Why do so many textures look like they are from a ps2 game?

[Arrius]

"I'd rather have them work on HD textures than wasting development time on the story" is just a valid of an argument from someone else.

Then you can play many free-to-play titles. They are designed to look good, which is their major selling point. And mostly nothing else.
And they usually don't last long.

I prefer a story-heavy mmo that keeps me invested in the characters and lore. Which exactly works for FFXIV.