Heavensward UNLOCKED

Well, I've finally managed to finish 1.X & 2.X and arrived at Ishgard! Now first off, let me say that I didn't expect that to happen at the banquet (No Spoilers Of Course ;))
What transpired really kicked things off for me, and that was the first time I felt something for this game; excitement that is. It was told to me that the story (Base) was great and it's what moved me to finish it and see what all the excitement was about. I'm sorry, but it wasn't there for me. Maybe it was because I had high expectations for it and was let down. Hence, I'm here now to gain reassurance that HW is better; much better in fact than the base.

Any extra comments or remarks are well appreciated. I'm an open-minded, reasonable individual so I enjoy reading (not listening at this point) other people's thought and opinion.

HW story kicks off very high and fast, I love it, much much better than ARR. But I have to admit while it rush out the gate fast and furious it slow down along the way. Im waiting for the end of 3.xx story to compare it with ARR. I love the ending to a ARR. Not sure if HW can top the big shocker to one of my favorite character.

Congratulations on reaching Heavensward!

I don't think it's an uncommon opinion that the storytelling in FFXIV improves significantly as time goes on. In fact, I often tell friends starting anew that the game is something that grabs you almost in spite of itself at the beginning, because the early story is weirdly paced, poorly voice acted, and very fetchy. It takes quests that could have been used elsewhere (say, to flesh out Gaius and his Tribuni) and uses them on endless busywork. Its final story dungeons, while actually really fun when done properly, are designed in such a way that forces players to choose between cutscenes and combat, neither of which are as satisfying on their own.

In fact, I distinctly remember being let down myself - the game had been sold to me as among the better Final Fantasies of yesteryear, and at that time, I was used to judging FF games primarily on their stories. Judged solely on its story, A Realm Reborn is a bunch of kind-of-interesting ideas executed kind-of-poorly. What did grab me was the world: even broken up as it is, its sense of life and history drew me in very early on, as did the game's clear enthusiasm to show me that world and tell me its stories. Then, before I knew it, I cared about the story and its characters as well and all was good.

Enjoy Heavensward. It's a much more focused, much tighter experience. It's not perfect either, but its flaws are much easier to overlook than A Realm Reborn's, and if Stormblood improves on it to a similar degree then I think we're in for something very special come June.

I will agree, I did enjoy HW moreso than ARR.

I really didn't start paying attention to the story until you meet the Scions. I got interested more when it came to the Garlean Empire raid, etc. Ending shocked me as well.

HW starts quick but has some drag on it due to quests and such (and how big the areas are for exploring vs ARR). That said, HW has some really awesome scenes and dungeons.

I agree and disagree. Version1 had the best story, ARR was bogged down by a bunch of fetch quests 1-40ish so it made the story kindda choppy but it got incredibly good as you went through. For me HW story was a dud until recently, being as hyped as I have been to get into Ishgard since 2010 at original release it was utterly disappointing.

So if you don't really care too much for the HW story at first, just keep pushing through because it does get better, mostly around 3.4ish imo.

Now what you need to do as you work on HW is complete all the floors of Coil. I would be surprised if you couldn't find others who would be willing to help you through. Coil imo has one of the best stories in the game hands down, so if you love lore and a good tale, definitely supplement your time finishing the turns of Coil as you go through HW. It was also change the dialog slightly toward the end if you complete it.

The problem with 2.x's story is that it feels very "monster of the week"ish. "[X] beast tribe is going to summon / has summoned their primal, go stop it!" This continues until Lv45ish, then picks up again afterward until 2.5. There are plot bits simmering in the background, but they don't hit front and center until the climax of 2.55.

3.x doesn't suffer from this. 3.x's main story arc (or rather Heavensward's story arc) began in very late 2.3 and doesn't end until 3.3, and includes an optional denouement quest to reflect on it. The villains are all relateable (some more than others), but at the same time you know you have to stop them. It does suffer from some pacing problems at the climax of 3.0 and 3.3, in my opinion, but overall I found it much more compelling than 2.x's "primal of the week" setup.

4.0's been simmering since pre-1.0, really. With any luck it'll be even better.