Final Fantasy XIV doesn't actually have that good of a story

[Rinhi]

Really makes me roll my eyes that people think a critical opinion of the greatest story ever = bait, a troll, or MPK lmao

Newsflash: people who don't share your opinion aren't here to troll and it's very rude to dismiss them as bait. Gives the GCBTW the meaning it has.

using the misery porn and projected self-hatred that's TLOU2 as a good example of a story driven game made it obvious it was a troll, though
1 was good, 2 not so much

[PondHollow]

I can give you 50 games that had a better story than FF14.

I love a good story in a game so please deliver this list.

Edit: I should note that if anyone lists their 10 favorite games with stories, yes, I'm glad we both like games with stories but there is a 90% chance I and ever other nerd have played everything in your top 10. The sheer amount of 50 is good to get what falls through the cracks.

[Rufalus]

People need to stop saying every criticism is trolling. There are some bad trolls around, but it's not an exaggeration to say the story in this game is far from perfect. I agree with the OP and I will explain why. First of all I'll just say the potential for the story was incredible, and its high points are very high, but the consistency is not there. The back story to 1.0 with the battle at Silvertear Lake was very compelling. Dalamud revealing Bahamut was compelling. Binding Coil was compelling. We've fallen a long way from the tone and peril set there.

Some low points include the ease with which the 2.0 msq bosses where beaten and reduced threat of the Garleans in general; the ease of liberating Doma and Ala Mhigo; the plot armor and infallibility of the heroes; the speed of rushing through major events to keep the tempo of the patch series; the lore-bending to accommodate contrived story beats; the shoehorning in cameos and references; lack of character history to explain why the main cast became the people they are (Zenos' upbringing was covered in some book that is now sold out); the lack of reflection on things like what happened to Papalymo; the deflating conclusion to the story of Elidibus and the unsundered after he had been teasing us with his cunning for several years since 2.1.

I will stop there. You can point to a lot of things that haven't been executed as well as they could have been. Maybe the writers are too rushed by the frequency of these msq updates and the requirement to dilute the lore with so many fan service callbacks. I would prefer quality over quantity when it comes to the amount of story quest and the frequency they are released, giving more time not only for the writing but also animation quality and voice work. I also think it should be considered an MMO first and a single player story second when it comes to allocating resources, with the primary concern being driving daily and weekly engagement in the game content, while the story is on a more flexible "when it's done" schedule when it comes to the patches.

[Jin-]

It's enjoyable, especially Shadowbringers and 5.3. Miles better than other mmorpgs but it suffers from slow story telling and clunky game mechanics and quest design

[MarsAstro]

The second issue is that the game can't be as immersive as modern story-driven games. The Last of Us 2 is capable of making you feel sad, angry, and horrified because the game is designed in a very immersive manner. FF14 makes you read the dialogues which isn't as immersive as modern story games.

Ah yes, writing, commonly known as inherently inferior to spoken dialogue and animated video game cinematics.

I'm not sure you quite thought this one true, bud. This is either an extreme hot take by a relatively young person, or just you telling us you don't have the attention span and cognitive capacity to get truly immersed in written language. Which is fine, by the way, there's nothing wrong with not being able to be immersed in written language. People are different, and reading can be especially difficult to get into for neurodivergent people. But that's still on you, it doesn't really say much about how good or immersive this story is, it only says something about your capacity of immersing yourself in this form of storytelling.

[Dzian]

While I agree there is to much filler crap that detracts from the plot.. "I'm the warrior of light, slayer of primal and dragons. And you want me to deal with some slugs eating your crops?!?!?!"

The biggest issue personally is the games difficulty or lack there of. It actually destroys the atmosphere and tension the story often tries to create...
The story tries to paint this grim scene where all hope is lost and the world is doomed and then players essentially steam roll there way through... Where is the peril? where is the danger? Where is the atmosphere?

Whats ironic is often many of those filler quests are there specifically to set the mood or paint the picture of how grim the situation looks. Only to find you've steamroller to victory before you even know what happened. Crushes the atmosphere and detracts a lot from the story..

There are a couple of fights that did do the story justice like Shinryu at the end of stormblood but really not many.

[Penthea]

Saying it has one of the best stories in video gaming history is an exaggeration at best.

This is all subjective. If you don't like the story of a game or think it's not as great as others think it's fine.

Personally I think FFXIV has one of the best stories I have seen across all media I have encountered. But that's my opinion, and opinions are not facts.

[RyuDragnier]

Cool story bro.

[MilkieTea]

ive openly cried for about 10 stories. FFXIV is one of them. Ive listed 7 others here. These are also, incidentally, stories I genuinely enjoyed, and some of them I read when I was WAY too young to fully grasp their meanings.

1. Boy in the Striped Pajamas
2. Coco
3. Antithesis (a dang good Harry Potter fic, if anyones into that kinda stuff I recommend. Rocky beginnings but its worth sticking through if youre looking for a good long read)
4. Speak (i do NOT recommend this if you have a history of SA or CSA and are easily triggered or upset by stories that discuss this. If you do want to read it, self-care is important. Take plenty of breaks, watch or read light hearted things, play music that you enjoy whilst reading.)
5. The Outsiders
6. Clan of the Cave Bears (same warning as Speak, and doubly so because of graphic descriptions written in the 60s mindset. Also the main character is a blond haired blue eyed “beauty” living amongst dark haired dark skinned neanderthals. Again, 60s mindset.)
7. Hamilton

Notice how this is list is a hodgepodge of genres, but the majority are books? The Boy In The Striped Pajamas, Speak, Antithesis, The Outsiders, Clan of the Cave Bears... they all were able to bring emotions through nothing more than words. And its okay if you don’t enjoy that or find it tedious. But what isnt okay is framing your distaste for that as a fact when its not. It’s subjective, just like all taste is.

“I dont think it’s good” vs. “Its not good” are two different things - one will invite people who may try to change your opinion, sure, but the other is only going to make people upset because youre stating your own opinion as fact, as though others are wrong for liking it.

[DBriggs304]

It's not for everyone. I loved it myself (though of course, arr drags in the beginning) but everything after I've liked (except for Xenos as I think he's a corny end boss)