I started playing this game a couple of months ago because of the ShB hype and I've finally gotten to it. This has been a long journey and I have a bit left to go now, but I've finally gotten through SB. I doubt anything I say here is gonna be too original at all but screw it I've already written a bunch of shit down so might as well post this.
My character's progression throughout FFXIV
Short image gallery of screenshots taken through SB + Some additional thoughts
Previous thoughts about HW Tl;dr, incredible step up from ARR, finally felt like a proper Final Fantasy and it really made me feel like Ishgard was home.
Story
In terms of story, SB definitely did feel like a major step down from Heavensward.
I think everyone already knows the problems regarding Lyse so I doubt I need not say much about her other that the game told you that she grew into a capable leader without even doing anything close to showing you it.
The Garleans themselves were still as cartoonishly evil as before, possibly even more so than in ARR, with only Fordola and Yostuyu showing anything close to nuance. Zenos felt like he came from a different story entirely, and I felt that the story had to drive around his "super strong mega cool long haired pretty boy" character rather than being organically part of the conflict. He should have been built up before SB as a threat, because as it is now he feels like he was thrown in solely to give the WoL a physical challenge, rather than driving the plot like Nidhogg, Thordan, and even the hammy weirdo Gaius.
I felt that the 4.0 story in general was quite on the weak side as well. For the most part, the story repeated the exact same formula for every area: arrive in area-> see the spirits of the inhabitants broken -> do a bunch of meaningless fetch quests -> big confrontation-> the spirits of the people are rejuvenated and now support you. And honestly it felt tiring. You save each region so quickly and in the same manner, and there's very little feeling of surprise and emotional investment because of it. My favorite parts of the 4.0 MSQ were the short Kojin section, because a group of beings that literally worship money is a fun concept, and the Azim Steppe because Magnai, AKA the Virgin Au Ra version of F/GO's Ozymandias, and Sadu, AKA the big angry punch girl who would make you call her daddy, were really a breath of fresh air.
The patch quests, however, for the most part were more interesting, 4.1 especially. 4.1's treasure hunting beginning captured the feeling of adventure and excitement that pretty much disappeared throughout SB's constantly grim and formulaic story, while Fordola's dilemma of being forced to feel guilt through the echo was an incredibly interesting situation (which I wish was focused on more, because she pretty much disappears after 4.1). And it all was capped off with the sickest solo instance of all time against Lakshmi where gameplay and story both combined to give one of the most satisfying fights in FFXIV, along with Raubahn getting the spotlight he should have had in SB's base story.
4.2-4.3's story was a tad predictable, but I'm not gonna lie and say I didn't feel things midway through Tsukiyomi's fight and when Wayward Daughter began playing. 4.4-4.5 felt like an almost absurd escalation after the relatively uneventful previous patches, but at least it feels like we're finally getting to the end to the Garlean conflict, which has always been the worst part of FFXIV, especially now that we have Varis showing that he's just kind of lunatic rather than an intelligent man doing what he believes is right to save the world from Primals.
Anyways, my favorite part of SB wasn't even part of the MSQ. It was the DRK storyline. Holy shit that thing is amazing, if not a bit heavy-handed. It's such a personal story of self-reflection and loss, and it's one of the few times where the WoL actually feels like a character of their own. I wish it was actually required for the story even, it's that important for characterizing the WoL and making them something more than a big giant powerlevel. The Level 70 quest was the goddamn sickest holy shit I love you Ishikawa.
Gameplay and other things
One of the most intriguing parts of SB is seeing how much the actual "game" part of FFXIV has improved. I remember seeing that first stack marker during Nidhogg's fight and having my mind blown, but now that just seems like just another mechanic now that we've got things like rotational AoE's, QTEs, DDR battles, Shinryu's endless barrage of attacks...and whatever the fuck all the Omega Savage mechanics murder you with (I barely got through O4S, O8S, and O12S unsynced, and that was after several nights of failed parties each). I'm not too much of a fan of MMO gameplay in general, but for the first time I've actually had fun playing the game thanks to the crazy-ass bossfights and mechs they've introduced in SB. So super props to the dev team for stepping it up.
