Note:This retrospective is heavily subjective and comes purely from a new casual MMO player first and a long time Final Fantasy fan second so some of the things I might mention about my experience may not apply to others.
Before I start recounting my experience with XIV so far I wanna first go back to what led me to play it.
From 2013 up to 2017,my frustration and disapointment with Square Enix and how they handle the Final Fantasy brand grew larger and larger until it reached its peak with the release of Final Fantasy 15 in 2016.After that I legit stopped buying Square Enix games for a while.
During this time I kept hearing about XIV a lot ever since it's relaunch with 2.0/A Realm Reborn.Then I started watching some videos of ARR and Heavensward from youtube channels like SomeCallMeJohnny and ProJared.I watched Johnny do a livestream of the Binding Coils of Bahamut with this FC friends and that peaked my interest in the game to a new height.I planned to start playing 14 since 2017 but I was a bit intimidated at first by it's nature as an MMO and the subscription fee,that and Overwatch was my go to online game at the time.
But after I quit Overwatch,I mustered the courage to try out a free trial in March of this year and I really liked it,tho I didn't start my sub until June since I was busy with my MastersDegree midterms and finals but I did watch documentaries on XIV during that time.I started as a DPS Dragoon since that was my favorite job in Final Fantasy.And while the queue times for DPS were annoying and I hated the padding in Coerthas leading up to Garuda,I had a blast with ARR.
But it's in Heavensward where my love and admiration for the game was solidified.Sure some toxic players will exist in any online game,but most people I met,especially from the FC I was in,were very helpful and kind.Heck when I got my job crystal for Dark Knight,a fellow FC player almost instantly gave me a nice starting set of armor when he saw me near the market board close to his house.After that I continued my journey through Heavensward's MSQs and the Alexander raid.I got so engrossed and addicted to the game in HW that sometimes I would play for 7 hours straight.Heck there were moments in Heavensward where I legit shed a tear....that didn't happen to me in a FF game since FF6 and 7....(to be continued in the reply cuz I exceeded word limit xD)
My perspective as a new player who started in 2018
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10-13-2018, 08:16 AMMetalSnakeXI1My perspective as a new player who started in 2018
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10-13-2018, 08:17 AMMetalSnakeXI1
...And it was when I reached the solo room leading to the Final Steps of Faith where you see Nidhogg on the other side of the bridge while Dragonsong is playing in the background is when everything clicked together for me.This is when XIV became my favorite Final Fantasy game
I could go on with my thoughts on Stormblood but this is getting too long as it is so I'll save it for later.
To reiterate on my opening note earlier,this is heavily personal opinion so I don't expect everyone to share the same feelings as I'm.
Sure the game isn't perfect,not by a long shot and there are some legit complaints that Square Enix absolutely need to address as we transition from Stormblood to the next expansion but,for me at least,I'm enjoying the game way too much that the issues didn't affect me much but as I said I'm relatively new so a veteran's experience might differ a lot more.
From June up until this thread.I put well over 415 hours into the game in less than a year,for some other games it took me years to reach that number but I got so addicted to it I spent my entire summer on it and my free time on the two following months after it.XIV also,if a bit indirectly,helped my mental health a lot this year especially in comparison to last year when my depression was at its highest.
While I trust Yoshi P and his team more than any other in the company,I hope Square Enix gives more support and enough resources to the XIV team as the years go by and I hope they don't horribly mismanage it like the recent non-MMO entries in the Final Fantasy franchise.This game means so much to me and as long as Square Enix gives it the care and polish it deserves then I'll keep supporting it.
Thank you for reading through my very very long rambling if you made it this far.This is something I've been wanting to share with others ever since I was working on my Heavensward review during my free time and I wanted to let it out before the later patches for SB roll out.
Have a good day everyone -
10-13-2018, 11:21 PMFhaerron
You can after you wrote your post, cut half of then post it and then go to edit your post and paste the other half of your text. The initial post has a limit of 3K characters but you can edit it to post unlimited amount of characters.
I actually loved FF 15 even though FF 3,4,7 and 10 are my favorites and 7 being my ultimate number 1 I did really loved finally playing 15 after 10 years of waiting. There were some things I didn't really liked like how the world became smaller as you progressed and after a certain point there wasn't even an open world anymore. I also didn't really liked that certain chapter. The final chapter and last boss fight was also disappointing to say the least.
But all in all I did quite enjoy my time in the game, I spent oer 300 hours in the game before I even beat it because I loved exploring so much and all that farming. I also really loved that hidden jump puzzle dungeon, did it together with a friend on voice chat to see who would finish it first, spend a good 15 hours in there.
Just really wish the combat was much harder and some boss fights different and also more mechanic intense.
I've got the royal edition upgrade and also bought the royal version on my PC but I haven't had time to play it again so I haven't had experienced the changes in that yet. Also, I still have to do Prompto & Ignis DLC, Gladio was the only one I did.
