FINAL FANTASY XIV Online

The world is very cool and the story is great in this game.
The first half of ARR is boring but then it picks up and Heavensward has great story.

But,
You can not do anything unless you progressed to whatever arbitrary point the story unlocks a feature
You can not play any of the (countless) mandatory story missions with friends, so playing this together will constantly break you up, remind you that lvling outside it is pointless because the story gates all progress.
The game is incredibly un-social for an MMORPG,. to the point where it really is just a story-focused single player RPG with online features attached to it. At no point ever is there a reason for you to talk to another player, therefore finding anyone else to play with (again, how even?) seems impossible. But maybe thats a good thing, because everyone remotely social in this game seems to be a complete freak. The first time someone whispered me to invite me to a guild he had a link to his "portfolio" website in his pass, where he made modded screenshots of characters fisting each other among other things.

The worst part however is the gameplay itself, the fighting system.
You get a shitton of buttons, of which a ton do the same, none feel like they do any damage, and the game allows you absolutely 0 build or playstyle variety. There is a fixed order of when to press each of your 20 buttons, and if you even slightly differ from it, you are simply doing it wrong, because there is no different way to play a class - the gear is all the same too.
There is also seriously no need for this bloat of buttons: Dragoon for example, you start your combo with a stab, and another, and another, 3 buttons that do the exact same thing without special effects that always need to be combo'd one after another, and this basically goes on for most of the combo if we are being honest. There is no reason for all these buttons, there is 0 strategizing involved or anything, its just pressing the glowing button like a babys toy and jumping through hoops to do damage for the sake of it. And for all this crap you get rewarded with attacks that feel like they have 0 impact because everything is a damage sponge. I dont even know what to say about the tickrate, I have never seen a game tick so slowly.

That being said I really do like the world itself, both in looks and ideas (the abalathian sky area for example looks amazing and I like playing the card game in the golden saucer) and the story and really wouldve liked to know how it continues in Stormblood and onward but even after giving the game multiple tries I just cant slog my way through the horrid gameplay.

It's nice to have an MMO that respects me and my time. Classes are fun to play, especially Machinist. Characters strike a perfect balance of anime and realism without being uncanny like a lot of Korean MMOs. The community is great over all, though there's pockets of toxicity to look out for. (Mainly clubbers.) Housing is super customize-able, and they did a great job with Dawntrail. (Especially the environments.)
I'll be playing this game for as long as it runs, most likely.

This game absolutely rules!!

It has a pretty rough base game but once you reach the first expansion it really picks up. Endwalker (the last expansion of the game's story) made me cry 5 times, and I think I've never experienced a game story that has ever hit this hard for me, it's absolutely worth pushing through the slow part to reach that conclusion.

Just a few considerations:
- The game has a free trial that lets you play through the base game and the first 2 expansions, so I say it's 1000% worth downloading it and giving it a try to see if you like it.

- Treat this game like a JRPG first, and an MMO second, everything is unlocked by progressing the main story, so you won't be doing any raids, trials or dungeons unless you follow the story.

I'm getting really annoyed with this situation. I ran the free trial, then upgraded to the full version, but every time I log in now and try to access the free-version blocked content (Market Board and such), it says "function is not available on free trial". I paid for the full version, so why does it keep giving me the same message?!?

Its a great game when played with friends with many different things to do

This game has consumed me. There is no escape.

The good news is that you may run into a maid catgirl band playing songs at an aetheryte.

so much BS to be able to play this game, i haven't played it in ages and there is no fucking help to get from the dumbass gamecreators, stay clear from this garbage.

I definitely recommend this game, but DO NOT get it through Steam. Go to the Square Enix website and use the free trial through whichever expansion they currently allow you to play for free, then later buy the game from there. I've had so many bizarre issues with updates and downloads because I got this game through Steam, it doesn't let you verify your files, and all kinds of weird nonsense.

Also, Steam counts all of the time you had the launcher open as "time played," so even if you never get the game to ever work and load up, you might still not be able to get a refund "because you played too many hours" while you were just trying to troubleshoot the launcher.

