By now, if you’re a Final Fantasy XIV player, you’re sick of the copypasta that starts, “Have you heard of the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV?” But loathe as I am to invoke a meme that’s long, long been run into the ground…it’s actually relevant again. Final Fantasy XIV is out on the Nintendo Switch 2 today. And if you’re one of the folks interested in trying the critically acclaimed MMORPG on the go, you may be tempted to buy one of the versions that’s now on sale at 30 percent off.
But you shouldn’t. Because, as the meme is so fond of reminding us, there’s a free trial available. And over the years, as the game has grown through expansions, the free trial expanded too. Now, instead of just getting A Realm Reborn and Heavensward and being able to play up to level 60, you get access to Stormblood and Shadowbringers too, bringing the character level cap up to 80. The freebies also include access to all the job classes released with the expansions: Machinist, Astrologian, Dancer, Dark Knight, Red Mage, Gunbreaker, and Samurai.
After you’ve reached the end of Shadowbringers, the next purchase step is the Final Fantasy XIV Complete Edition which includes the latest expansions, Endwalker and Dawntrail. Once you purchase any license for the game, you get 30 days of subscription time for free before you’ll be forced to kick out money for a monthly subscription. Players who have an active subscription on another platform will have to buy a new one (at half price) for the Switch 2, and a separate license. But one perk of playing FFXIV on the Nintendo Switch 2 (and the Playstation 5 for that matter) is that you don’t need to pay for an additional online subscription to play like you do on Xbox.
The free trial does come with certain restrictions. For example, chat commands are limited, you won’t have access to everything in the online store, you’ll be allowed a maximum of 300,000 gil (in-game currency), and a big one— you won’t be able to create your own party but you can be invited to a party or join one in the dungeon queue. Check out the full list of what’s allowed and what’s not here to plan you free-trial trip through Eorzea accordingly.