Anyway, enjoy your 14 adventure. HW has on one of the best story moments, SB has also a pretty nice story though I won't say more because of spoilers. -
10-14-2018, 12:05 AMMetalSnakeXI1Don't worry about spoilers I'm caught up to the most recent MSQ patches except for Prelude in VioletQuote:
Originally Posted by Fhaerron
sorry my impressions felt a bit outdated since I meant to post this way before I went deep into Stormblood -
10-14-2018, 03:21 AMFhaerronOh that's nice, how do you like SB story? And what's your fav so far out of the 3?Quote:
Originally Posted by MetalSnakeXI1
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10-14-2018, 03:41 AMEdax
I loved the story of Heavensward so much, I even bought the poster and framed it on my wall.
(not actually a picture of my framed poster)
https://i.imgur.com/lBd84Jm.jpg
While the story of Stormblood isn't finished yet, it is still a disjointed mess. The poster is quite indicative of that. Lyse is the most prominent on the poster and is one of the least important character of the cast. You also have Yugiri front and center of the poster, she is also one of the least important character of the cast. Even the warrior of light has been shoved to the side (although that is accurate to the Stormblood story).
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/07...g?v=1509900043
I think this poster reflects Stormblood a bit better, reflecting a multiple personality disorder the expansion kind of has with too many characters and no true focus but still very pretty to look at though.
https://img.finalfantasyxiv.com/t/a7...png?1503644360 -
10-14-2018, 12:51 PMMetalSnakeXI1While I like Heavensward more,I still enjoyed Stormblood a lot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Edax
I do agree that it feels somewhat disjointed since they decided to resolve both the plots of Doma and Ala Mhigo all in one expansion compared to how HW centered around Ishgard,but at the same time in my opinion,it kinda gave a better scope regarding the reign of the empire and how much of the world their ironfist is reaching rather than have them be just in Eorzea.
That,and while I love HW like I said before,Zenos is just a much better villain than Thordan could ever hope to be(Honestly Nidhogg for me is the true villain of Heavensward) -
10-14-2018, 02:20 PMEdaxWhat did you like about Zenos?Quote:
Originally Posted by MetalSnakeXI1
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10-14-2018, 09:13 PMKirsten_RevThis was easily the best moment of FFXIV for me, as well! It didn't cement it as my favourite FF game - it's surpassed by FF7 (my first) and FFXI for me - but it was a really well-done climax.Quote:
Originally Posted by MetalSnakeXI1
I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the game, and I hope it lasts. Alas, I'm afraid it's no longer appealing to me all that much. I mostly stick around because it's a nice activity I can share with my significant other, and I have a house that I enjoy decorating. I remain hopeful for 5.0, however: I think the community has become more vocal, and I'm hoping SE is taking it to heart with their development plans. Some original and diverse content would go a long way toward revitalizing the game for me.
In the meantime, enjoy your time in Eorzea! -
10-15-2018, 12:04 AMMetalSnakeXI1First,how he was set up as a villain.Quote:
Originally Posted by Edax
Before that when we saw the main villains of ARR(Love Gaius too) and HW,they do give them sometime sure but you by the time they meet you in combat they never seemed to pose a challenge to the Warrior of Light storywise....that's more apparent with Thordan whom despite all the interesting history and build up behind him and the Knights of the Round gets a pretty easy and disappointing boss trial.
Zenos establishes himself right from the moment you meet with him in Rhalgar's Reach,yes it's a solo fight you meant to lose but it happens very early on and he's the only solo duty enemy to be 10 levels higher than you by default and your attacks do nothing against the terrifying Resonance power he wields.That right there sets up the mood for Zenos as this intimidating powerful figure whom you're gonna be working your character's butt off throughout the game for your eventual confrontation with him at the end.And it concludes gameplay wise with pretty fun battles in Ala Mhigo's palace and is crowned by his battle as Shinryu which,in comparison to Thordan and Gaius/Ultima Weapon,is a decently challenging fight that does teach you some mechanics you'd encounter in later story patches rather than (Go throw yourself at the boss repeatedly until he dies)
Second,his presence and performance.Sure he might lack some of the intrigue Gaius had from 1.0 up to ARR,but for me he makes up for it with his presence.Right after the battle in Rhalgar's Reach you start to see how Zenos's rule has affected both Ala Mhigo and Doma in different ways from his control over Fordola and her skull unit,how he crushed the resistence in Doma during his time as a viceroy there before he appointed Yotsuyu....not to mention the fact that you do encounter him again in Doma so he's not just waiting at the end game for his imminent defeat but he does get involved himself.Sure his endgoal is self-centered compared to the previous two villains since all he cared about is finding someone strong enough to give him a thrilling battle,but he does so well as a villain for me to be dissapointed with him.
And his performance is so hammy and over the top he almost owns every scene he appeared in thanks to his voice actor Luke Allen-Gale in the English version.
