FFIV remains one of the most well-received and historically significant Final Fantasy games of all time, to the point where playing it is apparently part of the curriculum in video game design degrees in Japan. Crossovers with it are as expected as they are welcome.

That being said, I would have preferred for the tie ins to it to be more grounded in the Source though the Void does have the potential to be fleshed out and interesting later on. Add in ruins of whole cities, or last bastions where humanoid voidsent reside. Add deserts with ashen blue sand where void sand worms live. Add a haunted forest zone enshrouded in mists. Mix together Castlevania with Dark Souls and you have a world people will want to spend time in.

An expansion set in a dark fantasy world of purple skies and black gothic ruins isn’t a bad thing, though the start of season 2 would have been better served by taking place anywhere else on the Source. At least the Void may bring back the sense of danger and suspense that the light-tainted setting of the First had back in Shadowbringers, but even that as a setting may not save the plot from the hands of the current writing direction.

The Heavensward team managed to make an otherwise generic elf kingdom incredibly deep and rich with culture and storytelling - the current team would cheapen the Void and reduce it to a mere joke because they can’t go 2 hours without pausing for a slice of life scene to “lighten the mood” because their intended audience seemingly can’t go too long in a serious direction without getting overwhelmed.