Poll: What Review Score Would You Give Final Fantasy XIV Online?

I put a good amount of hours into the FF XIV Online demo—the amount of content it contains is quite generous. I ended up getting very bored eventually though, and very sick of the dated graphics and fetch quests.

I was kind of feeling down after finishing Rebirth, so this helped scratch the itch for a little bit after that, but I eventually deleted it.

Commenting because I can't pick 0, since they won't freaking let me play it on Switch 2 because I started a free trial on my PS4 6 years ago. Can't play on Switch 2 at all unless I create a new Square Enix account for the trial, or pay the full game cost up front and pay the subscription fee the whole time I'm playing through the content that should be free. Just like in everything else they've done for the past 20 years, Square has given their customers the shaft. Guess I'll just play the Switch 1 version of X again since I'm not paying $50 for the Switch 2 version.

Haven't stopped playing it since it came out. The addiction is real

I've put about 900 hours into FFXIV on PS4/PS5. Without a doubt it's my favourite game of all time. Not perfect, but brilliant.

Gave up on FF games after X

I have a Switch 2, so I may try it eventually. My journey in FFXIV started at the A Realm Reborn beta and then the launch in September of 2013. Back then I bought a gaming PC specifically to play FFXIV. As a veteran of World of Warcraft, I loved how ARR felt and played, which was essentially WoW with a Final Fantasy skin and story.

I'm currently catching up in Dawntrail after a long break. My system of choice is now my PS5 Pro with mouse and keyboard setup, and I occasionally switch to controller for less intense portions. My PS5 Pro is on a desk with a 42 in 4K OLED, so it's a PC-like experience.

I recommend Adamantoise server on the Aether data center.

Having been playing A Realm Reborn on PS5 with my brothers, it takes a while before the main scenario quests become engaging, but once they get good, they get REALLY good! Also, the events have been very fun. I enjoyed climbing to the top of the boat off the coast of Costa del Sol for the Moonfire Festival, even if I didn't get anything for all of that janky platforming. That being said, the janky platforming has its own crappy charm to it. Getting to the top feels especially satisfying. The journey is the destination after all!

It fixed some of the issues I had on the Xbox Series X’s version so, even though it’s nowhere near as beautiful as it is on Xbox (which is VRR compatible) I now prefer to play on Switch 2.

Yeh it’s a strange experience; weirdly addicting even though I feel 90% of my playtime involves passing letters from 1 person to another lol!

But I’ve just levelled Gladiator to 32, and the combat is opening up a little. I’m starting to learn Tanking a little better as well

I’m enjoying doing dungeons online, and also some of the other minigames are fun

Grinding gear is pretty cool as well, and I’m looking forward to getting from Gladiator->Paladin

I must confess though the lack of VA is making me skip a ton of cutscenes… once I’m out of ARR I’ll watch a story recap and then double down on actually following the story!

But the free trial is insanely generous, and honestly wasn’t onerous to just create a SE account

Oooh, high marks! Gonna try out XIV once I buy a new console to fit it on. 😜

Both games are definitely playable and enjoyable on Switch 2

@sonofskywalker3 I'm in the same boat haha. I think I played a trial when it first came out on PC, before the relaunch even. 20+ years later and I'm forever expired from the endless trial/free version.

Tried it, totally overwhelmed by the amount of junk on the screen and pop ups all over the place. Not my thing unfortunately.

Sadly the only MMO that has ever appealed to me is Dragon Quest X and I’ve given up hope that even the offline version will ever get localized let alone the online one.

If we didn't have the awkward subscription situation I'd absolutely pick up the Switch 2 version as a alternate play method. I've been playing for a handful of years now on PC and it's honestly been a great time. I messed around with a free trial alt to see how things felt, and a friend of mine who did pick up the full version even rode a hunt train to get a real feel for how it'd perform. Lots of players on all different kinds of mounts descending from the skies to a single spot to turn a specific enemy to paste before moving onto the next enemy in the "train". If ever there was a stress test that'd be it, and my friend said it held up well. It seems like they put a lot of care into this port. Like I said, the only problem I have is the awkward subscription situation for people who have already been playing on another platform. For someone looking to experience this world for the first time this'll be a great way to do so, and honestly the free trial is absolutely loaded with content that has kept people occupied for literal years so you don't even have to buy anything.

