I do not know how to properly make a review on this game because i'm hugely biased and obsessed... Making alt characters is a bit unhandy, because of the main quest required to unlock basically everything, and i'd say the game encourages to do litterally everything with all existing classes on only one character, which is surprisingly very doable (unusual in MMORPGS and very welcome !)
The base game (50 first levels roughly) is like worldbuilding, and some stuff may have sometimes been a bit long or facepalm-worthy (it starts reaaally manichean and such), but the further you go in expansions, the more awesome it becomes. Shadowbringer my beloved... (don't buy it by itself, if you buy Endwalker you have SB and previous expansions along)

As a Final Fantasy game ? I played a lot the 8th and 9th ; at first the MMO setting made it feel a bit different, but let's be honest, final fantasy games were always a bit different from each others and involving grinding levels and stuff, so it's actually very fitting and the main quest featuring a lot of solo content makes it sit perfectly well in the series (Not Like Some Other MMO Games, Yes I'm Talking About You Elder Scrolls Online You Feel Wrong) and there's also a Ton of more or less hidden references to previous games, sometimes quite directly yet well integrated in the lore ! (okay some old re-explored boss themes sometimes feel gratuitous even if very welcome, but so many original songs are worth making me listen to them in loops for days anyway.) Of course there has been many final fantasies so far and you won't necessarily get the refs to all of them, like 5th and 6th and all.

There's potentially several things to tweak in the parameters to make the game really comfortable and less confusing, but once it's settled it feels like home.
I gotta precise i've been introduced to the game by a friend who already had lots of affects and tips about, i don't know how it's like when trying it alone without any guidance. It's true that several things may not be very instinctive, i guess it can feel like lots of old games on that.
Some content is very hidden, like i thought i had finished exploring most endgame stuff and realised i had missed whole areas with several raids and huge stuff... whole reputations and all. Quite different gameplay stuff too ! And some very original like my Beloved Blue Mage who starts with 1 spell (water.) and must steal every monsters and bosses abilities to become deliciously overpowered !

Also buying on steam instead of the official website links your account to steam permanently and makes all nonsteam buyings incompatible so maybe don't do that, it's unhandy for nothing.
And don't buy anything before trying out the free trial that lets you play for years without subscription until level 70 which is the two first expansions whole. Which is a LOT of content, doable totally unpaid, you can like, max more than a dozen classes without counting your money time.

I do not know how to properly make a review on this game because i'm hugely biased and obsessed... Making alt characters is a bit unhandy, because of the main quest required to unlock basically everything, and i'd say the game encourages to do litterally everything with all existing classes on only one character, which is surprisingly very doable (unusual in MMORPGS and very welcome !) The base game (50 first levels roughly) is like worldbuilding, and some stuff may have sometimes been a bit long or facepalm-worthy (it starts reaaally manichean and such), but the further you go in expansions, the more awesome it becomes. Shadowbringer my beloved... (don't buy it by itself, if you buy Endwalker you have SB and previous expansions along) As a Final Fantasy game ? I played a lot the 8th and 9th ; at first the MMO setting made it feel a bit different, but let's be honest, final fantasy games were always a bit different from each others and involving grinding levels and stuff, so it's actually very fitting and the main quest featuring a lot of solo content makes it sit perfectly well in the series (Not Like Some Other MMO Games, Yes I'm Talking About You Elder Scrolls Online You Feel Wrong) and there's also a Ton of more or less hidden references to previous games, sometimes quite directly yet well integrated in the lore ! (okay some old re-explored boss themes sometimes feel gratuitous even if very welcome, but so many original songs are worth making me listen to them in loops for days anyway.) Of course there has been many final fantasies so far and you won't necessarily get the refs to all of them, like 5th and 6th and all. There's potentially several things to tweak in the parameters to make the game really comfortable and less confusing, but once it's settled it feels like home. I gotta precise i've been introduced to the game by a friend who already had lots of affects and tips about, i don't know how it's like when trying it alone without any guidance. It's true that several things may not be very instinctive, i guess it can feel like lots of old games on that. Some content is very hidden, like i thought i had finished exploring most endgame stuff and realised i had missed whole areas with several raids and huge stuff... whole reputations and all. Quite different gameplay stuff too ! And some very original like my Beloved Blue Mage who starts with 1 spell (water.) and must steal every monsters and bosses abilities to become deliciously overpowered ! Also buying on steam instead of the official website links your account to steam permanently and makes all nonsteam buyings incompatible so maybe don't do that, it's unhandy for nothing. And don't buy anything before trying out the free trial that lets you play for years without subscription until level 70 which is the two first expansions whole. Which is a LOT of content, doable totally unpaid, you can like, max more than a dozen classes without counting your money time.