The Final Daze

Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker goes big and brings it home

- By Oscar Taylor-Kent

The word ‘expansion’ feels almost too small for what Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker is. Not only is it essentially a full length JRPG, 50 hour JRPG in its own right, but it’s also the culmination of a storyline that’s been ongoing for over ten years, which myself and millions of other players have been following through regular updates that whole time. Rather than simply an add-on, it feels more like the final book in a long-running fantasy series.

So, to get to the big questions—yes, Endwalker is a fantastic send-off to the Hydaelyn/Zodiark saga (two ancient beings locked in a light versus dark conflict involving many crystals—Final Fantasy fans know the drill) that celebrates all that came before; and yes, it leaves the door wide open for new adventures that we know are on the way.

Though, in tying things off with a bow, things get a little messy. While its runtime is about the same as its previous hefty expansions, it feels like there’s loads more story than usual, for good and ill. As your hero and the Scions Of The Seventh Dawn battle to overcome the apocalyptic ‘Final Days’, they deal with multiple climatic-feeling threats and dispatch a heap of villains, all while moving quickly between areas great distances apart (you go to the moon, after all). It feels like the plot could have been dished out over two expansions.