Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 906 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 679 out of 906
  2. Mixed: 81 out of 906
  3. Negative: 146 out of 906
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  1. Kiseki
    May 20, 2017
    2
    game designed specifically to be a colossal waste of time
    character expressions that give you goosebumps
    weak story and characters
    boring skills system

    stay away...there are better games to things to do your time
  2. stefmor90
    Aug 15, 2014
    4
    I never played the beta of this game, but in the first few hours I've played it, I found nothing remarkable. Now before anyone thinks 'But the game gets SO MUCH BETTER' that's a crock of **** if the game fails to captivate the player in the first few hours (which should be it's best moments of gameplay), then it has failed the rest.

    The first few quests I found myself doing were the    I never played the beta of this game, but in the first few hours I've played it, I found nothing remarkable. Now before anyone thinks 'But the game gets SO MUCH BETTER' that's a crock of **** if the game fails to captivate the player in the first few hours (which should be it's best moments of gameplay), then it has failed the rest.

    The first few quests I found myself doing were the worst: Fetch quests. I was told to go and pick up some items, or talk to some random NPC in the city, and these just dragged ON AND ON until I explored the whole city. I know the game is trying to convey a sense of exploration and meaning in exploring the city, but forcing the player and guiding them through linear tunnels of quests is certainly not a good way to make a first impression.

    Eventually, I finally got a quest where I could try out some combat. I thought that this must be the area where the game must shine, but instead it was mostly just cycling my 3 skills and dodging some telegraphed attacks, shown as little quarter circles and such on the ground you have to move out of or you take large amounts of damage .

    At about this time, I noticed that this game must have taken some huge inspiration from Guildwars 2 (One of my all time favorites), The telegraphed attacks, weapons changing gameplay, the FATE system, the personal story, and so on. However, minus the personal story, they seem patched on and no where near as competent or fun as the games role-model.

    I got to about level 10 when I stopped playing, and boy did it feel like forever. I was really bored and disinterested and level 10 is generally the area where MMOs should pick up but unfortunately Final Fantasy XIV didn't seem to be going anywhere special.

    Obviously this game is trying its hardest after its previous launch failure to be a great MMO, but it has completely and utterly disgusted me in the first few hours of gameplay, which is something no game, especially MMOs, should do. The only thing going through my head when I was playing this was 'I wish I was playing Guildwars 2, it does this so much better'.    … Expand
  3. Pnx725
    Sep 13, 2014
    2
    This game faces many issues;

    *The combat system is one of the worst I have seen in any mmo ever, very simplistic and boring. *Huge storyline but only a few scenes have voice acting. *The maps in the World feel small and there is no sense of danger at all. *The Fate system (gw2 minievents copy) is boring and not challenging. *The dungeons are to easy *There is no enough    This game faces many issues;

    *The combat system is one of the worst I have seen in any mmo ever, very simplistic and boring.

    *Huge storyline but only a few scenes have voice acting.

    *The maps in the World feel small and there is no sense of danger at all.

    *The Fate system (gw2 minievents copy) is boring and not challenging.

    *The dungeons are to easy

    *There is no enough real endgame content, it is only one 8 man raid with 4 boss fights. (can only do 1 time a week)

    *The game has a lot of restrictions to favor casual players and keeping the game becoming obsolete because of the lack of real endgame.

    *The crafting system is obsolete since they have let ppl know that dungeon gear will always be better than crafting gear. And you need to level all the crafting classes to be effective.

    *The Customer Service is terrible and when they answer they send you a copy-pasted generic response with no help at all.

    Not all about this game is bad, it can keep you entertained till you realize it is not worth it, but I seriously recommend you to stay away from it.    … Expand
  4. tsakiym
    May 12, 2015
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I do not have to say anything more. But i need to write one hundred and fifty characters. i think my score can describe it............................… Expand
  5. strondbokken
    Dec 29, 2015
    2
    2/10

    Played this game at launch (2010) and can attest to the fact that it was HORRID. I'm an old school Final Fantasy fan and loved the older games from them. This, however, is an abomination. Fast forward 5 years since its release to the new version which I decided to play out of sheer boredom. It's still just as terrible. Not sure what they meant by "rebuilding the game from the    2/10

    Played this game at launch (2010) and can attest to the fact that it was HORRID. I'm an old school Final Fantasy fan and loved the older games from them. This, however, is an abomination.