I really wanna play FF XIV

But I also don't wanna screw up my studies so I don't think I'm gonna get it 🫠

FFXIV is one of those games I'd love to play but I already shudder at the thought of playing through 100 hour rpgs (almost finished xenoblade chronicles 2...) I want to try it but also I recognize the game doesn't "get good" until long after I'm likely to bounce off.

@sonofskywalker3 Dude, just make a new account. I'm in the same boat as you, played on Playstation during a realm reborn and fell off. Took me less than 2 minutes to make a new account and now I am playing the whole thing for free ( hundreds of hours of rpg for free )... saying that Square is giving you the shaft is a little strong, when you could play for free in exchange for 2 mins of your time.

I really think a lot of people on this site are addicted to moaning

Yeah I'm rather digging it so far — it is a bit timesinky with the fetch quests, but as long as you stick to the story mission and try not to get distracted by the seemingly endless amount of guilds to join (as I've been doing!) you should be fine. it reminds me a little bit like a combination of Fantasy Life and Dragon Age Inquisition.

Just a heads up to anyone considering starting over with a new account, you can use the same email address, but for some bizarre reason they take upper/lower case letters into account, so you can have multiple accounts on the same email address, which is kind of wild/dangerous

@sonofskywalker3

So… you haven’t paid for the game at all? And the last time you played was six years ago? How many hours did you even put into the free trial back then? I’m just failing to understand how you not being able to resume playing your free trial account from six years ago on a different device than the one you started your free trial on (again, six years ago) warrants you giving this game a low score. You’re free to your opinion, but I’m free to say that it’s a bad one.

Anyway, FFXIV is my favorite game of all time. Been playing since 2014, and I’ve had my current character since 2017 and have put over 3,000 hours into it. FFXIV made my long distance relationship with my then-girlfriend and now-wife bearable (been together for ten years, and we now have two wonderful daughters). No other game holds a place in my heart quite like FFXIV. I played on PlayStation for many years, but switched to PC and now check my retainers/go fishing/Gold Saucer on Switch 2. It’s great.

I've played FFXIV regularly since 2012 or so. I started at the tail-end of the 1.0 era. As a game, as a MMORPG, as a Final Fantasy, I think it´s one of the best experiences I've had with the medium.

But I feel like that may not be true for people coming to it fresh today. The graphics, while perfectly adequate, are quite dated by today's standards. The pacing of the narrative during the 2.0 ARR section is... not great. And maybe more than anything, seeing the story play out as your own life stretches into a literal decade means you get so much time to dwell on this world and its characters, and that effect can´t be the same if you start today and binge all the way to the current endgame, can it?

I dunno. The game clearly still draws new people to it, and I´d be happy to be proven wrong.

At any rate, I´m not paying extra to access it on the Switch 2, so I have no real opinion on how it presents on that platform.

@CJD87
IIRC voiced cutscenes do feel like they become more common as you progress, same with cutscene animation, it feels like things like character animations and the like improve as the content goes on and the devs improve their craft (especially since the base game launched back in late 2013, not counting 1.0)

The pacing in general does still remain slow when it comes to the story but the story highs do get higher, its generally one of those games where i recomend new players take their time rather than rushing to get to "the good stuff" after all, the trial takes you all the way to the end of shadowbringers which is a LOT of content.

either way nice to see all the new players coming in with the switch version.

@Mgalens yeh it’s still fun, and I’m a sucker for daily grinding.

Just beginning to get to grips with tanking as a Gladiator..: just hit level 30 though and was able to translate it to Paladin Job (stop gap on my way to Gunbreaker…!)

Daily dungeons are a great laugh though and I’ve even got a few player commendations - despite leading us the wrong way a few times lol

I need to sort out my hot bars/rotations though into a more organised layout, as currently I’m jumping all over the place and missing cooldown opportunities. (Playing with controller, and so far a pleasant experience)