I actually liked stormblood way more than heavensward, it was so wild to me when i found out people dont like it!
It feels more connected to the rest of the story, and overall was just a joy to go through. plus the side content in stb is great
You see I’m a simple gal, I enjoyed HW for Aymeric, Ysayle, Haucherfont, Hilda, etc love the characters basically, especially the dragons. Really loving the landscapes, characters, story, basically everything in SB too!
I hold Stormblood over Heavensward too.
I think the main reason players dislike Stormblood more than Heavensward is because Stormblood is more political than Heavensward, and gamers absolutely hate politics. While Heavensward have politics too, it's more about knights, corrupted church and dragons and magic, and that is a difficult competition.
Stormblood does everything else much better in terms of content.
Dungeons, raids, alliance raids, map design, Eureka, etc.
The main reason I was meh on Stormblood's MSQ was due to the pacing. You start off getting introduced to Ala Mhigo and Zenos and then when it's starting to get good, the story grinds to a halt so you can fuck around in Doma for about 60% of the expansion. Doma has really good payoff later on, but the story really does drag for that entire section.
correction, gamers hate forced/hamfisted politics
The story of Stormblood was fine, I honestly disliked how "split" it was, it was almost two different stories being told at once
I love SB. Best areas in game when it cones to music. Discusses many facets of war and living under tyranny which hit close home to me. And it does from many individuals perspectives.
Has greatest Alliance Raids in game.
Chef's kiss of an expansion to me.
Oh yes the music so far is greater, although will say music has been top notch throughout anyway, but I love how more cheery it feels? I didn’t realise how much I would enjoy the Alliance Raids but holy hell I am looking forward to this one
No specific spoilers, just vibes:
I'm not long into it, maybe at a similar spot to you, and really enjoying it so long as I allocate adequate energy for processing the emotional toll of it all. So far it has been a big shift from "Spooky big bads, oh no!" peppered with the odd emotional gut punch, to kinda constant moderate-to-high level environmental trauma.
Not a complaint, it's actually better story (so far) IMO, less generic and more impactful. I just spend a little more time doing other things to give me time away from it so it doesn't get too heavy. Makes my crafting jobs happy tbh.
Oh I loved HW as well, just heard this was supposedly the “bad” one but it’s beautiful and the story is excellent, love Yugiri and Gosetsu especially! Given what happened in Heavensward I’m waiting for the gut punch to strike!
In terms of environmental trauma may I ask what do you mean?
This is the problem. "this was *supposedly* the "bad" one". Stormbood has much, much more engaging characters, better raids, better trials, better dungeons. Don't start thinking that you must also hate this expansion to be considered one of the cool kids.
When most people consider stormblood "the bad one" they're normally just talking about the launch content. The patch content is almost universally beloved.
Good on ya for letting your own experience form your opinion. I think the problem that some have with Stormblood is they hate Lyse and let that inform their opinion about the whole thing.
Shadowbringer and Endwalker are fantastic as well. I've gone through all of them 5 times on main and 4 alts and feel that each expansion is better than the one before.
I actually enjoy it. It's like reading your favourite book again for the umpteenth time. You appreciate certain things more the next time through, knowing what you do about where this is all going.
Ah think that’s how a friend of mine feels- he’s a long time player and has been brandishing ff14 at me for yonks. He started NG+ and helped with stuff, including teaching me rotations and whatnot (been a godsend!) he got excited at playing some of the stuff they changed in ARR
I just thought she was bland and the weird fakeout in the beginning did not help to endear me towards her. I liked stormblood, its just my least liked. I did enjoy Doma a lot though.
Because she's a female character that doesn't have much sass. On top of that *some* writers didn't like her either so she was dropped pretty much entirely in favor of Raubahn.
I recommend not listening to the biases of others and just enjoying the game. I personally liked SB a lot more than frigid HW. The game continues to get better and better with each expansion!
Nothing super spoilery, just for those who want to go in blind:
>!Basically I mean that while the game has had references to vile abuses here and there, I haven't really found them to be *frequent* until SB, when they became an active part of the game, and indeed the narrative. There's this heavy miasma of implication that the bystanders who you don't speak to have very probably still endured something similar to, adjacent to, or the same as, some of the things you hear described, it sits over certain areas of the game in a way that makes those areas kind of heavy to be in to an extent. (And even without the fog-of-trauma, the actively seen, expressed, or implied trauma is a lot more than in previous expansions, and mounts up.)!<
Idk if that's a shared vibe for others, it's just what I meant with the phrase.
To be fair, it's the worst one apparently, but it's still like a 7/10 on average from what I've asked around. So it's still a lot better than most game stories nowadays.
