Part 1 MSQ Review: The emotional core of Vrtra trying to save his sister has kept all of these patches engaging. Zero is a fantastic addition to the cast, and this patch just further reinforces how great she is. Golbez started out as a pretty basic villain, but they ended up doing a lot of surprising things with his character and role in the story. I'd say XIV's greatest strength is taking seemingly one-dimensional villains and elevating them to the highest degree.
Part 2 was basically just a prologue for the next expansion, but it did its job well. I can't wait to see what happens in Dawntrail.
Part 2 was basically just a prologue for the next expansion, but it did its job well. I can't wait to see what happens in Dawntrail.
using this as my pandaemonium review
hoooooooly fuck this was awesome. it takes a bit to get going but once it does, it gets GOING. gives you a new perspective on characters while also providing fun battles! also scream and the p12 theme are some of my favorite ost in the game
anyways i have to remake my character tier list, THATS how good pandaemonium was lol
hoooooooly fuck this was awesome. it takes a bit to get going but once it does, it gets GOING. gives you a new perspective on characters while also providing fun battles! also scream and the p12 theme are some of my favorite ost in the game
anyways i have to remake my character tier list, THATS how good pandaemonium was lol
finally this expansion is over
(Using this for my thoughts on 6.1-6.55)
Good! Not my favorite patch content but good! I think the story was serviceable even if it repeated some of its own beats too many times. I love FF4 but even I have to admit they were laying it on pretty thick by the end. Most of my favorite stuff was in the “optional” content. I enjoyed most of the EX trials, alliance raids, and a decent amount of the Pandemonium raids. Didn’t get very into Savage but the ones I did were neat. Tataru’s quests were fun. Good set of Manderville quests. Fun Blue Mage update. About what you’d expect. I’m looking forward to Dawntrail after 6.55 both for the narrative and loads of content.
Good! Not my favorite patch content but good! I think the story was serviceable even if it repeated some of its own beats too many times. I love FF4 but even I have to admit they were laying it on pretty thick by the end. Most of my favorite stuff was in the “optional” content. I enjoyed most of the EX trials, alliance raids, and a decent amount of the Pandemonium raids. Didn’t get very into Savage but the ones I did were neat. Tataru’s quests were fun. Good set of Manderville quests. Fun Blue Mage update. About what you’d expect. I’m looking forward to Dawntrail after 6.55 both for the narrative and loads of content.
This entire series of patches felt like largely wasted time with its predictable and fillery story, that just feels like the writers wanted to work on an ffiv remake more than anything. The .55 quests I felt were since they actually moved the story forward. But I seriously hope CBU3 can pick the pace up because their writing hasn't been impressing me as of late
A worthy send off to finally end both the Endwalker expansion after three years and the long running arc that has started at the beginning of 2.0, man what an absolute long ride this was!
And I cannot wait to see what's in store for the Dawntrail expansion later this year!
And I cannot wait to see what's in store for the Dawntrail expansion later this year!
MSQ had a good ending, plenty of FF4 fan service (maybe too much?), AR was awesome, music was great.
This review contains spoilers
While I have my issues with Endwalker, one aspect of it that I think works really well is Meteion's decent into the Endsinger (and even there I think the things presented in the dead ends are a bit silly) and I think a very central reason it works so well is that we're repeatedly shown how little regard the Amaurotines have for life, both other people's and their own. In Elpis we are shown how they eradicated entire species for being inconvenient and we learn how most of them eventually end their own life once they're done with work. Of course Meteion would feel like life is worthless, coming from a society like this.
There is also the fact that they were willing to sacrifice three quarters of their population to Zodiark, or that Venat was an outsider for refusing to end her own life and instead enjoying the world after she was done with her work.
And now the twelve do exactly this again! They're done with their work so they end their life, except for Oshon, who wants to continue enjoying the world. Except this time the game is portraying this, while not necessarily as a good thing, as a thing that is reasonable for them to want. I feel like it goes against the core theme of endwalker for them to just throw their lives away like this.