Interface to release an old username tied to Steam profile. Wasted a few hours trying to release it so I can use the new key. What types of plastic to the developers smoke to fragment their minds this badly.

I've just bought this game last year, and it has been great.
Great story, combat, and sound

Refuses to allow me to log in. Any attempts to fix or troubleshoot are all for naught. I've looked everywhere, only to find people lamenting they're having the same/similar problems as me. Every once in a while you'll find someone who figured out how to fix it, only to find most commenters in whatever Reddit post or forum thread you've stumbled on replying that they tried that, but it's still not working.

I changed my password. I have a goddamned password manager for a reason, but I changed it (and updated it) and copied+pasted, only to be told that "ID or password is incorrect." I even tried signing up for a new account through the game launcher. Can't even get past the window to accept the terms of service page. You click the checkmark, scroll up and down, click the links within the agreement... "Next" is still grayed out. I'm not filling out your stupid forms for a game I haven't even had the chance to play yet. Hard miss.

Their engineers are living in 2005, their login and authentication system is trash, everything requires you to send an email or call customer service, even changing personal information. They use an ancient system for their Steam account linking and their account page website looks like it was written with Dreamweaver in 2005. Their customer support is not helpful at all. This game is a waste of money and it's keeping Square-Enix alive and they won't even invest a few sandwiches worth of money to upgrade their login / account management system. At least, they could bring it up to 2012 standards and have the Steam link/unlink and personal information changes be automated.

Tried this game a few years back. Ended up without alot of time to play. Thought i would try it again. Unfortunately it is impossible to recover account. So i figured i would start over. Nope you cant use a different email of CD Key on the same computer. So now i have no way to access the game and no way to get the info back. Trying to get ahold of costumer support turned out to be a crazy amount of hours to STILL not get any help.

Who the actual &#*! charges a monthly subscription for their game in 2024?

The actual gameplay is fun. I'm talking dungeons, trials, raids, etc.

People say that the story is great. Sure.

The questing/level design? Garbage. Getting through the story is a PAIN in the ass because the questing SUCKS. It's fetch quest the game. You are literally just talking, traveling, talking, traveling for AGES before you get to ANY decent gameplay.

Everyone told me it gets better in the expansions. That is complete BS. The quest design SUCKS for ALL expansions. All the way to the end. If you can handle that and you're patient, you'll EVENTUALLY find a good game and story in there. But it was a hell of a grind to get through it...

- game systems are archaic
- too much random running around, and honestly all the mount restrictions just make this issue worse. Talk about farming play time.
- if you ever have issues with your account good luck getting a hold of square enix. Customer support is non-existent.

Overall the game has some cool ideas and a mediocre story, but i would recommend finding a different game to play unless you enjoy aimless walking, green color palettes and slow uneventful stories.

This is by far my most favorite game in the world! I've spent so much time with this game and it never gets boring. Would recommend 10/10 if you're looking for a mmorpg that gets you hooked <3

Uh....I guess its pretty good...
Kinda miss my money, and time, and probably could have went without the Mogstation.
All and All
9/10
Would be addicted too again!

One of the best, if not THE best traditional MMO currently on the market.

Gorgeous visuals, beautiful character design, flashy and engaging tab-targeting combat, cool dungeons and raids, tons of exploration and non-combat activities like crafting, fishing and mini-games.

The only con I can think of is the writing. It is not bad, but definitely very verbose and lengthy. Be prepared for a lot of long cutscenes that take you out of the gameplay. It is not a con if you don't mind this sort of thing, though.

If not for the lack of regional pricing, I'd be playing FF XIV right now. But I still had hundreds of hours in this game and enjoyed them tremendously.

Good mmo, but gets very very repetitive around endgame. Shadow bringers was the best expansion pack.

I ran from a to b, just to run from b to a again. Sometimes the msq goes freaky and gives you another fetch quest, but this time to location c!

I finished the main story of Endwalker today after 921 hours of play. What a journey! What an ending! I fought, I laughed, I cried. So many great characters, so many wonderful stories. Full of tragedy and adversity. And always affirming life and giving hope!

