Final Fantasy XIV is laden with quests. Some are generic and forgettable, while others will be etched into your minds forever. The game’s quests can lead up to dungeons and raids, or they can simply exist to create memorable experiences for you. Here are my top quests from Final Fantasy XIV.
Potential Spoiler Warning!
Manderville Men
This is one of the weirdest questlines you might ever encounter in a video game. Chances are you will either find it ‘cringe’ or absolutely love it. I have been playing SEGA’s Yakuza games for over a decade and I was surprised to find that kind of humor is included in Final Fantasy XIV.
The Manderville Men questline is very entertaining if you wish to go through all five chapters that follow the main cast of Briardien, Ellie, Nashu, and Hildrebrand. The goal is to prevent a bunch of thefts and solve some riddles along the way.
The Manderville Men questline makes use of kyogen, which is a traditional form of Japanese comedy. Kyogen translates to “wild speech” or “mad words”. It is a stage art that first originated in China and it made its way to Japanese poetry in the Warring States period in 1467-1568 in Japan.
Here’s something that you can hear during the questline:
I’m a Mander-Mander-Manderville man,
Doing what only a Manderville can,
From the peaks of Coerthas to Thanalan,
Mander-Mander-Manderville man…
Remember how I mentioned Yakuza earlier? The action game franchise is known to merge comedy and serious storylines perfectly and this Final Fantasy questline does exactly that. The Manderville Men questline might not be important to the game’s questline, but it definitely is one of the most memorable ones you will run into.
Tales of the Dragonsong War
Tales of the Dragonsong War is undoubtedly my favorite quest in the entire franchise. The questline kicks off with “The Paths We Walk” which you get access to by completing all the story content in patch 3.3. The quest is by no means challenging in any way. But it reminds me of why I first started playing Final Fantasy XIV.
The quest serves as a bridge between the incidents that took place in Heavensward and the future of the world in Final Fantasy XIV. As you progress through the quests, you will go through all of the new areas added in Heavensward and some areas from A Realm Reborn.
Final Fantasy XIV is not just about the loot, the raids, and the endgame. It is in fact the friends we made along the way. Yes I know, it is a meme at this point but the quest truly reminds you that the world we enjoy exploring has been crafted with love and it has characters that we truly begin to care about as we go through all of the quests that have been added over the years. The questline reminds you that you are a part of the world too as much as the NPCs are. The questline ends at the Coerthas Central Highlights where you pay respects to a lost friend.
The Greatest Story Never Told
The Greatest Story Never Told is one of the best quests in Final Fantasy XIV if you are someone who loves puzzles. The riddle-based quest sends the Warrior of Light on an adventure throughout Eorzea where you have to solve a whole bunch of puzzles that can honestly get a little tricky.
One of the best things about the quest is that there are no location markets and you have to figure things out on your own. There is a divide in the gaming world when it comes to “handholding” in games. A part of the community loves on-rail experiences where you know exactly what you need to do and are guided by objective markers and quest guidelines in-game to help you progress quests in a tightly knit experience.
The other part of the gaming world loves little to no instructions and worlds with secrets to discover. One of the reasons behind Elden Ring’s success is its refusal to tell you almost anything. You only know what your end goal is and are guided by lights on the map pointing in various directions to show the way. The Greatest Tale Never Told is somewhat similar in design and it is up to the players to figure things out all by themselves. I thoroughly enjoyed going through the puzzles and figuring things out and I wish more quests like it would get added to the game in the future.
Endwalker
The Endwalker quest that leads up to the dungeon and raid of the expansion is one of the most memorable in Final Fantasy XIV history. It is the only pure combat-based quest on this list and I just can’t get past how entertaining the fights were. You start off in a fight against Zenos Viator Galvus with six Sparks of Hope which serve as extra lives. If you ever take lethal damage, you get healed to full instead. There are tons of mechanics in the fight and you have to be very careful when facing him.
There are two phases of the fight and you have to save up at least one Spark of Hope if you want to beat Zenos in the second half. The quest kicks off in the Dead Ends and you have to confront the Endsinger on the Final Day to commence the fight. After you beat Zenosm you have to speak with your comrades and Tatanu. Patch 6.0 was one of the most content-rich updates but the Endwalker quest definitely made the experience a lot more memorable.
Final Fantasy XIV has content for everyone. Whether you love interacting with NPCs or fighting difficult bosses, there are unique quests catering to all kinds of players. I personally enjoy lore-heavy quests and hidden quests with a lot of complicated puzzles hidden in them. The satisfaction you get after racking your brain as your progress through the riddles and challenges are thrown at you is just too good to pass up.
What are your favorite quests in Final Fantasy XIV? Let us know.
