THE FINAL DAZE

FINAL FANTASY XIV: ENDWALKER goes big and brings it home

- Oscar Taylor-Kent

NEED TO KNOW

WHAT IS IT? The MMO’s latest expansion, closing out a long-running story arc

EXPECT TO PAY £30 (expansion), £40 (complete edition)

DEVELOPER Square Enix

PUBLISHER In-house

REVIEWED ON AMD Ryzen 7 1700X, Gigabyte RTX 2080 Super, 32Gb RAM

MULTIPLAYER Yes

LINK bit.ly/3ILzK7a

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.