Today we explore the joy of receiving a special present. This is no ordinary present; this is one you want so badly you can feel it in the pit of your stomach. Then when the magical day arrives that your wish comes true, you stand back in plain view of the cold harshness of the world. What a bitch – you think. This was not what you wanted. At the very least it certainly wasn’t what you expected and anticipated.

Recently, Final Fantasy 14 was commercially released and since then it has been getting pretty much universally flogged for being the piece of unfinished junk that it is. I have to be forthcoming; I am generally a fan of the FF franchise. It has had its installments that left quite the positive impression and even influence on me. In the last few years though, I have been becoming more and more critical of the entertainment juggernaut known as Square Enix. This is mainly for their recent direction in re-hashing their old IPs over and over and OVER - the same games on different systems with either updated graphics or other small tweaks. I don’t mind the occasional directors cut here and there, as a fan you undoubtedly enjoy it to an extent. That’s why we are fans – we enjoy the works and want to experience them in a new light occasionally. But there is a fine line between catering to the fans and milking the cow ‘till its utters dry up and fall off.

With FF14, Square went out and made a brand new game in the franchise; an MMO in the same vein as Blizzard’s World of Warcraft. They are an experienced game maker and already have one modestly successful MMO running (FF11). Though they admittedly didn’t turn a profit on the first game for a long time, one would have to assume that they had learned their lesson and would knock it out of the park with the second attempt.

Well, after playing the open beta with Pie, I have to say I am deeply disappointed with just how big a failure the game is. Pie links to some review videos that sum up all of the problems with the game; I won’t spend precious time covering what is now known fact – that Square Enix released a completely unfinished and poorly designed product.

What I will say though is that I think it is completely unacceptable that they do so. They are a game maker with tons of experience and success. There is NO EXCUSE for the game being allowed to hit the shelves in the state it was in. They were in alpha and beta testing for no less than 4 months and it still is an epic failure. What happened? Were all the managers tucked into a closet together getting wasted as time went by? I feel genuinely bad for the people that bought the game based on being a general fan of the series - especially if this is their first foray into a MMO as it would probably sour their taste on what can be an excellent genre.

Shame on you Square Enix for releasing this garbage into the general populace. You deserve to lose a ton of money on this game to teach you that whatever development process or methods you used are completely unacceptable and should never be tolerated again. I hope for your failure as failure is the path to learning how to succeed. Let us hope that you can learn from your mistakes; especially considering how much developer talent you have absorbed lately.

Bear and I joined the Final Fantasy 14 open beta a few weeks before its commercial release out of curiosity and ended up walking away with a not-so-great taste in our mouths. Bear couldn't stand the game and ended up quitting after about an hour. I was still very curious and probably ended up playing for about a total of five hours.

It was really cool seeing your characters in cinematic sequences, but if you've seen any of the video reviews for the game like on Gametrailers, Gamespot, and Big Fat Fony, they pretty much sum up what most of my beginning impressions. They don't tell you how to do ANYTHING in the game, the user interface is cumbersome and sluggish, and you end up walking for long periods of time through forgettable environments. I do admit though that it was interesting trying to figure out the controls and interface on my own. It seems like it was designed mainly for people who play only using a controller. '_' I think it's really interesting and funny how it seems that there's a mutual negative feeling among gamers about the game since the its release. I feel sorry for people who've bought the game who live on a tight budget. '_'

In other news, Megaman Legends 3 has been announced to be in production and Capcom is allowing fans to be involved in the development process! =D I'm really excited! I have mixed feelings about the game being for the new Nintendo 3DS though, especially since the system will cost $300. MML3 will probably end up being one of those games where I give up on the possibility of being able to purchase/play the game and end up hoping to watch all the story segments on youtube three years down the line to help fill the empty void. XD;;