    Fast forward 5 years since its release to the new version which I decided to play out of sheer boredom. It's still just as terrible. Not sure what they meant by "rebuilding the game from the ground up" because it is literally the same awful game we all played and walked away from 5 years ago.

    I'm an MMO vet, dating back to the mid-90s. I've played/beta tested pretty much every MMO worth mentioning. Let me just say that there is little to no improvement over the last version. First off, the game starts out by making you do the most mundane quests imaginable in the starter city. You are literally BEGGING for excitement at some point. Nevertheless, you will keep playing because you think "surely it will get better". Nope. It actually gets worse.

    The UI/HUD is a nightmare. Why you need so many options is beyond me. Second, you need a magnifying glass to read anything, even on my 55" big screen. Oh, and the map?! Useless. Plus it's microscopic and can't be made fullscreen...

    Combat is just as bad. No fluidity. No fun. Just the worst.

    I wanted to like this game. I really did. But the fact is, it's a waste of time. SE has no idea what they are doing in the MMO realm and should have just cashed in when they had the chance. How this game got any positive reviews is amazing to me. Paid reviews are the only answer here, as you can clearly see in the difference between REAL user reviews and the obviously fake ones. Anyone rating this game higher than a 5 or a 6 is a paid reviewer I promise.

    Anyway, this is a cash grab and a mediocre attempt at making back some of the money they lost during the first release. Nothing much has changed at all. It's still awful, just has a different name (sort of).

    No voice acting either, so I hope you like reading tiny text for hours on end. Immersion? Yeah right. Unless you are referring to being immersed in failure, in which case Square Enix has that in spades. Can you hear me all the way back there in 1996? This game will take you there I promise.

    Now mind you, I WANT to say something positive here. I'm not the kind of guy who writes purely bad reviews. But to be perfectly honest, it's mediocre in every area. Literally EVERY area. Don't waste your time or money. I would return it, but I bought the digital download. Well done, Square Enix, you got my $20. Now please, sod off.    … Expand
  6. nono5551212
    May 3, 2015
    3
    I was dissappointed. After the 3 hour install and then another hour of cut scenes when i finally got to play... I had to read... I mean whats its 1994... No audio and a whole lot of reading... I tried to complete the first mission but so many pop ups kept coming up on screen it just kept taking me out of the game... Final Fantasy to me is as dead as professional boxing... I hope SquareI was dissappointed. After the 3 hour install and then another hour of cut scenes when i finally got to play... I had to read... I mean whats its 1994... No audio and a whole lot of reading... I tried to complete the first mission but so many pop ups kept coming up on screen it just kept taking me out of the game... Final Fantasy to me is as dead as professional boxing... I hope Square doesnt ruin kigdom hearts.… Expand
  7. MaestroVolpe
    Oct 21, 2014
    0
    I can't review the game if I can't play it.

