LTTP/RTTP - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers

[Theswweet]

This has been a long time coming, but at the same time - I'm still shocked I've even made it this far to begin with.

I bought FFXIV in 2018 shortly after the Monster Hunter World crossover was announced, and a few IRL friends of mine decided to make the jump. Some of them had previously played around the time that Heavensward was current, and so I thought that we'd induct it as one of our "forever" games. I played right up until the end of 2.0 - about 10 quests away from finishing the main scenario before the rather infamous 2.x patches - before they dropped it, and the whole ordeal took the wind out of my sails. Despite everything, I've wanted to come back to playing it, but something always seemed to get in the way - reviews that needed to get done, new games that were released that I'd want to get out of the way first, college, etc. I even went out of my way to pre-order Shadowbringers to try and force me to play, but that didn't really do much to help matters.

Then COVID-19 happened.

Suddenly classes are much less of a concern, for better or worse, less games are coming out, and I have what is essentially the perfect excuse to finally dive straight into an MMO.

A month and a half later, I've just lost my sprout - 450~ hours logged in-game, plenty of side activities finished, and now I'm smack dab in the middle of the Crystarium, ready and willing to start my adventure in Norvandt. I have a *lot* to say about my experience with FFXIV so far, but I think I'll save that for when everything is said and done - for now, I'm just ready to finally get to experience what everyone seems to agree is the best expansion. I couldn't be more excited!

 

[JB2448]

You're in for a treat. Shadowbringers is my favorite Square Enix RPG playthrough in years.

 

[DrForester]

Shadowbringers is amazing. Have fun.

 

[KeyBladerXIII]

I got my friend back into FFXIV after she took a long hiatus. She was still in Stormblood whilst i was at the mission before Shadowbringers starts. I held off and helped her through so we could do it together.

BUT, the only problem is that she isnt working, but i still am, so she's ahead of me now! Im only slightly salty, but i can't wait to start at last!

 

[Dlanor A. Knox]

Shadowbringers is not only the best FFXIV expansion, it is imo the best final fantasy game since FFX.

Enjoy!

 

[His Majesty]

I dropped it after visiting Eulmore, it's pretty much more of the same. Some cool locations but held down by the quest design. I'll probably revisit it in a couple of months.

The Crystarium soundtrack is amazing though.

 

[Chasing]

Man you must have done a ton of side activities because I only clocked half that time to finish Stormblood, and I got side-tracked a lot.

Anyway, I hope you have a damn blast, I know I did with GOTY 2019.

And reminder to finish the Crystal Tower Raids at some point, if you haven't already.

 

[B.K.]

I'm just ready to finally get to experience what everyone seems to agree is the best expansion. I couldn't be more excited!

Click to shrink...

Just keep your expectations in check. The beginning and ending of Shadowbringers are great. The middle of the game is pretty bad.

There's one section about three quarters through the expansion that's as bad as anything from A Realm Reborn.

 

[Cenauru]

Shadowbringers knocked me off my feet, and I had already been playing for 4 years prior, when we all thought nothing would top Heavensward. Enjoy, it's a damn good ride.

 

[Dark Knight]

So excited for you, and to hear about your travels. Godspeed, Warrior of Darkness.

 

[Cloud-Strife]

Shadowbringers is the best expansion on any MMO imo.

The music.. the story and the boss fights are off the charts.

Incredible work from SE on FF XIV.

Add to that the Nier Automata Raid.

 

[Theswweet]

Man you must have done a ton of side activities because I only clocked half that time to finish Stormblood, and I got side-tracked a lot.

Anyway, I hope you have a damn blast, I know I did with GOTY 2019.

And reminder to finish the Crystal Tower Raids at some point.

Click to shrink...

I have done uuuh...

Most of the optional dungeons, with the exception of Qarn HM, Arboretum, Arboretum HM, and... I think that's it? So far?

As for Trials, I've done Warring Triads and Four Lords. I need to do the Hildibrand ones and Relic Weapon ones soon, but otherwise I'm caught up (not counting Extremes, with the sole exception being Rathalos!)

I leveled a few extra jobs, including PLD, DRK, AST, and a multitude of DoH/DoL. Both MIN and BTN are 60+ now, all DoH beside Culinarian are 35+ (thanks, Ishgard Restoration).

As for raids, I haven't touched the 8 man ones *too* much, but I have started both Alexander and Omega, as well as unlocked Coil. I have finished the alliance raids, with the exception of the last Ivalice section. All the others I have run at least once. So, both Crystal Tower and Sky Pirates are finished.