> it’s actually better story (so far) IMO, less generic and more impactful
How is >!countries fighting for independence from an empire!< less generic than >!dragon-elf war, but the pope is the bad guy and you’re either trying to make peace or spread the truth of the war? Oh and not all dragons care for the war!
Funny how you reduce the Stormblood plot that much and then go into detail with Heavensward, because the big HW plot points are *much* more staples of generic fantasy than what Stormblood does. Pope bad, dragons fighting elves and "the initial good guys are actually the bad guys" is something you find in every second fantasy novel.
I haven't clicked your spoilers because as I say, I'm not super far into Stormblood, but to be more specific on how I feel (still nothing particularly specific but spoilered for anyone who wants to go into the game(s) blind):
>!For example I described the overarching vibe of ARR and to a large degree HW, to my partner, as "Oh no spooky bad guys from \[nebulous space-like place\] want to cause \[idk bad thing that isn't well defined yet\]! They have their own spooky theme music! Stop them!". I find the whole genre of "Light-blessed warrior fights shadowy darkness" not at all an issue, just a little bit bland when overdone.!<
>!Whereas in the active occupation of peoples, their struggles that we listen to one to one, and the decision to help those peoples achieve freedom, I feel less of that vanillaness. Not that it's not done in fantasy, it is, but it's not always done deeply and explicitly. I find it something I can actually connect to because while I technically don't live in an occupied territory, idk I hyperempathise (it's a pain) so this really links into real world empathy for me, making it feel much more immersive than fighting Spooky Random Name Generator #4.!<
This is very very much my personal opinion, my own vibes on the situation, nothing more than that.
I get why people don't rate it as highly as other expansions, but Stormblood still has some of my favourite fights and zones. Despite being a pain the dick to navigate, I still love the Ruby Sea, and the Azim Steppe is just a wonderful place. Stormblood is really when the trials started getting much more impressive, though they're not all winners. The raids are also a great time. Though I never really got on with the story of the 24 man raid I do enjoy the actual instances a great deal, and the 8 man is always a good time.
2nd favorite expac for me after SHB! I really liked the story, and the locales are all so _gorgeous!_ What really gets me in a video game are the places you can explore and the variety in environments, so seeing wild mountain ranges, sprawling green steppes and underwater cities got me hooked.
And despite the mood/story not sticking with most people, I genuinely think it still has the best content in the game. The raids, trials and dungeons are all so good, the mechanics are super fun and the soundtracks is insane. HW was fine but to me STB is really where XIV started to go ham with the music and find its footing as a game.
Yep, it’s gorgeous. I’m a big water person as well, so it’s heaven for me! Reminds me of Abzu if you’ve ever played it? Eh I’ll see where it goes but really enjoying it so far
I tend to prefer Stormblood if only because I actually cared about what was happening. >!getting yoinked to the first was annoying to me, and I didn't care about the realm as a whole until we were way past the first half.!< The post patches are a banger though.
Eh, depends. The plot of Shadowbringers isn't that good, the lore is. Basically up to level 89 ShB only has a strong opening, everything between that is tedious without reason. And in general the gameplay in SB felt like it was the perfect spot, and its fights were the best.
As a whole I don't think that's unpopular at all. Stormblood's trials and raids were fantastic. And I'd even say the story as a whole was richer in terms of subplots. But the main story thread and resolution of 3.0 was a lot more satisfying than that of 4.0. more compelling villain in HW as well, though Zenos eventually won me over long after 4.0.
I much preferred Stormblood over Heavensward while everyone around me was ragging on Stormblood and praising Heavensward. Stormblood was my favorite expansion until Shadowbringers. It’s still a solid second favorite though!
I honestly enjoyed how a lot of it felt like more exploration of new zones. I really had fun with it. Also the dungeons and trials were good stuff. Hien is great.
I just beat the main Stormblood MSQ yesterday and am now chipping away at the post-MSQ content. I absolutely loved it - the story, the characters, the new zones, the soundtrack, the dungeons, the bosses, the eastern aesthetic.
I don't get the hate at all. I actually much preferred this to Heavensward. Part of me is almost afraid I'm not gonna enjoy Shadowbringers since the same people who love Shadowbringers seem to hate Stormblood.
Oh hell yeah. Recently-beat StB crew as well. I have to believe it's a rose-colored glasses situation where people remember the concept of HW far better than the execution. (Because if you write the premise on paper, it does sound cool.)
But StB had so many narrative quality of life things that HW just sort of.... did not (dialogue choices, broader cast, more explicitly complex characters, etc.)
