I REALLY hope you're still a kid with all the cringe shit you post here. I truly hope once you grow up (again, hopefully physically, but if not then definitely mentally) you can reread the comment you made in earnest...because he really did give you all the criticism and input needed. Fucking cringe, bro. It's like I'm on 9gag.
Well...they LITERALLY were at one point, but that was a long time ago now.
Well, obviously - but they're different games and not everything is going to be 1:1 or feel the same.
I was just pointing out what I've felt to be the strongest parallels vs how it's ALSO managed to move in the opposite direction of many "MMO-ification" complaints of the franchise.
It's interesting you say that because this entry isn't particularly "open world". It's actually fairly linear with a focus on the story and characters.
The MMO comparison is still fair though because the zones are very reminiscent of FF14. They all connect to each other and can be re-visited, but you're not really free roaming a giant open world.
Side quests are also 14-like and I don't mean that as a compliment. Go to A to talk to B. Go to C to talk to D. That can mostly be skipped though.