Developer/publisher Square Enix (Creative Business Unit III)

Format PC, PS4, PS5 [tested]

Release Out now

Finales can be difficult to pull off, not least when a developer and players don’t want a good thing to end. While any long-running series runs the risk of lapsing into dreary familiarity, Final Fantasy XIV has gone from strength to strength with each expansion. It would perhaps be disingenuous to simply call them expansions: each, from Heavensward to Shadowbringers, has stories, destinations and setpieces to rival any standalone RPG. With Endwalker, then, Square Enix’s Creative Business Unit III pulls out all the stops to give its players the Moon and then some, capping off its long-running story arc with all the grandeur a Final Fantasy game can muster, while leaving the door ajar for more adventures.

Of course, while developers like to claim that the latest iteration of a game is the perfect entry point for newcomers, that cannot be said for Endwalker, which requires investment in the stories told and knowledge of the characters built up over years – just as it is worth reading The Fellowship Of The Ring ahead of The Return Of The King. Which isn’t to say the setup here is convoluted. As the Warrior Of Light, you and your band of heroes, the Scions Of The Seventh Dawn, take on their greatest challenge yet: The Final Days, an impending apocalypse that doesn’t only manifest itself physically in blood-red skies and natural calamities, but also in people’s mental state. In classic RPG fashion, your initial objectives are rather straightforward, since the crisis appears to be connected to a number of mysterious towers that have suddenly appeared throughout the world. These see you exploring new territory, from the South Asian-inspired tropical isle of Thavnair to the doorstep of your enemies in harsh, wintry Garlemald.