Going to treat this review as soley A Realm Reborn because that does not have it's own thing here so for future reference this only reflects ARR and nothing else.

If I really end up falling in love with the later expansions I may change the score but for now it stays.

FFXIV was a game I'd always wanted to play but it being such a daunting task put me off it for a long while, but when I saw a limited time FFXVI quest I felt I'd regret not doing that now because I really liked XVI, so with a month to do it I decided I'd boot up XIV and with the free trial I really had no limit to rush or anything but I still really wanted that quest. I've now managed to beat ARR and honestly I really liked it and am very hyped for future expansions. So I guess I'm a MMO player

And another reason I got into the game now was also because Dawntrail seems to be IX inspired and FFIX is my favourite game ever made so like I kinda had to play Dawntrail....

Review time: Story was by far the weakest aspect of the game, I wouldn't say it was terrible but as a FF plot it's bad and is really one of my least favourite plots. Now in terms of the main characters I quite like the Scion of the Seventh Dawn they be cool and they all (mostly) grew on me, the Lalafell Paplamylo (? hard name to write) is one I didn't really like and the elf one that speaks in poems or whatever was also kinda ehh, but everyone else was really good. I love Y'sholta despite having relativly minimal presence IDK I just really liked her. Minafila was cool (also kinda unimportant but I can't really tell if she fights or not I'm guessing not but also?). Yda and the guy who gets possessed are pretty cool too. I also quite like the Lallafell who is the receptionist she's cool. Though I gotta say the villians in ARR Suck like they are just BAD, they have no presence in the story bar a cutscene at the start and then like every primal raid they might show up and be like ooohohoh I'm EVIIILLLL and I'm sooo strong, and like they are so boring... The VA work for the main guy is cool but I just don't care about them at all they're just so boring. The whole main plot is not good yet oddly I still kinda love it, I just like the Scions they're cool and I like them so I can forgive most of the plot for being ehh. I guess it sucks that a game you hear so much about how good the writing is has such a rocky 50 - 70+ hour start. I guess I'll see how the writing improves in the expansions.

As someone new to MMOs I found combat to be shockingly fun, I always thought it'd be boring but I ended up really enjoying it, I don't really have much else to say but it was fun. I like that all the various crafting things are jobs with their own levels and skills because that seems so unnesccary but I kinda love it, I love being able to say I'm a level 20 Fisherman because it so silly.

uhhhh.... MSQ is fun but special shout outs to the dungeon where I go aquire Goblin Cheese what a fun time. Side Quests vary from nothing terrible quests to pretty cool. Shame that I just ignore all non plus side quests now becasue there really is no point in doing them because there is so many and they are nothing quests. the + quests can have some crazy cool rewards or just be nothing basically but they're typically enjoyable.

The game very much feels like it's going to be vastly better in the expansions because there's clearly traces of a good story and there are some good characters, and the gameplay is already really good so hyped for the expansions.

This game is very hard to write about ngl, doesn't help I suck at writing but there is so much to say on a game this long I suppose oh well, game be good story be ehhh, characters be good, music be good. I'm sure the rest of the game be good(er)

Quando lançou pode ser que tinha seus problemas, eu só sei que jogando hoje em dia percebo que qualquer problema foi amplamente resolvido. A história principal é gigante e maravilhosa, digna de um bom FF, o jogo se torna hiper profundo com o passar das horas e a maior crítica que li por enquanto ao estado atual foi a de que tem pouco conteúdo a ser feito (crítica feita por alguns jogadores com mais de dez mil horas de jogo), enfim, absolutamente o melhor mmo que já joguei e vai ser meu mmo por um bom tempo.

Realm Reborn's main story quest really felt like a Trails Of story where 80% of the game is fluff and pretty tedious but the ending sinks its hooks in you and you have no choice but to continue on with the expansions to see where it goes.

I don't know if I'd recommend XIV but I'm definitely hooked. Its one of those "it gets good after 100 hours" kind of experiences. In the long run I have a feeling I'll be going "I should have played a bunch of other games in that time instead of spending all this time playing this" but we'll see.

