Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker logo

In darkness seek joy. Surrender not to sadness, and see beyond despair. Walk free, and bear the light for others to follow.

Beaten: December 2021 (twice), once more in September 2023


Endwalker was marketed as the end of the storyline begun in A Realm Reborn, which caused a lot of buzz. How were they going to wrap up this decade-long story? What mysteries would finally be uncovered? What was going to happen?

I more or less inhaled Endwalker in the first few days after its release. Where before I'd been methodical about doing all the sidequests along the way as I played, for Endwalker I did absolutely nothing but the main story until I finished it, too eager to know how it would all end up.

Obviously, to go into detail spoils a story four expansions in the making. I wasn't entirely sure how to feel about Endwalker the first time through, or the second. It was a much heavier story than I expected, with its primary themes being hope and despair taken to their logical conclusions. There are parts that are much more science fiction than fantasy. It was not the game I expected, and yet the more it sat with me, I couldn't see it going any other way.

Personally, I still rank Shadowbringers higher, not because Endwalker is lacking but because Shadowbringers more closely aligns with my personal tastes in storytelling. I do think that this is a story worth experiencing regardless.

Favorite character

As I've already talked about all of my favorite characters in the previous expansion pages, let's instead focus on one of Endwalker's few new characters: Venat. The choice she makes in Endwalker is one I find absolutely fascinating, and no matter how many times I go back over the cutscenes I'm compelled all over again.

Favorite music

Honestly, pretty much all of the Endwalker OST is phenomenal. Let's highlight some favorites:

Favorite location

Thavnair, no contest. It is easily the most beautiful zone in the entire game. Visit at sunrise or sunset and just look around. It's stunning.

Gameplay thoughts

Endwalker didn't have a ton of gameplay changes from Shadowbringers, and most of the job changes were for the better. I love the two new jobs, sage and reaper; sage is one of my favorite healers to play. My main class is still red mage, but I use summoner for raiding because it's very easy. I've done a lot more raiding this expansion, though it's been with a more casual group than I had wanted.

Most of the optional battle content in Endwalker ties up loose ends from the rest of the game. The 8-player raids finally dig into the character of Lahabrea, the major antagonist from A Realm Reborn who quite needed the new depth. The 24-player raids involve the Twelve, the gods of Eorzea who play a significant part in the world's setting. There are no optional trials this time around; they're all a part of the main story in the patch quests, and involve the Four Fiends from FFIV.

Rather lacking in this expansion, unfortunately, was repeatable battle content. Usually relic weapons fill this niche, but they were unbearably easy to get. New difficult four-player dungeons were introduced, along with a more casual version that served as an interesting puzzle for a dozen runs with little further replay value.

There's also Island Sanctuary, which is an uninhabited island that you can develop through... spreadsheet management. It's an acquired taste. At least the outfits were good.

Without a Bozja or Eureka to fill my time, I spent most of the expansion chasing long-term goals — completing 2,000 mentor roulettes, chasing hunt marks, collecting old relic weapons. At this point, with the next expansion somewhere on the horizon, I have completed almost every major goal I had. Maybe next expansion I'll finally get my pteranodon...

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