FFXIV ARR in 2026 – First-time player review (Switch 2 / Free Trial)
Context: First-time player, playing mainly White Mage on Nintendo Switch 2 via the Free Trial.
It took me 89 hours to beat A Realm Reborn and the storyline up until the next expansion. I watched all cutscenes, unlocked every normal and hard dungeon I could find and finished each at least once. I did a few roulettes, mostly for gear.
Other than that, I basically followed the main story and ignored the side stuff.
Just so new players know: Yes, the base game is LONG.
Pros
Graphics
For a game this old, I was positively surprised. It’s obviously old, but it has aged rather nicely. I don’t know how much of a graphical overhaul the game has received over the years, but I daresay: I like it.
Performance
I had no issues on Switch 2. Minimal framerate drops in the 24-player Alliance Raids, but other than that? No issues at all.
Solid port.
Don’t expect 60 FPS, though. I found it better to cap it at 30 FPS; it runs smoother that way.
Music
Just amazing.
Elaborate pieces, fitting, diverse, memorable. Really love the music.
Story
Without spoilers, expect a slow-burning political story rather than nonstop action.
The story is very interesting, but given the setup, I would assume this first game is largely building up what comes afterwards.
Having said that, the actual plot, especially the finale, was well written.
Not “OMG BEST THING EVER”, but more:
Very nice. Good buildup. Let’s see if you can deliver.
But: It’s slow. Just setting expectations.
Also, heads up: You will read. A lot.
Just saying.
Difficulty
Easy game, very chill.
This obviously depends on preference.
Dungeon difficulty depends on the group, obviously. There is much harder optional content, I have been told, but I haven’t played it, so I can’t judge that.
MMO
Yes, this is an old-school MMO.
You have the Trinity, the classes/jobs, dungeons, raids, populated cities, etc.
I love it.
Games like these aren’t really made anymore. It’s basically a dinosaur from a golden age of MMOs.
Jobs
You have a lot of jobs (classes, basically) to pick from.
I can’t tell you how distinct all of them are, having only really played White Mage and Samurai, but I’d say there is something for everybody.
I especially love that healers are expected to provide substantial damage instead of just healing nonstop.
Dungeons and team content
Cool.
Good length, generally not much waiting time, and old content is still being played because the game gives people incentives to run it.
Excellent MMO feeling.
Community
Very nice people, I must say.
The world is populated enough to actually give you that feeling of an MMO world. People everywhere, Bards giving real-life concerts in cities, etc.
Free Trial
Well, it’s basically silly.
You get the full game I just played AND additional expansions on top for €0.
Zero.
No time restrictions.
There are limitations: no private messages, no player market and a currency cap of 300k gil that you WILL reach.
No big deal thus far for me.
For free? The amount of content is frankly absurd.
Cons
Story presentation
Oh my.
While the actual story is good, like I said, the way it’s presented to the player is atrocious most of the time.
First of all, there is a substantial amount of useless filler. One can argue it’s for worldbuilding, okay, but still.
More importantly, your average main-story quest goes something like this:
Go somewhere.
Talk to NPC 1.
Return to NPC 2 to tell him you talked to NPC 1.
Three enemies appear.
Kill them with no effort.
Return to NPC 2.
Now return to your base to tell your boss you talked to both.
More text.
Next mission: Go to NPC and talk…
I am not even exaggerating here for effect. Most of the time it’s exactly as I stated.
I genuinely don’t understand why they didn’t just make longer story cutscenes like they do during the big finales.
Because I would rather watch 45 minutes of cutscene and story than have 45 minutes of “gameplay” consisting of teleporting somewhere, running to an NPC, clicking on them, reading dialogue, teleporting back, clicking another NPC…
Seriously.
This is easily my biggest criticism of the game.
Solo content
Very basic. Very braindead.
The actual gameplay is rather simple, the rotations are easy and while you get a lot of skills, you don’t really need to make good use of most of them during normal solo content.
Don’t play this if you want engaging or challenging solo combat.
TL;DR
Good old-school MMO, good worldbuilding, good story, good multiplayer content.
It’s a slow-burning, political affair with very chill gameplay.
The vast majority of the experience is basically:
Visual novel with running around.
Cutscene. Reading. Running. More reading.
You get dungeons, raids and other multiplayer content in between, but if you can’t be bothered with reading and story, don’t bother. I really don’t think this is the game for you.
Otherwise?
8/10.
Very interested to see how it continues.
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