2023
"Where's everyone going, bingo?"The line we all asked once this game released and saw everyone playing.
NOTE: Despite my current playtime on Steam at time of making this review, I have already watched the entire game.
This game takes (almost) everything about the original and improves upon it.
The combat, areas & bosses all in my opinion were improved on. There were few things removed from the original but overall the changes made I love. The combat feels modern, slick, smooth, beefy. Playing as Leon often makes you feel like John Wick, even going as far as to hold his pistol like Wick, haha.
There were some areas/bosses I sometimes dread getting to in the original, but this remake remains consistent for the entire thing. I can't think of a single section in the remake I would dread replaying. It's safe to say, this game will have amazing replay value. The amount of unlockable bonuses such as special weapons & infinite ammo with different gameplay limitations required to earn them, I can easily see myself spending 100+ hours going through different playthroughs. (This is nothing new however, as the original had these bonuses as well albeit they were far easier to earn.)
The characters & voice acting are my biggest gripes about this game. Particularly with the characters Ada Wong & Jack Krauser. Ada sounds bored, Krauser sounds like a tryhard twenty-something-year-old putting on an evil voice. With that being said, characters like Louis (especially), Ashley & Saddler were improved upon from the original.
The story was also slightly redone, and for the better too. I found myself engaged and even at one point almost teared up. I cannot really fault the story for much other than the writing between Ada & Leon's relationship as I feel like they were a lot more moody, and not in a good way. Leon alone is fine, but Ada severely lacks in this remake unfortunately. Her voice actress sounds bored and awkward, not to mention she doesn't sound anything like the previous games. I'll just be honest, it's something you'll have to see to understand, but I can say that even as an Ada & Leon shipper, this was not enough for me to prefer the original.
It's safe to say that I cannot ever see myself returning to the original for a full playthrough unless my knowledge gets too shabby on cutscenes. Everything from a gameplay & level design perspective I prefer miles over the original and this is coming from someone who played the original when it released.
[b]TO ALL NEW PLAYERS TO RESIDENT EVIL 4 AS A GAME:[/b]
I can only recommend playing the original if you'd like to see the original cast and how they acted and appreciate the timeless masterpiece that was created, but if you do not have much time on your hands, it is very safe to say you can just play the Remake and you will get full enjoyment out of it either way.
NOTE: Despite my current playtime on Steam at time of making this review, I have already watched the entire game.
This game takes (almost) everything about the original and improves upon it.
The combat, areas & bosses all in my opinion were improved on. There were few things removed from the original but overall the changes made I love. The combat feels modern, slick, smooth, beefy. Playing as Leon often makes you feel like John Wick, even going as far as to hold his pistol like Wick, haha.
There were some areas/bosses I sometimes dread getting to in the original, but this remake remains consistent for the entire thing. I can't think of a single section in the remake I would dread replaying. It's safe to say, this game will have amazing replay value. The amount of unlockable bonuses such as special weapons & infinite ammo with different gameplay limitations required to earn them, I can easily see myself spending 100+ hours going through different playthroughs. (This is nothing new however, as the original had these bonuses as well albeit they were far easier to earn.)
The characters & voice acting are my biggest gripes about this game. Particularly with the characters Ada Wong & Jack Krauser. Ada sounds bored, Krauser sounds like a tryhard twenty-something-year-old putting on an evil voice. With that being said, characters like Louis (especially), Ashley & Saddler were improved upon from the original.
The story was also slightly redone, and for the better too. I found myself engaged and even at one point almost teared up. I cannot really fault the story for much other than the writing between Ada & Leon's relationship as I feel like they were a lot more moody, and not in a good way. Leon alone is fine, but Ada severely lacks in this remake unfortunately. Her voice actress sounds bored and awkward, not to mention she doesn't sound anything like the previous games. I'll just be honest, it's something you'll have to see to understand, but I can say that even as an Ada & Leon shipper, this was not enough for me to prefer the original.
It's safe to say that I cannot ever see myself returning to the original for a full playthrough unless my knowledge gets too shabby on cutscenes. Everything from a gameplay & level design perspective I prefer miles over the original and this is coming from someone who played the original when it released.
[b]TO ALL NEW PLAYERS TO RESIDENT EVIL 4 AS A GAME:[/b]
I can only recommend playing the original if you'd like to see the original cast and how they acted and appreciate the timeless masterpiece that was created, but if you do not have much time on your hands, it is very safe to say you can just play the Remake and you will get full enjoyment out of it either way.
Final Fantasy 14 was a roller coaster of an experience for me. In the beginning, the only thing keeping me playing was my friends and the amazingly kind community I ran into along the way.
I spent a long time playing the game doing only the dungeons/trials/raids as it is what I found most fun in the beginning. Learning new boss mechanics, learning new skills for my job, it was really satisfying getting all sorts of progression in both my level & gameskill.
After forcing myself to grind the base game "A Realm Reborn", I finally made it to the first expansion Heavensward, which kept me hooked pretty much the entire way through. A SOLID change of pace coming from ARR. After I moved to Stormblood, the second expansion, things started to slow down for me quite a bit. The pacing and overall narrative to Stormblood didn't appeal to me too much, it wasn't until the second half & post where Stormblood started to show its quality. After taking about a month break midway through Stormblood, I FINALLY pushed myself forward onto Shadowbringers.
Holding possibly my favorite villain in fiction, Shadowbringers is... one of the best experiences I have ever had in video games. After putting about ~250 hours into FFXIV, while liking the game, it wasn't anything I could consider a top 5, let alone a masterpiece. But Shadowbringers changed everything.
