Where ever I went, I felt compelled to explore. Or the lush forests of the Ra’tika Greatwood, complete with vine-ridden floors and lofty canopy village. Then there’s the pixie wonderland of Il Mheg, complete with resplendent spire-laden castle and bizarre circular rainbows. Both regions are carved into two halves, with one part only accessible later in the story. It’d be in stark contrast to Kholusia – a sun-bleached flood of pale grassland and coastal villages.
It wouldn’t be long, however, before I’d venture out into the bleak steppes of Amh Araeng – a desert wasteland of bitter red hues. This city would become both home and base of operations as I ventured through Shadowbringers, all under the watchful eye of a mysterious leader known as the Crystal Exarch. I arrived in the Crystarium, an expansive citadel of steel and glass that encircled a sky-piercing crystal tower. As a result, there are both similarities and differences, just like visiting a foreign country. Instead, it’s as if the history of all these shards diverged some 100,000 years ago. The First isn’t a complete reimagining of the world of Eorzea, but it isn’t a twisted reflection of that Source either. If you’re not a fan of that style of game and prefer to get right into the action, FFXIV might not be the right MMO for you.
The copious cutscenes and liberal use of voice acting help to pull in the immersion, but it’s the overall construction of the Main Scenario questline that’s kept pulling me through this expansion.Įven so, this is a story-heavy and lore-heavy MMO RPG that lives up to its Japanese heritage. It’s been a heck of a long time since an MMO persuaded me to stay up late to finish just one more quest, to push just a little bit further forward. Crossing the rift from the Source to the First doesn’t feel like jumping the shark, in stark contrast to other MMOs that have crowbarred in alternate dimensions.īut this complexity also makes Shadowbringers absolutely riveting to play. But the latest expansion is also consistent with previous games and updates. It’s this narrative complexity that’s served Final Fantasy XIV very well in Heavensward, and it shines once again in Shadowbringers. And then there’s the bigger picture – the long-running saga between gods, their agents, and mortal man. There’s a roving band of heroes trying to save both worlds from certain armageddon. There’s a hefty dose of political intrigue, of a nation in crisis. Our journey through FFXIV had teased a little about the differences between the 14 worlds and the rift between, but this is the first time we’d see it first-hand.Īfter a brief moment to settle on the First shard, Shadowbringers catapulted me headfirst into a multi-layered story that followed from previous expansions and continued throughout the levelling experience. One of the earliest crumbs of lore was that Eorzea was just one of 14 different shards – a Source world and 13 fragments. Spooky.īut this story has been brewing for a long time. Instead of being the Warrior of Light, I’m expected to trade in that title and become the Warrior of Darkness. And yet, in the opening moments of Shadowbringers, I’m pulled away to a mirror-world that splintered from the original. The home that we knew and played in throughout Final Fantasy XIV was in desperate peril. And a mysterious yet deadly weapon threatened to be unleashed indiscriminately at any moment. The Scions, champions of freedom, had been struck down by unknown forces. I was in the middle of an almost-war, with uneasy truce between the swaggering Garlean Empire and a vulnerable Eorzean Alliance. It feels like barely a moment has passed since the closing chapters of Stormblood. I’ll be digging into all of it and more in this, our FFXIV: Shadowbringers review. As with any long-running title, Final Fantasy XIV also needs to keep the experience fresh it’s new ideas. There’s a whole range of mechanics, systems and content that form an online game at this scale, and they all have to be strong enough to keep us entertained for the long haul. And it’s so very, very good.īut story alone doesn’t make a good MMO. For such a story-heavy MMO, it’s been like discovering a great fantasy author and chewing through all their books in rapid succession. It started in early 2018 with A Realm Reborn and finished with the last of Stormblood roughly a month ago. While veteran players had months or years between updates, I enjoyed FFXIV as an unbroken thread. And yet, it’s possibly been the best way to experience Shadowbringers.
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