Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood

1. Kezian

   Jul 30, 2019

   10

   FF14 is amazing ! If you never played it, download the free trial and see for yourself !

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
2. Genis94

   Jul 4, 2017

   10

   Although plagued by server issues during the early access release (this was revealed to have been due to a DDoS attack), Final Fantasy XIV:Although plagued by server issues during the early access release (this was revealed to have been due to a DDoS attack), Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood has delivered an amazing experience for players of the MMO genre. From a new compelling story about liberation from tyranny and the hardships of war, to completely revamping jobs and adding new mechanics, the game has improved by leaps and bounds.
   
   Gameplay: Stormblood has made several balance changes to PvE and PvP, not least of which is the abandoning of the Cross Class System in favor of a new Cross Role System. This means you no longer have to level something like Thaumaturge in order to be a good healer with Swiftcast, as that is one of your options in the Cross Role menu. PvP has now been given a normalized stat and skill system, resulting in matches that are more heavily reliant on player skill than before, and thanks to the increased potency on almost all skills, PvP has become less of a stalemate fest.
   
   Graphics: FF14 is still a game that is very appealing to look at and the new zones continue to impress with their level of detail and visual fidelity for an MMO. From different textures to show erosion on rock, to the interesting architecture of Ala Mhigo and Othard, the art team continues to deliver.
   
   Music: Masayoshi Soken hasn't let us down as he continues to find ways to take a leitmotif and spin it in several interesting ways throughout the different zones and battles. The Royal Menagerie having one of the most climactic themes of any battle yet was wholly appropriate given the scale of what you are undertaking at the climax of the story. I found myself getting so hyped that I would occasionally sing the small chant from the main theme of the expansion during boss fights.
   
   If you're a fan of MMO's Stormblood is a fantastic expansion that builds upon an already strong foundation, and with amazing raids like Omega and Ivalice coming out soon, there's always more content to keep the game fresh on the way.… Expand

   • 2 of 6 users found this helpful
4. Monochr0m3

   Jun 20, 2017

   10

   Despite the early access issue (raubahn and pipin savage), the content of the expansion itself is very very good. I can say it's one of theDespite the early access issue (raubahn and pipin savage), the content of the expansion itself is very very good. I can say it's one of the best MMO expansion I've played and I played a lot of MMOs.
   
   - Story:
   The pacing is tighter and more streamlined than Heavensward, almost no filler or unnecessary detour in the main quest. Although I prefer the setting and setup of Heavensward, Stormblood has various twists and unforgettable moments, I'm excited to see where the story will unfolds in 4.x patches.
   
   - Gameplay:
   The two new Jobs (Samurai and Red Mage) are AWESOME. Tried both of them a lot in Palace of the Dead and they play very fluidly with interesting mechanics. Red Mage in particular seems very enjoyable to play, they got the jack of all trades role right. While Samurai is pure DPS monster with zero utility to the party, skill wise it is a bit harder than other melee DPS since you have to keep track a lot of things. The battle system changes they introduced is also mostly a success and make old jobs more streamlined (a bit dumbed down, but understandable, WoW had worse skill pruning).
   
   - Music:
   No comment needed here. Still reign supreme as the best MMO music.
   
   - Endgame:
   Can't give full impression on the endgame since raid is not out yet (2 weeks from now). The only endgame content currently is 2 Extreme Primal which I haven't tried yet.… Expand

   • 11 of 15 users found this helpful
5. NN010

   Jan 29, 2023

   8

   Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood has some great gameplay segments & encounter design, but it's held back from surpassing Heavensward by a storyFinal Fantasy XIV: Stormblood has some great gameplay segments & encounter design, but it's held back from surpassing Heavensward by a story that felt like two expansions smushed into one (still better than A Realm Reborn's story though). Far from a bad expansion, but still the weakest link due to just how great Heavensward, Shadowbringers, & Endwalker are.… Expand

   • 0 of 0 users found this helpful
6. smahlt

   Sep 21, 2017

   7

   After a few months, I can say it's pretty decent. The story is a significant step down from Heavensward's but it's at least on par with AAfter a few months, I can say it's pretty decent. The story is a significant step down from Heavensward's but it's at least on par with A Realm Reborn's. The changes to every job I've levelled to 70 have been at worst meh to me (I'm not a fan of Bard anymore, but it's fine) to great (Ninja is far less of a **** to play). Most of the new music tracks are amazing.
   