My favorite quote from the game is the following:

"Know this my children. There is more ugliness than beauty in this world.
To live is to suffer. To drink of calamity and drown in anguish. To toil and be tested, always and ever. Tis a perilous path you walk. Death lurks in the dark, and is the sole promise that awaits at journey's end. You will tremble with terror. You will weep tears of anger and despair but do not avert your eyes. See your life for what it is.
Then you will see how the hardships make you strong. Every doubt reforged as scales for your armor. Every agony to temper your blade."

Literally cannot play the game even if I want to because of the terrible customer service. My account is currently linked to a deleted Square Enix account and cannot be un-linked. Wasted money and wasted time trying to get into contact with the reps.

20 minutes in and Im not allowed to play the game because they arent accepting new users.
This seems crazy. its like paying a bouncer 20 bucks to get into a club and explain my outfit/race, only to him tell me there isnt enough room in the club.

WTF?!
This gameplay better knock my socks off if its this exclusive.

Bought this game today.
Downloaded and opened the launcher - boot it up, asked to make an account - i make a new one.
enter registration code. advised its already registered in an error code (never used this account before and just bought it so dont get how thats a thing.)
Go on reddit to see if any solutions, apparently its common - chance the config file in the game folder, gets passed the registration code request screen - loads the normal launcher fine.
Try to log in - gives me another error saying i need to register it - go to mogstation - enter register code - told its already been done.

Contact the support twice, no answers back ever.

Cant even refund as Square doesnt allow it on steam. Out money and no help and no answers. A simple google search shows this is pretty common. Seems like theft to me.

Square Enix and Steam screwed me, it created a new service account so I cannot play my existing characters. Square Enix will not transfer the Service Account and Steam refuses to refund me. Steam is straight garbage, they could care less about their customers!!!

I am not even able to play this crap game. I bought the game and the CD key gives me an error when trying to use it due to being the "wrong region". Support said they can't help me.

I would not recommend a game that is so complex to actually install that you literally waste your money buying the wrong copy of the game for reasons related to common sense. Go play WOW or another game which has less of a barrier to entry as that might actually appeal to new players as you don't need to watch 2 hours of videos figuring out how to purchase the game. This game is legit the most cooked game on Steam.

I have to be honest—Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail is a huge letdown. After the fantastic highs of earlier expansions, this one feels like a shadow of what FFXIV used to be. It’s hard not to feel disappointed when you see how far the series has fallen.

Yoshida Naoki, who once seemed like the messiah of MMORPGs, now feels like he's running on empty. The magic that made FFXIV a standout experience seems to have evaporated. Maybe it’s time for him to step aside. I hate to say it, but his recent work on FFXVI didn’t exactly inspire confidence either. The spark that ignited FFXIV’s revival just doesn’t seem to be there anymore.

Dawntrail's story is a real mess. It feels rushed and half-baked, like the developers were just trying to get it over with. Characters that should be intriguing end up feeling flat, and the plot twists that once had us on the edge of our seats now barely register. It’s like the soul of the game was left behind in the earlier expansions.

And then there’s Wuk Lamat. I don’t know what happened there, but it’s clear that their influence didn’t do the story any favors. The narrative is all over the place, and it’s clear that they missed the mark on what makes FFXIV’s storytelling great. It’s frustrating to see such a crucial part of the game being mishandled.

It’s tough to criticize Yoshida, considering everything he’s done for the game. But it’s also clear that FFXIV needs new leadership to bring back that special something. Maybe it’s time for him to step back and let someone else take the reins. The game deserves better, and frankly, so do we.

In the end, Dawntrail isn’t a complete disaster, but it’s definitely a disappointment. It feels like FFXIV has lost its way, and unless something changes, the next expansion might be the final nail in the coffin for what was once one of the greatest MMOs out there.

This is the best MMO you can play.

