Final Fantasy 14 (2010)
Final Fantasy XIV : Endwalkeris expire out with a bang - kind of . It ’s not the end of the popular MMORPG , but it does conclude a decade - spanning narrative arc require Hydaelyn and Zodiark , and it does this in an astonishing and often surprising way . The latest elaboration introduces fresh mechanics , improves on old ones , and packs in an telling amount of macrocosm - building and storytelling for a fictional character - drive narration that aims to take musician to the moonshine and back ( literally ) . In most respect , Endwalkerdelivers - serving as a great expansion that reward longtime fans while still paying plenty of attention to newer players .
FFXIV ’s previous enlargement , Shadowbringers , was always going to be a toughened act to follow . Admittedly , the tale inEndwalkerdoesn’t start off with the same amount of immediacy and mystery thatShadowbringersdid . For a plot about the world terminate , the earlier parts are passably chill . Players will call the beautiful India - inspired Radz - at - Han and Thavnair neighborhood , extend around in high spirits society in Old Sharlayan , and search legion novel zone from moderately early on . Villain Fandaniel show up to soliloquy and taunt the company , but overall , the earlier parts of the game are all about geographic expedition and getting to know these new expanse and cultures . It also mould to balance the darker story elements that take up the latter part of the Main Scenario Quest .
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The plot is gorgeous from the beginning , and the music is an insistent highlight - adding quirky Modern themes that also harken back to motive role player have heard in previousFinal Fantasytitles as well as inFFXIV.Endwalker ’s other dungeons , like The Tower of Zot , are gracious callback to earlierFFgames , and they ’re a smashing example of what the Modern expansion does so well : In many ways , this is a love letter to the entireFinal Fantasyseries . knob , characters , placement , and more are callback to late entryway likeFF10,FF12,FF4 , andFF3- and that ’s only to name a few . People who have n’t played these games wo n’t be left in the nighttime , but these reference work are still overnice winks and nudges to longtime fans .
Unifying a decade ’s worth of story ( and possibly even a 35 - year - old serial publication ) is a tall parliamentary procedure , but it ’s palm fabulously well . Still , the real drive here is to see what happen with Zodiark and all the lineament players have gotten to know along the direction . There are so many tale curveballs inEndwalkerthat the story never feels like a slog . Outside of a forgetful period around stage 85 of the MSQ , the story never matt-up like it dragged , and even then , there were plenty of surprises and new plot of ground element discombobulate in that it never feel too arduous . Perhaps more thanany otherFFXIVexpansion , Shadowbringershas been extol for its story - andEndwalkersomehow manages to top it .
The write up mystify admittedly dour at times , but this is cleverly offset by sillier moments ( like the cute , bunny - esque Loporrits being haunt with carrots ) and sweeter cutscenes ( newcomer Meteion ) . What work so well is that these characters are not only ancillary to the main secret plan but are actually lively to it . By the end of it all , players will have the epinephrin of hop off a roller coaster mixed with the sadness of give a funeral . Endwalkerknows how to wield its story and characters , and the writing has never been better .
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In terms of graphic symbol , FFXIV : Endwalkerintroduces a new auto-mechanic : permit characters guide around with player outside of example . It help make the journey feel less lonely at time , but it ’s also the one part of the new expansion that does n’t quite cultivate . character will follow the musician inEndwalker , but the AI may lead them into the ocean or over a bulwark - or they may get stuck behind a crateful , running but never hold up anywhere . It can be frustrating in certain quests , and sometimes the only solution was to run too far away from the character to get the horrendous " Duty fail " notification and start out again . It ’s a fun idea , but the writ of execution take a little work .
It gets spoilt when this mechanic is used for stealthy follow missions , in which players must keep a secure distance from the NPC and remain hidden at random times . There are rocks or trees nearby , but if they ’re noticed , they must get going back at the beginning - a feature that catch rather annoying , rather tight . It does n’t help that this newfangled mechanic gets overused , particularly in the first half to the MSQ , but it gratefully plateaus a bit later on .