And this is just my issue with the ending of the Myths story, it had plenty of awfulness up to that point. Easily my least favourite story in the game by fair, and the fights aren't even that great compared to Nier and Ivalice
There is also the fact that they were willing to sacrifice three quarters of their population to Zodiark, or that Venat was an outsider for refusing to end her own life and instead enjoying the world after she was done with her work.
And now the twelve do exactly this again! They're done with their work so they end their life, except for Oshon, who wants to continue enjoying the world. Except this time the game is portraying this, while not necessarily as a good thing, as a thing that is reasonable for them to want. I feel like it goes against the core theme of endwalker for them to just throw their lives away like this.
And this is just my issue with the ending of the Myths story, it had plenty of awfulness up to that point. Easily my least favourite story in the game by fair, and the fights aren't even that great compared to Nier and Ivalice
Final Fantasy XIV: Growing Light (6.5)
Está bien el parche en general, no tengo mucho que opinar, la raid me ha gustado aunque recicle mecánicas. La mazmorra me ha gustado mucho. Y la trama está bien.
(7/10)
A ver que tal plantean el hype de Dawntrail.
Está bien el parche en general, no tengo mucho que opinar, la raid me ha gustado aunque recicle mecánicas. La mazmorra me ha gustado mucho. Y la trama está bien.
(7/10)
A ver que tal plantean el hype de Dawntrail.
This review contains spoilers
Good dungeon, decent trial, really good 24 man, decent story, new music is awesome, custom delivery story might've been my favorite yet, and fuck you I like Island Sanctuary. The ilvl requirement changes to the alliance raid roulette was needed like two years ago, but better late than never. More content still to come in 6.51-6.55
Disappointed that Unukalhai and Cylla still aren't being meaningfully involved into the story of the Void, but they kind of wrote those characters into a corner by locking them behind ShB role quests. Actually really satisfied with the direction Zero and Golbez story went, this is the first time diplomacy with our main antagonist actually worked, and didn't end with us killing them dead, and that is really neat. Their story is awkwardly put on hold for a future expansion probably, but it's alright. Unukalhai, Cylla, Ryne, Gaia, Golbez and Zero all better be part of the story when we actually go to resolve the 13th problem for reals
Disappointed that Unukalhai and Cylla still aren't being meaningfully involved into the story of the Void, but they kind of wrote those characters into a corner by locking them behind ShB role quests. Actually really satisfied with the direction Zero and Golbez story went, this is the first time diplomacy with our main antagonist actually worked, and didn't end with us killing them dead, and that is really neat. Their story is awkwardly put on hold for a future expansion probably, but it's alright. Unukalhai, Cylla, Ryne, Gaia, Golbez and Zero all better be part of the story when we actually go to resolve the 13th problem for reals
Really good writing.
Dude who plays a single game for 4000+ hours: Ya know the game is just so boring now
Anywho patch is the usual. Dungeon, Trial, Raid, etc. I loved it in spite of some narrative issues and personal wants for the story. Genuinely wanted Zero to be part of the gang because they spent 4 patches making her fun and interesting to hang out with and then just dump her once the void stuff is done. It doesn't help that, as of writing this, the next expansion seems to be entirely about something else.
Nevertheless I feel like people have their expectations in completely wrong places because of the way 6.0 wrapped up everything. That ontop of developers listening to players complaints from previous expansions now hearing the complete opposite of what people wanted back then only means that there is going to be a rift set between people playing the game and people making it and far more than usual.
GaaS and MMO players in general dig their own holes and then complain when it's not to their liking and it's the reason why something half-decent like this might end up below the dirt, though certainly not anytime soon
Anywho patch is the usual. Dungeon, Trial, Raid, etc. I loved it in spite of some narrative issues and personal wants for the story. Genuinely wanted Zero to be part of the gang because they spent 4 patches making her fun and interesting to hang out with and then just dump her once the void stuff is done. It doesn't help that, as of writing this, the next expansion seems to be entirely about something else.
Nevertheless I feel like people have their expectations in completely wrong places because of the way 6.0 wrapped up everything. That ontop of developers listening to players complaints from previous expansions now hearing the complete opposite of what people wanted back then only means that there is going to be a rift set between people playing the game and people making it and far more than usual.
