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Number of Reviews: Final Fantasy XI: Chains of Promathia is the first North America expansion pack for the popular Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) Final Fantasy XI. Like the main game, it is rated T (Teen: Blood, violence), but the content largely resolves around battles with cartoonish opponents, and will be appropriate for most children sophisticated enough to understand its basic controls. The expansion adds a dozen or more new areas, many new quests, and a major new mission arc, substantially extending the game plot. However, much or all of the new content is locked behind either relatively high level restrictions or challenging quests that cannot be completed without the assistance of a solid group of players. This is not an expansion that alters the experience a new player has with the game -- instead, it extends the life of the game for people who have already played it for months or years. Much of the criticism leveled against the expansion is that it does little to add new features to the game, such as new races or jobs. Square-Enix, in designing the expansion, has definitely chosen to focus on adding more places to go and things to kill, rather than new toys for a starting character to play with. This expansion is really only of interest to players who have already sunk 100+ hours into Final Fantasy XI; if this describes you, and you haven't already purchased the expansion, do so tonight. If you just want to try Final Fantasy XI out, you do not need this expansion to do so. Pros: * Nice new areas for higher-level characters. * Level-capped areas let parties of disparate levels play together. * New plot available for players who have finished the main game plot. * Areas such as Promyvion and Bibiki Bay are visually gorgeous. Cons: * Most of the content is not accessible to lower-level players; some is out of reach of even higher-level casual players. * This is NOT a standalone expansion; you must have purchased the original game to play it.