Heavensward was sublime... I miss it already! Give me hope for Stormblood please!

[Saefinn]

I mean, it kind of sucked I guess, but I think they were and still are trying to hard to make us care about him and his death. I liked his character, don't get me wrong, but I didn't have an emotional attachment to him. So when he died I was like "sorry man, but I could have taken that hit." The emotional investment just...wasn't there for me. And I didn't like how they tried to make me feel something I didn't. lol I used to joke that they would kill off any character that had a personality greater than a robot. And I was fully convinced of it until the end of the Stormblood MSQ launch stuff.

I guess to each their own on this one, I guess if you're not invested in the character as much, it doesn't really have that emotional impact which is fair enough. And it is what I got with Moenbryda so I can relate in that respect, except for I felt her death was too early because it's before I even had a chance to get invested in her character. She seemed like a likeable character, but no emotional connection.

[MoofiaBossVal]

I liked Stormblood more than HW.

HW felt very... "meh" to me. The setting and aesthetics were very generic. Your typical medieval knights, big orthodox church with a dark secret, dragons, the harsh frozen north, etc. The villains were dreadfully dull, with Thordan being a boring evil pope. The Heaven's Ward were pretty much non-characters. Nidhogg's Horde and the heretics have no characterization whatsoever, and Nidhogg himself is, again, just an evil dragon. Ysalya was pretty forgettable. Estinien only becomes interesting after he finally develops as a character in 3.3. Haucherfant was a flashy background character but I didn't find his death to be at all interesting. The only characters I liked were Alphinaud, Aymeric, and Tataru.

SB was more interesting. A Spanish/moorish inspired desert kingdom (though TBH the landscape of Gyr Abania is rather dull. Can't really tell the difference between the three zones) and colorful east Asia. The characters aren't really fleshed out (Zenos is just a glorified serial killer, Yotsuyu is just throwing a sadistic revenge temper tantrum) but they are at least more interesting than HW's villain ensemble. Likeable cast of characters with Alisae, Hien, Gosetsu, Yugiri, and Raubahn. Lyse is the only one who sticks out like a sore thumb.

HW has a tight story but I didn't care for it, whereas SB has a shaky story but I loved the ideas it toyed with. A country was conquered by the Empire over a generation ago. The resistance movement is unpopular. The old folks who remember life before the annexation saw many of their friends and loved ones dies, and see rebellion as futile. The youth which have grown up in the wake of the annexation have only heard stories of how the times before were better. Now these foreigners come stomping into their lands, ridiculing them for "not standing up", even though they couldn't. On the contrary: being apart of the Empire comes with benefits, such as the promise of quality of life improvements through magitek technology and access to the Empire's infrastructure and resources. Members of the new generation have grown up and joined the Empire with the intent of trying to make things better from the inside. The core story is very interesting. Unfortunately, the story doesn't really do anything with this idea. We just casually waltz in, eliminate the forces holding the territory, and the people just change their mind "oh, we can do it!". Doesn't help that it's presented as if rallying up the people of Ala Mhigo and Doma to raise a rebellion army was as simple as liberating two small towns barely populated by 20 NPCs. Fordola had a compelling story but her perspective (a successful rebellion is unlikely, better to try make things better from the inside) is demonized. The writers had an amazing premise, but squandered it trying to fit it into the mold of the "underdog heroes overthrow evil empire" story.

ShB > SB >>> HW > ARR

[Ryaz]

SB wasn't bad, but it suffered from a lack of focus due to having two fronts of resistance. The Doman stuff is much more interesting than the Ala Mhigan stuff really.

Though that scene with Nanamo and Raubahn stole my heart.

But once you get through SB, you get to Shadowbringers which I liked even more than HW.

[KalinOrthos]

Stormblood gets a lot of bad rep for not being as good as Heavensward, which is the expansion that really took FFXIV and ascended it into the realm of truly epic MMOs. There are some pretty glaring flaws, like turning a fun ally in Yda into a flat and somewhat dull personality, the main villains being little more than Generic Bad Guy tropes (though this changes later for nearly all of them, yes, including HIM), and a rather predictable storyline for most of the expansion. But it's better than ARR's storyline where you're still an unknown adventurer and are stuck with fetch quests. If Stormblood released before Heavensward, it'd be remembered a lot fonder for being a flawed yet fun story, but it came on the coattails of the equivalent of "American Idiot"; how can you possibly follow up on a success like that?

