with the missions and not have to repeat them (repeat missions, what madness is this!?), we give this one guy a lot of crystals. This leads to my understanding that people like us when we give them stuff, and liking us means they tell authority figures that we’re cool, so we get higher ranks and better missions. This came to a head when in order to get fame in Jeuno, San d’Oria, and Bastok, we had to give this guy corn. And I mean, a lot of corn. It was an upsetting amount of corn.

Meet our DPS, Healer, Tank, and some dude who’s just really pretty to look at. Final Fantasy XI - ©Square Enix

Finally, after time sunk into getting my White Mage’s levels up and doing the missions required to get our advanced class (they’re a bit of a blur), I am finally a Summoner! My adorable Carbuncle is at my side and I am ready to face the world! Let’s get more Avatars!

What do you mean they’re super hard to get and we should wait till we’re higher level? Ugh, fine.

I do not understand the many types of currency, but I am reassured that we have enough. There’s currency for this special armor you get from the quest book, there’s currency for the mystery scary land, and there’s three types of currency for another mystery scary land… Oh yeah, and tabs.

Finally, I get more Avatars! I love each of my avatars, and even though my fiancée tells me in exasperation, “Please, just summon Garuda and use Predator Claws,” I say no and summon Leviathan because who doesn’t like a water snake dragon? Like any good summoner, they are set onto the enemy while I stand back in safety. Then they return to me once the enemy is gone, I give them a pat on their head, and rest up while my fiancée struggles with the next enemy. Then the cycle repeats.

I don’t care what anyone says, you keep using Poison Claws and make those adorable squeaks. Final Fantasy XI - ©Square Enix

Well, those are my first impressions so far. We have obtained level 99, but are still trying to get through all the story missions.  I have been promised that Chains of Promathia’s mountain climb is the only one of its kind, but I am still uncertain.

I imagine we’ll be continuing forward until we’ve exhausted the story. If you would like me to create a full review of my thoughts on the game, let me know in the comments below! While you’re at it, tell me your favorite memories of Vana’diel!