This review contains spoilers
I think this qualifies as one of those so-called hot takes but…I liked Stormblood more than Heavensward!
by a hair (and I do think HW’s patch content was better than SB’s)
The narrative missteps felt few and minor this time around (HW’s resolution of the plot-against-Nanamo thread remains the low point of the whole game for me), and the broad structure clicked with me more. Progressing through HW’s new areas sometimes felt like simply bouncing from waypoint to waypoint while enjoying some eye-candy along the way. In SB, I felt like I was really digging my fingers into the dirt of these new lands and figuring out what made them unique and lived-in places
There were also some jaw-dropping moments of writing, like Yugiri’s “I will always be of the sea” monologue. And every scene with Zenos was guaranteed to have a line that would make me yelp with delight
One quibble I still cannot shake with this game, however, is the perceived scale of the world’s—sorry—star’s population. It is so immersion-breaking to hear everyone go “we’re gonna smash that imperial stronghold with the combined might of the Eorzean alliance and the Ala Mhigan resistance!” and then you see like eleven people jogging toward the gates. But that’s part of the game’s charm I suppose, and damn do I love this game
by a hair (and I do think HW’s patch content was better than SB’s)
The narrative missteps felt few and minor this time around (HW’s resolution of the plot-against-Nanamo thread remains the low point of the whole game for me), and the broad structure clicked with me more. Progressing through HW’s new areas sometimes felt like simply bouncing from waypoint to waypoint while enjoying some eye-candy along the way. In SB, I felt like I was really digging my fingers into the dirt of these new lands and figuring out what made them unique and lived-in places
There were also some jaw-dropping moments of writing, like Yugiri’s “I will always be of the sea” monologue. And every scene with Zenos was guaranteed to have a line that would make me yelp with delight
One quibble I still cannot shake with this game, however, is the perceived scale of the world’s—sorry—star’s population. It is so immersion-breaking to hear everyone go “we’re gonna smash that imperial stronghold with the combined might of the Eorzean alliance and the Ala Mhigan resistance!” and then you see like eleven people jogging toward the gates. But that’s part of the game’s charm I suppose, and damn do I love this game