   Unfortunately, the zones continued the downward spiral started in HW. Most of them are huge with very little interesting things happening. I blame flying. Also swimming was woefully underused. ARR still has the most interesting and unique zones. I was also not a fan of how parts of some zones were completely walled off by the story. Having high level areas be filled with high level aggressive monsters ala ARR is a much better way to go about it.
   
   Worth buying if you're already an active player. I wouldn't say it's good enough to change your mind if you didn't like it already.
   
   There's a lot of people **** about the price change. They are dumbasses. The only change was that Brazilian and Russian players on the Steam version are now paying the same monthly fee as Brazilian and Russian players who played the not-Steam version, which is also now on par with what the rest of the world is paying.… Expand

   • 2 of 6 users found this helpful
7. leviathonlx

   Oct 1, 2017

   5

   The story was good even if a bit cliche and tropey though the quests (gameplay wise) still were pretty inferior to what WoW does. Zone designThe story was good even if a bit cliche and tropey though the quests (gameplay wise) still were pretty inferior to what WoW does. Zone design was improved compared to HW but copying of assets is still pretty noticeable in areas like terrain doodads. I understand buildings having only 1 or 2 varieties but I shouldn’t see things like the same rock and tree over and over so easily which can usually be dealt with but just rotating an object. Ruby Sea feels like a huge empty zone given the water doesn’t add much actual gameplay either besides swimming. If you’re going to add a mostly water zone you should at the very least add some type of gimmick rather than having it be nothing more than a barren land of emptiness and copy pasted rocks and kelp that you swim through. In general some zones just didn’t feel like they reached their full potential such as the Lochs and Yanxia while others like Azim Steppe were really well done. The zones still feel dead in general when compared to WoW’s where you’ll see NPC’s actually doing things such as bears hunting fish or predators hunting prey and in general FF14 zone design seems to be nothing more than ‘this is the bear area and over there’s the wolf area and this final area is the bird area and the mobs are just all walking back and forth in their little zone’ and doodads just seem thrown into the game world and rarely are blended in.
   
   The main issue with SB right now is that once you hit 70 the game is the same exact game as HW. You do the same 3 dungeons over and over (with high DPS queues) to grind out tomes and in general are doing nothing at all actually new unlike how Legion added Mythic+, artifact weapons, and the world quest system (an improvement of the old dailies system). And of course with Omega they are continuing the convoluted gearing system from Alexander. Square is once again relegating any new systems to patches and we have to hope these new systems are well developed unlike Lord of Verminion and Diadem and even things like the eventual beast tribes may just be the same ol’ 3 daily quests. I’m iffy on this thing Square does where they release a ‘skeleton’ expansion and how they instead put new systems into patches I’m holding out hope that they surprise me with the upcoming patches though given Square has been nothing but predictable with FF14 so I’m not getting my hopes too high. It doesn't help that the one new system, Eureka, has already been delayed making the first patch pretty barren for a patch coming 4 months after release with some of the content not even being patched in till a month after that. So 5 months for everything while in that time Legion released 2 patches following a 77 day release schedule that added far more content than 4.1 is adding. Stormblood is a mediocre expansion and the playerbase should honestly expect so much better from a company like Square.… Expand

   • 1 of 5 users found this helpful
8. jake_siege

   Jun 4, 2021

   0

   Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.
   Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing.Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.
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   Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.Housing. Housing.… Expand

   • 0 of 1 users found this helpful

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