Final Fantasy XIV - What is the game like as a new player?

With patch 5.3 of Final Fantasy XIV, the level cap and content for free trial users have been expanded from level 35 to level 60 and grants access to the full story of the base game (A Realm Reborn) as well as the first expansion (Heavensward). As a person who barely had any experience in the MMO genre and with A Realm Reborn having been reworked to help slingshot players over to the newer content, just how approachable is the game to newcomers?

Final Fantasy XIV has a surprisingly deep history. The initial game had a terrible launch and was met with other issues to the point that Square Enix decided to canonically nuke the game and reboot it as Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. Nowadays, FF14 is touted as one of the best if not the best MMO out there.

I've been told that one of the reasons why FF14 is great is because of its story. But that also the community is really good about keeping details about it secret, in hopes that new players can experience it themselves. With that in mind, I jump into the game fully expecting to be blown away. Except that, in my experience, it didn't happen.

Hear me out as I may have tackled this game wrong. Do note that I played FF14 on my PS4 and back in May of this year, Square Enix made the Final Fantasy XIV Online Starter Edition, which comes with a free 30-day subscription, free to claim on the PSN store for a limited time. I booted the game before patch 5.3 was announced and was hoping that I can run it as a free-trial user until I hit the previous level cap of 35 before I cash in the Started Edition. What I didn't know is that the Starter Edition kicks the moment you enter the game and create your character. And the act of subscribing removes you from the free-trial status and you are unable to continue playing as a free-trial user. I was unaware of this until maybe half-way through my free 30 days and now I can't continue my journey through Eorzea unless I renew my subscription.

Since I did start playing the game before the announcement of patch 5.3 and all of its changes, let's assume that for my playthrough the level cap for free-trial users still capped at 35. As I mentioned earlier, I was expecting the story of ARR (A Realm Reborn) to blow me away. Without going into detail, I'll just say that I was thoroughly disappointed with the story of ARR. The novelty of you, the player character, being the main hero of an MMO storyline as opposed to simply being a person who exists in a Final Fantasy world is neat. Not only are you one of the main heroes, but you are THE hero of the story and the characters in the game make this known to you multiple times throughout the game. But in terms of even some of the worst Final Fantasy stories out there, I found ARR to be very shallow. From the storytelling, the character development, and even the overall presentation of the cutscenes, it just wasn't a good time. As I was playing through ARR, I'd talk to friends who play the game constantly, asking if maybe I was missing something. Perhaps there were details I skimmed over or maybe I was being too hard on the story. It sparked some interesting discussions but the general consensus was that ARR is the worst part of FF14 but is a mandatory wall that players need to climb over in order to get to the good parts.

While it is easy enough to plow through ARR with it being heavily reworked and the addition of EXP boosters while playing through the ARR storyline, that game is still plagued with tons of bloat. A lot of mainline quests were mundane and tedious. You can see how the developers were experimenting with different ideas for the earlier raid missions as each would have its own gimmick that players would need to figure out and memorize in order to complete smoothly. Then you would also see how some ideas didn't fit the game's play-style very well but since they were mandatory for progression, you'd have to suffer through them at least once. I can't imagine a new player tackling some of these badly designed raid missions without the help of an experienced playgroup to help guide them through the game's growing pains.

It took me around 50 hours to reach some form of end credits. I did it. I beat the big bad and the cast of characters were all cheering and celebrating our victory. I was hoping that this was the end. That I had overcome the ARR wall. And wouldn't you know it, that's exactly what it was. I was expecting the game to simply jump to the first expansion but instead I was treated with the post ARR content which would then transition into Heavensward.

They were right. ARR's post-game content is when the game's story starts getting good. In terms of the game's writing, it's such a stark difference from everything I've played before it. Quest lines were actually beginning to keep me interested. And in terms of gameplay where levels 1 through 49 felt like a dragging tutorial, suddenly missions at level 50 spike in terms difficulty and begin to offer a real challenge.

Looking back, I will say that ARR is terrible. Still, I wouldn't recommend that players outright skip it as it sort of acts as a tutorial for the game, albeit one that overstays its welcome. It is also still a mandatory story setup for the rest of the game and all of its expansions. What I would recommend is finding an experienced playgroup and let them guide you through the base game so that you can breeze through ARR and its nuances. A 30 to 50-hour slog may be too much to ask for, but rest assured that there is a good game underneath it all and it only gets better.

At the end of my 30-day adventure, I clocked in at about 73 hours of total game time with a proud level 52 Paladin. It was a very rough ride but I don't regret it. And if I do decide to revisit Eorzea, I know there's a ton of good game still waiting for me.

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