Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers Review

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My history with Final Fantasy XIV is a bit more Complicated than I Would like to admit. In fact, I’d say it’s likely more complex than the stories of most of the Final Fantasy games themselves. Despite having almost 400 days subscribed to the game, I have not played it much at all until Shadowbringers was set to be published. A friend of mine made me a deal that if he were to buy the expansion for me, I’d want to level from degree 1-to-80 and play with end game content with him and our friends. Even though it took six years, 3 expansions, and 400 days, Final Fantasy XIV has its pins, and I could not be happier.

More than The span of the final month and a half, I have leveled up several classes to 80, including Scholar (Scholar mains signify ), Summoner, and Red Mage. I feel like I’ve put in sufficient time to this match to say I believe Final Fantasy XIV is now the best MMORPG on the market. Everything that this match has set out to do it not merely accomplishes, but exceeds my wildest fantasies. By the conclusion of Shadowbringers, it’s apparent that Final Fantasy XIV has blown beyond the competition and, paradoxically, the future for the game is looking bright. Actually, if I had been to see Shadowbringers as a standalone game, I’d be comfortable saying that it may end up being my Game of the Year for 2019. In a nutshell, if you’re not playing Final Fantasy XIV already, you need to begin immediately.

Final Fantasy XIV’s gameplay hasn’t changed with this Growth, however, there were two new courses introduced into the game — Dancer and Gunbreaker.

The Dancer is a ranged physical Harm class which, while it may be somewhat lacking in person DPS currently, it makes up for it with excellent utility. The Gunbreaker is a gunblade wielding tank that plays much more like a DPS course with more sustainability than your average tank.

Both of these new courses Have been received by the neighborhood and have already quickly found a place in the mold of the sport. Both of theses new classes commence at level 60, meaning that you won’t need to level long to get to the new level cap at 80.

With the launch of a new MMO expansion there comes new changes and assessing that comes to classes available. Some courses are better, others might be worse, balancing and stains will include time.

But In general, it feels as though, with only two exceptions that I can think about, all of the courses are in great place equilibrium wise. This is obviously an issue I have in MMO’s because I frequently fight myself picking a specific class, dedicating a massive amount of time for this, only to find out that it is only out-performed by other courses in that same function.

Luckily, That appears not to be the situation and even the classes which are lacking a bit have already been addressed with the programmers and are receiving repairs shortly.

Additionally, there Are two new playable races to choose from, the Viera from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance as an all-female race, and the Hrothgar from Final Fantasy X are in because their all-male counterparts. Both brand new races seem to be popular with all the playerbase but I am unsure if this may just be because they’re the hot new item.

Their cartoons And styles are well detailed but not perfect. Both races have a great deal of problems with helmets being harmonious with their versions, meaning they are automatically concealed, but with stains and time this will be dealt with.

Another issue is that the Hrothgar’s customization Is relatively limited in comparison to other races. Still, they are both great new additions to the sport and fit in the world well.

But perhaps most important to the success of a new expansion is Content, and Shadowbringers are filled to the brim with it. Currently in Shadowbringers there are 8 new dungeons, 3 new trials, and 4 new raids to play through, and that is only the start.

As time goes on, More and more content will be added in patches to make sure that players always have something to strive for. Shadowbringers has some of the dungeons in the game’s history so far.

My two favorites Are Holminster’s Switch and Mt. Gulg, each displaying the broad selection in layout for the growth. Holminster’s Switch has you leading a band of adventurers into a village to fight off the monsters that have established a full-scale assault against it.

Each dungeon feels significant, unique, and most importantly, fun. Something that makes all this content that is new special is the fact everything is tied to the story being told, and I want to just say, the narrative of Shadowbringers is topnotch.

Just like a singleplayer Closing Fantasy, among the most appealing aspects of XIV has been the evolving story. Shadowbringers continues to carry this torch with a narrative that made me feel a complete assortment of emotion throughout its run.

I Felt anger, fear, disgust, despair, love, appreciation, I conducted the whole gambit at the time the credits rolled. The choice to make Final Fantasy XIV a story MMO was the right call in the end, and Shadowbringers pushes the envelope for story.

One thing That’s for certain, the narrative of Shadowbringers is dim, Sometimes surprisingly. When you take into account the MMO’s entire story, we’ve undergone genocide, warfare, battles for independence, and also the use of chemical weapons.

It’s hard to Envision that Final Fantasy XIV could get any darker than it was, but they authors have been able to craft a story where the bets felt real at all times.

