Spoiler alert for those still pushing through Shadowbringers, but the end of the expansion gives us a solid reason to go knocking on the door of Old Sharlayan, a place of scholars who rarely want anything to do with the rest of the world. A stroll around the neighborhoodĮverything in my daylong tour of Endwalker happened with zero context. They could have drawn things out across another two-year patch cycle, but everything will come to a close with this launch, leaving the build-up to the next expansion to set the scene for another potential 10 years of fresh storylines - hopefully without an Ascian in sight. In assuring us that the Endwalker launch is just that (the end of one arc and the first steps toward another), I’m confident the team has the pacing down to a tee for this one. Though the bizarre companionship of Emet-Selch - the latest in a long line of Ascian adversaries - throughout Shadowbringers refreshed our tolerance of the baddies we’ve repeatedly bested, the patches that came after began to pull on rusted strings. It has big shoes to fill, and if my diluted experience with a preview build is anything to go by, I’m sure now more than ever that what makes the game isn’t the world exploration, but those who exist within it. Set to take the original denizens of Eorzea even further around the world, it’s the game’s most important launch since its 2013 revival.

The story, forged from the ashes of its very public meltdown, is set to come to a close in just a few weeks time with the release of the Endwalker expansion. Over 10 years after its disastrous launch, Final Fantasy XIV is now one of the most-talked-about MMORPGs in the world.

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