Final Fantasy XIV is a success story, no matter how hard it got battered down. I can even say that Final Fantasy XIV made one of the biggest comebacks in gaming history and games like Anthem, should take this MMORPG as an example that games can become better and can still rise to the top, no matter how bad the fall was… You just have to have a team and a community that believes in it. Final Fantasy XIV: a realm reborn has been the complete reset of FFXIV and has made itself known as one of the most played MMORPG’s on the current market. With content worth of 2 expansions and pre-patches, “Shadowbringers” is the latest expansion that makes the game even sour higher.
Final Fantasy XIV’s first expansion was a major success. “Heavensward” brought the game’s story to a higher level and gave the community some new jobs, areas, dungeons and even flying mounts. “Shadowblood” brought an incredible take on the Eastern culture but didn’t score as high as the first expansion but it delivered. Now’s the era of “Shadowbringers” and it’s an incredible journey that makes the game even stronger than before.
“Don’t expect any groundbreaking dungeons as the mechanics of most bosses are the same but look a bit different.”
“Shadowbringer” continues the story of the previous expansions. Stormblood’s story was all about the war between the Eorzean Alliance and the Garlean Empire and during this day, it still hasn’t ended. We are at the brink of a new chapter in the Final Fantasy story, but darkness falls over the Warrior of Light and his/ her fellow companions. Darkness falls over you and you fall into a deep sleep. Even though you might think this is the end, you wake up in a world with an overwhelming feeling of “Light”. As you regain conscience and explore the world around you, it’s come known to you that you’re in a familiar world and yet so different from the one you know, namely “The First”.
During your walkthrough, you quickly learn that your world is called “The Source”. The story of “Shadowbringers” gives a unique twist on the story and it lets you experience the thrive of the “Warrior of Darkness”. Not really knowing what they first planned to do in our world, you’ll quickly step into his footsteps and uncover the secret mysteries that have yet to be uncovered. In “The First”, the balance between Light and Darkness has been gravely disturbed. In this world, Light is the strongest force on the planet and try to cleanse the world from the darkness as best as they can. The purges are being done by the Sin-Eaters which are the monsters of Light. The story’s full of surprises and you’ll notice that the interaction between the different characters is more real than ever.
This expansion also brings some new features to the game: new races, jobs, dungeons, a Trust System and new environments. The new races are the male Hrothgar and female Viera and they both bring a unique job to the game as well. The Viera are female characters with bunny ears that left their home “The Golmore Jungle” to chase down their ambition to make the world a better place. The Hrothgar are male lion characters that escaped the North from the Garlean Empire. There are also 2 jobs worth mentioning namely the “Gunbreaker” and the “Dancer”. Gunbreaker is a job where you’re equipped with a Gunblade that uses cartridges full of special magical enhanced ammunition to unleash devastating attacks or buffs yourself and the whole team that’ll allow you to tackle the most difficult enemies. For the hardcore Final Fantasy players out there, you can finally be like Squall Leonhart and harness this awesome Gunbreaker fighting style. The “Gunbreaker” is the fourth tank job in Final Fantasy.
There’s, of course, the “Dancer” as well. This job is a Physical Ranged DPS and uses attacks in combination with some “groovy” dancing moves. The Dancer’s skill set has a bit of a twist and it’ll need your full attention to become successful. During the battle, you can switch from basic attacks to dancing moves. If you manage to use the dancing moves in a specific order, there’s a big buff to finish your toughest enemies. You can also pick a dancing partner during the battle to give that specific player a boost after you’ve landed your finishing dance moves. With the latest expansion, you’ll have over 10 DPS jobs to choose from! Hopefully, there’s another job on the way that focuses more on healing because the healer’s jobs are the victims of a big skill reset that came along the Shadowbringers pre-patches. Then again, no need to worry! The developers are working towards a fix to amp your healing abilities.
Dungeons and Trials have also expanded and there’s even an interesting feature that allows you to group up with NPC party members to tackle one of these Shadowbringer dungeons. This system is called the Trust system and all of the NPC’s within your party are mostly characters from your company. Just pick the ones you want and go at it! The only downside is the fact that the Trust system can only be used with the dungeons from Shadowbringers. You’re probably also wondering, why is there a Trust system when the MMORPG wants you to be social and group up with people to take on the most difficult dungeons. Well, Yoshida said that FFXIV is still a Final Fantasy game at heart, so if people want to enjoy the main story without being social, the Trust system fills that gap. The Trust System is also good to explore the dungeons and work on your skills to overcome each bosses’ mechanics. The Trust system is also a way to get a better understanding of each character individual because, during your dungeon run, the characters will show off their skill and will act as they would act if they were real players. Dungeons are well designed and thanks to the composer Soken Masayoshi, the game’s filled with an absolutely amazing soundtrack.
Don’t expect any groundbreaking dungeons as the mechanics of most bosses are the same but look a bit different. The dungeons are challenging in a way that you have to constantly be aware of your surroundings and listen to your party members. Taking all of these hints, information peaks, and flashing areas altogether and you have a mind-breaking experience but in a good way. If these dungeons are still a bit too easy, you can still tackle the more extreme ones. The 8-party dungeon Eden has also been launched in the meantime, along with a Savage mode. Only by playing the role you’ve chosen to play and by communicating on a higher level, will you be able to overcome this raid. It’s a challenge that’s worth your time and investment. There’s also a 24 player raid coming but no release date has been confirmed yet, thinking along the lines of previous expansions, October seems like a fair guess. The raid will be set in the universe of NieR: automata, which will make up for an interesting setting. We can’t wait!
Shadowbringers also brings a game+ mode which allows you to play the previous quest with your main character. Your progress won’t be changed but it’s just a great way to visit some of those iconic scenes and battles that made the game stand out from other games. Playing the game with a job you love and fully equipped with awesome gear are just one of those reasons to replay those interesting moments.
Conclusion:
Year after year, Square Enix has proven themselves to develop this awesome MMORPG with “improvement” as their main focus. Each expansion has brought a lot of features that raise the quality level of Final Fantasy XIV, which in the end has a decent amount of content that could fill in a couple of months. Everything they’ve introduced with Shadowbringers, just clicks with each other. The setting, the story, the races, the jobs, environments, and even the music are small aspects of the game that eventually help the game change into an MMORPG to be reckoned with. Even though the game’s an MMORPG, the developers are trying to motivate the single-player minded people to pick FFXIV up and enjoy this true-hearted Final Fantasy storyline. The Trust System is a great addition to the game and will definitely lower the bar for MMO newbies. If you haven’t done already, buy the game and play one of the best storylines of the Final Fantasy universe.
9/10
tested on PC
Watch our interview with Yoshida, talking about the development process and future of Final Fantasy XIV, Shadowbringers:
