It would take me three years to recap Final Fantasy XIV, which is how long it’s had its claws in my soul. I love it and I can’t recommend it to anyone in good conscience.
Why? I don’t know. FFXIV is a way of life. Yes, there’s a story (really good ones, especially Heavensward, Shadowbringers, and Endwalker). Yes, there’s world building. Yes, there’s challenging high level content and also really casual content, and everything else in between.
But there’s also… crafting. And gathering. And fishing. And that’s where the trouble begins.
FFXIV is my first and only MMO and the world is what hooks you. You can step away from the story and fall into the world of the marketplace, raking in cash in your niche of the month. You can work towards fishing achievements (only 300 fish left for me to catch!) You can grind for resources as a botanist or a miner. Lots of games are hailed as open world games, but because FFXIV shows you the boundaries of the world, you can really appreciate everything that’s possible. At least, that’s how I see it. I miss the story, miss the characters between expansions and patches, but the FFXIV world keeps me coming back.