It's fair to say I've done my fair share of side activities!

 

[night814]

Just bought it the other day and going to jump in with a few friends myself in the next few days

 

[DarkChronic]

I'm really excited to get there myself. I'm about 15-20% into Heavensward and I'm losing steam fast. I was expecting a radical change in story based on what I read but so far it's been more of the same, unfortunately. It's honestly been an absolute drag so far. But, I'm early, and I'm going to keep plugging away.

 

[Shamdeo]

This game is a great comfort. I think it's because, no matter what I'm feeling any given day, there are objectives I can play toward by myself or in a group. Right now it's nice to be able to log in and see people milling about and the free company chat going, even if I'm not in a state to engage.

It's also been great to see the game really come into it's own after the last few expansions, and I've very much enjoyed them.

 

[antitrop]

As much as I like to go into FF villain threads and proudly claim Emet-Selch as a series-best, my absolutely favorite thing about Shadowbringers is what they did with

Spoiler

Ardbert

as a character. No other character in gaming has subverted my expectations from when they were first introduced as this one. The beginnings of the arc are so humble and the payoff is so unbelievably worth it.

I think that's the greatest praise I can give it: Shadowbringers has my favorite villain in the entire Final Fantasy series and I still don't even think that's the best character in the expansion.

 

[Moara]

Shadowbringers cemented FFXIV as the best FF game for me. Looking forward to your updates.

 

[DarkShinobi]

I hope I will get there someday, I just bought the complete edition of the game and I'm right now playing through my 30 first days that comes with the purchase (so no subscription yet). I just finished the first part of ARR and now I'm doing the ARR quests prior to the start of Heavensward. So far it is a mixed experience, there are quests that for sure drag you all the way and there are lots of fetch quests inside the main quest that just makes you get bored fast because they don't add that much to the story.
At the same time, there are positive stuff in the game that makes me want to play everyday which is combat (after you get to the part at least with three skills combo), visuals and the main storyline which makes me curious as to where that gonna take me.

 

[His Majesty]

I'm really excited to get there myself. I'm about 15-20% into Heavensward and I'm losing steam fast. I was expecting a radical change in story based on what I read but so far it's been more of the same, unfortunately. It's honestly been an absolute drag so far. But, I'm early, and I'm going to keep plugging away.

Click to shrink...

Shadowbringers isn't a radical departure of Heavensward either. It looks pretty, has great music but the writing, quest design and combat still follow the same format.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I'm still struggling to motivate myself past the 2.0 patches. On 2.4 now.

 

[dlauv]

Me and Yuri Lowenthal are talking to some lady in purple desert garb after the first credits sequence. Anyone know what patch I'm on?

 

[DitaParlo]

Can I play this solo?

 

[taepoppuri]

Eager to hear more from you! I really love Shadowbringers, but I think Heavenward and Stormblood have it own best moments too. They are all great expansion.

Can I play this solo?

Click to shrink...

Game has match-making system that automatically find a group of players for you. And most of later dungeons have NPCs that you can bring along, so you don't have to worry about needing friend.

But if you meant solo as 'no party at all' then it's not possible.

 

[DitaParlo]

Game has match-making system that automatically find a group of players for you. And most of later dungeons have NPCs that you can bring along, so you don't have to worry about needing friend.

But if you meant solo as 'no party at all' then it's not possible.

Click to shrink...

I mean alive friends haha, thanks

 

[UltimateTrainer]

As for raids, I haven't touched the 8 man ones *too* much, but I have started both Alexander and Omega, as well as unlocked Coil. I have finished the alliance raids, with the exception of the last Ivalice section. All the others I have run at least once. So, both Crystal Tower and Sky Pirates are finished.

Click to shrink...

I hope you can get a group together for Coils cuz Square removed them from normal trials roulette so you have to get friends to help or find a group using party finder. No one is gonna manually queue for them using duty finder.

 

[Balfour]

I'm still struggling to motivate myself past the 2.0 patches. On 2.4 now.

Click to shrink...

they are revamping the 2.X series to be much better and it will be implemented in 5.3/next patch

everything after 2.5, Heavensward and beyond is far superior than what ARR has to offer. You see a massive quality bump moving forward

 

[CliveLH]

I have done uuuh...

Most of the optional dungeons, with the exception of Qarn HM, Arboretum, Arboretum HM, and... I think that's it? So far?

As for Trials, I've done Warring Triads and Four Lords. I need to do the Hildibrand ones and Relic Weapon ones soon, but otherwise I'm caught up (not counting Extremes, with the sole exception being Rathalos!)