The narrative begins with the post-patch to get Stormblood, the Empire has launched a full-scale invasion of this Eorzean Alliance land. Regrettably, at precisely the exact same time a mysterious ailment has started to affect your celebration and one by one they are falling into mysterious comas.

The last to fall is that you, the Warrior of Light. However, as it turns Out, you’re not in a slump, rather your souls are divorced from the entire body and transported to some other Earth, the first world, which is only known as,”The First”.

Immediately upon your Arrival, you understand that something isn’t appropriate, as the entire world seems to be engulfed in a blinding light known as”The Flood”.

You May recall a little sidequest back during the post-patch of Heavensward, the first expansion for Final Fantasy XIV, you experience five mysterious enemies that refer to themselves as”The Warriors of Darkness” the counter into your own”Warrior of Light.”

They’re headed by a human warrior called”Ardbert” who forfeited his Life to rescue his world, which had been erratic due to the devastation of the Darkness. The First is the world that he came from, and the Flood is the manifestation of the imbalance.

The Flood is Set to engulf the First’s entirety, destroying it and returning to the origin. In short, it is that the First’s apocalypse that is currently occurring, and the Flood matches the skies, a constant reminder of everybody’s looming mortality.

It does not take long for the bets To be made apparent , almost instantly the first person that you encounter from the First is killed. Soon you run in the Crystal Exarch, a powerful but mysterious being that has pulled you and your companions out of the world into the First in order to work together to prevent the Flood.

Since it turns out the apocalypse on the First will not only affect that World, but the rest of the worlds too. Therefore, in a sense, you’re actually stopping like 14 apocalypses for the purchase price of one.

You’re going To be quite active this expansion. To be able to push back the Light, you and your buddies must take on the very same mantles as Ardbert and his companions did and become the new Warriors of Darkness.

What makes Matters even worse is that with the coming of the Flood, horrible creatures have emerged and started to devour the souls and aether of all living animals, turn them into horrible monstrous husks too. These creatures are known as Sin Eaters, beings made from pure Light Aether and are set on the devastation of the First.

Sin Eaters are equally awesome and scary at the Exact Same time, they have Made me uncomfortable in almost every cutscene I’ve seen them in. Two of these cutscenes in particular made me sick to my stomach, helped to steel my resolve so as to lead that charge to bring about their destruction.

This doesn’t even touch on the b or c subplots which Play out in the background of the game too. All which will be played out as new content for Shadowbringers releases as time passes. There’s so much to unpack in Shadowbringers and the fact that it has only just started is amazing.

There’s no timegated content, no Required reputation grinding, nothing feels as though it is wasted, which is a feat in its own right. The story, setting, and characters of Shadowbringers are excellent, and I can not wait to see what happens next.

Graphically speaking Final Fantasy XIV has always been one of those Best, if not the finest looking MMORPG. Despite the fact that it is on consoles, it never allowed itself to be held back with these constraints, and if it was held back, it pushed against that barrier as hard as possible.

While a few of the old models from A Realm Reborn may look a little dated by today’s standards, the new models are amazing. The new races and equipment look great and the new zones amazing as well.

But what really blew me away were the brand new Monsters that you encounter in Shadowbringers. The Sin Eaters are frightening and amazing at precisely the exact same moment, pristine white, emotionless monsters that genuinely scared me several times when I watched them.

While the images are impressive in Final Fantasy XIV, what’s Always stuck out much more so was the soundtrack. The music from Shadowbringers follows the custom of being some of the finest, consistent music in a video game, especially an MMORPG.

There is Not a single bad track in Shadowbringers (La-hee! ) ) And it’s gotten me to buy the OST just to listen to it once I am not playing the game.

Even The voice acting feels as though it continues to build and improve upon itself as well. The voice actors truly grown in their roles, making them more believable, reliable, and lovable.

Having voice acted Cutscenes has always been a strong point for the narrative of Final Fantasy XIV, but it truly feels like Shadowbringers is a step above the previous expansions.

It’s Been a long time since I have played a game and walked off With universal praise for it. Shadowbringers is, undoubtedly, a game changer for the MMO genre. I do not feel like I’d be exaggerating if I said that when others do not follow in their footsteps, they’ll be left behind.

Everything from the presentation to the audio design, From new classes to new races, is so near perfect that any Criticisms I have are nitpicks compared to the love and adoration I Have for this match, and this growth.

Tristan
Tristan
I am the author for Gaming Ideology and loves to play Battle Royale games and loves to stream and write about them. I am a freelancer and now is the permanent member of Gaming Ideology.

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