    I can't play the game if I can't get past Square-Enix's godawful registration and customer service hurdles, which seem to be designed specifically to defeat the player.
  8. zebrog
    May 10, 2014
    0
    Registration is the most confusing fluster cluck of sheer stupidity that has ever existed. I returned the game without ever playing. Not even going to play it ever, a huge waste of time like that isn't worth my money. I am flummoxed that something like this can exist in this day and age. Customer support is horrid.
  9. Shadex
    Mar 17, 2015
    0
    The game is actually pretty decent. It is just unfortunately marred by one of the absolute worst customer service teams in the industry. Hope and pray that you never have anything go wrong or have any issues with your account. The western release has basically been deemed a cash whale with almost zero support and with the recent move towards cash shops and ridiculously priced expansions onThe game is actually pretty decent. It is just unfortunately marred by one of the absolute worst customer service teams in the industry. Hope and pray that you never have anything go wrong or have any issues with your account. The western release has basically been deemed a cash whale with almost zero support and with the recent move towards cash shops and ridiculously priced expansions on top of a sub model it is going south fast.… Expand
  10. nuclearchainsaw
    Jul 3, 2014
    1
    I'm not a fan of these games but my gf is...so I bought her this...you have to have a PS+ membership then you have to have a FF membership! F*ck that....not to mention registration sucks...gaming is getting to the point where you can't play...you have to register your life, pay fees for some crap you already bought and count on servers that crash...I couldn't even sell this BRAND NEW forI'm not a fan of these games but my gf is...so I bought her this...you have to have a PS+ membership then you have to have a FF membership! F*ck that....not to mention registration sucks...gaming is getting to the point where you can't play...you have to register your life, pay fees for some crap you already bought and count on servers that crash...I couldn't even sell this BRAND NEW for ten bucks on e-bay...thanks sony...f*ck you.… Expand
  11. alonja99
    Aug 1, 2014
    2
    First of all coming from a big Final Fantasy fan, this is NOT what I expected..... If I wanted to play an on-line game I'd play Warcraft or Rift! This has stemmed away from the original FF layout. This is an ok version of the game don't get me wrong, but in my honest opinion, they could have kept the MMORPG to the computer. I'd prefer to play this on the computer versus the PS4 or Xbox.First of all coming from a big Final Fantasy fan, this is NOT what I expected..... If I wanted to play an on-line game I'd play Warcraft or Rift! This has stemmed away from the original FF layout. This is an ok version of the game don't get me wrong, but in my honest opinion, they could have kept the MMORPG to the computer. I'd prefer to play this on the computer versus the PS4 or Xbox. Sorry guys, I love the Final Fantasy Franchise and all, but I believe this is a flop on the game systems...… Expand
  12. cheerfulmaple
    Apr 17, 2014
    4
    I never review games because for the most part I don't really think anyone should care about my personal opinion on games, I think that everyone should be able to make an educated decision on their own based on their own preferences and whatever information is available to them from whoever their trusted resources are, and there are plenty on the internet.

    That aside, I felt compelled    I never review games because for the most part I don't really think anyone should care about my personal opinion on games, I think that everyone should be able to make an educated decision on their own based on their own preferences and whatever information is available to them from whoever their trusted resources are, and there are plenty on the internet.

    That aside, I felt compelled to write this.

    Two reasons, and I wont go into very much detail on the first. Number one, this game is absolutely awesome. I'm not even an MMO fan, but this game is the game I wanted desperately for FFXIII and FFXIII-2 to be. It had that Final Fantasy feel that I have been feeling without for many years and it was nice to see it again. There are a million reviews about what is good about this game and I will just leave it at that.

    Number 2, and the most important part of this review. I downloaded this game a few days before it's official release on the PSN and pre-ordered it on the SE official page. First off I uploaded the two 12 digit codes given to me on my receipt to the PSN and still couldn't play it. That was because unknowingly to me, my PS4 did not upload the licenses I was entitled to from my PSN purchases. It took me a few hours of forum searching and one unanswered trouble ticket to SE to find on my own, with no warning of this issue whatsoever. That's fine, I'm a capable adult and I'm relatively resourceful. Three days of outstandingly fun gameplay later, I'm looking forward to getting back on, and.... "No valid service account is available to play FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn". It's been 36 hours and I just finally got an acknowledgement that my trouble ticket that I put in for this error has been received and I should get a reply "within 2 days".