This review covers everything up through Patch 6.58, though I won't be discussing the story much as I think it's more subjective and something you should just see for yourself. I also want to mention I am not well-versed in MMORPGs, having only played a bit of MapleStory before this. I am aware that many other MMOs, including FF11, have (or had years ago) more in-depth gearing, combat, and social systems compared to this game. I'm merely looking at FF14 for what it is at the time of writing (2024). If you are a seasoned MMO player looking for a recommendation, maybe read something else.

This game, for me anyway, is everything I could want out of a Final Fantasy and Animal Crossing game all at once. The world is simultaneously enormous and richly detailed, with more expansive lore than any previous FF. There's a huge variety of locales, races, and creatures, all quite reminiscent of FF1-6. Every zone, city, and dungeon is visually and musically distinct. The combat is simplistic in terms of decision-making and player inputs, focusing instead on dodging increasingly complex attacks. When you're up against higher-end bosses, the game loop is actually more reminiscent of Punch-Out. You go in, die a bunch, learn the puzzle, then try to execute it. The hard part is doing the dance with 7 other people. It doesn't feel much like an RPG despite all the numbers flying everywhere, but it is a lot of fun. The story moves at a glacial pace, but it's always entertaining and remains intriguing throughout. Even ARR has its moments, and a lot of smaller threads here are followed up in later expansions. I think it does a good job of introducing Eorzea and characterizing its inhabitants. This is the most engrossing world I've been in since Xenogears, though obviously the writing is nowhere near as strong as that game.

The biggest issues of the game are structural ones that have arisen out of the need to constantly feed in fresh new "content" at such a regular pace. Every expansion opens up with a split questline, dungeons are always Lv. X1, X3, X5, X7, X9, and X0, trials are always Lv. X3, X9, X0. There are always 6 zones with 10 aether currents each. There's always 5 patches afterwards, and you always know when the next raids and gear will drop. The Scions can't die because they need to be on the cover illustrations for every expansion. There can't be any cataclysmic events because you still need to be able to teleport to Limsa and check the market board. It's extremely consistent and predictable to a fault, for sure handy when planning to play or take breaks, but it makes it difficult to write a compelling story around.

But an MMORPG is more than just its story. I think people do this game a disservice when they claim that FF14 is simply a single-player JRPG with MMO features. If they made a single-player offline version of this, leaving as much as they could the same, I think most people would find it dull, myself included. Even with the antisocial Duty Finder and newly-finished Duty Support system, it's clear that this game is still designed for multiplayer. But that isn't a bad thing, far from it. I think the developers have their priorities straight here, and it's better to focus on the gameplay and social elements to keep the game alive. It's impressive that the team has been able to keep the plot going as smoothly as it has despite the MMO structure, Shadowbringers and Endwalker have shown they're willing to take more risks on this front. If you wanted a more concise, single-player oriented plot, there are other FF games that offer this instead.

The multiplayer elements are where the game really shines the most. There's the obvious stuff like raiding together with friends, but for me the biggest strength is simply being able to meet new people and form lasting bonds with them while playing as my custom-created character. It really emphasizes the actual role-playing aspect of FF which isn't really a common feeling outside of FF1, 3, and 11, and it really sells the idea that I'm playing as my own adventurer in this world. I get to experience my own individual story on top of the one the writers provide me. The world always feels so bustling and full of life, even if this is mostly limited to cities and the Gold Saucer.

Speaking of which, this game is rife with engaging side content. Crafting, housing, and clothing customization are considerably more in-depth than Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a game whose only strong suits are crafting, housing, and clothing customization. Triple Triad, Mahjong, and Verminion are practically their own entirely separate games. PvP is kinda janky, but it's still a fun distraction, even moreso with a group of friends. Savage and Ultimate raids are some of the most difficult challenges in any FF. The Sightseeing Log provides some interesting platforming challenges. There's dozens more things I haven't even tried yet like Palace of the Dead which have their own unique mechanics and goals. And those are just the group activities the developers provide for you. Players have created their own multiplayer experiences through hunt trains, public concerts, and venues - from cozy cafés to nightclubs.

Around every corner, it always feels like there's some fun activity to do with your friends, and I think that is what makes the game so special to me. It's a game made for you to sit back and enjoy the moment, to soak in the world, and to make new friends. Remarkably, FF14 does a good job catering to both social and antisocial players, too, so if you don't want to interact with anyone you rarely ever have to. The US version of Animal Crossing on GameCube had this tagline on the back that always stood out to me: "the real-life game that happens every second of every day, whether you're there or not." Since Wild World, I don't think any game has made me feel that way until FF14.