GaaS and MMO players in general dig their own holes and then complain when it's not to their liking and it's the reason why something half-decent like this might end up below the dirt, though certainly not anytime soon
6.5 is about what you'd expect from a x.5 patch, maybe even more when you consider the relatively low stakes build up to each subsequent expansion that took place in 2.5, 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5. But I think for me, what makes 6.5 feel so much lesser is how tired the game feels. The plot's main thrust has been resolved; much of the wonder and mystery the game held has faded. Final Fantasy XIV has been pushed to its conceptual limits multiple times already, and it happens roughly twice in 6.5 between the MSQ and the Alliance Raid questline.
The content is as competent as always, but I can't help but feel it's reduced to only being serviceable thanks to it being effectively identical to every other patch. The same dungeon trash, different but eerily similar bosses, blink-and-you'll-miss-'em trials, cutscenes that are utilizing decade old BGM and 3D animations -- it legitimately gives me existential dread when I hear the same hokey backing tracks that have been in cutscenes for the past decade while my avatar smiles placidly at some mundane situation. And perhaps it's my fault for playing the game for so long; of course I'd be tapped out on enjoyment to some extent. But honestly this is a GaaS we're talking about, and the past two patches have been revelatory in their failure to meaningful build upon a game that even at its worst moments could make you wonder what was next around the corner.
Like a TV show that's go on for a season or two too long, everything starts to blend together. There are no more layers to peel back, and even seemingly important moments feel unaffecting to the point of unflinching apathy, reduced to post-Avengers: Endgame MCU caliber quality (even down to having its own 'The Eternals', of sorts). It makes me wonder if it was ever truly that good in the first place, or if it was just the novelty of unraveling this world and seeing what it had to offer. Stories don't need to extend themselves this long, and 6.5 has really proven that further.
I'm certain Dawntrail will be of significantly higher quality than the patch-by-patch MSQ of Endwalker, the side stories of Endwalker's patch cycle, and hell, probably Endwalker itself (whose story I think grows increasingly worse the more I think about it). But I'm not convinced Dawntrail won't share the same issues as its predecessors. We'll get a dungeon at every odd level, three trials, a new set of 8-player raids, fancy new moves for all the jobs, a story that's well-written (to a fault) with a genuinely strong sense of adventure at its highest highs. But ultimately it'll falter as a holistic gameplay experience thanks to it being stuck within the framework of an MMO, doomed to never truly have a naturalistic gameplay structure beyond same-y field areas and identically structured instanced content that are carried by bespoke art direction, music, and 3D assets.
FF14 is a respectable multimedia project with lofty ambitions and a growing overconfidence in its own subject matter that would make the FF7 compilation blush, but as an MMO and a game it's gradually depreciating patch by patch thanks to the fact that by its very nature it cannot disrupt its own status quo. Profit and longevity are king in live service games, even in ones that are largely full of meaningful experiences like FF14. Tbh tho as long as it's where the gay people are hanging out, I'll keep coming back, prolly.
The content is as competent as always, but I can't help but feel it's reduced to only being serviceable thanks to it being effectively identical to every other patch. The same dungeon trash, different but eerily similar bosses, blink-and-you'll-miss-'em trials, cutscenes that are utilizing decade old BGM and 3D animations -- it legitimately gives me existential dread when I hear the same hokey backing tracks that have been in cutscenes for the past decade while my avatar smiles placidly at some mundane situation. And perhaps it's my fault for playing the game for so long; of course I'd be tapped out on enjoyment to some extent. But honestly this is a GaaS we're talking about, and the past two patches have been revelatory in their failure to meaningful build upon a game that even at its worst moments could make you wonder what was next around the corner.
Like a TV show that's go on for a season or two too long, everything starts to blend together. There are no more layers to peel back, and even seemingly important moments feel unaffecting to the point of unflinching apathy, reduced to post-Avengers: Endgame MCU caliber quality (even down to having its own 'The Eternals', of sorts). It makes me wonder if it was ever truly that good in the first place, or if it was just the novelty of unraveling this world and seeing what it had to offer. Stories don't need to extend themselves this long, and 6.5 has really proven that further.