Everything about this expansion, from the music, areas, dungeons, characters and MOST importantly... story. It sunk me like no game ever has this late into one. Usually when I start a game, I can tell I'm going to love it within the first 50 hours, but FFXIV surprised me. FFXIV proved me wrong in more ways than one. I have to eat all of the words I spewed before. All of the doubt. All of the thoughts of skipping expansions (and yes, I debated on paying for skips during Stormblood because I just wanted to play the endgame content with my friends...). Let's just say, I'm ashamed to say that I was wrong about this game in the beginning.
Shadowbringers is an absolute masterpiece of story-telling, not only is it an amazing story on its own but it IMPROVED the previous expansions/base game. That is an incredibly hard feat to achieve for any game, but Shadowbringers did it and all I can say is... If you plan to stick with FFXIV for whatever reason it may be, even if you're not currently enjoying the story, please do not skip the expansions. All of them are linked heavily, and I can guarantee you that (so long as you enjoy good writing, and don't just play games for the combat,) you will not regret the time investment needed to get to Shadowbringers. I promise you, give it a chance.
Shadowbringers pacing starts and ends amazing, with some of (if not for me,) the BEST peaks in gaming, and this is coming from someone who would have dropped the game had my friends not been playing.
There were parts in Shadowbringers that still to this day bring me goosebumps when I think back to them, and the same goes for the next expansion afterwards.
Moving on the final expansion, Endwalker, I actually disagree with the few that have told me EW is "slower" than Shadowbringers, as I was hooked all the way through. Maybe it was due to the fact that I was just so hyped from Shadowbringers that the hype carried me through, but I don't think so. Even thinking back on the beginning of EW, I still want to erase my memories and experience it for the first time.
Endwalker ended the story of FFXIV perfectly and if you wanted to stop there, you very well could and I would not judge you. It is a perfect summary of everything the player went through, all that you achieved, all that time you put in... It was worth it.
My final thoughts on FFXIV as a whole:
This game would have a 5/5 for me if the first ~100 hours wasn't difficult to sink people. Because of that, I have to knock down to a 4.5/5. Regardless, if you are considering trying FFXIV and have the time to invest, please do. This is a game you do not want to miss the experience for. This game is packed with tension & emotion.
My final ratings on each expansion are as follows:
"A Realm Reborn" - 6/10
"Heavensward" - 9/10
"Stormblood" - 8.5/10
"Shadowbringers" - 10/10
"Endwalker" - 9.8/10
I spent a long time playing the game doing only the dungeons/trials/raids as it is what I found most fun in the beginning. Learning new boss mechanics, learning new skills for my job, it was really satisfying getting all sorts of progression in both my level & gameskill.
After forcing myself to grind the base game "A Realm Reborn", I finally made it to the first expansion Heavensward, which kept me hooked pretty much the entire way through. A SOLID change of pace coming from ARR. After I moved to Stormblood, the second expansion, things started to slow down for me quite a bit. The pacing and overall narrative to Stormblood didn't appeal to me too much, it wasn't until the second half & post where Stormblood started to show its quality. After taking about a month break midway through Stormblood, I FINALLY pushed myself forward onto Shadowbringers.
Holding possibly my favorite villain in fiction, Shadowbringers is... one of the best experiences I have ever had in video games. After putting about ~250 hours into FFXIV, while liking the game, it wasn't anything I could consider a top 5, let alone a masterpiece. But Shadowbringers changed everything.
Everything about this expansion, from the music, areas, dungeons, characters and MOST importantly... story. It sunk me like no game ever has this late into one. Usually when I start a game, I can tell I'm going to love it within the first 50 hours, but FFXIV surprised me. FFXIV proved me wrong in more ways than one. I have to eat all of the words I spewed before. All of the doubt. All of the thoughts of skipping expansions (and yes, I debated on paying for skips during Stormblood because I just wanted to play the endgame content with my friends...). Let's just say, I'm ashamed to say that I was wrong about this game in the beginning.
Shadowbringers is an absolute masterpiece of story-telling, not only is it an amazing story on its own but it IMPROVED the previous expansions/base game. That is an incredibly hard feat to achieve for any game, but Shadowbringers did it and all I can say is... If you plan to stick with FFXIV for whatever reason it may be, even if you're not currently enjoying the story, please do not skip the expansions. All of them are linked heavily, and I can guarantee you that (so long as you enjoy good writing, and don't just play games for the combat,) you will not regret the time investment needed to get to Shadowbringers. I promise you, give it a chance.
Shadowbringers pacing starts and ends amazing, with some of (if not for me,) the BEST peaks in gaming, and this is coming from someone who would have dropped the game had my friends not been playing.
There were parts in Shadowbringers that still to this day bring me goosebumps when I think back to them, and the same goes for the next expansion afterwards.
Moving on the final expansion, Endwalker, I actually disagree with the few that have told me EW is "slower" than Shadowbringers, as I was hooked all the way through. Maybe it was due to the fact that I was just so hyped from Shadowbringers that the hype carried me through, but I don't think so. Even thinking back on the beginning of EW, I still want to erase my memories and experience it for the first time.
Endwalker ended the story of FFXIV perfectly and if you wanted to stop there, you very well could and I would not judge you. It is a perfect summary of everything the player went through, all that you achieved, all that time you put in... It was worth it.
My final thoughts on FFXIV as a whole:
This game would have a 5/5 for me if the first ~100 hours wasn't difficult to sink people. Because of that, I have to knock down to a 4.5/5. Regardless, if you are considering trying FFXIV and have the time to invest, please do. This is a game you do not want to miss the experience for. This game is packed with tension & emotion.
My final ratings on each expansion are as follows:
"A Realm Reborn" - 6/10
"Heavensward" - 9/10
"Stormblood" - 8.5/10
"Shadowbringers" - 10/10
"Endwalker" - 9.8/10