I Finally Finished Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (Base Game)

Just under a year ago, I started Final Fantasy XIV for the second time and vowed that this time I would stick with it to the end for the sake of the story.

And I did!

I mean, I got distracted by the Gold Saucer too. But after just under 108 hours of gameplay, I completed the main story of the base game, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.

You really can play a lot of Final Fantasy XIV by yourself if you just want to experience a story. Dungeons and trials (bosses) are the main things you’ll need to team up with other players for, and that’s what pushed me away the first time. I disliked going through dungeons with other people, mainly because they’d rush through while I wanted to look around and take my time.

So I joined up with a nice Free Company, and thanks to the other players there, I made it through the dungeons and could largely enjoy the story the way I wanted to.

Now, when people praise the story of Final Fantasy XIV, they’re mainly talking about the expansions, not A Realm Reborn itself. For the most part, A Realm Reborn’s story is just… decent. It’s bogged down by a lot of filler quests, which annoyed me, but then I reached a certain point in the plot where things got shaken up a bit and I was genuinely invested in what would happen next.

(Ironically, it occurred shortly after the point where I quit the first time… although I remember going to Coerthas even though I wasn’t that far in the plot, so apparently my first attempt to play Final Fantasy XIV resulted in me wandering to random places before giving up. On the other hand, the Coerthas section was one of my favorites in the game, so I might have been wishing I was there in the plot instead.)

The plot had some good moments, and overall I enjoyed myself much more this time around. I picked up Heavensward during the free promotion earlier this year, so I’m looking forward to progressing through the in-between quests to reach it.

I’m happy I stuck with Final Fantasy XIV this time, and I don’t intend to quit anytime soon! Have you played Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn? How do you feel about it and its expansions?

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