Maybe it's just me but when it comes to ranking villains from XIV,,Nidhogg would be first,Gaius and Zenos would be tied(each for different reasons),followed by Nael Van Darnus in third and finally Thordan in last -
10-15-2018, 12:37 AMEdaxEhh, I thought the setup solo fight with Zenos was lame. You'd probably get killed by any boss quicker if you tried to solo them, especially Thordan. Heck, you could have made ol' Captain Madison from Sastasha your nemesis, since this game isn't really set up for the WOL to fight bosses one on one. We've been conditioned from day one of the game to get at least 3 others to help out in a big fight.Quote:
Originally Posted by MetalSnakeXI1
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20161114020157 -
10-15-2018, 05:51 AMMetalSnakeXI1Lol.It's just my personal opinion.Quote:
Originally Posted by Edax
You do get solo boss-esque battles in HW and Stormblood,some of which you don't even have NPCs with you like Estinien's boss battle in the dragoon questline so no I kinda disagree here xD
Again I'm relatively new so maybe that's why I don't have much hatred towards Stormblood.....maybe that'll change in the future but right now I did like most what I got from it except Eureka which was bleh -
10-15-2018, 06:10 AMEdaxWell, I only finished HW at the end of patch 4.0 because I wanted a chance at getting a Shirogane house (boy was that a let down), so I ended up blowing through Heavensward and Stormblood's story at lightning speed back to back. Granted, Stormblood's story isn't over with, but I could really feel the difference in the quality of storytelling since I experienced both expansions within weeks of each other.Quote:
Originally Posted by MetalSnakeXI1
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10-15-2018, 06:23 AMMetalSnakeXI1I took my time with it honestly.I started in June with ARR but didn't get to Stormblood until September.I took my time doing things like sidequests,job quests,side storylines....etcQuote:
Originally Posted by Edax
Yes Heavensward is better than Stormblood but I still think Stormblood is excellent so far as I observe it with all the background and lore I gathered from ARR and HW and seeing things unfold as I keep playing.It ain't perfect by any means,but personally I'd preserve my judgement till the final SB patch rolls out
And even then,both HW and SB in their own way fix a lot of major issues I had with A Realm Reborn as both are better than ARR in almost every way.
ARR might be the revival of XIV but you can see the remnants of 1.0 lingering in more ways than one.Especially the excessive amount of padding especially in Coerthas and the fact that 90% of the scions barely did much with the exceptions of Yshtola,Thancred and maybe Papalymo and Lyse.Minfillia in particular was very infuriating for me as a lot of the tasks she gave you in ARR felt like busy work which added to the excessive padding I mentioned earlier storywise.Something that both HW and SB fixes as those two don't have anywhere near as many stretches of nothing happening like ARR did -
10-15-2018, 07:36 AMRamesses
Personally, I like both expansions for several unique reasons and the very slight edge still goes to 3.0. Heavensward is very dear to me for several reasons... the story, the high fantasy art, Estinien's evolution, new Au'Ra race, Ysayle and Alphy's resolve, more on the Allagans, so many elements...plus I love dragons.
But what really did it for me was that Ishgard finally got to open to us five years after many of us began playing... and it did not disappoint. Plus, that was the expansion in which I took my endless time with everything. I found many of the characters superbly written and it was as if the Dev team finally found their inner creative strength by riding on the success of ARR.
Stormblood on the other hand has it's excellent charm and I have always loved Far Eastern influences, perhaps I liked it was well because I've also been eager to understand the Garleans. There are a lot of things I'd like to list out, debate and compare between the two expansions but it would take the whole afternoon.
Fact is, in all fairness to the Dev Team, the 4.0 patches have been solid and there have been quite a few cheers for the story but there is something within the SB tale that's a little less dense than HW and I attribute this to the fact that the team wants to maintain a sense of mystery as we head into 5.0. -
10-15-2018, 03:17 PMMetalSnakeXI1Yeah,I've been loving the recent SB patches but it's clear they're holding some crucial stuff back for the next expansion which,at this point,is most definitely gonna be in GarlemaldQuote:
Originally Posted by Ramesses
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10-21-2018, 04:41 AMSpirothQuote:
Originally Posted by Kirsten_Rev
I will never understand this mindset. Progression System is not the only type of content in existence.
Diadem, Lord of Verminion, Eureka, Deep Dungeon, Polis/Canals-styled Maps, Fashion Report, Climbing Puzzles, Wondrous Tails, Reconstruction, Airship/Submarine Voyages, Custom Deliveries, Spearfishing, Squadron and Command Missions, Orchestrion Rolls, Ultimate Raids... all these and many more are entirely new content that were not there until after Heavensward was released.
On top of everything else that existed since 2.0 being expanded.
There are tons of original content, what you are probably feeling is fatigue from playing something for thousands of hours. For all that is holy, we have a good, stable thing going here, I hope the development team does not succumb to this extreme minority's mindset and change the whole progression system for people that are fleeting in this realm and will want them to change it again when they pour thousand of hours again. And again. And again.
I hope they keep playing to their strengths, and let fleeting people... flee... they will return for the main attraction (Story) either way.