rpanons | That's my purse, I don't know you

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Combat-wise, there's a much smaller range of useful abilities -- but that means that the abilities that you get in your first ten levels serve you throughout the entire game. I'm almost level 30 and at my White Mage and I'm still using only one spell to heal. Rotations are kind of super simple (unless you're playing Arcanist a.k.a. Warlock and having to manage DoTs without a timer or any way to distinguish your DoTs from anyone else's. It's hell in large groups.) Overall I'd say it's a little more complex than GW2, but far below WoW's ability bloat.

The class/job switching system is interesting! There are eight classes: Gladiator (tank), Marauder (tank), Lancer (DPS), Archer (DPS), Pugilist (DPS), Thaumaturge (DPS), Arcanist (DPS/support), and Conjurer (heals.) Once you get to level 10 in your starting class, you're free to switch into any other class just by equipping the class's weapon. You have totally different stats and experience levels in all your classes. This way, you can get to level 50 in every class on one character; in fact, it's encouraged to get at least a few levels in other classes. That's because every five levels you also gain a slot you can use to equip a skill you've learned from another class. So like when I play as a Lancer, I can equip the Conjurer's Protect and Cure spells and the Archer's 20% damage buff cooldown to help me while soloing. An Archer can also equip a Pugilist's snare to help them while kiting, or a Arcanist can use a Thaumaturge or Conjurer's DoTs to add to their already-wide arsenal. By level 50, you'll be able to slot in a total of ten different cross-class abilities, so there's quite a bit of customization. There's even a completely separate inventory system to store all the different armor sets you'll need to use for all your different classes. That being said, this is DEFINITELY not an alt-friendly game, so if you (like me) enjoy having a lot of different characters for different roles, you might be a little disappointed.

Once you get to level 30 in one class and 15 in another, you can equip a gem that'll let you change to a job (30 Conjurer/15 Arcanist will get you White Mage, for example.) Jobs are basically super-focused versions of their root classes with buffed stats, but it means you lose the option to use cross-class skills from everything else. So like White Mages can ONLY use White Mage, Conjurer, and Arcanist abilities. They're generally meant for party play where distinct, specialized roles are needed.

I haven't dabbled much in crafting yet but the first few levels I did were kind of boring (granted, I never really got into crafting in any other MMO.) It's not like WoW or GW2 where you queue up 100 things and AFK for a few minutes. Goldsmith/Weaver/Alchemist/etc. are all ALSO separate classes you change into and level up. You have an entire new set of abilities you use to actively make the item and try and adjust its quality. There's even crafter-specific gear and stats that affect the number of actions you can take to make your item, or your chance of making a higher-quality piece. Crafters can also repair their own gear and affix materia (a.k.a. stat gems) and you need level them if you want to make your best-in-slot weapon at endgame. The three gathering classes are the same way, but I haven't even touched any of them yet so I can't tell you what exactly they're like.

The solo experience is actually very fun, and it's a Final Fantasy game so expect lots of cutscenes and dialogue to read. The main story quest guides you through pretty much every aspect of the game; in order to access dungeons, travel, mounts, materia, factions, and literally EVERYTHING else, you need to progress through the story. Besides the experience you get from the main questline, there're also GW2-style group events all over the map, "leves" which are basically extra generic quests you can resort to when nothing else is available, the hunting log which rewards you for grinding small groups of different monsters, and... Well, there's always grinding.

So there's a shitton of things to do. Right now the game has some serious server overcrowding which makes logging into the game a boss fight all on its own, but they're working on upgrading their data centers this week. There're some quality of life issues that need to be fixed, but overall it's a very strong game! The artwork and animation and music are all as beautiful as one would expect of an FF game, and if you're a fan of the series, it's the little things that you really appreciate. Heck, when you're in a party there's even a Limit Break meter that builds up over the course of a fight which you can use to pull off a big ability. Despite my few gripes with it here and there, I haven't been this engrossed in a game since I picked up WoW for the first time. I'll be subscribing, at least until I see how Elder Scrolls Online and Wildstar look.

(And if you do decide to play, think about rolling on Adamantoise! I'd like to have people to play with. :))

Also I'm NAYRT.

That's my purse, I don't know you

i'm SO sorry for the tl;dr

^^^^