Just finished the 4.0 msq. Gameplay-wise, this expansion is the best FFXIV has had so far. The duty, trial, and dungeon design is the best it's ever been, with those generally all being pretty fun. The writing however does not at all live up to how good Heavensward was. Half the expansion you spend away from the place the main plot is about, with most of it not really being all that interesting. There's some alright character moments but largely I was just bored by the writing.

UPDATE: Finished the 4.x patch msq now as well, and did a bunch of the side content. A lot of the writing for the main story is the worst it has been in FFXIV so far, mainly everything that follows up on Stormblood's plot. While I was mostly just bored with 4.0's plot, the plot in the 4.1 to 4.3 patches was just frustratingly bad. Everything that sets up Shadowbringers is generally pretty good though, and I loved stuff like the Omega raids. And the game design has continued to improve.

Reviewed on Oct 05, 2020


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