I'm certain Dawntrail will be of significantly higher quality than the patch-by-patch MSQ of Endwalker, the side stories of Endwalker's patch cycle, and hell, probably Endwalker itself (whose story I think grows increasingly worse the more I think about it). But I'm not convinced Dawntrail won't share the same issues as its predecessors. We'll get a dungeon at every odd level, three trials, a new set of 8-player raids, fancy new moves for all the jobs, a story that's well-written (to a fault) with a genuinely strong sense of adventure at its highest highs. But ultimately it'll falter as a holistic gameplay experience thanks to it being stuck within the framework of an MMO, doomed to never truly have a naturalistic gameplay structure beyond same-y field areas and identically structured instanced content that are carried by bespoke art direction, music, and 3D assets.
FF14 is a respectable multimedia project with lofty ambitions and a growing overconfidence in its own subject matter that would make the FF7 compilation blush, but as an MMO and a game it's gradually depreciating patch by patch thanks to the fact that by its very nature it cannot disrupt its own status quo. Profit and longevity are king in live service games, even in ones that are largely full of meaningful experiences like FF14. Tbh tho as long as it's where the gay people are hanging out, I'll keep coming back, prolly.
This review contains spoilers
more like mid fantasy 4
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soken and the 14 team have plenty of good songs but i often feel the ff cover songs are weaker, and wow does the red wings theme not carry a phase 2 of a boss. the zeromus cover was p good but also the day they put a black mages version in is the hypest day, just listen to this: https://youtu.be/xslJ-uj5huk?si=Jj_6_DSrraEO2oDj
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anyway nearly every bit of story in this patch continued to be dull (butch woman cecil is nice at least, even if shes not that interesting), but the playing the actual game stuff was a lot of fun! had a spicy dungeon and trial both, both in the fun way, and the alliance raid was chaotic in the way they always are on day 1. looking forward to getting that final boss down better in the future
anyway god i hope dawntrail has a fun plot, i need something, anything
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soken and the 14 team have plenty of good songs but i often feel the ff cover songs are weaker, and wow does the red wings theme not carry a phase 2 of a boss. the zeromus cover was p good but also the day they put a black mages version in is the hypest day, just listen to this: https://youtu.be/xslJ-uj5huk?si=Jj_6_DSrraEO2oDj
-
anyway nearly every bit of story in this patch continued to be dull (butch woman cecil is nice at least, even if shes not that interesting), but the playing the actual game stuff was a lot of fun! had a spicy dungeon and trial both, both in the fun way, and the alliance raid was chaotic in the way they always are on day 1. looking forward to getting that final boss down better in the future
anyway god i hope dawntrail has a fun plot, i need something, anything
alright, make a new game already
"Life is a series of journeys, my friend, and there's no telling what awaits us on the long road."
(Impressões da MSQ dos patchs 6.1 - 6.55)
Aprecio muitas coisas no pós-Endwalker, a tentativa de criar um novo arco para uma nova estrela foi algo bem audaz mas faz jus ao legado da Endwalker como um fechamento de arco, então nada mais justo que o pós abrir margens para explorar novos horizontes, porém isso somado ao lançamento pausado dos patchs cria a sensação de uma queda brusca de qualidade de escrita no pós-endwalker, optei então por esperar todos os capitulos dessa jornada estarem disponiveis para desfruta-los.
O formato de seriado nos patchs geralmente ajuda por já termos uma longa continuidade e interesse nesses personagens, e até a 6.3 isso não era o caso justamente por essa proposta nova, o unico personagem já trabalhado que recebe mais aprofundamento aqui é Vtra, que tem um protagonismo ao lado da personagem nova, Zero, que é uma otima adição ao cast e rapidamente se tornou uma das minhas secundarias favoritas graças ao trabalho tematico nela e sua evolução como personagem que referencia diretamente Final Fantasy IV assim como a maior parte do pós-Endwalker, a sensação de desinteresse também foi mitigada graças a adição de mais dungeons e trials, ao menos uma de cada em todos os patchs, e na 6.4 começa a ser trabalhado sequelas de Garlemald que é brilhantemente amarrado ao arco da Zero, ajudando na construção dela e na evolução de um dos arcos mais interessantes e emblematicos da Endwalker e do jogo como um todo, apartir dai as coisas ganham mais foco e proposito e culminam em um fim de jornada satisfatorio. o 5.55 serve como uma rapida ponte para o proximo arco dessa jornada, e me animou muito para a Dawntrail, ter mais interações com os personagens que eu amo e momentos de acalentar o coração marcam o fim do pós-Endwalker e o inicio da jornada para Tural.
