Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker Review – A Grand Finale

Following a reboot and three exceptional expansions, Final Fantasy XIV’s fourth add-on, Endwalker, has a lot to live up to, especially as it’s billed as the conclusion to the storyline that’s been brewing since the defunct 1.0 release. I’m happy to report Endwalker masterfully delivers a dense narrative full of exciting twists, wonderful character moments, and well-designed battles. This conclusion brings to an end the long-running conflict between Zodiark’s deities Hydaelyn und Zodiark.

Endwalker not just reminisces about its previous expansions but also revels in the nostalgia of Final Fantasy games past that shaped its unforgettable scenarios and amazing soundtrack. Final Fantasy IV is reflected in the fateful journey to the moon and the Magus sisters as dungeon bosses. Anima gets a prominent place, while more recent additions such as the tortured FFX summon Anima are given a wider spotlight. Those with knowledge of the Final Fantasy series will enjoy various throwbacks, but you’ll definitely want to go into Endwalker with a good understanding of XIV’s story thus far. This final chapter relies heavily on the machinations, stories, and characters from the expansions that came before, and unlike the previous expansion Shadowbringers, it doesn’t work well as a standalone adventure.

It takes a while for the action to kick in in this expansion. You’ll be running from quest givers to destinations in typical MMO fashion, and there are many cutscenes. Once the story is complete, however, it’s not long before the excitement picks up again. You’ll travel to the nation of scholars for a diplomatic mission in Old Sharlayan, the colorful, Indian-inspired Radz-at-han and Thavanir, and even to the moon and beyond. Each setting is an important part of the unfolding story that revolves around a catastrophic world ending.

I’m impressed by the story’s dark tones and how it smartly handles complicated themes. Garlemald’s first encounter with enemy territory is a standout. It deals with poor, malnourished, distrusting communities that are caught up in civil warfare as an invading force attempts to aid them. Another questline about the loyalties of soldiers sworn to a nation that’s crumbling around them also made a big impact. Despair and hopelessness are central to much of the expansion’s plot and manifest in surprising ways.

Some quests require you include various characters in your company, adding the sense of adventuring with a party that’s often missing in MMORPGs. In these instances, I’d take the opportunity to seek out specially marked points of interest that let me speak with my companions about their thoughts and feelings on the situation at hand. This storytelling isn’t flashy, but I appreciate the little ways FFXIV makes the game more intimate.

These two jobs are fun and stylish. The Reaper is a melee-DPS new role that uses a powerful scythe to kill void creatures and use kinetic positional strikes to do maximum damage. A new shield-deploying healing class, the Sage, uses laser drones to fly around in cool formations, blasting your enemies with protective spells, and restoring their lives. Each has been very helpful in groups, and offers vastly different gameplay and aesthetics from related Job archetypes.

Endwalker achieves a stunning ending to an ongoing, complex story. It is testament to its progress since A Realm Reborn. Luckily this isn’t the end, but the beginning of a new story that I can’t wait to experience in future patches and expansions. Having spent hundreds of hours with Final Fantasy XIV, it’s easily one of the best MMO experiences out there, and Endwalker has solidified it as my favorite Final Fantasy to date.