Music-wise, Soken still managed to be incredible. I thought nothing could beat Revenge Twofold as a regular boss theme after hearing that play while fighting a DBZ battle with Diabolos, but Triumph gets my blood pumping and me going "STORM OF BLOOD, BORN OF BLOOD, OF OUR FALLEN BROTHERS" nearly every time. It's wonderful. Wayward Daughter, as I said before, is beautiful, as is Suzaku's theme, while the FF5 and FF6 remixes in the Omega raids were fun too.
That being said, I felt that there was a bit too much fanservice in the expansion. The first two portions of the Omega Raids were literally just "go fight these famous bosses from FF5 and FF6" with very little attempt to place it in the world, whereas the Ivalice raids were a little more relevant thanks to Dalmasca's relevance to the Garlean conflict, but also pretty much felt like fanservice for the Ivalice games.
Going forward to Shadowbringers
What I immediately thought first when I got to the First was just how different it felt. With SB, Ala Mhigo was just more desert, not something too interesting since I started in Ul'Dah which is already lots of desert, whereas Doma felt like any other land inspired by Japan. Compared to Heavensward, which had the Sea of Clouds and the Churning Mists, there was nothing really particularly awe-inspiring about the landscapes in SB. ShB from minute-one already throws you into the deep end, with a sky of eternal light, a fantastical forest, the super high-tech Crystallarium, and the crazy monstrous Sin Eaters. The music is somber and the world outside of the Crystallarium feels...quiet. Some of the regions in the Source were already high fantasy and weird, but with the First you instantly feel wrong, like a fish out of water in a warped world. The expansion hooks you in immediately through its bizarre tone in a way that none of the others did.
I've only just gotten through Alisaie's questline as of right now, so all I can really say right now about the actual story is "wow this is some fucked-up Drakengard bullshit." No wonder Yoko Taro decided to collab with FFXIV. This stuff is right up his alley.
Anyways, I now have a ghost watching me sleep, a man who is clearly from the Crystal Tower raids telling me he isn't that guy (bruh, you have that super distinctive mouth and jawline stop lying to me), and nightmares from seeing a woman turn into a goddamn abomination before my eyes. So, consider me sufficiently hooked and interested to see where things go next.
tl;dr SB had a lame story, more interesting patch content, amazing gameplay design improvements, a bit too much fanservice. ShB seems cool from what I've seen.
submitted by /u/Deadeye117
[link] [comments]
Continue reading...
My character's progression throughout FFXIV
Short image gallery of screenshots taken through SB + Some additional thoughts
Previous thoughts about HW Tl;dr, incredible step up from ARR, finally felt like a proper Final Fantasy and it really made me feel like Ishgard was home.
Story
In terms of story, SB definitely did feel like a major step down from Heavensward.
I think everyone already knows the problems regarding Lyse so I doubt I need not say much about her other that the game told you that she grew into a capable leader without even doing anything close to showing you it.
The Garleans themselves were still as cartoonishly evil as before, possibly even more so than in ARR, with only Fordola and Yostuyu showing anything close to nuance. Zenos felt like he came from a different story entirely, and I felt that the story had to drive around his "super strong mega cool long haired pretty boy" character rather than being organically part of the conflict. He should have been built up before SB as a threat, because as it is now he feels like he was thrown in solely to give the WoL a physical challenge, rather than driving the plot like Nidhogg, Thordan, and even the hammy weirdo Gaius.
I felt that the 4.0 story in general was quite on the weak side as well. For the most part, the story repeated the exact same formula for every area: arrive in area-> see the spirits of the inhabitants broken -> do a bunch of meaningless fetch quests -> big confrontation-> the spirits of the people are rejuvenated and now support you. And honestly it felt tiring. You save each region so quickly and in the same manner, and there's very little feeling of surprise and emotional investment because of it. My favorite parts of the 4.0 MSQ were the short Kojin section, because a group of beings that literally worship money is a fun concept, and the Azim Steppe because Magnai, AKA the Virgin Au Ra version of F/GO's Ozymandias, and Sadu, AKA the big angry punch girl who would make you call her daddy, were really a breath of fresh air.
The patch quests, however, for the most part were more interesting, 4.1 especially. 4.1's treasure hunting beginning captured the feeling of adventure and excitement that pretty much disappeared throughout SB's constantly grim and formulaic story, while Fordola's dilemma of being forced to feel guilt through the echo was an incredibly interesting situation (which I wish was focused on more, because she pretty much disappears after 4.1). And it all was capped off with the sickest solo instance of all time against Lakshmi where gameplay and story both combined to give one of the most satisfying fights in FFXIV, along with Raubahn getting the spotlight he should have had in SB's base story.
