girls have two moods
ENGAGING COMBAT MODE
And
(Crying to why)

I "played" this game about two summers ago at the Asian-Canadian arts exhibit in Montreal. I'm not very fond of vr usually, but here, I was immersed. I remember the scene where all the photographs and papers
disappear, and I frantically tried to gather up the polygonal papers and prevent them from vanishing. The small interactive moments like this combined with the excellent narration of this true story left me feeling a personal connection to the low poly family shown in this game in a mere 15 minutes, and reminiscing afterwards about the thousands of very real people who experienced the same thing. Despite the very simple graphics, in it's half hour runtime this game presented me with a very moving look into a horrific history I knew about but never really understood the details or extent of. I'm logging it now as I think about it again, it really was such an impactful experience that I continue to think back to. I think my enjoyment of this game was heightened by the fact that I was in a museum and had the context of historical information beforehand, but I still recommend trying it at home if possible. I can really only describe it as moving.

IT TOOK FOREVER BUT I BEAT IT

AND IT WAS SO WORTH IT.

The journey to me beating this game was over a year long. I definitely enjoyed the gameplay and story more than Innocent Sin, especially Tatsuya just being so interesting here.

"A smile better suits a hero..."

This expansion made me obsessed with this game. Slow at the start but very very enjoyable, especially as someone who's fave final fantasy archetype is dragoon. New voice actors are pretty great, and the plot is alot more direct and to-the-point than a Realm Reborn. Although some major characters are absent due to ARR's ending, they are kinda treated like they don't exist for a while. But despite the Scion shaped hole in my heart ARR left, I really fell in love with the new cast and enjoyed the climactic story, despite the MMO gameplay not being my forte.

I don't see the postgame, dragonsong, listed as it's own thing, and my rating for that is probably 4.5 stars.

it elevated the plot of Heavensward that made me not want to put the game down, and took it to an even grander and frankly unforgettable conclusion, boasting some of my favourite cutscenes in arguably the entire series. Not to mention my fave character returning with an awesome fit, along with many other members of the cast from ARR. Cool new areas, classes, and mounts were unlocked, and tons of minions given through main quests, which I love collecting. The changes in the story if you play as a Dragoon are super cool too.

If it wasn't for XVI, this would be the gayest final fantasy.

Gameplay: 6/10 - laid back mostly, not super interesting but still entertaining.
Plot: 9/10 - Not earth shattering but rlly good and pulled the pace
Pacing: 6/10 - not great but a hell of a lot better than ARR
Visuals: 6/10 - Looks kinda ick but it dosent explode my computer so that's 10/10 to me

Conclusion: 8/10 A to the L to the E-X-Ander's

Wow. Genuinely a top tier FF experience for me. Shadowbringers boasts not only XIV's darkest writing so far, but also arguably it's most hopeful moments. Not to mention the characters. Characters I already liked were elevated to all time faves, characters I didn't care for became ones I really loved, and new characters quickly became very important to me. The expertly crafted characters, narrative, and environments meshed together to create such an engaging and moving experience that I suspect will stand out as a fave among all the game's I have played. Not everyone likes the setup, but I personally found it really engaging from the start. The twists and turns at the end had me on the edge of my seat, although the identity of a certain hooded man was kinda obvious even if I wasn't aware going into the expansion. That said, it did not hinder how emotionally affected I was by cutscenes relating to that.
There was some big variation in difficulty, with instanced battles like Thancred Vs Ran'jit being quite a challenge while dungeons like the Qitana Ravel being a cakewalk.

Eden, the post game raids, are a MUST if you've played ff8, or even if you haven't. It's a very nice continuation of Ryne's story.

Gameplay: 7/10 - the implementation of the Trust and RP systems were really neat and a good way to further connect with the good characters
Plot: 9/10 - a great twist on the classic FF narrative and a very moving narrative that isn't afraid to let heroes make mistakes and let you sympathize for the villains.
Pacing: 7/10 - the side questing was drastically cut down, and boss mechanics had alot more variety
Visuals: 7/10 - Beautiful environments that really make the most of this game's limited graphics
On it's own, Shadowbringers is almost a 10 for me but in the context of XIV being an MMO and this taking 300-400 hours of content to get to, the way it's situated is so much less than ideal.

Conclusion: 9/10 Emet-Selch reaction images

what the fuck did i just "play"

This is actually my first exposure to the series, although I started the anime right after finishing this. To call this a game is a stretch, it's not even really a visual novel. It's more of an interactive audiobook / cd rom.

The manner of progression was very abstract and I kinda gave up on beating it until recently. That said, I greatly enjoyed the narrative this game was presenting and felt really smart for piecing it all together. It disturbed and intrigued me and I just love the overall feel of it too.

Maybe the real endwalker was the test of your reflexes

hoooly fuck this is just me rambling

"Henceforth, he shall walk."

Endwalker was possibly the most emotional a piece of media has ever made me. I'm thinking back on this game currently, and the biggest thing that comes to mind is "Holy shit, i'm so glad that I got to experience ff14's story". Although this isn't as amazing as I think shadowbringers was, but the way Endwalker is written and executed feels like a perfect finale to an era.

I started my ff14 journey as someone who didn't really care about the msq, who just wanted to see what it was like, and thought an online final fantasy game seemed like something i wouldn't like.

But, over the past 4 expansions, I grew to care so deeply for these fictional characters and worlds. I certainly have my fair amount of gripes with the game, especially with the dungeons and trials usually feeling lacking.

I personally am a story above all else type, but I found the gameplay so middling in comparison to prior expansions. There's no denying the character writing is at it's peak here, but worldbuilding was nowhere near as strong or enticing as SHB.

The biggest thing keeping this expac at a 5 stars is just how much it means to me. The very meta nature of endwalker and how i've strengthened real friendships through this game lead to a DEVASTATING Ultima Thule experience. And it is that way for most people, from what i've heard.

It felt really personal, but so many people say it reminded them of vastly different things in their own lives. And I think that's magical, especially when, through a shit ton of tears, I simply stopped playing the game, and talked through how I was feeling regarding very real things this game was making me think about with my friend. And we had this conversation in the in-game chat, in Ultima Thule, right before entering the dead ends.

This is the biggest example, but there's tons of story moments that really hit me hard, and even if I feel like Endwalker was sometimes tonally inconsistent, it has the highest highs and what I think is one of final fantasy's best cutscenes in years.

Endwalker is certainly not a perfect expansion, but I felt something very powerful while playing it and i'm honesty not sure how to explain it. You are asked at multiple points if your journey was fulfilling. And for me, who hit 1000 hours as I reached the final day, I'd say it was.


Gameplay: 6.5/10 - the mainline content was pretty okay, Endsinger was good, but the optional content is SO MUCH FUN
Plot: 9/10 - not as narrative focused as shb but delivers emotionally to make up for it, and expanded on things in shadowbringers that I really wanted to know more about.
Pacing: 6/10 - Either very slow or very fast with little inbetween
Visuals: 7.5/10 - they are really pushing the engine here, props to the vfx artists

conclusion: 9/10 g'raha burgers