All the fun is had in Othard, where the game's jaunt most resembles Heavensward, fresh fantasy elements delivered at a steady pace. A vaguely-intimidating impirial threat is most of what Stormblood can muster for its liberation-themed plotlines in Ala Mhigo and Doma, and as such generally fails to substantially raise the stakes until the patch quests' allusions. By contrast, I felt the difficulty curve finally hit an apt degree of challenge for regular dungeons and trials, which themselves are the game's most inventive so far.