Final Fantasy XIV
A decade of story, the kindest community online, and a free trial that is a whole game.
Take the free trial; it is hundreds of hours. If Eorzea keeps you, the subscription is the most honest price on the chart for what you get.
Final Fantasy XIV is Square Enix's online role-playing game: a shared world, Eorzea, with a main story that has run for more than a decade and is widely considered the best in the genre. It is funded by a subscription and paid expansions, its shop sells only cosmetics, and its free trial covers the base game and three expansions, up to level 80, with no time limit. It is slow to start, social by design, and famously welcoming.
The four bearings
- N7.5Newcomer · 20%
The trial is huge and free, the sprout icon makes veterans patient with you, and the early game is gentle. The first fifty hours of story are slow, and the account setup is fiddly.
- E8Every session · 35%
Dungeons with strangers who are usually kind, a job system that lets one character be everything, and a story that rewards patience. Combat is deliberate rather than thrilling.
- S9Staying power · 25%
Five expansions with a sixth due in January 2027, a story with a genuine ending and a new beginning, raids, crafting, housing and a community that has stayed for a decade. It does not run out.
- W8Wallet · 20%
A subscription is a known amount every month, the shop is cosmetic only, and the trial is generous beyond reason. Expansions and the sub add up over years.
Weighted 20 / 35 / 25 / 20 into an Atlas score of 8.2. How the bearings work.
What you are actually doing
You make one character, pick a starting job and follow the main scenario: hundreds of quests that carry you through a story of nations, gods and, eventually, the end of the world and what comes after. Along the way you run dungeons with parties of four found by matchmaking, fight bosses, learn other jobs on the same character, craft, gather, decorate a house and join a Free Company. The world is shared, so every field has other people in it, and the game's culture of helping newcomers is real: a small sprout beside your name tells everyone you are new, and most people act accordingly.
The combat is slower and more structured than an action game: cooldown rotations, positioning and mechanics you learn to read. Its pleasure is in executing a fight cleanly with seven strangers who all know the dance.
The first evening, honestly
The free trial is the way in, and it is remarkable: the base game and the first three expansions, up to level eighty, with no time limit. The restrictions are social, such as a cap on your money, no market board and limited chat, and they are lifted the moment you buy the game. The early story is slow, and honest players will tell you the first thirty hours are a patience test before the story finds its stride; every main-story dungeon can be run with computer-controlled allies if you would rather not group yet. The account setup involves a Square Enix account, a one-time-password app and a launcher that looks older than it is.
Why it stays
The story is why. The third and fourth expansions in particular are regarded as high points of the entire medium, and they are only reachable by playing what came before. Beyond the story, raids, ultimate fights, crafting economies and a housing system give different players different reasons to log in. Square Enix ships a major patch roughly every four months, patch 7.56 on 8 September 2026 added the Beastmaster job, and a sixth expansion, Evercold, is due in January 2027 with a new tank job. The Switch 2 version launched in August 2026 on the same servers as everyone else.
Where it shines, where it drags
- A free trial that runs to level 80 and hundreds of hours
- The best long-form story in online games
- One character can learn every job
- Full cross-play and a welcoming community
- A slow first thirty hours
- Subscription plus expansions add up over years
- Account setup and launcher are clunky; the install is about 140 GB
- Combat is deliberate; action fans may find it stiff
The toll: what it costs in the UK
Final Fantasy XIV has a free trial with no time limit covering the base game and the first three expansions up to level 80. To go further you buy the game, which includes thirty days, then pay a monthly subscription. Later expansions are sold separately or in a Complete Edition. The optional store sells cosmetics, mounts and account services at fixed prices. Prices are Steam UK and the Nintendo eShop on 24 September 2026.
- Free trialFree; base game and three expansions, level cap 80
- Starter Edition (base game, 30 days)£9.99 on Steam; £11.99 on Switch 2
- Complete Edition (all five expansions, 30 days)£39.99 on Steam; £44.99 on Switch 2
- Dawntrail expansion on its own£29.99
- Subscription, Entry (one character per world)£7.69 per 30 days
- Subscription, Standard (eight characters per world)£8.99 per 30 days; £7.69 a month on a 180-day plan
- Evercold expansion (January 2027)Price not yet announced
Randomised items: No. The optional store sells items at fixed prices. In-game, some content gives random loot, but none of it is bought with money.
Subscriptions and online play: The subscription is the online play. On PlayStation and Xbox no additional platform online service is required.
Prices checked 24 September 2026 on the UK stores named above. See Paying for games in the UK for the rights that apply to each payment route.
Who it suits
Players who want a story that lasts years and a community to share it with, and anyone who prefers paying a known amount each month to a shop full of chances. If you want a big world and no subscription, Genshin Impact is the free alternative, with a very different shop.
Where to go next
Start with the Final Fantasy XIV waypoint for a first evening that goes well. Or compare it directly: Genshin Impact or Final Fantasy XIV.