The game: Final Fantasy XI
Sequel to: Final Fantasies one through X-2 (NES through PS2 at the time)
Why you didn't play it: Also known as "the online one", FFXI shipped first to PC, where fewer players worship Final Fantasy and where there were ten zillion other MMO games. The PlayStation 2 version didn't have that problem, but it required an expensive hard drive add-on in addition to the network adaptor. It wasn't graphically gorgeous, it replaced the series' trademark epic stories with plot-lite level grinding and required people to cooperate with one another like civilized human beings - which, sadly, didn't come easily for many console players. By the time the Xbox 360 version shipped, FFXI had become the kind of game many players were shocked to discover still existed. Sure, it's still out there and a new, fourth expansion is even planned, but do you know anyone actually playing it? Yeah, we don't either.
Why you should have: Once you accepted that this was a dungeon crawler (and learned how to program macros onto your hotkeys), FFXI had plenty to offer. There were cool careers and races, tons of monsters, a decent crafting system, and an art style that was more into muted earth tones than most FF games, but still felt exotic and unique.
In fact, it's pretty easy to argue that the next single-player Final Fantasy game, the excellent FFXII, was basically a single-player evolution of FFXI with a bigger story and CPU-controlled cohorts in place of human players. FFXI also now works on PS3, so you can still give it a shot if you so desire.
