Final Fantasy XI

Best: Made Final Fantasy a communal experience

When Final Fantasy XI made the pivot from a single-player RPG to an MMORPG, it was controversial. For a lot of fans in the early 2000s, Final Fantasy XI felt impenetrable because the internet infrastructure wasn’t what it is today. But for those with good internet access, Final Fantasy XI made the series something that could be shared with friends, rather than something experienced by yourself and talked about later. Final Fantasy XIV has pretty much eclipsed it as the Final Fantasy MMO in people’s minds, but it all started with Final Fantasy XI making the big swing. It paid off, too, the game is still going.

Worst: You can lose your level progress

MMOs can be notoriously grindy, and Final Fantasy XI has this issue. But on top of that, you can also “de-level” when you’re knocked out in battle by losing experience. This can even extend to losing access to level-gated content. Losing progress always feels bad, whether that’s going back to a checkpoint or losing a save. It’s unfortunate this is baked into Final Fantasy XI, but it has at least been removed from Final Fantasy XIV