Final Fantasy XI Chains of Promathia Expansion Pack

"To reiterate, the current expansion, Chains of Promathia, has steep requirements at almost every turn that players must complete in order to reap the rewards that await at that story arc's conclusion. In the broader scale of things, Final Fantasy XI has a much steeper learning curve than games like World of Warcraft and Guild Wars, requiring six-person parties (or larger) to achieve most anything in the game. "

"level-capped areas..."
- From 1up.com 03/15/06

It's hard. And time consuming. I've been a video game player for a long time now and after playing this for awhile, I have to say that the missions contained in this box are some of the all time hardest I have ever come across. A casual game player, like someone who maybe knows who Super Mario is, would not stand a snowball's chance in hell of passing even the first mission. The complexity and challenge of even the first set of three missions is staggering. It requires absolutely perfect play from the people participating. You must have no distractions. You must always have a complex and planned out strategy for every single step of the way. Oh and "level capped" areas mean you will need to expend more in-game money to have an entirely different set of equipment for when you can scrape a party together to go on these hard "capped" missions (which also mean your characters strength, defense and abilities will be given a serious handicap/gimping).

Of course, the payoff is huge. The final area, which players call {sea} is beautiful and provides access to rare Armor and item upgrades not available anywhere else. Chains of Promathia was designed in many ways to be the ultimate challenge for people that have already become experienced (no pun intended) in this online virtual world. I guess it can be said that an extreme challenge is a lot more fun than going around and defeating every monster in sight in the easy new player areas.

The more seasoned players need new pastures to play in, and this expansion pack provides (most importantly) many, many new zones and locations to travel in (not just "sea"). Perhaps that is the most important aspect of this expansion pack - the new areas, some of which are normal and regular exp camp locations. So not having this means less invites to "exp" party groups (which allow the character to grow stronger).

The actual storyline and animation of movies/cutscenes are very nice, really. They truly are deep, pleasing and rewarding. There are elements of J.R.R. Tolkein and the Neverending Story at work here, along with tons of very original material from the writers over at Square Enix. The work you have to do to see this journey unfold, though, is very rough going.

For serious Online Role Players, Final Fantasy XI, with its high learning curve and deep complexity, is the ideal choice. Oh, and if you are a casual gamer who thinks they are ready for a challenge, well then step up. It just might take you awhile to get past the Promyvions. (;Buy Final Fantasy XI Chains of Promathia Expansion Pack!