Warriors of Light can finally explore Eorzea on the Nintendo Switch 2. On Tuesday, Aug. 4, Square Enix finally released Final Fantasy 14 on the hybrid console-handheld. For the most part, players report that things are going pretty well!

This marks the beginning of what Square Enix is calling a one-month early access period for Final Fantasy 14 on Switch 2. During this time, players can enjoy everything the critically acclaimed MMORPG has to offer just as they would on any other platform. Square Enix will not enforce the game's subscription requirement during the first month on Switch 2. Regardless of whether you are a new or returning player, you can enjoy Final Fantasy 14 on Switch 2 entirely for free during the early access period.

There is a caveat to this good news. When the early access period does end, subscriptions will be required and there's a special Nintendo tax. Typically, Warriors of Light pay for a single subscription that works for all platforms the MMO is available on. The Switch 2 version of Final Fantasy 14, however, will require its own subscription, even for those who have active subscriptions already.

To mitigate the extra cost, Square Enix is offering Switch 2 subscriptions at half price for players with existing subscriptions. Furthermore, players do not need a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to play the online game. The complete edition of Final Fantasy 14, which includes all currently released expansions, is also on sale for a limited time at a discount of 30%. Though if you are just curious to try the MMO, start by downloading the free trial. Once you purchase the game in any way, you can't use the free trial without creating a new account entirely.

Even with all the extra hoops to jump through on Switch 2, players are reporting that the game is running very smoothly. Some Warriors of Light, eager to test out just how much the console can handle, went directly to the Limsa Lominsa Aetheryte Plaza, one of the consistently busiest locations in the game. In handheld mode, the Switch 2 was able to perform admirably in this rendering gauntlet. If performance was players' biggest worry before the Switch 2 release, today's launch has assuaged those concerns. Most reactions on social media are just sharing their awe that the game runs as well as it does.

That isn't to say the launch has been without hiccups. Some players are posting excessively long download times. While the game's 117 GB is nothing to sneeze at, waiting over a dozen hours for the download to complete seems excessive. Of course, this could be caused by individual network issues and not a platform problem. The biggest issue players are facing is getting the game to work with existing accounts.

There are already a couple posts on the Final Fantasy 14 subreddit asking for help troubleshooting the complex setup process on Switch 2. Hopefully these are just growing pains of launching the MMO on a new platform and Square Enix will sort it out soon enough. The game is technically still in an early access period on Switch 2. Players can follow a detailed guide on how to set up the game on Switch 2 on the Final Fantasy 14 blog.

Overall, feedback has been resoundingly positive for the Switch 2 launch. At the very least, it gives curious players who have never tried the beloved MMO a perfect reason to finally see what all the fuss is about before the Evercold expansion is released in January.