Recent reviews by AHKO

At the time of writing (Late 2025, Patch Series 7.3), there have been a lot of criticisms levelled against this game, from stagnating core game mechanics to claims of it not having enough to do.

Understandably, all of this might discourage you, as a newcomer, from setting foot in this world. As long as you start playing this game with the right expectations, however, it will generally be worth your time.

In the end, FFXIV will be what you make of it. For newcomers, it offers a staggering, almost overwhelming amount of content that varies from the core story to lifestyle gameplay like crafting and gathering, housing, socializing, collectables and fashion; large- and small-scale PvP; and hardcore endgame raiding and challenging solo content.

Compared to other MMORPGs, however, story is king in XIV, with most (if not all) content being gated off by the main story progression. If you want to dive right into endgame raiding or challenge the latest Deep Dungeon on your own, you're going to have to sit through hundreds of hours of story content (Unless you buy a story skip, which most would advise against unless you know the basics of the game already).

Some would consider this a downside, however, no MMO or RPG makes you feel quite as invested and immersed in its story as XIV does. If you've ever actually wanted to be "The Hero of the Story", this is the game for you. By the time you hit the last two expansions of its first major story arc (Shadowbringers and Endwalker) the hundreds of hours invested will absolutely be worth the payoff. Even the base game, A Realm Reborn, which many consider to be a slog, is an important stepping stone in establishing the world and its characters, as well as your place in Eorzea as you find your footing and come to terms with your destiny.

Aside from the story, there is a plethora of side content. FFXIV walks at its own pace, which is slow to start but homely and immersive at most times. Take your time, smell the flowers, explore and do what's most appealing at the moment. New content unlocks as you go, and as the game opens up more and more, you're rarely going to be stuck doing one single thing for too long.
As someone new to FFXIV, you will generally find a piece of content that will appeal to you, whether you are more of a casual player or someone who enjoys more challenging group or solo content.

If you're a fan of the series, you are doing yourself a disservice by not giving this game a fair chance. By now, XIV is an absolute love letter to the entire franchise, with many references and callbacks to past entries ranging from equippable outfits, mounts, familiar music, name-drops, playable jobs or entire raids recalling some of the most memorable moments in the series' history.

Another standout is its presentation. Few MMOs or RPGs do "epic" quite like FFXIV does. The game has some of the most memorable story beats, boss fights and climaxes you will ever experience. The unparalleled soundtrack work does an impeccable job of underscoring every single one of its most grandiose moments.

The game is certainly not without its flaws; a lot of the core game design can feel a bit archaic by now, having been around for over a decade at this point. The dungeons and their mechanical design can be very same-y and predictable; inventory and fashion systems are clunky; gearing is bland, predictable and inconsequential; the combat meta has been stagnating; and the game's inherently innovative job system, which enables you to play any class you like on a single character, has been suffering from homogenization.

All of this should not deter you from starting to play the game, however. If you're new, you are in for hundreds of hours of enjoyment in a new-player-friendly and exceptionally accessible MMO experience. As much as what you heard about it would have you believe, the criticisms raised by veterans are being voiced because they truly love this game and always want it to be the best it can be. Of course, no game is perfect or good at everything it sets out to do. But XIV has a history of constantly evolving and changing things up, usually for the better.

Final Fantasy XIV is a home for many. A home they keep returning to even if they take breaks. It is full of memories, comfort and familiarity, with a dev team that caters to its audience and is dedicated to improving upon its foundations with steady QoL updates and a community that is generally in love with the game, proud of its developers and their achievements, and constantly looking towards a brighter future instead of reminiscing about how much better things used to be.

It might be over a decade old, but it is not out of breath by far. The next good thing is always around the corner.

Square Enix offers an insanely generous free trial that now lets you access the base game and two full expansions worth of story and gameplay content with unlimited playtime. If you have any interest, it is the single best way to make up your mind about this game.

If you ever considered giving FFXIV a shot, please do. It's never too late, and you'll always feel welcomed by its community.



tl;dr: game good, try it

I love Broken Sword. It is one of my favorite adventure games of all time – I grew up with it. An update to one of my favorite games made me weary but I remained optimistic. Naturally, I tried to like it. But I just can't.

This revision completely butchered the original on so many levels; it's an absolute disgrace.

The new story arc doesn't bring anything new or interesting to the table and seems unnecessarily tacked on. It explores a side story that is negligible in the greater context and waters down the impact of the original game's writing and pacing immensely (Never mind the fact that the iconic "Paris in the Fall" intro was cut out of the game for it).

The new environments, icons, dialogue portraits and character sprites look really out of place when displayed right next to the over 20 year old assets of the original. The clashing art styles and different asset qualities make the game feel terribly disjointed.
The new UI, automatically displayed points of interaction as well as the help system make the game next to unbearable for players familiar with the original version.

Revolution went to the extremes with hand-holding in this version: everything is pointed out to you and instantly made visible. You never feel taken seriously as a player and it's almost as if the game doesn't want or need your skills to be solved.

Sadly, they took the phrase Directors Cut a bit too literally. Besides the aforementioned intro, Revolution removed details like waving flags, idle and dialogue animations as well as ambient sounds but also integral parts of the game like certain dialogues and entire scenes. The cut narrative aspects in particular break the game's story and writing which was already impaired by the new sidestory. The missing details destroy the charm the original used to have. This content was removed for absolutely no logical reason and is a decision of the developer I can't understand or get behind. Who thought this was a good idea? Cutting aspects of your story without replacing them with something more meaningful doesn't do the game's pacing any favors whatsoever.

The most jarring of all the omissions however is that you can't die. The original version of Broken Sword had a ton of situations where wrong decisions could get you killed (Video Contains Spoilers). Presumably, this was done in order to save the player from losing too much or all of their progress. Removing this aspect eliminates incredibly much suspense and is a case of game design decisions meant to appeal to a more contemporary adventure game audience causing the loss of tension, gameplay, atmosphere and ultimately enjoyment in the process. If you are curious about the extent of the changes, you can find some of them here[www.movie-censorship.com].

Whether you experienced the original or not, use ScummVM to play the original release if you can obtain it (Or purchase it via GOG where you will receive both versions with one purchase At last, Revolution made the original available on Steam as DLC for all Director's Cut purchasers, you can find it here. For the love of god, play this instead). You will get a more polished, detailed and cohesive gameplay experience out of it.

Who knows what Charles Cecil and Revolution were thinking.

But it certainly wasn't anything good.



Please note that I previously purchased this version of the game outside of Steam (iOS) and completed it, the playtime recorded by Steam is not indicative of my total experience with the Director's Cut version.