I leveled a few extra jobs, including PLD, DRK, AST, and a multitude of DoH/DoL. Both MIN and BTN are 60+ now, all DoH beside Culinarian are 35+ (thanks, Ishgard Restoration).

As for raids, I haven't touched the 8 man ones *too* much, but I have started both Alexander and Omega, as well as unlocked Coil. I have finished the alliance raids, with the exception of the last Ivalice section. All the others I have run at least once. So, both Crystal Tower and Sky Pirates are finished.

It's fair to say I've done my fair share of side activities!

Click to shrink...

Even though Coil is great for lore, you should put it aside and try to do Alexander and Omega. Both of those raids have "story mode" tier difficulty, that are even simpler now and can be done unsynced in a matter of minutes. They bring a lot of lore and I would really advise finishing them, even though I get that you can't just wait to get to the better part of the game. It's worth doing them.

 

[CliveLH]

Shadowbringers isn't a radical departure of Heavensward either. It looks pretty, has great music but the writing, quest design and combat still follow the same format.

Click to shrink...

I didn't like Heavensward a lot but loved Stormblood and Shadowbringers. Maybe it doesn't click the same way for everyone.

 

[Dalik]

I dropped it after visiting Eulmore

Click to shrink...

i mean, thats like, not even 10% of the 5.0 msq. I guess if you dont like that "same format" then the game isnt for you.

 

[Theswweet]

I hope you can get a group together for Coils cuz Square removed them from normal trials roulette so you have to get friends to help or find a group using party finder. No one is gonna manually queue for them using duty finder.

Click to shrink...

Even though Coil is great for lore, you should put it aside and try to do Alexander and Omega. Both of those raids have "story mode" tier difficulty, that are even simpler now and can be done unsynced in a matter of minutes. They bring a lot of lore and I would really advise finishing them, even though I get that you can't just wait to get to the better part of the game. It's worth doing them.

Click to shrink...

I'm planning on doing Alexander and Omega first. As for Coils - I'm looking around, and a few of my friends are interested in doing a fun little Coil run. Unsynced, but ilvl 130 gear. That way it's close to how it was originally in terms of difficulty, but we have full movesets.

 

[His Majesty]

I didn't like Heavensward a lot but loved Stormblood and Shadowbringers. Maybe it doesn't click the same way for everyone.

Click to shrink...

I think I liked Heavensward the most although the first part of Stormblood is also very well done with its theme of revolution and oppression. My impression is that most people aren't that hot about Stormblood because of the disconnect between the two locations.

 

[Theswweet]

At first I preferred Heavensward, but taking into account the patches I think I prefer Stormblood to Heavensward, too.

 

[Theswweet]

So, I fought Titania, and was summarily, properly, introduced to Emet-Selch - I'm pretty surprised just how different Shadowbringers feels to the rest of the game so far? The First is a very unique world, and while my one major complaint with Stormblood was how so much of the game looked to similar to areas we've been before, the same definitely can't be said for Norvandt. Every area stands out, and the atmosphere is the best in the game yet. Music, artstyle, etc.

...is it just me, or is the presentation in general both a huge step up, and *very* different? It feels like there's both more voice acting in general, as well as many more cutscenes with voiced characters. I also really, really enjoy the sort of setup that they've got going on with

Spoiler

Ardbert

and how they're fleshing out his character, and using him as a foil for the player character.

Not much to say about the dungeons - they're good, and Dhon Meg especially was a treat to play through, even if I was matched with a party where most of the folks clearly story skipped to reach Shadowbringers, and were *way* out of their element... Titania's boss fight was great too, and really hectic! So far, so good - I'm curious to see how the rest of the Dungeons/Trials go.

It's still very early for the story, but it's already feeling pretty different, and it's absolutely a breath of fresh air coming from Stormblood. I also love how the "Beast Tribes" are just - part of Norvandt society, for the most part, and how it kinda goes to show that the whole label is 100% racism in Eorzea. It was already obvious, but to see that sort of "what if" in Norvandt really highlights it!

 

[antitrop]

...is it just me, or is the presentation in general both a huge step up, and *very* different? It feels like there's both more voice acting in general, as well as many more cutscenes with voiced characters.

Click to shrink...

Ya, I think the only part where this isn't really true is in the alliance raid series. The Copied Factory didn't have any voiced lines like the Stormblood Ivalice raids did. There are still 2 more raids to come in the series, but if Factory didn't have any voice acting, I'm not going to expect it out of the following.

Not much to say about the dungeons - they're good, and Dhon Meg especially was a treat to play through, even if I was matched with a party where most of the folks clearly story skipped to reach Shadowbringers, and were *way* out of their element...

