Edit No3:

DO NOT buy for Steam Deck
You will pay for a sub and won't be able to play often.
They broke Steam Deck again as they do routinely. And XIVLauncher doesn't work either so Steam Deck users can go ♥♥♥♥ themselves.

If it wasn't a sub MMO I'd say it's worth the hassle but paying nearly $15 a month for this is a joke.

Edit No2:

For anyone who may be experiencing a similar issue to mine and happens to stumble upon this review.

XIVLauncher (via flatpak) worked beautifully. Downloaded much faster than the native client and is significantly more stable. (I had no luck with the Lutris launcher)

-----

they break the launcher every couple of months for steam deck

then you have to spend an hour tinkering to get it working again

once it's working you can't download the game until you subscribe

once your subscription is ticking you get to wait two hours to download

all to play sluggish hyper-homogenized wow where you cant have interesting classes because every single one has carbon copied abilities that you never use because you're watching 200 hours of cutscenes

Edit: I'd like to amend the part where I said it takes an hour to fix the game. This is incorrect.

It has been an entire day and I still cannot get the game playable on any version of Proton. The version I was using no longer loads the launcher, while any newer version crashes when I hit play.

I've tried a fresh install and deleting the proton prefixes after trying to repair through the launcher. I am now repairing a fresh install. Apparently the launcher forgot to download 50 gigs.

If you're wondering how I have 900 hours on this game, 28 of those hours are from downloading and redownloading from today ALONE

Other than this game, I can't think of a SINGLE MMO off the top of my head that doesn't allow me to make sure the game is functional before I subscribe. WoW, ESO, SWtoR all allow me to download the game and launch prior to having an active subscription. But with FFXIV I have lost an entire days worth of game time due to troubleshooting that is impossible to do without an active subscription

stay the ♥♥♥♥ away if you're a Steam Deck user

Edit No3: DO NOT buy for Steam Deck You will pay for a sub and won't be able to play often. They broke Steam Deck again as they do routinely. And XIVLauncher doesn't work either so Steam Deck users can go fuck themselves. If it wasn't a sub MMO I'd say it's worth the hassle but paying nearly $15 a month for this is a joke. Edit No2: For anyone who may be experiencing a similar issue to mine and happens to stumble upon this review. XIVLauncher (via flatpak) worked beautifully. Downloaded much faster than the native client and is significantly more stable. (I had no luck with the Lutris launcher) ----- they break the launcher every couple of months for steam deck then you have to spend an hour tinkering to get it working again once it's working you can't download the game until you subscribe once your subscription is ticking you get to wait two hours to download all to play sluggish hyper-homogenized wow where you cant have interesting classes because every single one has carbon copied abilities that you never use because you're watching 200 hours of cutscenes Edit: I'd like to amend the part where I said it takes an hour to fix the game. This is incorrect. It has been an entire day and I still cannot get the game playable on any version of Proton. The version I was using no longer loads the launcher, while any newer version crashes when I hit play. I've tried a fresh install and deleting the proton prefixes after trying to repair through the launcher. I am now repairing a fresh install. Apparently the launcher forgot to download 50 gigs. If you're wondering how I have 900 hours on this game, 28 of those hours are from downloading and redownloading from today ALONE Other than this game, I can't think of a SINGLE MMO off the top of my head that doesn't allow me to make sure the game is functional before I subscribe. WoW, ESO, SWtoR all allow me to download the game and launch prior to having an active subscription. But with FFXIV I have lost an entire days worth of game time due to troubleshooting that is impossible to do without an active subscription stay the fuck away if you're a Steam Deck user