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Ishgard, I would love to say Ala Mhigo to the heavens due to what we do get to explore and see but compared to everywhere else it got the short stick and a damn shame it did, Ishgard just feels so much better because it got the attention it needed.
ARR - Coerthus Central Highlands, the music, the size of the area, only downside was Whiterim had no Aetheryte despite quests continously taking you there
HW - Dravanian Hinterlands, lovely views
SB - The Lochs, the area is rich in history, my only annoyance is the map shows an area you can never go to :/
ShB - Arm Arang, music is so good here, really sells edge of the world
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Ul'dah, because it's mah home. The other two city states have their interesting thing, but I'd still pick Ul'dah due to enjoying Thanalan and the theme and intrigue of Ul'dah's woes (big gil, evil lalas, etc). Pirate / pirate accent and theme isn't really my tea and Gridania makes me think of Windurst and that just makes me want to play in Windurst lol. So Ul'dah is my favorite beyond just being my personal city state, but as much fun as it is to talk down the other areas in a jesting way I don't really dislike the other areas- just like mine more.
ARR: Thanalan, all of it's really nice- but something special with the desert view in the Southern Thanalan dunes (looking out past the edge of the zone). That said there are a lot of other areas that are awesome, not just in Thanalan.
HW: The Dravanian Hinterlands
StB: Azim Steppe
ShB: The Tempest, for that one reason.
But I want to note there are many more regions I really enjoy than just that, like I thought the verticality of Khoulsia was wonderful and I'm very happy they played with that concept, or how nice looking at the remnants of Nym are in La Noscea, just loads of great places.
Environment engagement is a pretty big thing for me, and I hope they continue to experiment with how they both present and engage players with it- I love FF environments in general and I think their graphic/design/sound and music teams are really good at it, and I hope the game design side can continue to help emphasize the environments too. Like I imagine environments as a character in each FF game, and I'd probably argue that it is consistently my 'favorite character' of each game. Sure Cloud or whatever is 'cool' but the environment (as a whole unit cross multiple departments) is what really holds the story for me, the glue and vehicle that moves everyone through it, so I hope that department / concept is consistently challenged and given the tools it needs for engagement. Just because I don't like leaving things vague, although vaguely "keep going!" is probably enough, I might say when talking about gameplay (not just general design) like I think SE might have some value in examining wild life that isn't always an enemy (not every squirrel needs to be evil lol), bringing back some behaviors of creatures to make the environment feel to more depth (like Snurbles used to heal people), puzzles and intrigue of the area always enjoyed (the mist of FFIX, or more current example with the owls in the forest area of ShB), hidden places, might even bring class fantasy into this like dragoons being able to leap to unique areas or MRD/WAR breaking a boulder (some feature overlap might happen with like MIN being able to do that too, or if you're on your chocobo and feed it a green), utilizing the shared fate system further like to other content and as well to a tell a story of change for the zone (it says we make it safer but there is no evidence of that as far as I could tell), maybe re-examining the jumping content concept (like more so to how GW2 did it with checkpoints), without making open world content an exclusive solution (like old day FATE farming was) adding more content to the the space (like chocobo hot and cold or revamping the leve system to be more intriguing/valuable, but perhaps less spammy).
Revamping the value of old beast tribes, like I suggested perhaps relating to bringing a more empowered share fate system (to all and old content) and as well they can help smooth out old relic content further (rather than solo farm one dungeon 57 times in a row for light you might do a few slyph quests until you purchase an upgrade that builds a flowing moonlit like fountain from a tree, where you can soak your weapon in once a day for a very big light bonus on your next dungeon). Or like if they added cosmetic merit system (ideally with some nice sphere/crystal/license board influences for that 'ff' vibe), and like FATE's could do something really unique where you always get merit exp even if you're not at cap, or sometimes give you bonus merit exp, such that is some added value (of course at cap you can do roulettes, like a normal merit system works, the purpose is not to make one option absolutely terrible in comparison to another).
None of that goes on the visual / audio side of design but that's I think that one is more case by case / personal and to theme of each expansion, so like I said with the last zone being a real treat or how you could tell they were pushing their system for Khoulsia scale, hope they keep pushing the envelope (like if they might get a space that could get a lot of value out of high object density like some of our older zones might be argued they had, but doing that in our current large zone system).
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Gridania. I like trees and nature. Plus, it is the least packed of the 3 starter cities.
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Ishgard-most fantasy my prefered spot
Limsa- the second prefered cuz pirates
I like the gaint town(forgot its name without logging on ran by the ghost /in shadowbringers
the others i either hate or meha about
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Gridania. It's easy to find your bearings in.
ARR: Most of the Shroud I like. Except for the Sylphlands, for obvious reasons.
HW: Dravanian Hinterlands.
SB: Azim Steppe. By far the most memorable area in the expansion.
ShB: Rak'tika Greatwood. LA-HEE!
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ARR: Probably Ul'dah or Limsa, because the 2.0 storyline actively delves into their societal issues which makes them feel far more 'alive' to me than Gridania ever could. Where as with Gridania you actively need to do Job or Side Quests to scratch into that unpleasant underbelly and even then the story just kinda forgets about it when it's convenient? Ul'dah and Limsa just feel like real places I could actually have the potential to visit if I ever got dumped into a fantasy setting. Gridania is basically trying to be discount Rivendell while also occasionally going 'no wait we have issues too you guys, LOL SIKE WE FORGOT ABOUT THEM' in order to keep up that 'calm, peaceful' forest image. If the story surrounding Gridania didn't yo-yo so much I'd probably like it the most.
HW: Idyllshire, if only because I actively enjoyed watching it be rebuilt and because everything is generally in a convenient location. I love Ishgard's lore for similar reasons to the above stuff, but I /HATE/ running around the city even with Aetheryte access.
SB: Here is where I'd put Ala Mhigo, if the dev's actually bothered to make it a proper hub. No, I'm not salty. No sir, not I. (Probably Kugane)
ShB: Eulmore wins for convenience, Amaurot wins for atmosphere even if it suffers from the same issue Ala Mhigo did. Though in this case it's understandable because it's fated to eventually disappear. We don't talk about the Crystarium and it's heinous use of spacial design though I will give it props for being pretty.
In terms of just flat out zones with cities IN them?
ARR: Mor Donuts/Dohna
HW: Dravanian Hinterlands
SB: The Lochs.
ShB: Nothing compares to the Tempest.
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I like Rabanstre the most
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Gridania. It's so peaceful and quiet, even gameplay wise, it's not as congested on Balmung as Limsa and especially Ul'dah are, so it's where I go to relax without having to worry about the chat log being spammed with innane drivel.
It's also where Enki begun her adventurer journey before the Calamity, and after too. She may have been born in Ala Mhigo, raised in Ul'dah, became a citizen of Ishgard and lives with her wife in Kugane, but Gridania will always hold a special place for her. :)
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ARR: Limsa Lominsa. I'm terribly biased, though, since I grew up next to the ocean.
HW: Ishgard. I like the aesthetics of the city and I've always been fond of snowy zones in games. Idyllshire doesn't do much for me since I don't really like Goblins.
SB: Kugane. The place is very exotic compared to Eorzea so it gets points for that outright. Visually, I think it's the most beautiful city to be added so far. That it's neutral on the world stage makes it much more interesting than the others, too.
ShB: Eulmore. I loved the creepy atmosphere when first we visit. Opulent and decadent in the face of an apocalypse is an aesthetic I adore.
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The City State of Jowston! Jk
Mine's Ul'dah
Zones:
ARR: Coerthas
HW: Azys Lla
SB: Ruby Sea
SHB: I'll get back to you on this.