Despite how controversial Stormblood is/was...

[Duskane]

stormblood was peak in terms of boss encounters tho i feel everyone forgets that
shinryu, byakko, omega (the whole series ngl) and susanoo all slap

I would disagree with that honesty
those were great but Hades,WoL,Innocence,Sin eater Thancred were all amazing in both fight and design

weapons are a negative but they have a very good questline so guess it evens out

[Momo_Kozuki]

SB's story writing didn't stand out compared to other expansion because it spread players' attention on two major regions, in which the East was much more well-written than the Gyr Abania. The latter's story was too focused on Ala Mhigan being salty people (well, their capital was built next to a salt lake, after all), which made them very unlikeable (like, the Skulls who terror the region was the result of Ala Mhigan killing Fordola's father, so... serve them right?). It was also bundled the character development of Lyse, who had so much screen time but little things to say which fell off short together with the Gyr Abania region. It doesn't help that Lyse becomes a minor character after a whole expansion about her humble growth, as if the writer has zero idea how to make her likeable, which makes me harbor next-to-zero positive feeling about her. Yda's transition into Lyse is a mistake, IMO.


Aside from the weakness in story-writing, the rest of SB's contents outside of the dull landscape of Gyr Abinia region is enjoyable and memorable at best.

[VirusOnline]

SB's story writing didn't stand out compared to other expansion because it spread players' attention on two major regions, in which the East was much more well-written than the Gyr Abania. The latter's story was too focused on Ala Mhigan being salty people (well, their capital was built next to a salt lake, after all), which made them very unlikeable (like, the Skulls who terror the region was the result of Ala Mhigan killing Fordola's father, so... serve them right?). It was also bundled the character development of Lyse, who had so much screen time but little things to say which fell off short together with the Gyr Abania region. It doesn't help that Lyse becomes a minor character after a whole expansion about her humble growth, as if the writer has zero idea how to make her likeable, which makes me harbor next-to-zero positive feeling about her. Yda's transition into Lyse is a mistake, IMO.


Aside from the weakness in story-writing, the rest of SB's contents outside of the dull landscape of Gyr Abinia region is enjoyable and memorable at best.

When Tsuyu has more character growth and likeability and only existed in one expansion. smh
Lyse is that one person in the group project that didn't do anything and now has to present it.

IMO, SB was ok. It had its great moments, but it was predictable.
ShB was just on another level of story telling. The writers were able to stray into grey area and not that hero like complex that ARR - SB was.

[Shibi]

I loved Stormblood, in all parts, I just wish Lyse had've sloppily sacrificed herself to a primal before it began. Creepy face, she should use a mask to cover it.

Best part for me was opening up the lords' trials and the -scapes, they are all amazing and the lords' story was great, I loved the development of the Ninja Turtle from start outside Tamagotchi and taken to it's end, a few spots in that arc that drew tears.

Hein is, of course, husbando material, and I had to giggle at Sadu and 'Little' sun. Namazu beast tribe was also awesome goofy comedy.

Hated the msq solo near the end, feels weird to be inside Y'stola, and it really needs to be split into two halves rather than a long double fight.

And Wreath of Snakes is awesomest of all for me, still one I choose to run a few times a week. Aramatama's fist coming down while the shiki are gathered ready to slide over the field is always fun to time correctly.

I felt somewhat sorry for a certain femme fatale as the story progressed, and had big tears for the certain character who ended up shaving their head.

[wereotter]

Stormblood, to me, was probably one of my more favorite expansions.

I loved feeling very proactive. We were taking the fight to the Empire and liberating people, that was great. The story wasn't without its faults, like I felt like sections in Gyr Abania felt really rushed, and too much attention, even in the patch content seemed to focus too much on the Far East, and the Azim Steppe was a part that just really dragged out and sucked the energy out of the story for me...

But all in all, I think it was a very strong expansion and story. Also it does help that up to that point, Lyse and Alisaie had been my favorite scions, so getting to travel with them was a treat.

[elioaiko]

Stormblood was where I started and it was an amazing experience. I got to experience a lot of things before they were indefinitely changed.

The Omega Raids were really well-written with Alpha being such a loveable character along with Nero and Cid acting like a married couple.

Rose-tinted glasses but I did like the raids themselves. Demon painting (IDR the name) was a fun fight, Omega actually made phys. ranged have purpose, Chaos having two branches, Kefka.

It was the last we ever had of Deep Dungeons which were fun to run and focus on surviving while trying to beat the timer.

AST being a time mage with royal road and SCH with an actual DPS kit/different fairies.

Weapon type resistance debuffs.

Enmity being a threat and needing phys. ranged or NIN to manage it.

DRK being unique before becoming Dark Warrior.

Like I totally get it, the story was meh but after coming off of HW, it was bound to disappoint.

I'm not counting game content QoL changes as those will always come with time.

Idk I guess I miss it because it's when I started playing and had a whole world to learn.

