Holy fuck, they aren't fucking around
This review contains spoilers
I think a lot of story beats in the ARR patches get lost among the fluff and chaff. In the middle of some insanely annoying, irritating fetch quests you discover the body of a kid you had basically straightened out after he attempted a summoning way, way back in ARR, and this snowballs into a claustrophobic and uneasy few quests before the chaotic and infamous dining hall scene.
For me, it was one of the few genuinely worrying moments thus far in the game - And being ran out of Ul'dah by pitchforks was memorable.
For me, it was one of the few genuinely worrying moments thus far in the game - And being ran out of Ul'dah by pitchforks was memorable.
I think the ending was the first time where I didn't feel the urge to skip the cutscene. It had me actually hooked
This was a great, albeit sad, ending. It was varying in quality right until the end when everything came together and it was incredible. I cannot tell you the catharsis achieved seeing Adeleji get fucking clobbered. I hope the scions are okay :(. I'm very excited for Heavensward now!
Great story development and and absolutely killer ending. This is the Final Fantasy XIV everyone's talking about! The only thing I disliked about this was the forced crystal tower alliance raid. It completely killed the pacing.
yeah this is when xiv gets GOOD
The ending of 2.55 is honestly one of my favourite moments in the game to date.
Entendo perfeitamente o hate que A Realm Reborn recebe, e muitas das vezes as críticas são mais do que corretas, mas isso não me impediu de me apaixonar completamente por Final Fantasy XIV. Os cenários, músicas, a atmosfera, e uma história simples de um "herói escolhido" ganhando seu nome nas terras de Eorzea, que aos poucos só ganha mais e mais peso até o conteúdo pós-MSQ.
Ao longo dos patches você com certeza vai encontrar diversas cenas lentas e repetitivas e algumas decisões estranhas como o fato da alliance raid ser obrigatória pra continuar na história, mas não deixe essas questões te incomodarem, Crystal Tower raid é magnífica com uma conclusão estupenda, e a MSQ do patch 2.4 e agora 2.5 são INCRÍVEIS e um setup PERFEITO pra HEAVENSWARD
Ao longo dos patches você com certeza vai encontrar diversas cenas lentas e repetitivas e algumas decisões estranhas como o fato da alliance raid ser obrigatória pra continuar na história, mas não deixe essas questões te incomodarem, Crystal Tower raid é magnífica com uma conclusão estupenda, e a MSQ do patch 2.4 e agora 2.5 são INCRÍVEIS e um setup PERFEITO pra HEAVENSWARD
70+ hours for this yeah I really need to value my time more. But in all fairness this was a good conclusion and breakway for heavensward. Shout out to my friends Matt and Sam for saving this whole experience from being mind numbingly boring.
Great ending, but man the pacing is really killed here by forced activities, as well as the branching quests.
This review contains spoilers
After about 85 hours (maybe less, as I'm just guestimating due to innacurate Steam times mainly caused by updates), the curtain doth close on this first leg of my FFXIV journey. The prior patches kept hinting at our eventual trek into Ishgard, and I'm glad it's finally coming. There's a lot to unpack here, and quite frankly, I don't think I have the energy or mental capacity to do so in writing after that absolutely killer ending. For the ending alone, I'd rate this patch a 10, but I have to be objective.
The first third of the MSQs here (patch 2.5 proper) are alright aside from the fun dungeon and trial (which is something I've come to expect all the time now). The loss of Moenbryda was a shame, but I felt like I barely got a chance to grow attached to her. Patch 2.55 is where I became more invested; and right as I get near the end... I get hit with the mandatory Crystal Tower quests/raids. I know this wasn't always mandatory, and it's something that was already introduced in one of the earlier patches, so I'm not counting it against this patch's score; I just don't see where else I'd get the chance to talk about it. I might have liked it better if I had played FF3, but as of writing this, I have not, which made for some somewhat insipid backstory and an underwhelming introduction to alliance raids.
But once that was out of the way and I progressed a bit more, I got stabbed with so many emotional daggers that I couldn't even process it. I literally sounded like a dying dog as I took a fetal position in my chair watching the absolutely unhinged clusterfuck that was unfolding before my eyes.
I'm angry. I'm depressed. I'm flabbergasted. I might hate Yoshi P.
But you know what? At least Teledji finally got what he deserved. Burn in hell, bitch. You won't be missed.
P.S. - Yugiri and Yda are hot. What a surprise...
The first third of the MSQs here (patch 2.5 proper) are alright aside from the fun dungeon and trial (which is something I've come to expect all the time now). The loss of Moenbryda was a shame, but I felt like I barely got a chance to grow attached to her. Patch 2.55 is where I became more invested; and right as I get near the end... I get hit with the mandatory Crystal Tower quests/raids. I know this wasn't always mandatory, and it's something that was already introduced in one of the earlier patches, so I'm not counting it against this patch's score; I just don't see where else I'd get the chance to talk about it. I might have liked it better if I had played FF3, but as of writing this, I have not, which made for some somewhat insipid backstory and an underwhelming introduction to alliance raids.
