I know we're not even halfway through the expansion, but now that we've experienced at least the beginnings of every piece of side content for the expansion, I want to shout out how good their stories are shaping up to be.
It feels like Square Enix has put a lot more effort into these storylines than ever before. We've obviously had great storylines in the past (such as Coils), but to me it feels like the storytelling is pound for pound thoughtful and cohesive in a way it never has before. Even now with only the first acts really out of the way, I'm genuinely impressed content like Eden, Sorrow of Werlyt, and Save the Queen.
Now, obviously we can't judge the writing in full yet. But the reason I think the side content this time around is so good lies specifically in its setup - namely, its relevance and its gravitas. Every piece of side content barring (so far) YoRHa feels genuinely important to the overarching storyline. Nearly all of it focuses on exploring major characters from the MSQ in more depth, or fleshing out the lore in important and immediately relevant ways. Things like Ryne's development in Eden, the setup for Gaius' storyline in Sorrow of Werlyt, and the deep dive into Cid's backstory in Save the Queen have been (IMO) MSQ-worthy moments of character writing.
Storylines like Four Lords and Shadow of Mhach were (arguably) good, but at the end of the day were pretty throwaway, offering worldbuilding but not really tying into the bigger picture. While YoRHa is similar, every other piece of content down to the Relic questline feels more immediately relevant to FFXIV's story, and I think that's really cool. YoRHa, meanwhile, is still way too much in "prologue mode" to judge, but I personally have really enjoyed its actual writing thus far, a lot more than something like Four Lords or Mhach.
Of course, I think the writing itself for the rest of the content has also been super good, but I know that it's Reddit and people can and will have quibbles with individual stories (I'm sure the comments here will have people saying that Eden sucks because they hate Gaia or Sorrow of Werlyt sucks because it's too anime and so on and so forth). But even if you aren't a big fan of the writing itself, I think it's worthwhile to at least appreciate the setups and concepts and how ambitious they are.
Basically, I personally continue to be impressed by these side stories. Every time new content comes out, my expectations story-wise are surpassed. Even this expansion's Relic questline has something to offer to the greater narrative of FFXIV, and I think that's really awesome.
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It feels like Square Enix has put a lot more effort into these storylines than ever before. We've obviously had great storylines in the past (such as Coils), but to me it feels like the storytelling is pound for pound thoughtful and cohesive in a way it never has before. Even now with only the first acts really out of the way, I'm genuinely impressed content like Eden, Sorrow of Werlyt, and Save the Queen.
Now, obviously we can't judge the writing in full yet. But the reason I think the side content this time around is so good lies specifically in its setup - namely, its relevance and its gravitas. Every piece of side content barring (so far) YoRHa feels genuinely important to the overarching storyline. Nearly all of it focuses on exploring major characters from the MSQ in more depth, or fleshing out the lore in important and immediately relevant ways. Things like Ryne's development in Eden, the setup for Gaius' storyline in Sorrow of Werlyt, and the deep dive into Cid's backstory in Save the Queen have been (IMO) MSQ-worthy moments of character writing.
Storylines like Four Lords and Shadow of Mhach were (arguably) good, but at the end of the day were pretty throwaway, offering worldbuilding but not really tying into the bigger picture. While YoRHa is similar, every other piece of content down to the Relic questline feels more immediately relevant to FFXIV's story, and I think that's really cool. YoRHa, meanwhile, is still way too much in "prologue mode" to judge, but I personally have really enjoyed its actual writing thus far, a lot more than something like Four Lords or Mhach.
Of course, I think the writing itself for the rest of the content has also been super good, but I know that it's Reddit and people can and will have quibbles with individual stories (I'm sure the comments here will have people saying that Eden sucks because they hate Gaia or Sorrow of Werlyt sucks because it's too anime and so on and so forth). But even if you aren't a big fan of the writing itself, I think it's worthwhile to at least appreciate the setups and concepts and how ambitious they are.
Basically, I personally continue to be impressed by these side stories. Every time new content comes out, my expectations story-wise are surpassed. Even this expansion's Relic questline has something to offer to the greater narrative of FFXIV, and I think that's really awesome.
submitted by /u/likedointoomuch
[link] [comments]
Continue reading...