- Story-driven MMO with engaging world
- Vast content and beautiful visuals
- Welcoming and non-toxic community
- Repetitive and outdated gameplay mechanics
- Excessive, poorly paced story progression
- Overwhelming and grindy for new players
Emotions
Players experience frustration primarily due to technical issues, such as persistent black screens, account lockouts, and unresolved server problems like DDoS attacks. Additionally, repetitive and grindy gameplay, including fetch quests, bloated content, and lack of meaningful progression, exacerbates dissatisfaction. Poor customer support and restrictive systems (e.g., housing, subscription models) further contribute to negative emotions.
Disappointment stems from unmet expectations regarding gameplay depth, story quality, and technical performance. Players criticize repetitive quest design, lack of innovation, and declining narrative standards (e.g., Dawntrailâs storyline). Monetization practices, such as paywalls and MTX, alongside unresolved account issues, amplify feelings of being misled or undervalued by the developers.
Excitement is driven by engaging story arcs, character development, and anticipation of new content like expansions or raids. Players highlight the gameâs rich world-building, unique class mechanics, and frequent updates as key motivators. Positive first impressions of visuals, performance, and community interactions also contribute to this emotion.
Nostalgia arises from long-term emotional investment in the game, including memories of past expansions (e.g., Shadowbringers), friendships, and personal milestones. Players reflect on the journey from early versions (e.g., A Realm Reborn) to recent updates, often comparing the game favorably to other MMOs or their own past experiences.
Satisfaction is derived from the gameâs adaptability to different playstyles, rewarding progression, and high-quality storytelling. Players appreciate improvements in quest design (post-Stormblood), variety of content (e.g., raids, housing), and the lack of pay-to-progress pressure. Recent updates, such as graphics enhancements, also contribute to positive experiences.
Verdict
Mixed
Summary
Positive 58% · Negative 42%. Score: 42 / 100
Positives:
- The game is praised for its expansive, engaging, and emotionally impactful storytelling, often compared favorably to single-player RPGs. The main story quest (MSQ) is highlighted as a standout feature with hundreds of hours of voiced dialogue and immersive content.
- The game offers a wide range of activities, including PvE, PvP, crafting, gathering, housing, fashion, and minigames. This variety caters to all playstyles, from casual to hardcore players.
- The player community is frequently described as friendly, helpful, and less toxic than other MMOs. It fosters collaboration, supports new players, and enhances the overall experience.
- The game excels in world-building and character development, creating a rich, immersive experience. Players often form strong emotional attachments to the story, characters, and world.
- The game features a masterful soundtrack by Masayoshi Soken, with dynamic music that enhances immersion. The graphics are visually stunning, with detailed artwork and scenic world design.
Negatives:
- Gameplay is criticized for being repetitive, stale, and lacking depth, with homogenized classes, mindless rotations, and minimal challenge. Combat and dungeons feel like reskinned content, and the gameâs mechanics are described as outdated compared to modern MMOs, with little innovation in recent updates.
- The main story is criticized for being bloated, overly long, and poorly paced, with excessive cutscenes and unvoiced text walls disrupting gameplay flow. Players report burnout from the 300+ hour grind to reach endgame, with recent expansions like Dawntrail receiving particular criticism for shallow writing and lack of emotional weight.
- The game is described as unfriendly to newcomers due to its steep learning curve, overwhelming amount of content, and lack of intuitive guidance. The tutorial is overly long, and the initial experience is bogged down by repetitive quests and outdated systems, deterring new or returning players.
- The early game (e.g., A Realm Reborn) is widely criticized for being slow, boring, and overly long, with repetitive fetch quests, weak storytelling, and minimal voice acting. Players report struggling to progress past the first 50 levels due to the tedious and outdated design.
- Recent expansions (e.g., Dawntrail) and patches are criticized for rehashing content, lacking meaningful updates, and following a predictable formula. Players report longer wait times between patches with diminishing returns on quality, leading to frustration and disengagement.
Gameplay:
- The Main Scenario Quest (MSQ) is central to progression, unlocking classes, dungeons, and expansions. Players note its linear structure and mandatory completion for accessing core content, though some view side quests as filler.
- Players frequently criticize dungeons and raids for being overly simplistic, repetitive, and lacking explorable side paths or meaningful challenges. Many describe them as linear boss fights with scripted mechanics, reducing replayability and engagement.
- The gameâs narrative spans multiple expansions (e.g., *Heavensward*, *Shadowbringers*), earning acclaim for its storytelling and voiced dialogue. However, players note inconsistent pacing, with early content feeling less polished than later expansions.
- Tanks and healers have seen role adjustments (e.g., tanks becoming nearly invincible), leading to complaints about reduced strategic depth. DPS roles are noted for repetitive rotations.
- The game supports solo play via NPC companions and instanced content, while also offering co-op dungeons/raids. Players appreciate the flexibility but note solo duties may require class switching.
Performance:
- Frequent DDoS attacks and server downtime disrupt multiplayer gameplay, particularly in PvP and high-player situations. Post-hotfix instability exacerbates the problem, leading to widespread frustration.
- While the game runs smoothly on low-end PCs and Steam Deck, some players experience lag, jank, or FPS drops in high-activity areas. Linux users report crashes and freezes (Proton-related).
- Players report random disconnects, often tied to datacenter-specific issues or server congestion. Reconnection problems compound the frustration during critical gameplay moments.
- Poor netcode and high latency affect competitive gameplay, especially in top-tier raiding content. Server-side delays (e.g., 1-second lag) further degrade the experience.
- Linux users struggle with the XIV Launcher, and slow installation speeds due to server infrastructure are common. Leftover files also consume excessive storage space.
Recommendations:
- The game is consistently praised for its deep, immersive storytelling, rich narrative, and strong character development, making it ideal for players who enjoy story-driven MMOs and JRPG elements. Many reviews highlight it as one of the best in the genre.
- The gameâs community is described as welcoming, helpful, and engaging, with a strong culture of collaboration and screenshot-sharing. This enhances the overall experience, especially for newcomers.
- The game is particularly recommended for fans of the Final Fantasy franchise due to its nostalgic atmosphere, lore, and storytelling. It is often cited as a must-play for JRPG enthusiasts.
- Players frequently recommend trying the extensive free trial (up to level 70â90) to experience the gameâs content, story, and mechanics before committing to a subscription. This reduces financial risk for new players.
- While many players highly recommend the game, others caution against it due to company policies, lack of innovation, or performance issues. Some suggest waiting for future improvements or expansions.
Miscellaneous:
- Players frequently report problems with account management, including login difficulties, support inefficiencies, and complications arising from location changes. Customer support is criticized for being unresponsive or ineffective.
- Many players highlight their extensive playtime, ranging from hundreds to thousands of hours, indicating strong engagement and long-term commitment to the game.
- Feedback suggests the game increasingly prioritizes social interactions and community-building over deep gameplay mechanics, which some players view as a shift away from core gameplay.
- Players note that expansions are spaced further apart with no significant content increases, and the game lacks innovation despite being Square Enix's top revenue source.
- The original version (1.0) was poorly received, leading to a complete rebuild as 'A Realm Reborn' (2.0), which is now praised for its improvements and long-term storytelling.