4.2-4.3's story was a tad predictable, but I'm not gonna lie and say I didn't feel things midway through Tsukiyomi's fight and when Wayward Daughter began playing. 4.4-4.5 felt like an almost absurd escalation after the relatively uneventful previous patches, but at least it feels like we're finally getting to the end to the Garlean conflict, which has always been the worst part of FFXIV, especially now that we have Varis showing that he's just kind of lunatic rather than an intelligent man doing what he believes is right to save the world from Primals.
Anyways, my favorite part of SB wasn't even part of the MSQ. It was the DRK storyline. Holy shit that thing is amazing, if not a bit heavy-handed. It's such a personal story of self-reflection and loss, and it's one of the few times where the WoL actually feels like a character of their own. I wish it was actually required for the story even, it's that important for characterizing the WoL and making them something more than a big giant powerlevel. The Level 70 quest was the goddamn sickest holy shit I love you Ishikawa.
Gameplay and other things
One of the most intriguing parts of SB is seeing how much the actual "game" part of FFXIV has improved. I remember seeing that first stack marker during Nidhogg's fight and having my mind blown, but now that just seems like just another mechanic now that we've got things like rotational AoE's, QTEs, DDR battles, Shinryu's endless barrage of attacks...and whatever the fuck all the Omega Savage mechanics murder you with (I barely got through O4S, O8S, and O12S unsynced, and that was after several nights of failed parties each). I'm not too much of a fan of MMO gameplay in general, but for the first time I've actually had fun playing the game thanks to the crazy-ass bossfights and mechs they've introduced in SB. So super props to the dev team for stepping it up.
Music-wise, Soken still managed to be incredible. I thought nothing could beat Revenge Twofold as a regular boss theme after hearing that play while fighting a DBZ battle with Diabolos, but Triumph gets my blood pumping and me going "STORM OF BLOOD, BORN OF BLOOD, OF OUR FALLEN BROTHERS" nearly every time. It's wonderful. Wayward Daughter, as I said before, is beautiful, as is Suzaku's theme, while the FF5 and FF6 remixes in the Omega raids were fun too.
That being said, I felt that there was a bit too much fanservice in the expansion. The first two portions of the Omega Raids were literally just "go fight these famous bosses from FF5 and FF6" with very little attempt to place it in the world, whereas the Ivalice raids were a little more relevant thanks to Dalmasca's relevance to the Garlean conflict, but also pretty much felt like fanservice for the Ivalice games.
Going forward to Shadowbringers
What I immediately thought first when I got to the First was just how different it felt. With SB, Ala Mhigo was just more desert, not something too interesting since I started in Ul'Dah which is already lots of desert, whereas Doma felt like any other land inspired by Japan. Compared to Heavensward, which had the Sea of Clouds and the Churning Mists, there was nothing really particularly awe-inspiring about the landscapes in SB. ShB from minute-one already throws you into the deep end, with a sky of eternal light, a fantastical forest, the super high-tech Crystallarium, and the crazy monstrous Sin Eaters. The music is somber and the world outside of the Crystallarium feels...quiet. Some of the regions in the Source were already high fantasy and weird, but with the First you instantly feel wrong, like a fish out of water in a warped world. The expansion hooks you in immediately through its bizarre tone in a way that none of the others did.
I've only just gotten through Alisaie's questline as of right now, so all I can really say right now about the actual story is "wow this is some fucked-up Drakengard bullshit." No wonder Yoko Taro decided to collab with FFXIV. This stuff is right up his alley.
Anyways, I now have a ghost watching me sleep, a man who is clearly from the Crystal Tower raids telling me he isn't that guy (bruh, you have that super distinctive mouth and jawline stop lying to me), and nightmares from seeing a woman turn into a goddamn abomination before my eyes. So, consider me sufficiently hooked and interested to see where things go next.
tl;dr SB had a lame story, more interesting patch content, amazing gameplay design improvements, a bit too much fanservice. ShB seems cool from what I've seen.
submitted by /u/Deadeye117
[link] [comments]
Continue reading...