(Impressões da MSQ dos patchs 6.1 - 6.55)
Aprecio muitas coisas no pós-Endwalker, a tentativa de criar um novo arco para uma nova estrela foi algo bem audaz mas faz jus ao legado da Endwalker como um fechamento de arco, então nada mais justo que o pós abrir margens para explorar novos horizontes, porém isso somado ao lançamento pausado dos patchs cria a sensação de uma queda brusca de qualidade de escrita no pós-endwalker, optei então por esperar todos os capitulos dessa jornada estarem disponiveis para desfruta-los.
O formato de seriado nos patchs geralmente ajuda por já termos uma longa continuidade e interesse nesses personagens, e até a 6.3 isso não era o caso justamente por essa proposta nova, o unico personagem já trabalhado que recebe mais aprofundamento aqui é Vtra, que tem um protagonismo ao lado da personagem nova, Zero, que é uma otima adição ao cast e rapidamente se tornou uma das minhas secundarias favoritas graças ao trabalho tematico nela e sua evolução como personagem que referencia diretamente Final Fantasy IV assim como a maior parte do pós-Endwalker, a sensação de desinteresse também foi mitigada graças a adição de mais dungeons e trials, ao menos uma de cada em todos os patchs, e na 6.4 começa a ser trabalhado sequelas de Garlemald que é brilhantemente amarrado ao arco da Zero, ajudando na construção dela e na evolução de um dos arcos mais interessantes e emblematicos da Endwalker e do jogo como um todo, apartir dai as coisas ganham mais foco e proposito e culminam em um fim de jornada satisfatorio. o 5.55 serve como uma rapida ponte para o proximo arco dessa jornada, e me animou muito para a Dawntrail, ter mais interações com os personagens que eu amo e momentos de acalentar o coração marcam o fim do pós-Endwalker e o inicio da jornada para Tural.
fan service/filler garbage
Yeah yeah okay most of the patches were mid but .55 had so many "I love my friends" moments and I'm so excited for Dawntrail!!! My first time experiencing an expansion day 1!!! Yay!!!! Also Wuk Lamat and Erenville have such a fun dynamic I love their catty besties energy
[This Review is for FF14 Patches 6.1-6.55]
The long and short of it is that I like EndWalker as an expansion. Ultimately not as much as Shadowbringers, but it's a solid second place.
To preface, I didn't see all the content included. I did not do any Savage or Ultimate Raiding, though I did clear all Extreme Trials at least once. That said, I did enjoy all the battle content I did.
The Pandaemonium Raid series was fun and had some pretty cool designs and music. The new Variant Dungeons are a welcome addition to duty modes, feeling like there's proper dungeon puzzle solving and is a good challenge to try and clear solo. All the trials except one tied into the MSQ which made for them being a good climax for each patch with a lot of good interpretations of old FF4 bosses into a modern MMO fight. All the Tribe Quests tie directly into stuff from the main story, which is something rare to see but always appreciated. Eureka Orthos was there. There wasn't a Field Operation for this expansion which at first I understood then cursed when I went through its replacement.
Island Sanctuary sucks so much as it docks a full point off of this expansion for me, omg. It's such a nothing mode of content that takes forever to do for virtually no reward other than having a beach episode with some side characters. It's the first form of this content they've done so they better do this better in Dawn Trail. Similarly, the Relic Weapon series cut down basically all grinding, but it's become so nothing as a result. With this expansion, it's nothing more than quest to check off on patch day to get a new stat stick. Which could be seen as a larger complaint of the expansion overall, there really isn't content to chew on in lax manner. So much of it, while high quality, is very one and done.
