FF14 Endwalker Review - Is It Worth It? (Spoiler Free)

[SPOILER FREE] FF14 Endwalker Review - Is It Worth It?

Updated:

27 Feb 2022

Did you know that the critically acclaimed Final Fantasy XIV finally reopened the online store? Do you plan to get a digital copy but are worried it will be a waste of money?

If you consider buying the game or expansion, you have come to the right place! I will explain to you all you need to know about the game without spoiling anything. Although my love for this game is uncontained, I will try my best to be just and fair in my rating for this article.

Final Fantasy XIV is an MMORPG that is heavy on the storytelling side. After the failure of 1.0–which almost led to the company's bankruptcy–the development team never wanted to taste such devastation anymore. The team has been giving their best effort for years and years now. It's been more than a decade, and their hard work paid off. The community has nothing to say but love and loyalty for the game. With every expansion a success, it is now the time to conclude the first arc with Endwalker.

With all the game's good reputation, the Endwalker launch was a blast. Without a doubt, many people wanted to try the hot game everyone was talking about. The result of this was server congestion. Many people were unable to play due to the endless queue. However, being the latest expansion, many players said that the only problem was the congestion; the gameplay itself has no noticeable problem like the previous expansions' launch. Other than grumpy people going to the internet complaining about hours and hours of the queue, there was hardly any criticism about the gameplay.

The launch was such a hit that for weeks the queue persisted; this caused the development team and Square Enix to temporarily discontinue the distribution and sale of all stores for an unknown time. They will also stop any marketing or promotional activity for the sake of the players that already paid their subscription. To add more water to the fire, the company also gives free subscription time to all active users for 21 days. With the new server opened just at the end of January, the store will reopen to the public. With that being said, let us move to the most critical aspect of the game, the story.

The Story of Final Fantasy XIV

Completing the Main Scenario Quest and getting displayed in the credits as appreciation for the players.

As I have mentioned before, Final Fantasy XIV, like all other Final Fantasy titles, is heavy on the story. Final Fantasy XIV is not an exception; you have to be prepared to read tons of lines. Although more will be voiced in later expansions, the story of A Realm Reborn–as many have mentioned–is the less well-written one. However, players are advised to go through that as they bring a fundamental understanding of the world. The story that A Realm Reborn wrote finally ends with Endwalker, and the famous 'Answers' song turns out to answer the questions in Endwalker.

Although the story in A Realm Reborn is more of a "tell don't show," whereas good writings go with "show don't tell," they do fix their narrative to become better in the next expansion. With people digging into the Heavensward story, many want to know how could the developer team make the story better and more absorbing. How would they? There has been a bit of downfall in Stromblood, but the narrative also concluded nicely. With Shadowbringer being the tear bringer to many players, people started to think no more twists could be added to make the conclusion even better than Shadowbringer. But Endwalker defies them all; they concluded the story nicely, not many would've expected. The story is ever exciting and relatable, which will get you hooked in no time—making a full circle of our journey since the Realm Reborn to such magnificent closure.

Final Fantasy XIV Gameplay

Character customization in Aesthetician. When creating a character for the first time, you will have more options!

Final Fantasy XIV is an MMORPG with a lot of customization. There are eight races you can play in total, with 6 of them are unlocked by default. You can customize from various hairstyles, hair colors, face paints, heights, eye shapes, eye colors, and all other stuff. If you are into character creation, I bet you can spend hours on it. The game's graphic is quite lovely despite it being–believe it or not–a 12-year-old game. The only problem would be a lack of long hairstyle options due to the clipping issue.

Moving from customization, you may wonder, what to do after that? Well, to progress in the game, you will have to progress in the Main Story Quest, which is the story, and the ever-long dialogue I've told you about in the first section. But once you have passed that, you are free to do anything. Maybe go to the Gold Saucer (in-game Casino) and spend your Gil or fashion, maybe deep dungeons, raiding, and many more! In this game, you decide what you want to do without worrying about being left behind! Unless you want to raid the latest raid with your friends, you can take your time and do what you want to do.

Last but not least, let's talk about jobs/classes. There is no one way to say "class" in Final Fantasy XIV. Also, there is no specific job you must take. In Final Fantasy XIV, you can play all classes in one character, yes, all 20 classes plus the crafting and gathering jobs. They are separated by roles such as tanks, healers, melee DPS, ranged-magical DPS, and ranged-physical DPS for dungeons/trials/raids. The only downside from these jobs is, with the job being constantly updated every expansion, you may find the job you used to love becoming the job you hate.

Final Fantasy XIV Combat

Clearing raids with your friends or strangers made possible!

Combats in the earliest level are indeed boring, but once you hit level 50 and have done all your jobs/classes quests to that point, you will have more buttons to press. The reason for this is the game was also released on the console (PlayStation) and is a very newbie-friendly game that wants to guide you through their universe. With that in mind, you would not want too many buttons a console gamer could not handle. That being said, the game does offer something in return, the ability to have all classes in just one character. The animation is stunning; the VFXs are blinding. FFXIV has some great classes with great SFX, although there are some funny ones too, I think it would be great if they would consider revamping it.

Since we are talking about combat, we need to discuss PvE and PVP. PvE involves you fighting the enemy and trying to kill them before they kill you, and PvP fighting with another player's character. PvE is simple; you need to know the mechanic of the boss/dungeon and master the rotation of the job while coordinating with your team in the raids/trials. On the other hand, not many talked about the PvP until the developer team revamped and reworked the PVP. In FFXIV, even the PvP is done in a group, the PvP was on a large scale and required 72 people, and they don't want to wait for it. A different PvP mode has been added that requires fewer people (8), and the community loves it!

Final Fantasy XIV Quests

The only quest matters are the MSQ, others are completely optional but may give additional lore!

Unlike other MMORPG, where you need to complete all side quests to progress, here the only important quests are the Main Scenario Quest and some additional quests in blue and "plus" mark, which will help you unlock additional content. Like other games, to complete the quest, you will need to meet some objectives, including killing monsters, fetching items, or doing other stuff. Once the quest is a green check, talk to the corresponding NPC to finish the quest.

The Main Scenario Quests are meant to make the players achieve the highest level possible with their first class (currently capped at 90). The side quests had been reworked to help players level the secondary jobs. However, it doesn't have to be always the way. You can also raise your level with other activities, such as daily roulettes, FATEs, deep dungeons, and many more!

Some interesting quests would reward you with more emoticons/minions hidden in some of the yellow side quests. Fun to figure out which, but you can always find it by google! There is also a quest that would take you to the universe's fun and dummy sides. Though small, these additional quests may expand your knowledge of the world you are in now. These small details make Final Fantasy XIV excellent and excel in delivering the lore how they use storytelling to the next level.

Final Fantasy XIV, is it worth playing?

Nothing is mandatory (except MSQ), everything is optional. Players are given the absolute freedom to choose and explore the world the way they see fit! Don't feel like logging in? No worries! No burden, no pressure!

The price for the Endwalker is $39.99; this also includes other expansions from Heavensward to Shadowbringer. You have to purchase a Realm Reborn separately for $19.99. The client does not include your monthly subscription ranging from $12.99 to $14.99, depending on your subscription plan. So is it worth it?

Yes, the game is worth the price. This game doesn't make you play the game for the sake of making you play the game. Final Fantasy XIV values their player time and has done a great job with that. I would recommend it to my friends who love stories. There are, of course, some downsides of the game, but the team is doing their best to make it as enjoyable as they can. I rate this game 9.5/10 for the specific Endwalker expansion; though A Realm Reborn is a tedious one, I will still rate 12/10 for the overall journey and conclusion of the series.