There was a time when the free trial of Final Fantasy 14 was not very generous. When I started playing in August 2014, it was a mere two-week trial capped at level 20. Then, three years ago, an endlessly talked-about trial was offered that allowed me to play the entirety of "A Realm Reborn" and its first expansion, "Heaven's Word," up to level 60. That's already hundreds of hours of play completely free of charge, and this trial version will be even better.

As revealed at this weekend's Las Vegas Fan Festival, Final Fantasy 14's next patch will incorporate the game's second expansion, Stormblood, into the free trial. Along with it, the level cap for the free trial will be raised to 70, as well as the playable jobs added in the expansion: the Red Mage and the Samurai.

This is ...... It's a ridiculous amount of game with zero monetary investment. It will take 200-300 hours just to complete all the story, dungeons, and raids. Less if you skip all the cutscenes, but I think half the charm of "Final Fantasy 14" is in the story and dialogue, which is constantly being improved, albeit sometimes stiff. If you're so inclined, you can easily squeeze even more hours out of it for free by raising all the available jobs to level 70.

Stormblood is my least favorite expansion in the series. If you like Final Fantasy 12, you'll love the 24-player Ivalice Alliance Raid, and after this expansion, the dungeons really start to have a cohesive vision; Steven gave this expansion a 92 in his Stormblood review, so it's still very much worth It's time.

Even if you're not a big fan of MMOs, Final Fantasy 14 is worth a shot. Over the past couple of years, a lot has been done to make the game more enjoyable for solo players who might be a bit shy or reluctant to team up with others. Many of the dungeons in A Realm Reborn can be cleared with NPCs, but it can be quite time consuming, so it is always recommended to overcome your worries and play with real people. That said, there are a variety of ways to play, so it's worth a try. [One should keep in mind that there are some limitations, given that it is a free trial. But if you just want to get your feet wet and get things done, those are mostly avoidable problems if you spend the first few hundred hours in the game.

Patch 6.5 will be available in early October, which is also when the free trial expansion will be implemented. We Final Fantasy 14 regulars will update our copies in preparation for that time.