Finally, the patch MSQ is probably the best it's ever been. A problem with previous MSQs is that they're split between being closure for the previous expansion's story while also setting up the next one. The problem with that is some of those don't feel all as well done as the original MSQ or can come off as fluff that doesn't actually mean that much for the larger story. Not to say it's bad per say, but going into a new storyline for the 5 patches feels more cohesive. And it makes it feel less awkward when you dump 40+ hours into the initial MSQ then have to wait months at a time to get to the big conclusion of that original story. Pretty much all the trials being moved into the MSQ also working in the same vein in that all of them feel climactic and adds weight for the story in having real threats more present. It is a doubled edged sword however as it limits the amount of side quests that can be conflict driven to only really having one single trial at the end of the Relic Questline.
Now, my experience with previous expansions has been admittingly very different to End Walker. Being able to burn through an entire MSQ, Raid Series, and other pieces of content really quickly when ever I wanted to do them is very different than doing everything in steps patch to patch. That said, I don't think I can say I enjoyed End Walker as much as Shadow Bringers as an expansion. The variety of content in ShB was all stuff I ended up enjoying more than EW's, even with the flaws I'd complain about for both. Not to mention that the way ShB's story is written acting as a massive recontextualization of everything that's come before, the amazing moments it has, and the set up for the finale of EW ends up meaning more to me than just how well EW capped everything off and set up a new path for things to follow.
Even with the problems I have with End Walker, I'm excited. I think Dawn Trail can only come out stronger and better.
The long and short of it is that I like EndWalker as an expansion. Ultimately not as much as Shadowbringers, but it's a solid second place.
To preface, I didn't see all the content included. I did not do any Savage or Ultimate Raiding, though I did clear all Extreme Trials at least once. That said, I did enjoy all the battle content I did.
The Pandaemonium Raid series was fun and had some pretty cool designs and music. The new Variant Dungeons are a welcome addition to duty modes, feeling like there's proper dungeon puzzle solving and is a good challenge to try and clear solo. All the trials except one tied into the MSQ which made for them being a good climax for each patch with a lot of good interpretations of old FF4 bosses into a modern MMO fight. All the Tribe Quests tie directly into stuff from the main story, which is something rare to see but always appreciated. Eureka Orthos was there. There wasn't a Field Operation for this expansion which at first I understood then cursed when I went through its replacement.
Island Sanctuary sucks so much as it docks a full point off of this expansion for me, omg. It's such a nothing mode of content that takes forever to do for virtually no reward other than having a beach episode with some side characters. It's the first form of this content they've done so they better do this better in Dawn Trail. Similarly, the Relic Weapon series cut down basically all grinding, but it's become so nothing as a result. With this expansion, it's nothing more than quest to check off on patch day to get a new stat stick. Which could be seen as a larger complaint of the expansion overall, there really isn't content to chew on in lax manner. So much of it, while high quality, is very one and done.
Finally, the patch MSQ is probably the best it's ever been. A problem with previous MSQs is that they're split between being closure for the previous expansion's story while also setting up the next one. The problem with that is some of those don't feel all as well done as the original MSQ or can come off as fluff that doesn't actually mean that much for the larger story. Not to say it's bad per say, but going into a new storyline for the 5 patches feels more cohesive. And it makes it feel less awkward when you dump 40+ hours into the initial MSQ then have to wait months at a time to get to the big conclusion of that original story. Pretty much all the trials being moved into the MSQ also working in the same vein in that all of them feel climactic and adds weight for the story in having real threats more present. It is a doubled edged sword however as it limits the amount of side quests that can be conflict driven to only really having one single trial at the end of the Relic Questline.
