Final Fantasy XIV

Best: The expanded free trial in which you can play through the entirety of A Realm Reborn and the award-winning Heavensward expansion up to level 60 for free with no restrictions on playtime

Most people who shy away from MMORPGs do it because it feels like there’s an insurmountable barrier to entry in time investment and subscription costs. Final Fantasy XIV removes a lot of that with its free trial, which lets you play several dozen hours of its main story and first expansion. You can play more than enough to know if you want to get involved without dropping a cent, and the free trial has acted as a gateway for so many of the game’s sickest sickos to dip their toes in the water. It’s a ridiculous value, and if it hooks you, you’ve got hundreds of hours left to play.

Worst: The time investment

…on the other hand, Final Fantasy XIV’s time investment to catch up and see the breadth of what the MMORPG has to offer is a lot. The How Long To Beat page for the game marks the Final Fantasy XIV runtime as anywhere from 106 hours to 2552 hours, and some players would likely dispute that lower number. The game is dense, and it’s intimidating, and even a free trial cannot change just how much of a life suck Final Fantasy XIV can be. Sure, if you’re hooked, those hours might fly by, but if you’re a person who’s constantly torn on whether or not they want to jump in, those hour counts are as much a barrier to entry as buying the game and paying a monthly subscription are.