one of the most frustrating video game experiences i've ever had. the dungeons and trials were good, in fact probably the best so far, but the main story was so agonizingly bad that i knocked it out in one week just to get it over with. I thoroughly believe that xiv's story quality depends on how far away from the empire plotline it is, and unfortunately this is the closest its ever been. Its honestly offensive at best in its storytelling. The later patches (4.4 and 4.5) were brilliant, but that's only because they're setting up for a far better expansion, Shadowbringers.

Here's my breakdown as to why I'm giving it this score:

-1/2 of a star is entirely for alisaie. This is her first expansion in the spotlight and the times she's on screen are /delightful/. she's a fun quest companion, she has good dialogue and overall I spent most of this expac waiting to hang out with her more. The character development she gets in the later patches is some of the best character writing I've seen in this game so far, and I love the relationship she has with the WOL

-1 star is for the brilliant storytelling that is the later patches. Now I'm gonna credit this to shadowbringers primarily since its setup for that, but the tension horror and confusion of that later content was brilliant.

- 1 star is for the gameplay, mainly the dungeons and trials, which i found SUPER fun. Susano was probably my favorite primal fight in the series so far. The mechanics they add in as things get more difficult are really engaging and enjoyable. I also /loved/ the new dive ability. It was such a treat. I also wanna say that this star counts for sadu because shes everything to me <3