Good news: Stormblood's post-game MSQ is fantastic and contains one of the best fights in the game, so be prepared for that.

[monk-dps]

Stormblood gets a lot of bad rep for not being as good as Heavensward, which is the expansion that really took FFXIV and ascended it into the realm of truly epic MMOs. There are some pretty glaring flaws, like turning a fun ally in Yda into a flat and somewhat dull personality, the main villains being little more than Generic Bad Guy tropes (though this changes later for nearly all of them, yes, including HIM), and a rather predictable storyline for most of the expansion. But it's better than ARR's storyline where you're still an unknown adventurer and are stuck with fetch quests. If Stormblood released before Heavensward, it'd be remembered a lot fonder for being a flawed yet fun story, but it came on the coattails of the equivalent of "American Idiot"; how can you possibly follow up on a success like that?

Good news: Stormblood's post-game MSQ is fantastic and contains one of the best fights in the game, so be prepared for that.

HW's is the same tho. Nothing but the same old same evil pope with his lackys and evil dragons. Atleast Stormblood - even tho I hate zenos with a passion cause he didn't do anything worth wild to be liked so much. Like if he had actually KILLED us - WoL- then I can get behind him. .but he was a level check boss until you hit 70. Then you beat him so easy like WHAT? This is what I was leveling too? Get rekt Zenos.- (( Rant aside...)) Stormblood besides Zenos actually tried to do different stuff with the plots. While it can be debated if it worked.. atleast it was different then dry HW. I don't understand the hype HW gets honestly. ARR and SB were better stories I feel.

[Tlamila]

like turning a fun ally in Yda into a flat and somewhat dull personality,

Really? I was it as turning a complete braindead and insufferable comic relief into an actual person, a very strong one and with an actual significant background.

[TheMightyMollusk]

I find Yda and Lyse so disconnected from each other that I honestly sometimes forget they're the same person.

[KalinOrthos]

HW's is the same tho. Nothing but the same old same evil pope with his lackys and evil dragons. Atleast Stormblood - even tho I hate zenos with a passion cause he didn't do anything worth wild to be liked so much. Like if he had actually KILLED us - WoL- then I can get behind him. .but he was a level check boss until you hit 70. Then you beat him so easy like WHAT? This is what I was leveling too? Get rekt Zenos.- (( Rant aside...)) Stormblood besides Zenos actually tried to do different stuff with the plots. While it can be debated if it worked.. atleast it was different then dry HW. I don't understand the hype HW gets honestly. ARR and SB were better stories I feel.

Yeah, overall Thordan wasn't as compelling as he should have been, but there's more to a story than just the main antagonist. The exploration of new, interesting places, the plot that revolves around the undoing of centuries of conflict and lies, new friends, sacrifice, loss, and ultimately redemption in the expansion's true emotional climax in 3.3 for who was only an ally by a common enemy, followed by the complete flipping of what we know about Hydaelyn and the nature of Light and Dark on its head... Heavensward is truly a story wonderfully told, even with its flaws, as any story has. You're absolutely free to like one or the other more, as personal preference is highly subjective, but I'd hardly call Heavensward "dry".

[TheUltimate3]

I find Yda and Lyse so disconnected from each other that I honestly sometimes forget they're the same person.

There were some hints here and there in your expedition to Doma where some of Lyse's old persona popped up, but nothing too major really. They wanted to make Lyse someone you rally behind and she couldn't do that if she was exchanging banter with Papalymo.

Which is honestly a damn shame, because I would have loved it if Papalymo survived and he was there to encourage Lyse's growth and what not.

[Tlamila]

I find Yda and Lyse so disconnected from each other that I honestly sometimes forget they're the same person.

Now that I'm replaying ARR, her current persona is actually visible behind that "mask" when Moenbryda dies and she suddenly seems to become another person.