Location themes all sound distinct and set the tone for each of the game’s locales while stirring boss themes elevate already dramatic encounters to a new level. Square Enixįinal Fantasy XIV is known for its incredible score, and nothing is held back for Endwalker. The city of Radz-at-Han is a multicolored marvel. Boss designs are equally inspired, with a few notable instances that feel like living concept art from Yoshitaka Amano. The art team is clearly flexing in some late-game dungeons, which feature the most daring designs in Final Fantasy XIV’s history. Thavnair and its capital Radz-at-Han burst with color, inspired by South Asian art. Garlemald is an icy field dotted with ruined buildings, the perfect illustration of the decaying empire that once called it home. Your mission to avert the Final Days takes you to some of the most interesting locations ever in Final Fantasy XIV. You and your companions head to Sharlayan, a reclusive nation run by stuffy college professors, only to find they’ve got better things to do than preventing the apocalypse. Here, things are simple, as Endwalker’s antagonists basically dare you to stop them from ending the world. Previous storylines begin with you being whisked away to another land or deciding whether to intervene in a foreign war. Endwalker starts with the most focused introduction of any expansion so far. If you’re Square Enix, you do it by doubling down on what made the story sing in the first place: larger-than-life threats, overwhelming emotion, and likable characters to enjoy it all with. How do you end a game’s story when the game isn’t ending? Even for a team as accomplished as this one, that’s a monumental task, but aside from some pacing issues and a few blown payoffs, Endwalker delivers a conclusion worthy of the thousands of hours fans have poured into the game so far and plants the seeds for more adventures to come.įire and brimstone feel like key motifs in Endwalker. Developer/publisher Square Enix has also made it clear that this expansion ends the ongoing 10-year story arc. It’s a lot to take in.īut you, Warrior of Light, have seen it all before.įinal Fantasy XIV has no shortage of near-apocalyptic events in its 10-year history, but in the newly released Endwalker expansion, the stakes feel bigger than ever as you fight to prevent the world-ending cataclysm known as the Final Days. Meanwhile, a powerful isolationist nation bides its time, fixating on a secret plan of its own. Elsewhere, a formerly unstoppable empire is reduced to ash, leaving its subjects fighting for survival. As meteors rain down from a blazing orange sky, ordinary people are transformed into monsters, devouring their friends in an instant.

Final fantasy xiv endwalker review