What was your favourite expansion stories, ranked in order?

[KizuyaKatogami]

1)Heavensward-I found the story to be amazing, the dark themes and aspects of it just continued throughout the expansion, the entire time i was left wondering what would happen next, who could i lose, how can it escalate from here? It was always something interesting back to back. I enjoyed being a nobody, not having people constantly stroking my ego and my character/scions not getting everything they want.The loss in the expansion were very welcome and needed to make everything feel like more of a threat as well.

2)A Realm Reborn-This is probably pretty controversial, but i actually quite enjoyed ARR. Im a major ff series fan, so i was always questioning, "Oh what ff summon am i going to get to fight next?" and was always excited to see each one and fight them. The themes were very good, while the pacing was a bit off i almost didnt notice it because it was my first time through and i was just in awe taking in the sights.

3)Shadowbringers-Absolutely loved the base game and story, i loved the bleak nature of the areas we vsited, the music, and finally having someone with a personality following us around(Emet) instead of the same old bland scions. It was also nice to finally get insight on some of the Ascians and backstory on the sundering a bit, and the Amaurot reveal was just phenomenal. The only thing that keeps me from putting it in first place is two things actually.
1.The lack of consequences despite this expansion being the one with the highest stakes and strongest foes yet. We manage to succeed with zero consequences whatsoever or lasting effects and it just downplays everything that happens.
2. Patch 5.3 and beyond. It will forever remain to be the worst writing decision i have ever seen in my history of playing games.Killing off the heart of what’s essentially one of the two main deity primals in the span of about 2 patches will always make me sour. Especially when the way it’s won is just… deus ex machina, with 0 repercussions. Two foes this expansion stronger than anything we’ve ever faced and we somehow come out completely unscathed whereas other expansions where we fought far lesser foes we lost much more…

4)Stormblood-I’ll start off by saying i don’t think Stormblood was necessarily a bad expansion by any means, it’s just not something i resonated with personally. War stories aren’t too much my kind of thing. The highlights of this expansion for me story wise was probably getting to visit the lush steppes inhabited by beautiful Au Ra men and that’s about it. The Yotsuyu arc was pretty good as well though. I will say however, content wise this expansion is probably the best i’ve ever seen in the history of the game. Eureka, Omega raids, everything was just phenomenal in that regard and i find myself wanting to return to those days on a regular basis, simpler times if you will.

5)Endwalker-And now we get to the last spot on the list, and by far my least favorite expansion in the history of any game i’ve played whatsoever. Let me start off by saying i think the early game of this expansion is probably the best the game has put out so far. Garlemald zone,Thavnair revisit are all amazing scenes, the music is spot on, it’s all incredible. Things took a turn for the worst once we hit the moon though, and they decided to kill off again, one of the two main deities that this expansion is supposed to be about….but not only that, 10 minutes later we’re then just playing dress up with the loporrits. Great pacing. I’ll try to keep this short. Basically, the final days didn’t feel like enough of a threat. We see it happen in essentially 2 zones, and yes the role quests show a blasphemy or two popping up in other expansion zones but it’s incredibly lackluster compared to what we hear and see during the actual final days, Amaurot etc. All this build up of the entire eorzean map burning and just..none of that is seen whatsoever. The contradictions of the theme being about loss and suffering yet most of the main protagonists never even experience that and in the end it’s the antagonists that experience the brunt of it like Emet or Elidibus makes it all sound extremely shallow and ring incredibly hollow. Apparently, a literal planet decimating apocalypse isn’t enough to harm the perfect scions.Venat was just…horribly written i’ll say (imo) and lastly the fact she’s praised as a hero yet Zodiark and Elidibus aren’t even given any credit for saving the planet and it’s people and the fact Hermes of all people is featured on the end credit art but Elidibus isn’t is…just what?

[EaraGrace]

1. Endwalker. There's not much I can say other than my expectations were high, and Endwalker blew them out of the water. While a much slower start than SHB, by the time we reach Garlemald and the Moon the narrative hit its stride and gave an experience that I don't think I will forget. The characters that I've come to really enjoy over these past 5 years of playing, the ones I was never a big fan of, and the ones that never caught my eye all got a chance to shine in a way that other expansions really struggled with). The story, despite having to work within the constraints of 10 years of lore, flowed beautifully. It had a lot to juggle, and yes it did show some signs of struggling. There were spots where the pacing was weaker than others, but even with those I still rarely felt disconnected or bored like I inevitably myself in other expansions. And the themes, god the themes, they hit hard and fast. Narratives on the nature of suffering and despair are not exactly uncommon, especially in rpgs, but Endwalker really felt like it had something to say. It felt honest, and raw in a way that I can say cut deep for me. Overall, just an incredible end to the first sage in 14.

2. Shadowbringers. No surprises here. SHB was FFXIV solidifying its place in the Final Fantasy series as one of its best games. The pacing felt tighter than any other expansion, and the First truly felt like a new world to explore. Unfortunately, it did struggle in a few places, some storylines felt rushed or like it was meant to fill space. Overall still incredible.

3. Heavensward. Once again, great narrative and characters, beautiful world design yadda yadda. Close to SHB for me but felt like it really didn't know how to wrap everything up. While 3.3 was great, 3.0's ending felt off with Azys La and the Thordan fight feeling really disjointed from the rest of the narrative.

4. Stormblood. Really hit or miss. Some zones were engaging and interesting. Others felt like after thoughts. The 4.x series however was great.

5. ARR. A Realm Reborn is both fundamental to 14 and also its weakest part, like the team finding its footing. Wouldn't skip it for anything, but man is it really a seed for more beautiful things to come.

