It's out. As of today, August 4, Final Fantasy 14 is playable on Switch 2, and unlike a lot of Switch 2 ports this one doesn't ask you to jump through hoops first. There's a free trial live on the eShop from day one, and you don't need a Nintendo Switch Online membership to play the paid version either.
What it costs
The entry point is cheaper than you'd expect. The base version is $19.99 and gets you the original game plus the Heavensward, Stormblood and Shadowbringers expansions, along with 30 days of subscription time. Want everything up to and including Dawntrail? That's the Complete Edition at $59.99, currently on a pre-order sale down to $41.99 until August 13. There's a Collector's Edition too, at $139.99, if you care about the extra mounts and minions.
The catch, and it's the usual MMO catch: after that first free month, this is a subscription game. If you already play on PC or PlayStation, note that Switch 2 needs its own separate sub. Your character comes with you across platforms; the monthly fee, sadly, does too.
How it actually runs
Director Naoki Yoshida has been upfront about the hardware. The Switch 2 build targets 30fps in cities, which is where an MMO chews through a machine hardest, and Yoshida has floated handheld mode as the comfy option for gathering and crafting rather than raid nights. It supports full keyboard and mouse, and even the Joy-Con's built-in mouse trick, so you're not stuck thumb-stalking menus. The download is a hefty 117GB, so clear some space before you commit.
Here's the honest read: a full-fat MMORPG on a handheld was always going to involve compromises, and 30fps in the busy zones is the compromise. But it's the whole game, every expansion available, playable on the bus. For $20 to start, that's a genuinely low-friction way to finally see what everyone's been on about.
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