We Played Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker And It’s Awesome

In a demo session, I had the opportunity to play a small slice of Final Fantasy XIV’s Endwalker expansion, which arrives on November 23. Although demo sessions for MMOs and other gaming genres are complex, I was able to play a small portion of Endwalker’s expansion. Endwalker looks as great as any Shadowbringers player.

My time was spent playing the Reaper, a melee DPS class. The class was very Bloodborne-inspired, which is what sealed the deal. However, the Reaper doesn’t just look cool – based on the demo session, it should be a fairly challenging and dynamic damage class for those looking to stay on their toes during all phases and styles of combat. The Reaper offers savvy damage-dealers a wide range of options and multiple resource meters. Although most players understand the idea of building a resource reserve to unleash powerful abilities, the Reaper is required to master multiple. 

Granted, it’s absolutely possible to play Reaper without mastering the timing of the multitude of skills and enjoy it too, but hey, if you want to min/max your potential, some training is needed. That said, I was far more comfortable after a few hours of play than I was staring at stacked skillbars when I picked up the character, so I do think it’s going to be doable (and fun!) For the majority of players. It’s great to transform into the Reaper when you have charged up enough damage. You need to be able to exit the melee combatants just as quickly as you enter them. You can create a Reaper teleport portal to allow you to move in and out as required by the encounter. In summary, I am playing a Reaper in Endwalker, and it’s not close.

I didn’t spend much time on the Sage because, well, I don’t play healer, ever, but I’ll say this – the visual identity of the two new classes here is top-notch. You have the electro doctor Sage so who wouldn’t want to become a white mage. That’s a good question. Sage’s kit exudes coolness and I nearly thought of becoming a healer. But not quite.

While I got to roam around a few levels, quests weren’t really available in the zones, and the Fates (public quests) that I completed were fairly standard – I won’t spoil the surprises there, either. However, we did get to spend some quality time in the Tower of Zot, one of Endwalker’s new dungeons. This dungeon I enjoyed both playing with others and with trust (NPCs available to participate in group dungeon content, which was introduced in Shadowbringers). The legendary Final Fantasy IV song is played immediately upon entering the dungeon. As someone that places Final Fantasy IV very high, if not the top, of the FF pyramid, that’s really all I needed.

The amount of “trash” (regular enemies) in the dungeon seemed about right, and the boss fights also felt solid for entry-tier expansion content. There were many obstacles on the ground that we had to navigate. There were some situations that required us to move in certain contexts. Yes, there were some contextual movement situations. The Magus Sisters, who are bosses within the Tower, culminated in an epic battle that saw you face all three of them simultaneously and unleashing the Delta Attack. It can be quite difficult until the first Sister is defeated. The Delta Attack involves evading multiple attacks at once. It’s not a trial or raid or anything, but it definitely perked my interest levels in what lays beyond.

It is obvious that a few hours playing an MMORPG can be a small amount. But everything I saw in Endwalker speaks to the greater game and its continued path of progression, where they’ve upped the quality of the title with each expansion. Endwalker represents the end of the story and I am expecting much. And everything I’ve seen so far thinks that we’ll get it. Come see us in November.