[Sheriyana]

To me Stormblood was largely forgettable and very bland. I hated Lyse, Fordola should have been stabbed in the throat the moment we met her with how annoying she is. She never develops, even in Endwalker she feels like she's just reluctantly helping us due to having no other real choice, admit you were wrong and stop with the emo crap, she acts like a 14 year old defiant for the sake of it teenager. Never liked Yotsuyu either and her story, I guess Gosetsu is the only character I liked from Stormblood, Zenos was good in 4.0 too but the later patches ruin him. The story was disjointed due to the two front narrative, I did enjoy the Azim Steppe part but it kind of feels like filler due to not having much connection to the actual story, there's no imperial threat, you just go there to hang out with a bunch of xaela and recruit them. As a fan of FFV I felt they did Shinryu dirty with the fight and how they let such an iconic super boss be just a pawn for Zenos to control basically.

Omega was a mixed bag, fight design was fine but the cameo bosses were just shameless fan service, maybe two lines of text to "justify" their inclusion and here's a fight. They don't get voice lines, they get no real story, it could have been literally anything in the place of those FF bosses. I feel if you have no history with the series besides XIV you'd be at every single fight like who is this thing now and where did they come from and why are we fighting a train now. The trial series was very unmemorable too, when you get one of them in trials roulette it's always a reminder that they even exist. Eureka was for the most part an absolute mess with the ugliest relic weapons to date, it's only fun now due to the echo buffs we've gotten since.

But this is all just my opinion, I felt Stormblood was just a mess, I enjoyed some parts of it but overall it's the weakest expansion we've had to date.

[Jettinson]

I don't understand this "controversy" behind Stormblood and I couldn't care less. Stormblood was my shit.

There is not, at least when I played it I really enjoyed it. There are problems like every expansions but that's normal. Still my least favorites part are pretty much Ala Mhigo due to how divided and less focused was and Ruby Sea, the latter felt a nightmare without flight and even then the area is just so big.


Azim Steppe remains one of my favorite areas in the game too and they have amazing post game content.
Although with Omega raids, I started to actually like at the final tier, even story wise. Love Alpha so much

[Tanis_Ebonhart]

SB's story writing didn't stand out compared to other expansion because it spread players' attention on two major regions, in which the East was much more well-written than the Gyr Abania. The latter's story was too focused on Ala Mhigan being salty people (well, their capital was built next to a salt lake, after all), which made them very unlikeable (like, the Skulls who terror the region was the result of Ala Mhigan killing Fordola's father, so... serve them right?). It was also bundled the character development of Lyse, who had so much screen time but little things to say which fell off short together with the Gyr Abania region. It doesn't help that Lyse becomes a minor character after a whole expansion about her humble growth, as if the writer has zero idea how to make her likeable, which makes me harbor next-to-zero positive feeling about her. Yda's transition into Lyse is a mistake, IMO.


Aside from the weakness in story-writing, the rest of SB's contents outside of the dull landscape of Gyr Abinia region is enjoyable and memorable at best.

I disagree..

Lyse is likable. Going on adventures with her and Alisaie is great and a high point in the stormblood msq

[Lauront]

I started this game shortly after Orbonne was released. I honestly sped through everything trying to catch up with my friends who were already at endgame. So when I hit endgame I had no idea what the story was about. But with regards to gameplay? Oh man I had so much fun in StB. Omega, Ivalice and all the trials were awesome. I had also picked up Ast and was having so much fun with that class (remember how the cards did different things? I miss Ewer being the mp card!) Good times, good times.

Ah pre-nerfed Thunder God how I miss you...

Ah I forgot to mention the Ivalice raids. Probably my fave in the game to date.

I'm going to be honest, despite the Azim Steppe portion, I wasn't very fond of Stormblood. The lack of focus hitted me hard, since I had other expectations for it, and I didn't really care about Zenos. I despise almost every map of that expansion... And even the post-patches weren't much better if you ask me. Yotsuyu was too much of a drama for me and I couldn't bring myself to like nor dislike her. Ala Mhigo being an ugly quartier at the end of an empty map was a slap in my face.

That being said, the combat slapped.
Stormblood was my favourite iteration of AST and SCH. It had a killer bard as well. The 4-lords side-story was quite good, and the fights were fresh. Suzano and Lakshmi and even Shinryu to some extent were very iconic with killer music. Omega had very creative fights.

The Ivalice raids are still my favourite 24-man, with beautiful sets and fun fights.

All the beast tribes had good rewards, and the Namazu one was a joy of story-telling. I seriously cannot stress this enough, given that most of the SHB rewards were a lackluster, and we did not even have an alliance quest for these.

We still had Hildibrand quests!

Shirogane, although I don't have interest in the oriental-aesthetic of it, is still the most detailed ward. There's hardly "boring" spots in it, unlike Goblet, LB, Mist and even Ishgard. I love how the streets are narrow, and you actually feel into a neighbourhood and you pretty it much have it all - beach, park, hot springs, pretty staircase with shops, etc.
I say this as someone that has zero interest into moving there.

I wasn't here to actually experience Eureka, sadly. But I think I might have enjoyed it. Still, can't say I'm very fond of most of the weapons look.

Also, the fact that a good chunk of people thought that Lyse was a dancer in the trailer... Still makes me chuckle to this day.

I enjoyed Eureka. With the exception of DR and Dalriada, I did not like Bozja too much, but I loved the Eureka maps and Pagos was eventually "fixed" anyway. The main issue with it was its eventual obsolescence and lack of planning for alternative routes once that happened, but that's about it really, AFAIC.