Palmui's FFXIV Adventures

Over the summer of 2026 I got into a brief binge of Final Fantasy 14. Here is a collection of images that I have of my time there. It was fun but it was also ultimately sort of lonely. It felt more like a book club, where you played the story and met up to talk to other people, except I didn't really have anyone to talk about it. So I stopped playing after a realm reborn. I tend to not be very social online, but somehow I'm more social offiline?

My character was pretty generic. Before I started playing I didn't really think most people were gonna be catgirls, but I was proved wrong. I was honestly surprised, it didn't quite seem that way to me from the outside.

I got really into the side jobs, like cooking, weaving, fishing, etc. It was fun to see the side stories with them. I actually really ended up liking a lot of the story. I had just finished Final Fantasy 12 and started Final Fantasy 10, so I was really getting into a lot of the Final Fantasy lore. I actually couldn't believe I hadn't found the Final Fantasy series earlier, I feel like I missed a lot of the hype.

As for why I chose a Miq'ote, I just went with what I felt the vibe was. I didn't really see my character as myself, so I just did whatever might look fun and a catgirl in the cutscenes was pretty entertaining on its own.

Although I wish the choice of race and class had more of an impact, I had played a lot of skyrim the previous year, and enjoyed how it at least had a subtle influence on gameplay. I ended up using all the free fantasia, but only making subtle changes to my character.

I had a favorite spot, at any campfire, just sitting and enjoying the scene, getting really immersed in the moment. The world was really beautiful, and I actually enjoyed just walking and traversing it.

I also loved all the little details that made the world feel lived-in. It fell flat in some areas, but other areas got me really immersed in the atmosphere.

I also really wanted to try out roleplay but didn't know how to start up a conversation for that. I wanted to visit a maid cafe in the game too but couldn't find any open during my schedule.

In all honesty, I probably won't come back to the game unless I get friends who play it. I did the dungeons but wasn't super interested in them. I tend to enjoy the story and worldbuilding more. But I don't regret the time I spent in Eorzea.