But once that was out of the way and I progressed a bit more, I got stabbed with so many emotional daggers that I couldn't even process it. I literally sounded like a dying dog as I took a fetal position in my chair watching the absolutely unhinged clusterfuck that was unfolding before my eyes.
I'm angry. I'm depressed. I'm flabbergasted. I might hate Yoshi P.
But you know what? At least Teledji finally got what he deserved. Burn in hell, bitch. You won't be missed.
P.S. - Yugiri and Yda are hot. What a surprise...
95 hours. that's how long it took for the game to hook me.
before this patch, i was only playing ffxiv because, well, it's a final fantasy title, and, a lot of people saying it's peak fiction, including my friends. otherwise i probably would've never picked it up knowing that it would take 95 hours for me to start actually liking the game. do i regret it spending this long in it? not at all.
looking back, i can now see why the worldbuilding was so important, and how those meaningless quests would've added stuff to the plot later on (not all of them tho), i can see now why coerthas had such a big part in the base game's story even though you're only running around 3 towns in each corner of the map.
does this mean it makes those quests less boring? no, they're still boring as fuck and should be cut down even more than they've already been. i shouldn't have to feel the game's stopping me at every second it can to throw filler at my face to extend it's duration (and trust me, that happens A LOT), and the game proved it can do quests that don't have that much meaning in the grand scheme of things without that sentiment of stopping you.
if you've played this patch, you'll remember the tataru quest (which i'll not go in detail), and that quest was the perfect example on how to do this, it didn't have all that meaning in the grand scheme of things, but i was still interested because i actually cared about tataru, hell, i even cared a lot about moenbryda, which got introduced in the patch before this one, so it BEGS the question as to why ffxiv tries so hard to make players quit before reaching heavensward.
but with all that said, if you power through it like i did, you'll not regret it, this patch is by far a realm reborn's redemption.
before this patch, i was only playing ffxiv because, well, it's a final fantasy title, and, a lot of people saying it's peak fiction, including my friends. otherwise i probably would've never picked it up knowing that it would take 95 hours for me to start actually liking the game. do i regret it spending this long in it? not at all.
looking back, i can now see why the worldbuilding was so important, and how those meaningless quests would've added stuff to the plot later on (not all of them tho), i can see now why coerthas had such a big part in the base game's story even though you're only running around 3 towns in each corner of the map.
does this mean it makes those quests less boring? no, they're still boring as fuck and should be cut down even more than they've already been. i shouldn't have to feel the game's stopping me at every second it can to throw filler at my face to extend it's duration (and trust me, that happens A LOT), and the game proved it can do quests that don't have that much meaning in the grand scheme of things without that sentiment of stopping you.
if you've played this patch, you'll remember the tataru quest (which i'll not go in detail), and that quest was the perfect example on how to do this, it didn't have all that meaning in the grand scheme of things, but i was still interested because i actually cared about tataru, hell, i even cared a lot about moenbryda, which got introduced in the patch before this one, so it BEGS the question as to why ffxiv tries so hard to make players quit before reaching heavensward.
but with all that said, if you power through it like i did, you'll not regret it, this patch is by far a realm reborn's redemption.
This patch rocked, legitimately really excited to get into Heavensward after this
9/10
9/10
As expected after a barrage of foreshadowing via exaggerated overestimation of the capabilities of the Warrior of Light and associated factions, the once-celebrated heroes are now fugitives. It's an unsurprising twist with both good and bad sides.
On one hand, FFXIV's plot would probably not last very long. If the hero keeps winning, there's no true conflict and no true development. In this particular case, having a 16-year-old commanding a paramilitary organisation with some success was already straining very hard at the seams of verisimilitude.
On the other, it was very nice to imagine for a brief moment what happens after the hero saves the world. As in, to believe that a fall was not inevitable and to play through the slow day-to-day life after the credits roll.
It also makes me wonder: this story is still going on after roughly a decade. How many other falls and how many resurgences will follow?
On one hand, FFXIV's plot would probably not last very long. If the hero keeps winning, there's no true conflict and no true development. In this particular case, having a 16-year-old commanding a paramilitary organisation with some success was already straining very hard at the seams of verisimilitude.
On the other, it was very nice to imagine for a brief moment what happens after the hero saves the world. As in, to believe that a fall was not inevitable and to play through the slow day-to-day life after the credits roll.
It also makes me wonder: this story is still going on after roughly a decade. How many other falls and how many resurgences will follow?