Oh my god. This game has made me cry way too many times now. 3 separate occasions in this one little series of quests. The trial was amazing and so was the extreme version. The finale of all that was set up in Shadowbringers. I'm almost at a loss for words. I tear up thinking about all the goodbyes we said. This game is truly special.
I kneel.
Who doesn't love a happy ending? Especially one that ties up more loose ends than it unravels. A great sendoff for The First, all your favorites show up to help. Some people like this patch so much that they consider it the point where the game should end, like no more ffxiv story. Can't wait to keep playing!
I cried 3 times during this patch idk how this game got to me this hard but good on it for achieving that
10/10
10/10
(tears streaming from my bloodshot eyes) ALL KILLER NO FILLER
IN MONOCHROME MELODIES
This review contains spoilers
I noticed that IGDB had added all the FFXIV patches and quickly decided that reviewing all of them would be way too much work, even though according to my DLC policy I would have to review a few of them. I want to make an exception for this one though because it is, imo, wher the game peaked (so far)
The patch starts with you doing a bit of boring stuff but it's fine because you get to the good stuff pretty quickly and it's really good stuff.
I mentioned it briefly in my main Shadowbringers review already, Elidibus is my favourite villain in Shadowbringers (now that I've seen more of Fandaniel and know he's just discount Kefka I can even say that with certainty). Antivillains are incredibly difficult to pull off and they managed to do it amazingly. The solo duty is a great recap of your journey so far but from the other side, the dungeon is fun, and the trial is my favourite trial in the game.
The Seat of Sacrifice isn't just my favourite trial in the game, it's my favourite thing in the game. You simultaneously feel like you're finally battling your archnemesis and mercykilling a dying man.
"To The Edge" is a fantastic song and it is great at underlining just how desperate Elidibus is.
Emet-Selch showing up to help you is also fantastic. Even the man who so desperatly holding on to the past he recreated an entire city has realized he has lost and needs to move on, and now he's helping you make the last desperate struggler realize the same.
Mechanically it is also incredibly fun, my only complaints are that the limit break timing is a bit too tight and that the button mashing is bit much from an accessibility standpoint.
Everything that happens after the trial is also a satisfying wrapup of your adventures on the first.
Another reason I wanted to review this patch was that by talking so positively about it, I make it clearer just how annoying the annoying parts of Shadowbringers were and that pretty much sums up my feelings towards FFXIV in general; Some amazing stuff that gets dragged down by a lot of mediocre and bad stuff.
The patch starts with you doing a bit of boring stuff but it's fine because you get to the good stuff pretty quickly and it's really good stuff.
I mentioned it briefly in my main Shadowbringers review already, Elidibus is my favourite villain in Shadowbringers (now that I've seen more of Fandaniel and know he's just discount Kefka I can even say that with certainty). Antivillains are incredibly difficult to pull off and they managed to do it amazingly. The solo duty is a great recap of your journey so far but from the other side, the dungeon is fun, and the trial is my favourite trial in the game.
The Seat of Sacrifice isn't just my favourite trial in the game, it's my favourite thing in the game. You simultaneously feel like you're finally battling your archnemesis and mercykilling a dying man.
"To The Edge" is a fantastic song and it is great at underlining just how desperate Elidibus is.
Emet-Selch showing up to help you is also fantastic. Even the man who so desperatly holding on to the past he recreated an entire city has realized he has lost and needs to move on, and now he's helping you make the last desperate struggler realize the same.
Mechanically it is also incredibly fun, my only complaints are that the limit break timing is a bit too tight and that the button mashing is bit much from an accessibility standpoint.
Everything that happens after the trial is also a satisfying wrapup of your adventures on the first.
Another reason I wanted to review this patch was that by talking so positively about it, I make it clearer just how annoying the annoying parts of Shadowbringers were and that pretty much sums up my feelings towards FFXIV in general; Some amazing stuff that gets dragged down by a lot of mediocre and bad stuff.
Really good but the fact I have to wait for other people to be interested before I can fight a boss just kills the experience.
Great ending to the Shadowbringers story, but really didn't care for this section of the raid series.
One of the game's best patches yet and a fantastic send-off to a great expansion. Endwalker has a lot to live up to.
Wow what a patch. A fantastic conclusion to the Shadowbringers storyline where its story beats are perfectly utilized to just destroy your emotions :(.
5.3 sort of perfectly encapsulates everything I love AND dislike about this game. It is FFXIV's highest point.
Narratively, there's just so much good stuff going on, all beats expertly crafted so they deliver continuous emotional gut punches. The pathos of the Unsundered and the way Elidibus wavers under the weight of mission he can no longer understand, for instance. The Scions' farewells are equally beautiful and bittersweet—this was the moment all their talking about wanting to save the world because they love it unconditionally really felt tangible, where we got to see how saddened they were to leave their friends of the First. I might have shed a few tears while watching Seto's cutscenes. These are the reasons why I play and love this game.
But then there are the actual gameplay bits. The trial encapsulated everything I dislike about playing MMOs. Mechanics stacked on top of mechanics, making it hard to find my own character in the middle of all the flashy stuff going on, let alone understand what I was supposed to do. While of course keeping some sort of awareness as to what the other 7 players were doing, maintaining oGCDs on cooldown, and performing a decent enough rotation. For me, this sort of situation feels more like artificial difficulty than an interesting challenge, even more so because it felt more like a cross of an eyesight test and social challenge than a fun game: who has the shiny stack up marker and who has the shiny move away marker amidst the 5 other shiny explosions? How to get these players to understand they shouldn't stay close together? Is the villain saying something relevant? Who knows, ain't nobody got time for that when all party members are at <10% HP. I don't get anxious about these things anymore; my only reaction is "I hope this ends soon".