I have a long laundry list of why I feel it's the best but between maybe one of the best story-telling experiences I've ever enjoyed, the music is memorable and great, there's a good introduction of challenge at times, it just is always welcoming. My *most* favorite thing though - being able to see 99% of the game on one character. I HATED making alts in say, World of Warcraft. My one FFXIV character can: experience almost all the quests in the game, play all 20+ combat jobs (classes), all 8 crafter jobs, all 3 gathering jobs, and experience just about everything.

I know this is antithetical to it being an "MMO" but one of the greatest things Square Enix did (and it's still being improved over time) is adding the "Trust System". If you don't feel like playing with other players or you want EVEN MORE dialogue from your favorite side characters, a majority of the social content like dungeons and trials can also be played by NPC avatars - if not a slower experience overall.

Plus, if you've never played before - you can play the game for *absolutely free* through the whole main story AND two expansions, Heavensward and Stormblood - both critical story development blocks to set up the REST of the game which is such a wild ride from Shadowbringers (good enough to have been it's own Final Fantasy game, actually) through Dawntrail (as of writing this review). Sure, not every beat of every story of every expansion is "peak", but just remember you need valleys to have hills. (You need slower moments to make the great moments punch harder)

Apparently there's two versions of this game, a steam version and a non steam version. Only it's not clear when you go onto the Mogstation website, which I did to buy the expansions. Well I registered the expansions on the non steam version without realizing it after I have been playing for the last two months on the steam version. I didn't even realize there were two accounts. When I reached out to customer service and explained the situation I was told basically there's no refunds whatsoever and there's nothing they can do. So now my options are 1. start over from scratch and I just wasted the last two months of my life leveling every single job/class to above 50, or 2. I spend another $60 to buy the expansion again and register it on the correct account. I'm not doing either. Square Enix intentionally makes this whole process confusing and when a customer makes a mistake they just tell them "too bad, so sad". It's bad business and nobody should be giving these scam artists their money.

I can't recommend this game after 60 hours and multiple attempts to enjoy the experience. I'm told at end-game there's a lot of side activities and fun things to do, but I wouldn't know. Most people praise the story of the game as a huge selling point but there are a few issues with this approach. The MSQ is terrible for the first 40-60 hours (ARR part of the game), then was supposed to get better with each expansion. The problem is, unless you enjoy a walking talking simulator that makes you spend a majority of the MSQ reading non-voiced dialogue, you won't enjoy any of the story this game has to offer. Altogether to get to end-game you have two choices. 1) Play through hundreds of hours of mostly unvoiced text reading story or 2) Pay $25 to skip all but the latest story content and grind levels to max level, or pay more money to level to max level too. While modern MMOs, even ones as old as WoW let you play the story in any order, skipping to the latest story and end-game quickly, FF14 forces you to go in order of release and expansions on a new character making the new player on-boarding atrocious. For a brand new player you spend $20 on the game, $50 getting the latest and all expansions, and $12-$15 dollars on the sub just to start at level 1 which the player base admits is a terrible experience until you reach end-game. You then slog through hundreds of hours of questing/grinding to end-game, or pay $35 to $40 to skip to 40 hours of mostly text based walking simulator to finally then enjoy the end-game. The part I hate most is that I've already spent over $60 on this game and my friends keep telling me "You'll have fun later on. If you can't play it just pay to skip it." Which made me realize. Squenix has an incentive to keep an outdated walking simulator story system because they generate revenue on how boring the MSQ each expansion is. Until I'm able to get to end-game in less than 40 hours and skip all the MSQ for free, this game is not for me. It feels outdated and scummy in terms of how they monetize their content. To buy your way to end-game as a new player, not even knowing if you like the game, would cost over $100 and 40 hours of the latest expansion. Not to mention the combat is incredibly restrictive. While most MMO's have a PVE rotation to optimize your approach, FF14 almost entirely locks your class into said rotation. Instead of combat being a dance of optimizing damage while reacting to the situation, it's a game of 1,2,3 in the vein of simon says. Avoid highlighted areas (until at a random level they stop appearing for some reason) while pressing the same abilities in the same order to unlock the next ability (because most of the time your rotation literally doesnt let you press buttons in a preferred order, it locks them behind other button presses).