Have you heard of the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV? With an expanded free trial which you can play through the entirety of A Realm Reborn and the award-winning Heavensward expansion up to level 60 for free with no restrictions on playtime. If you already play FF14, then you might be familiar with that sentence. To the people that have not known about FF14 existence. 

Yes, you do get to play the game with no subscription payment to a good part of the game.So, what makes FF14 a good game? Well, a lot of people tend to roll their eyes at the idea of an MMORPG. I get it. I’m more of an FPS type of guy, and anything close to an RPG like the game would be the elder scroll series. Hear me out, though. I enjoy this game despite being iffy about playing it at first.

 I have been playing it for months, and have started to play the latest DLC that has been launched. If you told me back in the day before I played it that I would greatly appreciate the game. I would have told you that you were lying. But, now? I understand why I love it. The story just by itself could be a multi-series movie.

The gameplay slowly introduces you to what it is like to play an MMORPG, and it gets complex with mechanics to keep your party. I’m not forgetting the best part of FF14, which is the music. The music truly makes you feel like you are in the game dragging all of your attention away from the outside world and into the fantasy world. Making you feel like a true hero while several orchestral or guitar riffs, or even choir singing, make you feel that you need to complete your duty. 

Now, the game starts as you make your character with your chosen race and class. Each race has its own set of animation, and each class has its own starting story. Each class can land you in either of the three main cities in the game: Gridania, Ul’dah or Limsa Lominsa. Gridania is a forest-like environment with nature surrounding the city. Ul’dah is a desert-like city held up by strong walls surrounding the city. Finally, Limsa Lominsa is a city built on an ocean shoreline run by pirates. 

The classes that start in Limsa Lominsa are Marauder, and Arcanist. The classes that start in Gridania are Conjurer, Lancer, Archer. And finally, Ul’dah’s classes are Gladiator, Thaumaturge, and Pugilist. Each class is separated into Tank, DPS, and Healer. Gladiator and Marauder are tanks. Lancer, Archer, Thaumaturge, Pugilist are DPS. Finally, Healers are Arcanist, and Conjurer (though conjurer does start as a DPS becomes two different classes and one of them is a healer).

After the game introduces you to your class, it gets started on the main questline. This, I admit, is a bit slow, and I would say the weakest part of FF14 is the ARR questline. The story is great, but the downside is that it’s a bit repetitive after halfway through the storyline. Though, just like being forced to eat your vegetables when you’re younger, you do get a nice sweet reward after it, that being Heavensward. You get a free DLC that comes during your free trial, and there is a reason why it’s award-winning: The story is amazing. 

Without spoiling too much, a region in the continent of Eorzea called Ishgard is a gothic-looking city (that looks like Windhelm from Skyrim) that is at war with dragons. With the cold environment, religious background, and dark souls interiors of the castle along with the knights. The atmosphere is amazing. Your goal in Heavensward is to deal with the threat of dragons, and end the Dragonsong War once and for all. Only to find out the truth is not the truth about what caused this war. I’ll let you figure it out when you do play it. 

There’s dungeons, trials (which are big bosses), and 2 different types of raids, one being with 8 players, and another being with 24 people. There are mounts for players that you can get for free for your character to ride, along with mini pets that follow you around. With a nearly endless amount of quests, from the side to the main story, you’ll be busy trapped in FF14. So give it a try, and see why I consider it an amazing game.