5/5 ★ – kahooftheblade's review of Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker.

Freaking incredible. The greatest videogame narrative experience. The culmination of 10 years of storytelling, world-building and the best soundtrack among high-fantasy titles. This review will not contain spoilers to the story, as they reveal key elements of the end of the Shadowbringers Main Scenario. The expansion is approximately 35 hours (going at a moderate pace, talking to all the optional NPCs and acquiring Aether Currents for flight along the way). From my 'in-progress' review below: "I've felt a mix of feelings, ranging from frustration, joy, sadness, pride, horror and outright frightening - all of which were intended by the writers, and I loved every second of it." - and that was just in the first 15-18 hours. As per previous expansions (in particular Shadowbringers) you will experience new zones that have been meticulously designed, and change depending on your progress in the main scenario. Contains lots of references to previous expansions and assumes you know much of the lore of the world, and as it's Masayoshi Soken composing the soundtrack it'll have you wanting more. Dungeons and trials - Beautiful, along with some interesting new mechanics (as well as old boss mechanics used by regular mobs!), all new mid and end boss soundtracks. 4-man Trusts (FF parlance for NPC parties - perfect if you are anxious about doing content with other players) in all Endwalker dungeons are available, including an 8-man Trust for a trial later on! They are challenging, but not too challenging. Systems - Major experience scaling occurred with the introduction of Endwalker. Balance is maintained and you won't notice it when you are in battle, it's just none of the numbers are as big as they used to be. New classes - Reaper (DPS) & Sage (Healer). I used to be healer main so this was the first class I started levelling. Sage class quest (lv70-80 - start at 70!) was awesome and really well written, with solo instances that maybe perhaps demand a bit much of you but otherwise it is well balanced (if you have never done a healer role before in literally any MMO you'll find it hard to beat the first instance, but if you have healer experience under your belt you may find yourself right at home). I have Reaper levelled to 78, and this is a really fun class. Class quests also awesome, but haven't completed it yet as I'm not level 80 yet. Rotation is pretty OK to master. Not much more I can say other than FFXIV is currently (as of 18/12/2021) closed to new players as the significant jump in player subscriptions the last few months has meant the queues to get logged in are in the mid-high THOUSANDS, and in to the tens-of-thousands on the NA datacenters. At the moment during daytime hours you can expect to wait between 1 and 3 hours to actually log in to game (if you are on one of the EU datacenters: Chaos and Light). Once this has alleviated, the game will on-board new players as normal, but still expect a wait to get in game. The second thing I would recommend is that if you get FFXIV - Don't get the Steam version! Get it directly through the FFXIV website. The game is free, and lets you sink your teeth in to 60 hours worth of story (A Realm Reborn & Heavensward). Beyond that (and if you want certain social features) you will need to go for the 'Standard' account. If you get it through Steam, you risk some problems buying particular versions and miss out on the sales that SqEx puts up for the expansions from time to time. Original 'In-Progress' review: I believe I am approximately 40% of the way in - Uncertain. This review will be brief and updated later. At this point, I believe I've put around 12-18 hours in to the main scenario and I've felt a mix of feelings, ranging from frustration, joy, sadness, pride, horror and outright frightening - all of which were intended by the writers, and I loved every second of it. My expectations were high (given the lofty standard set by Shadowbringers) but as of now, Endwalker is at least on-par with Shadowbringers (currently my number 1 all-time best game). Absolutely incredible, writing, music and systems. I cannot give higher praise. I can't point a flaw at this stage. As this is an expansion and not a game in and of itself, it is best experienced after having completed the base A Realm Reborn scenario, and all previous expansions to build up the knowledge of the worlds lore and familiarity with the characters. Some may count this as a negative, highlighting in order to 'get to the good stuff' you have to play 200 hours of the game. This isn't true (refer to my Heavensward review) but Endwalker builds on lore you have picked up since A Realm Reborn, fleshes it out, answers some long-standing questions as well as creating new ones, and rewards you using everything you learned along the way (from ARR to Endwalker) with an experience I can only refer to as 'peak videogames'. You NEED that previous knowledge of the world to get the most from it, but you probably know this if you are reading this, chances are you like or love high-fantasy, you've experienced high-fantasy done right, and I can say this is one you can't miss. Addition a few days later: Now approx 75% through I believe. Now 25-ish hours in, and can say with confidence that Endwalker exceeds the work in Shadowbringers, and as mentioned above requires knowledge of the lore from ARR, and all other subsequent expansions to get the most out of as it assumes you already know it. This expansion is freaking incredible, beautiful even. So incredibly well written, designed, orchestrated and laid out quest-wise. Absolutely loving it. Addition after completion: Approx 35 hour mark: A stellar end to a story with over 10 years of legacy (counting 1.0) and it makes the experience of Shadowbringers that much better. Endwalker is now my No. 1 best game of all time. It didn't feel like I was 35 hours in to a story, and the best that the Final Fantasy franchise has to offer. Full recommend.