I've already spent about 50 hours on the free trial, and I could probably have spent a lot more.
This is the first MMO I've actually kept playing long enough to want to buy. I've tried almost every other major MMO, and none of them have clicked with me the way FFXIV has.
The free trial has an absurd amount of content, so it's almost a no-brainer to at least give it a few hours and see if it works for you.
[h1]STORY[/h1]
The story does take a while to really get going, but I actually think that's one of its strengths.
You aren't immediately thrown into the role of some world-saving hero. You start from humble beginnings, killing low-level mobs, dealing with local problems, and taking on fairly ordinary jobs.
From there, the game gradually gives you bigger and more important tasks as you prove yourself and gain the trust of the different characters and factions around you.
The stakes grow alongside your character, so when you eventually do start getting involved in major events, it actually feels earned.
If the game treated you like the greatest hero alive from the moment you created your character, I think a lot of that progression would fall flat. The slow start gives the story room to build you up naturally instead of just telling you that you're important.
[h1]JOBS AND LEVELING[/h1]
Another amazing part of FFXIV is that you don't need to make a new character just to try a different class, or Job as the game calls them.
You simply equip the corresponding weapon or tool and boom, you're now a mage, warrior, archer, crafter, or whatever else you feel like playing.
You do still have to level each new Job separately, but the game makes that much less painful with bonus XP for Jobs that are below the level of your highest one.
The bigger the gap, the easier it is to catch them up, so trying something new doesn't feel like you're signing yourself up for another massive grind.
Leveling in general hasn't felt like much of a slog either.
If you mainly follow the MSQ, or Main Scenario Quest, your first Job will usually stay around the level needed to keep progressing.
Because of that, it makes sense to focus heavily on the MSQ with your first Job, then leave a lot of the side content for your secondary, tertiary, and later Jobs.
[h1]CRAFTING[/h1]
Crafting is surprisingly engaging as well.
I've caught myself getting completely sidetracked and suddenly realizing I've spent three hours just working away at one of the crafting professions.
They're not just some little side activity you click through when you're bored either. They have their own progression, gear, abilities, quests, and systems to learn, which makes them feel much more involved than crafting does in a lot of other MMOs.
[h1]THE BAD STUFF[/h1]
That being said, it's definitely not all good.
The UI could really use a revamp.
It works, but it often feels clunky and awkward to navigate, especially when you're still learning where everything is. There are a lot of menus inside other menus, and sometimes finding a setting or feature feels harder than it really should be.
And don't even get me started on the website.
Everything feels unnecessarily difficult to find. Even the microtransaction store is somehow awkward to access, which is honestly impressive considering most games are usually very eager to show you where that is.
Thankfully, the stuff sold there is cosmetic rather than pay-to-win.
Some of the account-related systems aren't explained particularly well either.
The friend referral system is a good example.
If you generate a referral code and accidentally refresh or close the page before copying it, you can't just view that code again. Instead, you have to wait several hours before the site lets you generate another one.
[h1]HOUSING[/h1]
And then there's the housing market, where Square Enix somehow managed to simulate the real one a little too accurately.
Housing itself is great.
You can decorate homes in ridiculous detail, build themed rooms, gardens, workshops, and basically turn it into an entirely separate game.
The problem is actually getting a house.
Plots are limited, demand is high, and even if you have enough gil, you can still spend ages waiting for a plot to become available only to lose the lottery to someone else.
[b]Apparently, no matter how accomplished your character becomes, home ownership is still the real endgame.[/b]
[h1]OVERALL[/h1]
Despite the rough edges, they haven't stopped me from wanting to keep playing.
FFXIV is the first MMO I've tried where I actually feel invested in both the world and my character, and after roughly 50 hours on the free trial, I still feel like I've barely scratched the surface.
If you've ever wanted to get into an MMO but none of the others have managed to hold your attention, I think FFXIV is absolutely worth giving a shot.
