Is Bard currently fun to play?

I recently got the game but haven't been able to make much progress due to not being able to decide what job to go with first. I planned healer originally but looking at their job guides, the lack of DPS variety bother me so I gave tanking a shot. Not as bad as I though but it still puts me on edge being front and center and I don't play games to feel stressed. Maybe I'll revist it another time. So I started looking at DPS classes. When I asked about a job that had good mobility, okay damage, nice looking gear and animations, and more than like 1 spammed ability for ST or AoE (not even sure any DPS have that last thing though, it was just the thing I noticed with healers that I disliked) Also preferably (though not needed) a good job story and either Cloth or Leather armor. The main things that were suggested are Bard and Machinist, but I lack the ability to play the latter plus I prefer the style of bard more.

I've seen a fair few complaints about bards current state though. It seems like a lot of people are upset about the loss of utility and about how Apex Arrow is not that good among other things. Are these complaints something that entirely taint the class or is it still fun to play? Especially for someone who has never experienced any previous form of the class.

I think the class is fun to play for anyone new to the series. It's a matter of taking a traditionally supporty class and removing what iconically makes a bard a bard. That doesn't mean the class isnt fun. It's just more akin to a mobile Archer now than a song slinging buff bot. I played it a bit after launch and enjoyed it quite a bit even though my iconic abilities were gone. I thought the QoL changes were great. Less chaos going on and more anticipateable use of CDs.

If you like the asthetics and style, play it. It's still fun imo.

P.S. I've been a bard main since 2.0 and changed to DNC/MCH mostly because I wanted something new to try not because I don't like the changes.

Fun is subjective, however for me personally I absolutely love Bard (ranger). The new iteration of the job fits exactly what I have always wanted since day one, a mobile physical damage ranged class that uses a bow. Which can still support the party with secondary utility abilities. I understand this is not what the "Bard" role traditionally fills however I always felt it was misguided to have your "archer" class transition into a "bard" to me it was always a mismatch from the onset. I personally enjoy the current iteration far more.

Moving away from the whole having utility/support vs not discussion. The job itself plays beautifully regardless, the new changes in shadowbringers made the rotation so much more fluid and fun and far less aggravating due to bad RNG. It is a fact paced non linear rotation with fun elements of RNG that make the rotation never feel static, stale or stagnant. Other jobs can start to feel calculated and repetitive due to the linear nature of their rotation where every button press is predetermined. My only critic of bard in shadow bringers is the new signature level 80 ability and gauge leave a lot to be desired and can definately be improved upon.

The job also gets more fun the higher level you get. At 70 it feels amazing and is super fun and at 80 with all the quality of life changes brought by shadowbringers just elevates the playstyle and element of fun for me personally. With all that said those are just my personal opinions. The only true person that can determine if you will enjoy the class is yourself, I would definitely suggest tying out the class with the mindset that the job that becomes more fun and complete the higher levels you get. It starts of a bit slow but quickly ramps up into a fact paced fun rotation that feels rewarding when executed properly. The job does require keeping track of a bunch of stuff and being reactive to procs and such so keep that in mind as that might impact your enjoyment of the job.

So, Bard is basically a DPS and support hybrid that cycles through songs and has a lot of OGCD abilities that all generally synergies with other abilities in it's toolkit. Though, it is currently said to be at odds with it's own lore (singing for the party and keeping up moral) because of the changes to remove synergies and designing it to be in between DNC and MCH, which removed several key support skills that were the most consistently used and added in two offensive abilities that one is really underwhelming and the other is just bad. Oh, and a lot of changes to the battle system like the harder animation lockouts make a lot of it's abilities just feel really yucky than in Stormblood, which is basically the best version of it. It just so unpolished right now when you compare both of them, but still really fun if you delete shadow bite and apex arrow and not too sensitive the current lack of polish and quality in the gameplay like career bards and astrologians in this expansion

For me I was never much of a BRD fan, but have had it levelled and got it to 70 on an alt in SB and really liked playing it because it flowed nicely, the songs helped feel more, well, like a bard. From retrying my level 70 BRD in ShB, in terms of how it feels to play, very little seems to have change because my rotations are more or less the same with a couple of minor differences.

However, the effects have changed and how BRD benefits the party as changed and are less supporty with more of a DPS focus, which I know not everybody is happy about. However, I still find it enjoyable from a gameplay standpoint.