This will probably sound very silly to MMO fans who are used to expansions of this scale, but to me this felt much more like a sequel than a DLC. New areas, new jobs, entirely new story, new dungeons, new everything, it's all a pretty incredible scale. It's almost a running joke in the FFXIV community that Heavensward is where the game finally "gets good," but having finalyl experienced it for myself I have to say I agree! This is a significant step up from A Realm Reborn in every way.

The story is probably the most staggering improvement. ARR was a slow build that was more focused on developing Eorzea than it was any of its characters, a move that I personally feel was the right one given the live service nature of XIV in general. You're going to be spending LOTS of time in this world regardless, so having that early space to really flesh it out and make it believable worked for me, even if that plot was largely lacking in stakes.

By the time we arrive in Heavensward though, all of the core worldbuilding is out of the way and so we finally start seeing legitimately interesting developments. Characters are challenged in new ways, stakes are high, and on top of it all we're still seeing more and more of this beautiful world they've created.

The new areas in this expansion sweep everything I've come to know from ARR. They're significantly bigger, not split up into loading zones, and just generally way more interesting from both a design and visual standpoint. Dungeons now all feel important as they are smartly tied into key points of the main narrative. Bosses are a huge step up as well in terms of spectacle and mechanics.

Even as I have yet to tackle the patch quests that were added post release, I've really enjoyed my time with Heavensward, I'm really starting to understand why this game is as acclaimed as it is and I look forward to seeing where the story takes me next. I'm not sure this will ever be peak FF to me like it is to so many others, but I can absolutely appreciate what the game is going for and I have tons of respect for it.