I have played MMO's for most of my life at this point, from free-to-play's to buy-to-play's, to the giant titan that is Blizzard's "World of Warcraft". Yet no game has been able to capture my sense of Awe the same way that Square Enix's "Final Fantasy XIV" has.
The amount of detail and love put into this game's look and feel is of a scale I have seldom seen in any game and I believe that for that alone it warrants a try by any fan of gaming.
I apologize in advance for the frame counter in the top-left corner. These were taken on the spur of the moment and I didn't have the chance to disable it for these shots.
The Royal City of Rabanastre (Raid):
That background might look like a painting/set piece, but moments later we found ourselves fighting on that platform, and dying...
We mostly died...
Kugane, Hingashi (City/Hub):
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FFXIV is one of the very few games that successfully capture the feel of a lived-in city. Many games settle for creating a few houses or huts, with no more than the essential NPC's needed for players to interact with (one great example being WoW's Orgrimmar). Square Enix in the meantime was able to add all of those essential NPC's all the while creating a city that actually looks and feels as such, and without filling it to the brim with enemies and quest objectives (once more, WoW's Suramar is a great example, although there is a proper explanation for why it is so, it is still a shame that its first real city is not enjoyed by players as such, and instead as another questing hub).
Of all the screenshots that I have taken throughout the years, this last one is by far and away my favourite one to date. Taken after glancing at my computer screen towards my AFK'ing character, I don't think I could've taken this screenshot on purpose, and have it turn out as good as it did if I tried. And to me, that is the most important bit. This wasn't forced and planed, it just happened. Gaming could use some more of this.