Overall Review of Heavensward: Final Fantasy XIV

[ddwarbird]

Hi Guys,

I have just finished playing through Heavensward and getting my first character up to 60. I originally complained about the introduction of group content into the solo leveling experience (something that has never been tried before in my knowledge and is rare amongst many different MMO's.) however I have come to see this aspect in a positive light because it means there are always a fresh group of people to do lower level content since some characters will want to go back and level a new class and keeps this content accessible to everyone, even rewarding higher level players contribution which makes for a better and happier community.

I have got a Level 60 Summoner so I will only be reviewing from that perspective with some short bullet-points so you are not blinded with prose.

::SPOILER ALERT::

- First thing I noticed was the absolutely BREATHTAKING score for this expansion. It makes me just want to stand in Ishgard to here that amazing blend of instruments, especial that organ... I never knew that organ music could be so good before playing this game. This game has literally the BEST score of any MMO I have ever played and this expansion is no exception.

- I love how Square Enix decided to change the Quest Accept Noise and Quest Completion Noise to fit the theme of expansion itself. Its a small thing but it is still a great touch and really feels true to form with the rest of the expansion.

- Originally I was not keen on flying mounts in general because I feel that, like World of Warcraft did, it takes away the scope of the world and makes exploration somewhat easy. However, I do like the way its been implimented in this expansion, only in the new zones. I really hope that Square keep it this way and do not do flying for the original zones.

- The level progression and gameplay are just incredible in this expansion. I really feel like Square listened to feedback about the slightly wonky quest progression in ARR and have VASTLY improved, nothing feels too long but also it does not feel too quick either for an MMO Expansion. However I did feel a slight dip in quest progression in the Dravian Hinterlands.

- The actual zones for this expansion are actually a really pleasant departure from ARR's zones. When I got this expansion, I expected them to be snow, snow and more snow since it was all Dragon-like and mountainous but there is an impressive amount of diversity, the Sea of Clouds and the Dravian Hinterlands stick out for me as the stand out zones with the Churning Mists a close second.

- The Story, although seemingly rather "obvious" at first, who thought the leader of an Oppressive Religious regime would end up being evil? Is actually pretty awesome and I am loving the references to other games such as the Warring Triad and King Thordon's obvious "Knights of the Round" references. Also the main characters, Alphinaud especially seems much better and less irritating. Great decision by Square to recast some of the voice actors. HOWEVER... why you gotta change Merylweb's voice... she had an awesome voice before, its a small shame.

Overall, I give this expansion 9/10 and I am eager to see what Square can do next because this expansion has really restored my hopes for this game. I am LOVING the new Summoner spells, Ruin 3, Dreadwyrm Trance and Deathflare really FEEL epic when you use them.

So thank you Square for an AWESOME expansion and can't wait to see what's next!

[AnaviAnael]

You can edit your original post to get by the 1000 character limit.

[Kaurie]

Nice positive review. However, I think that it's too difficult to rate the entire expansion if you just reached 60. It excludes all of the end-game, pacing of patches and QoL issues that are persistent. I guess it is up for debate, but I think a review of Heavensward should include:

Gordias normal
Gordias savage
Midas normal
Midas savage
Bismark extreme
Ravana extreme
Thordan extreme
Sephirot extreme
Hildibrand 3.0
Scholasticate
New jobs (DRK AST MCH)
New skills for each new job
All the new dungeons (Dusk Vigil -> Pharos Hard)
Diadem
Frontlines
Novice Network/Hall of the Novice/Mentors
Crafting (red scrips, specializations etc)

as well as things you mentioned such as

Main story
Leveling progression
Flying
Open world zones
Sound and Music
Graphics

as well as QoL concerns both present and absent
API support
Countdown clock on skill timers
Auto-attack icon
Selling from retainers

and then some.

Anyway, glad you are enjoying things!

[ddwarbird]

You can edit your original post to get by the 1000 character limit.

Thank you for the tip, I've updated it now.

[Slappah]

I'm glad you're enjoying yourself but, like the poster above me pointed out, I don't feel like you can rate an expansion based on just having reached level 60.

You still haven't even experienced basically all of what heavensward is so far

And that's not even mentioning the fact that were only halfway-ish through the expansion

[ddwarbird]

I'm glad you're enjoying yourself but, like the poster above me pointed out, I don't feel like you can rate an expansion based on just having reached level 60.

You still haven't even experienced basically all of what heavensward is so far

And that's not even mentioning the fact that were only halfway-ish through the expansion

Well to be fair, I normally only mmo expansions up to the level max and then just play casually until the next one. Usually the big story moments come in the expansions themselves and not the patches inbetween however I am aware there is some story I may have missed but fortunately, that is what wikipedia is for. Other then that, there arn't really anything new apart from raid content and top tier stuff.

[Kaurie]

Well to be fair, I normally only mmo expansions up to the level max and then just play casually until the next one. Usually the big story moments come in the expansions themselves and not the patches inbetween however I am aware there is some story I may have missed but fortunately, that is what wikipedia is for. Other then that, there arn't really anything new apart from raid content and top tier stuff.

This is pretty untrue.

Each patch comes with a chunk of story content, judging Heavensward Story based off of 3.0 only would be like judging a season of a TV show by it's 2 hour premiere.

Secondly, there are plenty of things that set it apart other than top tier stuff (crafting, hildibrand, pvp etc).

[Kosmos992k]

Nice positive review. However, I think that it's too difficult to rate the entire expansion if you just reached 60. It excludes all of the end-game, pacing of patches and QoL issues that are persistent. I guess it is up for debate, but I think a review of Heavensward should include:**snip**

Anyway, glad you are enjoying things!

I agree about making a wider review. Though it's nice to see a positive take on the game. Personally I think it is an excellent game which has several areas where it can improve - it's a living, breathing thing that is continually updated so it can improve.

However, I have to question the need to include Extreme or Savage anything, after all the typical player doesn't run EX or Savage content. I think it's quite sufficient to review a game on the basis of the normal content of the game and simply indicate that there are raid level versions of these various encounters also available.

[Kaurie]

I agree about making a wider review. Though it's nice to see a positive take on the game. Personally I think it is an excellent game which has several areas where it can improve - it's a living, breathing thing that is continually updated so it can improve.

However, I have to question the need to include Extreme or Savage anything, after all the typical player doesn't run EX or Savage content. I think it's quite sufficient to review a game on the basis of the normal content of the game and simply indicate that there are raid level versions of these various encounters also available.

I think that a review should include all aspects of the game, and the reader of the review can choose to ignore certain parts they don't care about.

For example, I don't care about crafting or pvp, but still feel they should be included in the review. As a reader, I can decide they don't fit with my interests.

[ddwarbird]

I agree about making a wider review. Though it's nice to see a positive take on the game. Personally I think it is an excellent game which has several areas where it can improve - it's a living, breathing thing that is continually updated so it can improve.

However, I have to question the need to include Extreme or Savage anything, after all the typical player doesn't run EX or Savage content. I think it's quite sufficient to review a game on the basis of the normal content of the game and simply indicate that there are raid level versions of these various encounters also available.

Thank you, its nice to see somebody agrees with me. Just because I'm not hardcore means I can't have an opinion