[IckeDerTyp]

Stormblood - stances and selene. Also Ruby Sea and diving!

[Scott]

1. Endwalker
A Grand Finale for a Grand story.

2. Shadowbringer
Something totally different than we knew Final Fantasy XIV could be about.

3. Heavensward
The first dip into epic story telling

4. A Realm Reborn
Still a great story. Better than most MMOs can pull of.

5. Stormblood
It got better after the Ruby Sea.

[Kesey]

Without a doubt:

1 Shadowbringers

2. Stormblood

3. Endwalker

4. Heavensward

5. ARR

[KageTokage]

Honestly, at this point I'd probably list it as Shadowbringers > Endwalker = Heavensward > Stormblood > ARR.

My initial feelings had Endwalker at the top, but I developed a more sour opinion of it after thinking a bit more critically about certain elements like the pacing andsome plot developments I feel hurt the integrity of the story arc overall.

[kaynide]

Honestly, at this point I'd probably list it as Shadowbringers > Endwalker = Heavensward > Stormblood > ARR.

My initial feelings had Endwalker at the top, but I developed a more sour opinion of it after thinking a bit more critically about certain elements like the pacing andsome plot developments I feel hurt the integrity of the story arc overall.

I’m with you here; Endwalker was the first time I ever found myself starting a critique only to go full nerd and typing out “how I woulda done it”… of course realizing what I was doing I deleted everything but maaaaan that was a first for me..and what a rabbit hole that was.

It was the Wally-est wall of text I’ve ever made…

The cliffnotes/rant list:

Dynamis emotion energy! Because reasons. And we need to fabricate why the ancients needed to split us up and couldn’t deal with things themselves, even though they literally created the thing causing the end and could just as easily create something to oh god my brains melting.

Pointless, awful angry father. Could have simply said “We disagree with a lot and I can’t tell you everything, but know that everything I’m doing, it’s for you..even if I’m angry at what your doing”.

Oh no! WoL body snatched! This could be great tension/drama! or we just never see or hear from that again.

Ultra convenient moon teleport, guess we didn’t need to waste years of life on a spaceship

Rushed, and botched, execution of Zodiark

Ok, so he’s Amon? Why was this even important? What did this actually truly add?

Time travel shenanigans. Men in Black.

Ultima Thule, as a whole. The heroes sacrifice is hollow because we know they are fine. Also thank god we have a spaceship after all.

..or we could have just ridden Zenos I guess, since he caught up to us super fast.

[Alleluia]

1. Shadowbringers - Story is the best told with the least holes in it. I like the outsider angle we have as a traveller from another world, and I like a lot of the secondary characters in the First the most out of any expansion. Crystarium is my favorite town, Pendants room is my favorite inn. Also, G'raha.

2. Endwalker - Has a lot of great things about it, especially character moments. And the bodyswapped instance in Garlemald is my favorite surprise in the entire game. However, I do find myself wishing some things were done differently or that there was more acknowledgment of completed questlines than there ended up being. It is the wrap-up, after all, though I acknowledge my opinion may change with patch content.

And Ultima Thule specifically lost some impact for me once Y'shtola pointed out that Azem's magic could be used to bring the team back. Felt they could have nixed that line and not suggested that at all, then just have Hades' line "your friends no longer need fight their fight. So go on, call them back to your side." and leave that as a big "I can do that?!" moment for people who hadn't thought of it on their own; and a big "I KNEW IT" moment for people who had. As it is, it kind of kicked me in the face with the obvious solution before I'd thought of it myself and dampened the suspense Estinien's sacrifice had managed to build.

3. Heavensward - Excellent story. Loved stopping a 1000 year war. Loved meeting cool dragons. Loved Ishgard and the cast there. Honestly this ties with Endwalker in my head and I go back and forth about which I liked more. I can't think of anything I'd improve upon/change in Heavensward, but it doesn't have the full cast or nearly as many of the character-focused scenes from Endwalker I liked so much.

4. ARR - Love the three main cities and all the zones. Story is okay. I love it for being the beginning of the journey more than anything, really.

5. Stormblood - Love it for the eastern half, found Ala Mhigo's areas lackluster and sincerely hope they revisit that citystate properly one day. Story is okay. Tamamizu is one of my happy places in-game, though. And the Four Lords is my favorite trial series.

[Rosenstrauch]

Shadowbringers
Heavensward
A Realm Reborn
Stormblood
Endwalker

That last one is a tossup, as while I wasn't terribly thrilled with Stormblood's story, I didn't actively hate it or anything and was mildly looking forward to where it was leading. Sadly, the developments involving Garlemald turned out to be a red herring, but it is what it is. Meanwhile, I genuinely enjoyed most parts of Endwalker, and it was the Q&A that soured my experience for me. I can't very well pretend that the Q&A never happened, and I'm not terribly thrilled with invoking Death of the Author on a continuously developed product, so I'd rather not do so. But I've all but lost interest in seeing where Endwalker's story threads lead anymore, and that's a first for me.

[Cleretic]

I’m with you here; Endwalker was the first time I ever found myself starting a critique only to go full nerd and typing out “how I woulda done it”… of course realizing what I was doing I deleted everything but maaaaan that was a first for me..and what a rabbit hole that was.

Maybe this is just a 'me' thing, but I actually think I like a story more if it has some interesting wrinkles and imperfections, because that lets me think about and explore how it could do better. Like, if I encounter a story that is effectively perfect for what I want from it (Metroid Prime comes to mind), all I can really say about that story is 'it's good, I like it'. But if there's things I think they didn't do well, or things they didn't explore as much as I wanted, then I could have fun asking 'how would I do it'.

If I liked every single part of Endwalker, I would probably be talking and thinking about it less.