AAA games have always been expensive. A console new AAA release being 80$ was not at all unusual 20 years ago. The cost of developing games however has exploded in recent years which is why such games are now becoming more expensive, especially if you add DLCs and microtransactions the mix.

Indy games or re-releases of older games are still purchasable for about 30$, depending on title.

As someone else said, the purchase power of the average individual has decreased due to inflation so everything appears more expensive than it used to be.

FFXIV is an excellent game but it is not a final fantasy game per se. It's a completely different genre of game and is much more comparable to games like World Of Warcraft.

I personally enjoy it very much and some of the classic FF plot themes and devices do carry over to XIV but if you're looking for the classic JRPG experience... That's not it.

In that case, yes, FFX would be a better choice.