Now, my experience with previous expansions has been admittingly very different to End Walker. Being able to burn through an entire MSQ, Raid Series, and other pieces of content really quickly when ever I wanted to do them is very different than doing everything in steps patch to patch. That said, I don't think I can say I enjoyed End Walker as much as Shadow Bringers as an expansion. The variety of content in ShB was all stuff I ended up enjoying more than EW's, even with the flaws I'd complain about for both. Not to mention that the way ShB's story is written acting as a massive recontextualization of everything that's come before, the amazing moments it has, and the set up for the finale of EW ends up meaning more to me than just how well EW capped everything off and set up a new path for things to follow.
Even with the problems I have with End Walker, I'm excited. I think Dawn Trail can only come out stronger and better.
A small and nice teaser for Dawntrail, showcasing mostly the female Hrothgar who is apparently pivotal to the new expansion story and one of the new jobs, the Pictomancer. The story itself is nothing to write home about, but it just gives you that itch to play the new content. Tural, here we come!
It’s both a relief and a thrill to reach the end of the post-Endwalker patch content in Growing Light. Patch 6.5 offers the usual update suspects, including several excellent PvE activities, and the story wraps up in this last chapter with a satisfying conclusion. With next year’s Dawntrail expansion on the horizon, the future is bright for Final Fantasy XIV.
Full Review: https://neoncloudff.wordpress.com/2023/10/31/now-playing-october-2023-edition/
Full Review: https://neoncloudff.wordpress.com/2023/10/31/now-playing-october-2023-edition/
This chapter reaches its very predictable ending, with everyone who's still alive redeemed, and a clear narrative thread left alone but ready to be picked back up in a future expansion. It's as fulfilling as this sort of in-between content can be, and I'm honestly overjoyed I won't have to endure the cringe of Zero tipping her hat every time people talk about feelings any longer. I'm curious about Dawntrail, but this curiosity is tempered by my feelings about gameplay.
I find myself again dreaming about this exact game, with the exact same amount of content, the same story, classes, characters, lore, and so on, but as a single player experience not beholden to the requirements of a traditional MMO.
Though I can appreciated FFXIV's gameplay in small doses, I once more reach the conclusion I just…deeply dislike it. The scripted nature of its fundamental mechanics (every class has its own rotation and deviating from it is always bad) and the very sparkly Simon Says of trials and raids, paired with the inevitable focus on optimisation that is part and parcel of MMOs, just makes for a miserable experience for me.
I find myself again dreaming about this exact game, with the exact same amount of content, the same story, classes, characters, lore, and so on, but as a single player experience not beholden to the requirements of a traditional MMO.
Though I can appreciated FFXIV's gameplay in small doses, I once more reach the conclusion I just…deeply dislike it. The scripted nature of its fundamental mechanics (every class has its own rotation and deviating from it is always bad) and the very sparkly Simon Says of trials and raids, paired with the inevitable focus on optimisation that is part and parcel of MMOs, just makes for a miserable experience for me.
When you find out your goat washed💔💔💔
This review contains spoilers
Very mixed but looking forward to Dawntrail and Lightbringers, (the alliance story was decent I thought the raid story was better)
I liked the beginning quests (the ones in the first), I also really enjoyed the trial and the dungeon. The dawntrail setup after the zero arc concludes is really interesting and funny that its just ffxiv hxh succession war.
I think this might be the worst story arc in the game post ARR and its really a shame because I really like 6.1 and 6.2 I think they were super solid catch up and setup. I really love how 6.2 introduces you properly to the voidsent and how they work learning about them was so fun and exciting. I feel like the rest of the story should have been more of a look at the void with a lot more writing and lore given to the arc-specific characters. this whole arc in its entirety feels really hollow and empty.
I feel like XIV has a lot of hokey positive characters in its cast, its made a lot of sense in the past and for some it almost felt like payoff in a way due to some growing into it. in this later half of the arc something about how they were like there powah of friendship felt really hollow and felt like a story geared towards children. I feel like Zero's character growth was especially jarring and I personally found how she was self serving when we met her was really interesting and a nice change of pace, I'm not saying I wanted her to stay that way but it would have been cool if they made more moments of her changing her old ways more subtle with a big moment to really push it at the end akin to something like Vincent FF7. I think I like golbez more but still almost all of the depth here feels like something relegated to a decent alliance/trial/raid series story (it seriously feels like this would have been better off as a side trial story) ALSO if anything the raid series story has felt like more of a proper MSQ payoff than anything in the actual p-patch MSQ
also everyone whos doomer storywise needs to chill the fuck out, this is like a single instance of the story sucking to this degree, there's legitimately a possibility for Zero, Golbez and the entire void Shadowbringers 2 setup that's been laidout these patches to be great and have really good payoff for when the time comes for the spotlight to be shining on the void again.