Click to shrink...

Always Dhon Meg. I had a leveling roulette there not too long ago where 2 players had clearly job/story skipped and couldn't understand how the boss with the tethers that made it (or you) grow larger worked. After 4 wipes and more explanations than ever could possibly be necessary, we had to just kick the two that wouldn't take tethers and fill to actually finish the dungeon. It went for over 40 minutes. ><

 

[Tyrant Rave]

You're in for a real treat. Emet Selch is like, the best character in the game. He's incredible. The story for the expansion as a whole is fantastic and my favorite of FFXIV so far. The ending to 5.0 is fantastic.

I think the team really figured out what worked best for playable content, like trials and dungeons, during StB and it really shows with how consistently good they've been since then. All of the dungeons and trials for ShB are pretty damn good. The trials themselves aren't as immediately flashy as the ones from StB, but they feature some really fun mechanics and have great presentations so far. So you'll definitely enjoy the rest of that if you enjoyed what you've done already.

I'm sure you'll do them too, but I give a big recommendation on doing the Raids for ShB once you are able to do them after 5.0. They're a real treat for fans and they're a ton of fun to play.

And the OST for Shadowbringers is fire. But that's no surprise after the other expansions lol

 

[Theswweet]

la hee

 

[antitrop]

la hee

Click to shrink...

If you're ever in the zone when a hunt train enters the area, it's just dozens of people /shouting LA-HEE, lol.

If you ask someone in 10 years what they still remember about Shadowbringers, the answer will probably be LA-HEE. :p

 

[Nali]

The First is a very unique world, and while my one major complaint with Stormblood was how so much of the game looked to similar to areas we've been before, the same definitely can't be said for Norvandt.

Click to shrink...

You're not wrong, but I love the inherent irony here. Every region in Norvrandt is explicitly modeled after an existing one from Eorzea! But they've been bent and twisted so much that they really do feel fresh.

 

[Theswweet]

So, I meant to have another update before this - but I finished 5.0 last night.

Where to begin? The story is without a doubt the best I've ever seen in an MMO, and it's easily one of the best stories in RPGs in general. The final moments of the expansion are haunting, and I'm definitely not going to forget them for a while. Emet-Selch is a fascinating character, and it's hard not to empathize with him.

If I had one complaint, I wish not every dungeon was a straight line. I miss the more interesting layouts from earlier content - but I also understand why, with stuff like Deep Dungeons and Eureka being in the game. Otherwise? I knew that Shadowbringers had an immensely popular reception going in, but this somehow exceeded it. I'm very excited to start tackling raids and extreme primals!

 

[antitrop]

If I had one complaint, I wish not every dungeon was a straight line. I miss the more interesting layouts from earlier content

Click to shrink...

I totally get that, but the way I see it is that if the Tank has run the dungeon before, they're gonna run through it in the fastest route that they can, anyway. All those little side rooms in ARR dungeons are just new player traps that waste time and offer almost no reward.

 

[Matchew]

Stopped playing around the middle of Shadowbringers - level 75 red mage. And, I just can't play the game anymore. The quest are terrible in this game and the story is spread out along these boring terrible quest. The last 4 hours of each expansion are awesome, but I just can't get to that point with the way quest are in this game.

The music is fantastic though.

 

[pleaseinsertdisctwo]

So sorry to hijack the topic but can you still only summon NPCs for dungeons for Shadowbringers content?

 

[antitrop]

So sorry to hijack the topic but can you still only summon NPCs for dungeons for Shadowbringers content?

Click to shrink...

Trusts are the NPCs for ShB dungeons, but select ARR and HS dungeons also have NPC groups available called Squadrons. These are done through your Grand Company. Unlike Trusts, there is a bit of effort that has to go into leveling up the Squadrons before you can actually run any dungeons with them, though.

There is no way to run any Stormblood dungeons with NPCs.

 

[taepoppuri]

The team did splendid job with Shadowbringers. Emet-selch, Exarch, and Ardbert are really great key characters. The quality in English voice acting and cutscenes are improved tremendously too. I don't know how they're going to top it with the future expansion, but I said this with Heavenward and here we are lol

Now it's time for you to do Eden and NieR raids! :P Resistance weapon has engaging story too, I don't normally do the relic quest but this time around it's really good and interesting (Yasumi Matsuno wrote the quest himself).

So sorry to hijack the topic but can you still only summon NPCs for dungeons for Shadowbringers content?

Click to shrink...

Yes. For now trust system is only compatible with ShB dungeons.