FF14 Is Looking At Ways To Onboard Newcomers For Evercold

Final Fantasy 14 Is Looking At Ways To Make Its Story Less Of A Commitment For Newcomers Published Jul 30, 2026, 11:28 AM EDT Joshua Robertson is an editor for TheGamer, having working in news, guides, features, and reviews since 2022. They have written thousands of news stories, ranging from industry-breaking events, to smaller, more personal community pieces, and have covered several high-profile showcases such as The Game Awards and Nintendo Directs. Joshua is considered an expert in soulslikes, horror, JRPGs and everything Final Fantasy, having written extensive coverage for massively popular online titles like Final Fantasy 14. Final Fantasy 14 is many things, but one thing that can’t be argued is that it’s absolutely massive. Now that it’s been over 13 years since the game's release, we have five whole expansions to get through (with a sixth one over the horizon), and depending on who you ask, you’ll need to get through the entire story for a satisfying payoff. Without side quests and other optional content like raids and crafting, you’re looking at a solid 300 hours to get to the end of Dawntrail and access endgame content, potentially even more. For many people that are interested in what Final Fantasy 14 has to offer right now, such as the next expansion’s FF7 and Evangelion crossovers, it’s an unfeasible time commitment. Final Fantasy 14’s team has wrestled with this problem for a while now, with director Yoshi-P having remained adamant that the game’s story is part of the journey, and that he wants fans to experience the entire thing, but with Evercold fast-approaching — and the expansion’s commitment to respect a player’s time - he now appears to have softened his stance. Yoshi-P Is Trying To Make Starting FF14 Easier In a recent press interview at Berlin Fan Fest (thanks PC Gamer), Yoshi-P was asked whether he’s considering making the onboarding process easier for new players, and while he gives barely anything away, he does say that the team is currently working on a couple of methods to make the game’s story and content less daunting. "The first one is something that we will carry out at Evercold's release or before Evercold," says Yoshi-P. “The second one involves a system, but we're currently reviewing the possibility of this.” “We're still considering feasibility and addressing whether we would be able to introduce the system. And for these things that I'm talking about, there's a non-zero possibility of us being able to implement it for 8.0. So there is a possibility that we could make it.” It will be a bit of a shame that some people that just want to play new expansions and join in on the hype will miss out on one of the longest sagas ever told, but I guess you do have to have a bit of wiggle room in today’s less patient games industry. That being said, I’d still recommend people play through the entire game if they can, because the emotional impact is one of a kind. Released August 27, 2013 ESRB Teen / Blood, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact Developer(s) Square Enix Publisher(s) Square Enix Engine Originally the Crystal Tools engine, but currently it's a custom engine using parts of the Luminous Engine. Genre(s) MMORPG, Adventure, Open-World