By far, the best experience I’ve ever had and could have in an MMORPG. I will only talk here about the 2.0 to pre-3.0 patch. Final Fantasy 14 gave me my first experience of being able to play an MMO on a console. I remember picking up my PS4 and buying a game without much hope, but which I believed would be fun due to MANY people saying good things about it. But, if you know this here in Brazil, you really have to look for information and I researched A LOT until I discovered Final Fantasy 14. And although I had difficulty adapting, it was smooth as I progressed through the game’s story and the mechanics were introduced to me. I still remember how surprised I was when the first fight against Ifrit was 1v1. The rich world that was introduced to me in an environment that at first glance seemed like just another adventure, but is in fact a reflection of Garlemald’s war against the Eorzian nations. In several quests, the results of that war are shown very explicitly. In addition to the main plot against Garlemald, we are also introduced to the issue of other Eorzian races and their serious problems with primals who are a cancer for the world. Each race has its unique characteristics and this is reflected in their gods who are shown to us as the primals of the Final Fantasy series. Its unique soundtracks and each lyric hide a description and appreciation of the race for its God.

The game took me on an adventure that really covered a lot of ground in a magnificent way, although I still played it back in the day before Square Enix reduced the number of main story missions and so I feel grateful to have made the most of what the game had to offer in these patches.

The post ARR is even much more climactic and shows one of the best plot-twists I’ve ever seen in an audiovisual work. It would be wrong to say that that ending was predictable and we are shown later in the following DLC how what happened there impacted not only our protagonist but also the entire main cast of the story and that that would haunt them until the current moments of the game’s setting.

With incredible villains to say the least and having to fight several different enemies in different situations, with wonderful gameplay and soundtracks and with beautiful world building and character development, A Realm Reborn is truly for me what fantasy has always been. It was a story about hope, hopelessness, evolution, political plot and about overcoming your own limitations to move forward regardless of how dark the outcome. 5/5 the GOAT of MMORPG games.

i'm about 400h in and i'm pretty sure i have at least 2k/3k hours more of new content ahead, and this got me thinking about my experience with different types of games, and how the industry been handling content in their games, and how much of it can really be called "content"

FFXIV is a MMO with a reboot and more than a decade of market, bringing paid DLCs and a lot of "free" content in the way, colabs with other games and its own franchise, with some dungeons, missions, fashions, minions, mounts etc, in a way that is crafted to give the player the feeling that every single colab is lore justifiable and in some way or another fits FFXIV universe, and all that while presenting players with one of the most beautiful and well crafted stories and character of any MMO out there, puting it toe to toe with Single Player juggernauts RPG Franchises like Xenoblade, Atlus universe and the very own Final Fantasys, making it a game that is incredible to play by yourself or with your friends and also having the plus of imersing yourself with a very charming and gentle community, so gentle in fact, that people got to spend an hour with me teaching how to play Sage and being very forgiving with my mistakes, pretty hard to find any community that portrates itself like this, and probabluy being a big pillar of FFXIV success.

FFXIV is one of the last "subscribe to play" games in the market (if you don't play on console) but the subs are cheaper than a Spotify monthly sub and it allows major DLC contents to be sold for cheap, and most importantly it has a free version with almost every single thing of the game free, and the limit is like reaching the modern content or a max lvl character (as i said, i have almost 400h on this shit and not a single character on max level and i'm only no the second DLC of 5 available), of curse the game suffers from some "MMO problems" like awful introtuduction to new player, weird UI designs (inventory mannagment can take up to hours lol) and a slow starting history, but i dosen't matter how much you try there is no such thing as "perfect piece of media".

With that said, looking at the amount of content this game has, and the absurdly ammount of GaaS on the market with, 30dol+ Seasson Pass and full priced DLCs with 10h of content (cough Destiny) it makes me think if FFXIV is just like this because of Zeitgeist, or if it is possible to introduce a modern game with the love and passion that i found on this game, especially because the industry is in a constant fight with the consumers in a way that players want ultra realistic graphics, 100h games, next gen physics and low price while the companies want to make games quickly, with the highest possible price and the maximum ammount of lazy paid DLCs. It is, in a certain way, that we are looking at a form of art that is more worried about portraiting itself like a cheap entertainment product instead of a piece of creative art, and companies are not doing by itself but with the help of the players.

