What's your opinion about the game's story?

[KitingGenbu]

...

When you said that, I automatically thought about the forelands bit after a certain someone (re)appears. That whole thing really upset me.

[cammi]

When you said that, I automatically thought about the forelands bit after a certain someone (re)appears. That whole thing really upset me.

I KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm BA!!!!!! I should've beaten them ALL in my sleep. I mean.. I PUNCH GODS IN THE FACE!!!!!!

[KitingGenbu]

I KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm BA!!!!!! I should've beaten them ALL in my sleep. I mean.. I PUNCH GODS IN THE FACE!!!!!!

If we don't get at least one scene somewhere in 4.0-4.55 like the Stormblood trailer, I'm gonna just go back to spam clicking/skipping because the build up of some of this stuff only to be side-lined by our "comrades" each and every time is very annoying and aggravating.

[Theodric]

It's decent and better than what most MMO's offer but it needs to start raising the stakes and avoiding cheap 'just kidding' moments where major injuries and death are concerned. There were so many fascinating consequences that could be explored with Raubahn's lost limb and the Sultana's 'death' only for the status quo to remain afterwards.

Furthermore since the main cast are effectively immortal this puts the more interesting secondary characters and antagonists at risk of being killed off instead - to a predictable extent at times. In regards to antagonists I feel as though they need to be made easier to sympathise with - something I hope becomes the case in 4.0.

[Yasuhiro]

Weakest out of all the Final Fantasy games but for an MMO I guess it's okay? But that doesn't really say much since there's really nothing else to compare it too in the genre.

I just find the plot to be extremely forgettable, the pacing is awful, the English localization makes the game's story confusing when characters be vague for whatever reason (Switching to Japanese voices helped a lot and yes I know the language, Koji Fox's succor speak REALLY brings the story telling down for me too, not because I can't understand it but it just comes off as lame and whenever urianger speaks I end up reading the quest summaries) for Final Fantasy in general I could tell you the synopsis of every mainline game, but for this game? I couldn't tell you and that's a real shame, maybe it's more of a personal problem but very few moments have stuck with me and I don't see characters like Haurchefaunt being as remembered by Final Fantasy fans in general compared to others like say Galuf, because when are you ever going to see him on a top 10 list?.
Heavensward came VERY close to feeling like a Final Fantasy game but it just ended up falling flat again.
Sucks how it took an expansion to feel Final Fantasy but I guess what's Final Fantasy to some people is very subjective]

Like OP I just play for the gameplay now and the Final Fantasy Fanservice.

This is a separate matter and I understand why it had to be done but I think the animations really take away from the experience too. This is a mainline Final Fantasy game, why are they using stock emotes in cutscenes? Final Fantasy XI square's other MMO is a lot more expressive.

[dinnertime]

Weakest out of all the Final Fantasy games

It's weak but I wouldn't say it's the weakest.
*cough*FFXIII*cough*opinion*cough*.

[Yasuhiro]

It's weak but I wouldn't say it's the weakest.
*cough*FFXIII*cough*opinion*cough*.

My bad, I like to forget about that game tbh. lol.

[cammi]

It's weak but I wouldn't say it's the weakest.
*cough*FFXIII*cough*opinion*cough*.

No FF13 had a stronger story than most of 2.0. I know people like to shit on 13 but I can't agree it's weaker than the beginning of XIV.

[Kaurie]

I have mixed feelings about the main story.

1-49 story was fairly forgettable.
50 storyline picked up and I loved the story for 2.4 and 2.5/2.55
51-59 story was great
60 storyline was great at patch 3.0
60 storyline was forgettable 3.1-3.3
60 storylinewas decent 3.4

All in all, I'd give it a low rating. This is simply because they cannot seem to keep the quality up to keep me interested throughout. It'd be like watching a 10 episode season of a show, loving 2-3 episodes, finding 1-2 alright and feeling bored for the other 5.

Most of above is to do with plot lines and execution. I also have mixed feelings on characters. I strongly dislike Urianger. In 3.4 his character was slightly improved, but he is notably boring and his olde english doesn't help his case. I also don't like Moenbryda and could not have cared less with what happened to her. It's been awhile, but IIRC she was introduced and simply because other NPC's cared for her, it made it seem like the writers figured that would be enough to make us care for her. There was no time to develop any sort of interest in her character.

Outside of those two, I either don't mind or like the NPC characters we've run in to. That said, certain characters greatly improved or got worse in Heavensward. I'd say Alphinaud and Y'shtola got way better and more relatable in Heavensward. Conversely, I think Minfilia's character got a lot worse.

I find Cid, Biggs and Wedge are three characters that I feel pretty meh on. I am pretty much bored when they are on screen, but I cannot really put my finger on what is wrong. I think the story tries to make them seem smart by having them be very technical. However, I don't really care about the technical workings of whatever they are working on, and it doesn't really make them seem smart to me. It simply makes them seem arrogant and boring.

Following that, I feel I should note on Alexander story. This story started really poorly. The first iteration was incredibly cliche. The second iteration didn't help much either, but it didn't make things much worse - it just sort of happened. Finally, the conclusion I thought was pretty good. It helps a lot for this story ending on a strong note, but that doesn't negate it's very weak opening.

[AlphaFox]

I played and watched it (though forget most) until level 50. Once I got to Shiva I started to nod off with the constant back and forth that it just irritated me. Run here and watch a 5min cutscene, run back and watch another. I just started skipping the cutscenes unless they were part of a job I enjoyed and pretty much have skipped every scene since then.