Narratively, there's just so much good stuff going on, all beats expertly crafted so they deliver continuous emotional gut punches. The pathos of the Unsundered and the way Elidibus wavers under the weight of mission he can no longer understand, for instance. The Scions' farewells are equally beautiful and bittersweet—this was the moment all their talking about wanting to save the world because they love it unconditionally really felt tangible, where we got to see how saddened they were to leave their friends of the First. I might have shed a few tears while watching Seto's cutscenes. These are the reasons why I play and love this game.
But then there are the actual gameplay bits. The trial encapsulated everything I dislike about playing MMOs. Mechanics stacked on top of mechanics, making it hard to find my own character in the middle of all the flashy stuff going on, let alone understand what I was supposed to do. While of course keeping some sort of awareness as to what the other 7 players were doing, maintaining oGCDs on cooldown, and performing a decent enough rotation. For me, this sort of situation feels more like artificial difficulty than an interesting challenge, even more so because it felt more like a cross of an eyesight test and social challenge than a fun game: who has the shiny stack up marker and who has the shiny move away marker amidst the 5 other shiny explosions? How to get these players to understand they shouldn't stay close together? Is the villain saying something relevant? Who knows, ain't nobody got time for that when all party members are at <10% HP. I don't get anxious about these things anymore; my only reaction is "I hope this ends soon".
Not only is this the peak of Shadowbringers, but of the entirety of FFXIV so far (I have not played EW yet) and is just, maybe my favorite piece of gaming alongside The Old Hunters from Bloodborne and the final act of Persona 3.
This ending for Shadowbringers was simply perfect and it's what solidified it as one of my favorite games of all time, as well as my favorite story told in a videogame. I will talk more about this in the full Shadowbringers review that I'm going to make relatively soon (I hope so, at least). This is just a true masterpiece.
This ending for Shadowbringers was simply perfect and it's what solidified it as one of my favorite games of all time, as well as my favorite story told in a videogame. I will talk more about this in the full Shadowbringers review that I'm going to make relatively soon (I hope so, at least). This is just a true masterpiece.
This review contains spoilers
5.2 got me personally invested in the Post-Shadowbringers shenanigans, and 5.3 was able to make me ugly cry.
I think Elidibus compliments the narratives of Shadowbringers so much. Instead of remaking his bland character they double down and humanize him, I found it really easy to get behind the struggle for the Ascians and I really got a sense that dealing with the final days was mystery but they really sold us on how tense and how much of a downward spiral the situation was and what really happened was the big question we were left with, it's a big reason why they are my favourite villain force in a piece of media, Elidibus losing himself and being portrayed as a younger child figure but , yet being put in a really important position really intensifies the morality of everything and the mystery. The seat of sacrifice is my favourite fight in the game because it's the Ascian's last stand and it feels so desperate. The first is my favourite video game world, In 5.0 I went in thinking this was so cool and epic but I left really attached to the characters of the zones. I really felt like the scions had made themselves a second home in the first so watching everyone say goodbye and travelling back to each zone might be one of my favourite moments in a video game period. Not many games can accomplish making me feel how I felt on this part. thinking about how Thancred has to say goodbye to Ryne started the waterworks, But the Ardbert and Seto cutscene is honestly probably my favourite conclusion to a character, When I originally beat 5.0 he was one of my favourite characters ever, so I really missed him going through 5.1, and 5.2 and I was genuinely mad that Elidibus was messing around with his reputation for his own gain because he had to go thru so much bullshit for accidentally causing the flood of light already. So, him getting this one last happy moment with Seto was really sweet I don’t think I’ve ever cried to a scene in a video game as much as that and it still chokes me up today.
TLDR: 5.3 reaches the exact heights as its base expansion story and adds the narrative of obsession on top of the diverse themes 5.0 covers and it fits perfectly. Because of this I can't help but give it 5 stars for perfectly complimenting one of my favourite games of all time.
I think Elidibus compliments the narratives of Shadowbringers so much. Instead of remaking his bland character they double down and humanize him, I found it really easy to get behind the struggle for the Ascians and I really got a sense that dealing with the final days was mystery but they really sold us on how tense and how much of a downward spiral the situation was and what really happened was the big question we were left with, it's a big reason why they are my favourite villain force in a piece of media, Elidibus losing himself and being portrayed as a younger child figure but , yet being put in a really important position really intensifies the morality of everything and the mystery. The seat of sacrifice is my favourite fight in the game because it's the Ascian's last stand and it feels so desperate. The first is my favourite video game world, In 5.0 I went in thinking this was so cool and epic but I left really attached to the characters of the zones. I really felt like the scions had made themselves a second home in the first so watching everyone say goodbye and travelling back to each zone might be one of my favourite moments in a video game period. Not many games can accomplish making me feel how I felt on this part. thinking about how Thancred has to say goodbye to Ryne started the waterworks, But the Ardbert and Seto cutscene is honestly probably my favourite conclusion to a character, When I originally beat 5.0 he was one of my favourite characters ever, so I really missed him going through 5.1, and 5.2 and I was genuinely mad that Elidibus was messing around with his reputation for his own gain because he had to go thru so much bullshit for accidentally causing the flood of light already. So, him getting this one last happy moment with Seto was really sweet I don’t think I’ve ever cried to a scene in a video game as much as that and it still chokes me up today.
TLDR: 5.3 reaches the exact heights as its base expansion story and adds the narrative of obsession on top of the diverse themes 5.0 covers and it fits perfectly. Because of this I can't help but give it 5 stars for perfectly complimenting one of my favourite games of all time.