While active GaaS games are focused on competitive shooting, with easy to make content, exorbitant prices and toxic communities, every time i catch my self having a friendly talk with some stranger in Limsa, or healping someone with crafting in Ul'dah, i'm always thinking, will we have any game with the ammount of passionate content, a lovable comunnity, fair prices, great characters and so on and on as we have here? I don't think so, bu i really hope to be wrong, and i really hope that this friction between greedy companies and overly demanding players cease, and we can have a new dev team with the love, care and freedom of the FFXIV's to create a new fantasy universe to be truly lived again.

Reviewing each extension separately so this is only a criticism of the content up to the end of A Realm Reborn:

Not gonna lie, I understand why I picked up and dropped this game on 4 separate occasion since 2014: the content of ARR, be it the story, dungeon or side content, is actually horrendous. I'm only sticking with it and powering through it because I know it gets better later on and will be worth my time.

My biggest criticism is that I don't really understand how this rework of 1.0 saved the game and made it popular. I didn't play 1.0 myself back then but the more I learn about it, the more I realize it was a far better game than ARR ever could be. I want FINAL FANTASY god damnit, not "WoW-lite for people that prefers cute aesthetics".

Hopefully I'm done with the worst parts and it will only get better from here on out. I've grown attached to my WoL so I can't stop now.

my favourite mmorpg that's currently available to play, despite the insane amount of flaws it comes from being an mmorpg, i think that if you find an mmorpg befitting to you, it is a game that will stick to your heart forever, and to me, it is this one. it is by no means perfect, it has an awful social system for example, but the writing even if it can feel off at times, the soundtrack, and overall just the experience is something that no mmorpgs at the moment have particularly given to me by that amount. an amazing MMORPG, even if it isn't flawless.

My first real experience with an MMORPG - yes, I've had brief stints with Everquest, Runescape, Phantasy Star Online, Final Fantasy XI, Star Wars the Old Republic, Destiny 2, and Guild Wars 2 back in the day... but I don't really count those as I either:

A. Didn't enjoy them
OR
B. Never stuck with them too long and my playtime was minimal

FFXIV is the first one that I really gave an honest attempt to learn the mechanics of, and I've been trying my best to learn its lingo (I still feel intimidated and a bit of an old man when playing though, especially when partied up with others)... The entire experience thus far has been really enjoyable.

There are so many things to do in this game, and I find myself losing myself in almost all of them: the MSQ, different jobs, fishing/crafting, Gold Saucer, Triple Triad, dungeons/raids, etc. And it is great that I can pace myself, so I don't burn myself out... it is probably gonna take me years to catch up though.

All of it together makes me understand why this game has such a hold on people - it is essentially the videogame version of "crack".

I still haven't found why people talk up the game's story so much yet, but am excited to find out as I continue playing... I've really enjoyed the characters and the lore/world building - it is very much a slow, slow burn, but I like games that do that (as long as they build up to something and there is a payoff).

Being a fan of the Final Fantasy series for damn near 30 years, makes this whole experience feel like a "Final Fantasy amusement park". All the references and callbacks to other games in the series, turn this game into a wonderful love letter to the entire FF series, and a treasure trove of fun for its fanbase. I am excited to continue playing after completing A Realm Reborn.

I want to make clear that this is a reveiw of A Realm Reborn only, and that of someone using the free trail. So I never really got a chance to interact with other players.

Lets start with the positives. The music is amazing and the graphics really hold up. I think a lot of the mechanics are really cool so with all of that considered I totally get why so many people love this game.

But that being said the MSQ for A Realm Reborn might be the most miserable and mind numbing time I have spent playing a video game. Most of the MSQ are made up of mindless kill and fetch quests. Even when you do get something inportant to the story it dosen't matter because the story sucks too. Maybe I didn't give it a big enough chance due all of the filler but I felt nothing the during 95 percent of the story.

Part of me feels bad for this reveiw becuase I know that a ton of people love this game and it probably does get better in the expansions. But I can only write what I felt and I did not have a good time playing this game.