Yeah, it's the best expansion storywise. I know it, you know it, your mom who hasn't even heard of Final Fantasy Fourteen knows it. Ishikawa and the writing team did an absolute miracle by taking the shittiest, worst part of XIV's storyline, the Ascians, a plot bit I actively kept trying to forget existed (Indeed, the direction they took in the end of Stormblood completely jumped the shark for me with what they did with the Ascians. At that moment I thought to myself that I could no longer pay attention to the story and would just raid with my static, because any storytelling the game could do would be absolute garbage) and... made it incredibly compelling.

For performing XIV's second revival miracle, I will forever kneel.

Truly a journey. From the start I was captivated, the blinding but beautiful light, the music, the new land, I was so eager to learn and explore. Unlike the previous two expansions I knew absolutely nothing about the story but I heard so many sing their praises for it so I was excited and I was not disappointed. The ending brought me to tears, and that final fight was truly special. The way they incorporated the multiplayer aspect was genius and gave me goosebumps. It felt like a truly spectacular expansion and I cannot wait to see what lies ahead. All of the characters are brought into the limelight and given their time to shine and it's wonderful. Definitely my favorite expansion so far.

Some pacing issues aside, Shadowbringers boasts what's probably this game's best storytelling to date. In Norvrandt, Final Fantasy XIV has an incredible post-apocalypse and what's at least facially an interesting subversion of Final Fantasy XIV's centerpiece conflict between "light" and "dark." A handful of story beats are some of this long-running MMO's best, many of them mulled over the course of the last two expansions only to suddenly deliver at Shadowbringers' heights. A few of Final Fantasy XIV's newer characters – as well as a couple of returning faces – are fun and nuanced additions to a game that often struggles with developing its cast. Even the core cast members here find room to grow into something feeling more akin to actual characters.

That's all on top of the usual trappings that make Final Fantasy XIV so special. Aesthetically, this game remains a delight, though Final Fantasy XIV's cozier notes find a little more contrast in the handful of moments where Shadowbringers openly flirts with horror. The boss fighting and raiding at Final Fantasy XIV's core continue to dazzle, and I've yet to find a better communal experience in online gaming.

I know the folks behind Final Fantasy XIV have disowned interpretations of Shadowbringers as a metaphor, but I can't shake the analogs to environmental collapse, and the bureaucratic failure presented in both Amaurot and Sharlayan's response to their worlds' supposed end. I'm not the first person to point this out, but those connections felt more familiar than I'd like as I began Shadowbringers on the tail end of a mismanaged pandemic, during a summer of intense floods and wildfire smoke, and then finished this expansion amid one of my home state's warmest winter seasons on record.

Finally, I'm nervous as this game heads into Endwalker. Chasing Shadowbringers' Emet-Selch with a nihilistic brat and an obsessed rival seems poised to let down, and even at their most theatrical, the set piece battles wrapping up Shadowbringers haven't quite delivered. I'm hoping a few of the narrative seeds planted in Shadowbringers, however, maybe bloom into something more as Endwalker begins in earnest.