Final Fantasy 14 Arrives On Xbox Later This Month With Free Open Beta

Tried this recently.
Wanted to get into it, but the UI is huge mess of infinate menu's with no explanation for a new comer as to what does what. I gave up - but I can see theres something decent in there if you can break the UI barrier....

@Kaloudz Its possible I was being thick of course.
But just trying to walk to a mission point was taking me over 10 minutes to figure out, and though you can individually turn them on and off, there appear to be at least 5 menus on screen a lot of the time and this definately spoilt the look of the game.

I did intend to watch a youtube video or something to get a better handle on how to deal with the interface, but in the end I just went and played some more BG3. It had taken 8 days of Emails between myself and Square before I could get a log in to work (your user name on the console must match your Square ID user name or you cant get in).
I'm sure once you are over the teething issues there will be a great world to explore - I just didnt make it past the interface. I do intend to try again.

I will try this, but I hope that they bring the other Final Fantasy games, too.

@Kaloudz The hud display is heavily customisable and practically every section of it can be moved, resized, or even removed completely so you can have it as cluttered, or as neat and tidy as you prefer. There are certain sections that would be highly recommended that you have on display though. The game doesn't really do a great job of explaining that side of things though so it does take a little bit of trial and error to get things how you want.
You can also bring up a main menu that does have a LOT of different options in it but these are separated into categories to make them easier to find. As you progress through and unlock new features there is often a little window that pops up with a brief tutorial to explain what it does so it doesn't get too overwhelming.

When the full game comes out do you buy it or is it a monthly subscription?

Shame that FF14 currently requires an IN game monthly Subscription AND a minimum Gold/Core Subscription thru Xbox. Not sure what the logic is here. ESO hasn't required gold in years with a monthly in-game sub.

@Xbox_Dashboard ESO went "free to play". But you absolutely have to have to have Gold/Core to play it online.

Prior to this it required both.

The reason is Microsoft only removed the requirement on games that had no initial buy in.

So with ESO you have the buy the game before you could subscribe or play. Same with Final Fanyltasy 14. You have to buy it first. Then you have to subscribe to play.

Most of my friends are on Xbox, can’t exactly recommend this game to them with two subscription payments and the software purchase. Ridiculous.

@InterceptorAlpha Incorrect. You can purchase an In-game subscription (that gives you full access to all content without need for individual purchase of expansions) to ESO to bypass the Gold/Core requirements.

@Xbox_Dashboard I'm not aware of anything like that. My experience was quite the opposite. I canceled my ESO+ subscription when I lost live for a little bit because it wouldn't let me play.

Nor does the official website say that. In fact is says the opposite.

As far as I know, or what is documented, ESO+ is simply access to all DLC and crafting bag and an XP buff, without having to buy anything.

That said, if it is now the case due to a recent change, then it is a special exception Microsoft made for a first party game.

@InterceptorAlpha all good. It's been a 'feature' since the game went FTP. Not one many pay attention to tho. I have a particular dislike of Paywalls like Gold and PSN so I tend to find these things. Xbox has weird unique rules for online MMO's. Destiny 2 requires no Gold/Core pay wall and gives full access to the game including all Match-making. Even tho Sony owns Bungie, they still require PSN for matchmaking.

1. Do I need Xbox live?

2. Can I use my PlayStation login on the beta?

@RadioHedgeFund You have to link to your square enix account. It's for brand new players only, if you have PS5 account already linked it won't work. I guess you could start over with a new acc. if you wanted to...

@KayUK You can contact square enix support and change the default square enix login Id for the game. I had to as my old ID did not match my psn account. By default you can only log in with the same user ID. Ive been told its a one off change and they will never change the id associated with my psn ID again, so I've remembered to make a good note of the details this time!

@Titntin Yeh I get that, I was trying to point out that if you've played before, on PS5 or PC and linked an SqEnx account, you won't be able to take part with that account. "The open beta test will only be available to new players who will be playing FINAL FANTASY XIV for the first time. "

@Xbox_Dashboard @KayUK If I remember correctly, only Gold/Ultimate is needed because the game has a free trial that is very generous for first-time players, right? I think it has until level 70 and two of the expansions and no time limit, but this is from memory.

@Banjo- Here's the link. Certainly wasn't my discovery.

https://www.ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-14-requires-game-pass-subscription-to-play-on-xbox

@RedDuck9 Both. The game must be purchased and you must have an active subscription to it.

I feel like this article should've linked the information on The Lodestone. The open beta is only intended for brand-new players as active accounts will not be able to participate in the beta.

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/6227b30652d0a9f45f1faec8efb3e71a8212d258

The game does not appear in the store for me. Does anyone know if this is only available in major regions?

@Xbox_Dashboard I think you’re mistaken. Can you find any proof of this because that sounds completely false. An ESO+ subscription shouldn’t bypass a Gamepass Core subscription. It’s also not F2P, you still need to buy it first. Although strangely enough it’s included with Core which is required to play at all, which makes buying the base version completely pointless and a waste of money.