Final Fantasy XIV is one of the largest and most popular MMORPGs of our time. But is it worth starting or returning more than 12 years after the relaunch? MeinMMO tells you what you should know.
What do you need to know about Final Fantasy XIV? Final Fantasy XIV restarted in 2013 after the failed version 1.0 with A Realm Reborn. Since then, the MMORPG has grown and now offers thousands of hours of content with five expansions and is considered one of the most popular MMORPGs of its time.
You embark on a journey with a character you create into the world of Eorzea, experiencing great adventures along a comprehensive, epic story and facing numerous challenges alongside other players.
Additionally, Final Fantasy XIV is one of the few MMORPGs that can be played not only on PC and PlayStation 5 but also on Xbox and MAC, allowing you to comfortably play the MMO with a controller. A mobile version is also in the works, which is already playable in China.
With its extensive expansions, Final Fantasy XIV can seem intimidating for newcomers and returnees. We explain whether it is worth (re)starting in 2026 and who should not hesitate, or who should stay away.
If you are familiar with the game, you can jump directly to the assessment through our table of contents:
What can you expect in Final Fantasy XIV?
Final Fantasy XIV is considered a theme park MMORPG. Similar to a amusement park with clearly designed attractions and paths, players are guided through a large main story, leading them from quest to quest and from content to content.
Along this campaign, numerous additional activities await, such as side quests, dungeons, raids, and other instanced challenges. The game guides you step by step through an epic storyline, offering a diverse range of content and always providing a clear sense of progression.
Besides these more traditional MMO contents, there are also plenty of additional content options, such as housing, an in-game casino, treasure maps, expeditions, a private island, as well as collector and crafter classes.
When starting with a character in the MMORPG, you can choose from one of 8 different races, which you can create in both male and female forms and with 2 sub-variations each. These mainly have visual impacts, allowing you to choose based on preference.
Once you have decided, you can choose one of 9 classes: Archer, Druid, Thaumaturge, Necromancer, Gladiator, Dragoon, Marauder, Rogue, or Pugilist. The chosen starting class also defines the initial area you start in. From level 30, these starter classes evolve into jobs such as Bard, White Mage, Paladin, Warrior, or Dragoon.
In total, across all expansions, you have the choice of 21 classes, all playable and levelable with a single character so you do not have to replay the story multiple times unless you want to.
Additionally, you can enjoy 8 crafting and 3 gathering classes, engaging in detailed crafting where you have to actively break down or create your items with various commands instead of just picking them up with a click or creating them with a short cooldown.
Fights like choreographed dances
Combat is done via tab targeting and optimized rotations, with combo sequences that light up helpfully for beginners to aid in learning the classes. This allows all fights to be learned like choreographies in a dance, making combat more accessible for newcomers – as practice indeed makes perfect.
The often instanced content is played in the so-called Holy Trinity consisting of usually one tank, one healer, and 2 damage dealers. Some content is also played in large groups of 8 players, requiring 2 defenders, 2 healers, and 4 attackers.
A particular highlight is the so-called alliance raids, where 24 players fight multiple mobs and bosses simultaneously in 3 groups of 8 players. There are also various contents for players for whom the regular content is too easy, such as epic raids and trials, difficult dungeons, and even a tough alliance raid for large groups.
Many raids and content come with catchy music, making the whole experience worthwhile, including the new raid series with a song from rock icon Tom Morello:
What are the current strengths of Final Fantasy 14?
Final Fantasy’s strengths lie in various aspects. First, the storyline is a significant plus if as a player you care about an epic narrative centered around your character as the hero of the story.
Secondly, almost all of the game’s content, whether base game or any of the expansions, remains relevant and playable to this day, meaning you can often find fellow players through either content search or group search.
Another major plus is that you can play all available classes and content with a single character. Thus, you do not have to play through the entire story again to level a different class. Since your character does not have a level, but only the individual classes do, you can fully explore this.
Moreover, many group content, especially dungeons and trials, can also be played with NPCs, allowing Final Fantasy XIV to be played extensively as a single player experience.
After over 12 years, there are so many content options available that almost every player who enjoys classic MMO content should find something to their liking.
What current weaknesses does Final Fantasy 14 have?
As beautiful as the epic story is in large parts, it can be overwhelming for newcomers. With several hundred hours of gameplay just through the story, it can feel very daunting. While there is a way to skip the progress up to the latest expansion “Dawntrail” and jump straight into it, it costs additional money.
Thus, anyone who wants to jump directly into the very latest content must first complete the story of Dawntrail. However, it has not been well received by some players until recently, despite the latest patches making significant improvements and regaining much approval.
Newcomers to the MMORPG should also be aware that the quality of the content has greatly improved over the years. Older content has aged somewhat and is not as epic and lively compared to the new.
What does 2026 hold for Final Fantasy XIV?
With Patch 7.3, the story of Dawntrail came to an end and the next expansion is slowly but surely being introduced. Not much is known about it so far, but that is likely to change soon. The regular fan fest is coming up again, and historically, the dates are packed with new information about the upcoming expansion.
In the meantime, several contents that Dawntrail will still receive are pending, such as the new content-limited class Beastmaster, which is supposed to follow in the footsteps of the Blue Mage, or the 3rd alliance raid that is still missing, as well as some planets for the Cosmo explorations of the gatherers and crafters.
There is still a lot to come before the next expansion can arrive. In the past, expansions have been released shortly after the fan festival in Tokyo, which will take place this time from October 31 to November 1, 2026. Thus, a release period of late 2026/early 2027 seems likely.
Historically, with the next expansion, 2 new classes are also expected to land on the servers. Based on the past, this time it should be a physical ranged DPS and a new tank.
Is it worth starting or returning in 2026?
Whether Final Fantasy XIV is worth it for you in 2026 depends entirely on what you value and whether you want to start fresh or resume your previous progress. Depending on where you left off, you may need to show a lot of patience if you want to quickly reach the latest content.
If the story is important to you but you are deterred by the rather negative opinions about Dawntrail, we understand. However, you might want to give it another chance – even if sometimes the story before the patch quests can feel a bit tedious and boring.
This is also more than evident to producer Naoki Yoshida and his team who are visibly working to improve.
The storyline of the latest patches has significantly improved after the rather shallow progression of Dawntrail following the epic finale of the saga around Hydaelyn and Zodiark, proving that Square Enix is ready to deploy larger measures for presentation again.
The new raids in Dawntrail can definitely convince if your heart beats for classic MMO content and are certainly worth a second look. But also otherwise, Final Fantasy XIV in 2026 offers so many different contents that there should be something for everyone who enjoys social MMO content and/or challenging combat content.
If you are uncertain, particularly new players can test Final Fantasy XIV extensively for free. With the trial version, you can play the base game up to and including the second expansion Stormblood without a subscription or having to purchase the game and grind the available classes up to level 70.
Even though Final Fantasy XIV is currently facing some issues, the team around producer Naoki Yoshida has impressively proven since 2012 that they can forge new diamonds from ash. Because version 1.0 was by no means what we know today as FF14: One of the best MMORPGs of all time had to destroy itself first to save itself