The twonew jobs inEndwalker , Sage and Reaper , can be unlocked without get into the new realm , and as usual , players will start under - even ( grade 70 , rather than 80 ) at those jobs . It ’s a minor inconvenience - albeit , an expected one - and it ’s gracious to finally see a young healer class inFFXIV . Thus far , it does n’t feel like either job brings too much new to the table , especially for players who already have a favorite job nail down . salvia is somewhat interesting with its " damage to heal " automobile mechanic , and Reaper looks incredibly cool , but once the shine hold out off , it ’s altogether possible players will return to their longtime favorites . Still , it ’s been fun to experiment with these jobs and in term of their respective purpose , they exploit well .
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FFXIV : Endwalkeralso has more storyand cutscenes than late expansions , a fact that ’s obtrusive from the get - go . However , it never feels like too much . Some player may experience the urge to score the " Skip " option , but none of the cutscenes mat up too long or mob in too near together . player have invested a spate of meter into the game and getting to eff these character , and the dialog and cutscenes never feel overstuffed ( not even during some of Urianger ’s classic long - winded spiels or traditional knowledge dumpsite in the last half of the MSQ ) . It often feels like a last hooray with old friends , but the sombre undertones are perfectly mixed with good honest-to-god - fashioned camaraderie and well-chosen mo that really accentuate why these worlds are worth saving .
Endwalkeralso shines by packing in story quests and experience that keeps the role player where they postulate to be . In previousFFXIVexpansions , there were time when aDuty Roulette or FATE grindwas necessary to get up to the require level to continue on with the story , but that never happened inEndwalker . Between the MSQ , Aether Current quests , and detect novel areas , the experience should always keep histrion at the want story level - or even in advance . fresh armour patch and weapons are also perpetually unbarred through the MSQ , so player should never feel like they ’re falling behind in terminal figure of gear , either .
It ’s not just the MSQ and cutscenes that are bigger , though . Endwalkeralso covers a lot of literal ground , taking players all across the function to various countries and worlds . Pretty much every landmass that has n’t been explored inFFXIVyet makes its way intoEndwalker , as well as a few surprising zones that help research the past and flesh outFFXIV ’s deep lore . This can make for some uneven narrative beats and gameplay gaps - the tonal lash between Radz - at - Han , Labyrinthos , and Garlemalde early on on , for example , took some getting used to - butEndwalker ’s orb - jog dangerous undertaking is almost exclusively pleasurable .
Thegameplay improvements inShadowbringersare in home forEndwalkeras well , although some of the raw changes ( like no belts ) feel like they do n’t really weigh . come up Aether Currents in new zone is still a headache , and most of the side quests are still just time sinks ( unless someone is leveling an EL and call for the experience ) , but all of this is nonaged compare to the bigger pictorial matter . More than anything , thespian want to see how the Zodiark plot line ends , what materialise to characters they ’ve known for a decade , and what ’s in store forFFXIVonceEndwalker ’s credit axial rotation .
There are deal of narration and gameplay surprise thrown in along the way . Characters from the past reappear , and a twist about halfway through the story still feels shameful day later . Thankfully , it all pay off byEndwalker ’s ending . Fandaniel never quite hits the nefarious in high spirits notes ofShadowbringers ' Emet - Selch ( arguably thebestFinal Fantasyvillain in decades ) and Zenos ' proceeds always felt a bit stilted , but these are only small gripes in a account and expanding upon that are both spectacular .
There ’s plenty of laugh and teardrop along the means , andEndwalkermanages to mail off the Zodiark and Hydaelyn saga on an incredibly high note . concluding Fantasy XIV : Endwalkeris a real crowdpleaser , and it should also leave alone everyone promising for what the future has in memory for the MMORPG , even if this enlargement is going to be incredibly unmanageable to top .
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last Fantasy XIV : Endwalkeris available now on December 7 , 2021 for PC , Mac , PlayStation 4 , and PlayStation 5 . Screen Rant was provide with a game time codification for the purpose of this reexamination .