Anyways gaia O_O
I liked the beginning quests (the ones in the first), I also really enjoyed the trial and the dungeon. The dawntrail setup after the zero arc concludes is really interesting and funny that its just ffxiv hxh succession war.
I think this might be the worst story arc in the game post ARR and its really a shame because I really like 6.1 and 6.2 I think they were super solid catch up and setup. I really love how 6.2 introduces you properly to the voidsent and how they work learning about them was so fun and exciting. I feel like the rest of the story should have been more of a look at the void with a lot more writing and lore given to the arc-specific characters. this whole arc in its entirety feels really hollow and empty.
I feel like XIV has a lot of hokey positive characters in its cast, its made a lot of sense in the past and for some it almost felt like payoff in a way due to some growing into it. in this later half of the arc something about how they were like there powah of friendship felt really hollow and felt like a story geared towards children. I feel like Zero's character growth was especially jarring and I personally found how she was self serving when we met her was really interesting and a nice change of pace, I'm not saying I wanted her to stay that way but it would have been cool if they made more moments of her changing her old ways more subtle with a big moment to really push it at the end akin to something like Vincent FF7. I think I like golbez more but still almost all of the depth here feels like something relegated to a decent alliance/trial/raid series story (it seriously feels like this would have been better off as a side trial story) ALSO if anything the raid series story has felt like more of a proper MSQ payoff than anything in the actual p-patch MSQ
also everyone whos doomer storywise needs to chill the fuck out, this is like a single instance of the story sucking to this degree, there's legitimately a possibility for Zero, Golbez and the entire void Shadowbringers 2 setup that's been laidout these patches to be great and have really good payoff for when the time comes for the spotlight to be shining on the void again.
Anyways gaia O_O
Truly not worth the sub fees.
shb was my favorite part of the msq so getting to return to those areas had me giddy. story was peak, the dungeon was probably my favorite of the expansion, trial was alright, zero continues to be a 10/10 character
the golden age of final fantasy xiv is officially over.
it's one thing to have crappy writing (this happens a lot; ffxiv is more often one of the most mediocre final fantasies than it is one of the very best ones). it's another thing entirely to not only completely ruin the arc of one of the game's most promising characters but to completely neuter all the mystique, allure and intrigue to a part of the game's lore that has been built up over the past 10+ years of storytelling (while completely neglecting the characters originally entangled in said lore).
i could elucidate my feelings on what it's been like to follow the post-6.0 patch cycle but i think this image sums up capping things off with 6.5 more eloquently than i could ever hope to: https://i.imgur.com/uo6iffw.png
it's one thing to have crappy writing (this happens a lot; ffxiv is more often one of the most mediocre final fantasies than it is one of the very best ones). it's another thing entirely to not only completely ruin the arc of one of the game's most promising characters but to completely neuter all the mystique, allure and intrigue to a part of the game's lore that has been built up over the past 10+ years of storytelling (while completely neglecting the characters originally entangled in said lore).
i could elucidate my feelings on what it's been like to follow the post-6.0 patch cycle but i think this image sums up capping things off with 6.5 more eloquently than i could ever hope to: https://i.imgur.com/uo6iffw.png
allin tuta
This review contains spoilers
While I enjoyed the overall story, it also reminded me a lot about how incredibly frustrating this story is frequently. The entire "get permission from the people to use the crystal tower" is a somehow even more stupid retread of one of the plot points in 6.4, where it already was stupid, runar and the night's blessed are really great at putting me to sleep, important stuff keeps being in optional content and then barely ever comes up in the msq, and I guess Zero is just on the 13th for the next 3-5 years or whenever they decide to pick up that plot thread again. sigh