    Now, I'm a firm believer that any game that doesn't work should be default receive a "0" ranking. But I was having such a good time with it, and I'm legitimately sad that this issue has happened that I had to be real and come to an approximate middle ground for my rating. Apparently many people who bought this game from the PSN in Europe are having this problem and a few people have actually gotten through to SE and received a work around. I have not. So in conclusion, do your research. From what I understand, most people who bought physical copies are not having this problem. People who bought the game from Amazon and a few other places found work arounds. I'm one of the few that cannot. I encourage you if you are an MMO and/or FF fan to play this game. Like I said, when I was actually in the world, I was enjoying it much, much more than I anticipated. Just don't end up like so many of us who have put money and time into this product and are victims to SE's customer support.    … Expand
  13. br3ndanp
    Jul 29, 2015
    0
    I got the demo a few weeks and STILL can't connect to servers, or download the new patches. I'm just glad I didn't pay 20 bucks for this heap of garbage.
  14. 2Sword
    Jan 24, 2016
    4
    So red flag number one is that it's made by the post Feb 14 update Square Enix which means you have to make a Square Enix account which is impossible since the account management system sucks and is unusable so that sucks, fortunately my friend let me use his account so whatever. The customer service is beyond bad, to the point where there is no point, pre-endgame community is as bad asSo red flag number one is that it's made by the post Feb 14 update Square Enix which means you have to make a Square Enix account which is impossible since the account management system sucks and is unusable so that sucks, fortunately my friend let me use his account so whatever. The customer service is beyond bad, to the point where there is no point, pre-endgame community is as bad as the Dota 2 community (which is possibly the worst out there excluding the LoL and CoD community's) but their still nice enough to pay their respects to a player who passed away which is beautiful. Servers outside of the US are **** enough said. The worst thing about this game is the gameplay, it's INCREDIBLY generic especially in the endgame where the dungeons are beyond **** PvP is practically non existent. If this game didn't have the Final Fantasy name it wouldn't sell at all. Playing with your friends is really fun, but that's a staple in all MMO's.… Expand
  15. Gertol
    Apr 10, 2017
    1
    A great MMO RPG that gets completly destroyed by the last (or one of the last) quest of the game. While u want to watch the story the other players which are many levels above u rush it and u wont fight for a whole hour (its realy around a whole hour) and the end gets completly destroyed. ty square enix for the worst quest of the game.
  16. jake_siege
    Jun 4, 2021
    0
    Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.
    Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.
    Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.
  17. cheradon
    Mar 6, 2020
    1
    the the startup content is lack laster.
    the interface managment is bad and made for pc but sucks on PS4
    the interface is badly adapted it adjustement with gamepad work very badly. the combat feels lazy 4 button combo. that it becomes boring the payment option is credit cards euro only the sounds are missing on important content. the mouse support that they use for managing he    the the startup content is lack laster.
    the interface managment is bad and made for pc but sucks on PS4
    the interface is badly adapted it adjustement with gamepad work very badly.
    the combat feels lazy 4 button combo. that it becomes boring
    the payment option is credit cards euro only

    the sounds are missing on important content.
    the mouse support that they use for managing he interface is horrendous.
    this is the forced start up expierence on ps 4
    and the account link system feels bad as well
    seriosouly just play it on pc, due its bad port to PS 4
    and its launcher feels like a crashing flash game

    and the start up quest text after 20 min became repetetively boring that it just became no read and click click click move on.

    compared to the PS 4 elderscrolls online version it feels like walking threw a sewer.
    due to this bad port. feels this game is stuck in playstation 2 era.
    .due to wrong curency for subscribtion its overpriced.

    please devs fix the issues and give the consoles version some love and make it better. and bring it into the year 2020 where the content does not feel like an uninteresting grind skip for the start up at level 1+
    for pc the current system is accept able but for console it needs some needed polish and love.    … Expand
  18. PstGmr
    Jul 6, 2021
    0
    Review with the new trial: unplayable. 8 hours sunk in, haven't even gotten a fight yet. Ryzen 5950X - RTX 3090 - Connection 750-ish down 85-ish up. Not my system's issue.
  19. silencer
    Apr 29, 2019
    4
    A bad port from PC to console. The UI is clearly meant for M+KB, and playing with controller is a nightmare. The quests are run of the mill, so is the combat. Nothing to write home about other than it being a final fantasy game.
  20. BostonKreme
    May 3, 2020
    2
    Game is fun, but the customer support is terrible. Had a gamebreaking bug that could be fixed by a GM, instead the "development team" had to look over it before giving me a sub lvl30 quest item that hindered me from advancing. Going to lose at least a week of gametime for no reason, all because of the bureaucratic mess that is SE customer support.

Awards & Rankings

12
#12 Best PS4 Game of 2014
36
#36 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2014
30
#30 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 35 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 33 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 35
  3. Negative: 0 out of 35
  1. Gamer.no
    Aug 26, 2014
    70
    A solid, safe and well-made port to the PlayStation 4. Pretty visuals, hours of gameplay and solid combat makes this one of the best massive online games for console to date.
    Read full review
  2. The Digital Fix
    Jun 19, 2014
    90
    By adhering to the cookie-cutter conformity of MMO tropes, A Realm Reborn doesn’t attempt anything wholly new but shines in its familiarity.
    Read full review
  3. Games Master UK
    Jun 7, 2014
    86
    The best Final Fantasy game in years and the finest MMO you can currently play on a console. [July 2014, p.72]
See all critic reviews »