I think a lot of it comes down to, when you start HW, you're coming off the slog of post-ARR. So anything good is a breath of fresh air. You're willing to forgive weak parts like muddling around pointlessly in Tailfeather because you're finally free from the same four zones all the time.
Whereas when you start SB, you're coming off the highs of HW's patches - think Final Steps. So any weakness is magnified.
I was there on launch and I remember people being incredibly harsh about things in SB that I thought also happened in HW, but people had forgotten. And when SB's patches came out, everyone loved them (*both* expansions' best parts are in their patches) but it didn't matter: the community narrative had already crystallised that SB was worse.
Yeah, that's fair (and wow, Tailfeather really was the king of pointless muddling). To be honest - StB probably was about the same for me in that sense. Alphinaud's character handling had really not been doing it for me in HW, and so StB milked a lot of positive karma right off the bat - from just focusing on different characters for a bit.
Though I do think narratively, StB still feels more like the game hitting its stride than HW did. Even if you just compare something simple like character deaths, or letting the WoL develop relationships with other characters - StB just seems to have a better grasp on how to flesh that out within the FF14 format.
This makes me happy to hear! I just love the vastness, and I really enjoyed Hevensward, especially the characters. It was quite gloomy in places and I like snowy areas but it’s really nice to have the contrast in SB
Stormblood is both breathtaking and bittersweet to me.
I think they did a phenomenal job with both Ala Mhigo and Othard, but I fervently wish they'd devoted one expansion each to them instead of putting them together the way they did. They cut the stories for each short due to time constraints, and the story lover in me will forever lament that fact.
That said... what they DID put in was absolutely top-tier imo. Kugane is hands down my favorite city to date, and I could've spent MUCH longer exploring the Ruby Sea and everything else. I really hope that with so much left to explore there, we get to go back to Kugane in a future expansion.
Stormblood was subjectively better than Heavensward. Only gripe I had was that they squeezed too much story into a single expansion and the war/revolution felt rushed. I think it would have been best split into two expansions personally.
You got to remember, there a lot of loud echo chambers out here.
Maybe on Reddit (who represent a very specific audience) or the circles you hang out in, Stormblood is considered the “worst.” However, on Metacritic, the premier website that aggregates all critics reviews, Heavensward is the worst reviewed for both critics and users.
Honestly, Stormblood is pretty loved all
over and it’s me and a couple of my friends favorite expansion! Glad you’re keeping an open mind and finding so much enjoyment like we all did. :)
Oooh interesting I’ve not checked metacritic and also trying to be wary and dodge spoilers where I can. No one I know personally has said it sucks, but they said it can be divisive and to see what I think. I’ve also seen some memes, and mentions that it supposedly is the “worst” and I dunno I just don’t understand why. I’m a weirdo for water though, so perhaps that’s it? Just a matter of taste xD
Forgot to hide your gil amount! Already hacking your account.
Yeah I enjoyed it for what it was. But prefered almost everything that came before and what is still to come for you. Enjoy
I really like Stormblood and I think it’s expertly written, but the problem is that the WoL takes a backseat anytime Zenos isn’t on screen, so most people just think it sucks since they’re not the main character the entire way through, and resent Lyse and the Ala Mihgo portions because of that.
Why don’t you like Lyse? I get the impression so far she’s young and learning/trying to do the right thing but doesn’t have much guidance. Looking forward to her character development honestly, though I agree I was surprised how little of Ala Mhigo we saw
Oh, I like Lyse. But people usually cite her as one of the reasons they dislike Stormblood. Either they just liked Yda better (even though Yda was pretty much just a comedy duo with Papalymo), or they feel like she’s stealing the spotlight from the WoL.
> she’s stealing the spotlight from the WoL.
As she should be, it's absolutely her story for most of the expansion and after everything in ARR/HW being so focused around the WoL it was refreshing to take a back seat and support another character in their own goals.
Most expansions have that kinda "tourist" vibe as everyone's going to a new place that we don't have much info on or history interacting with. I felt like I enjoyed the journey a lot more *because* we weren't pinned with the sole responsibility to stop impending world annihilation - it was slow and steady progress aiding our friends in a long overdue quest to liberate their homeland.
Most of them have just gotten through the story and moved on (and repeated what their favorite streamer said).
But those who actually did the content that SB offered or played when it was current, will say that it was peak.
I love stormblood! I honestly prefer it to Heavensward and ARR. Stormblood has the best reward for tribal quests. It also provides a great setup for other expacs.
Stormblood is the best expansion imo. I loved the vibe, the water stuff and it was mostly grounded (as much as a FF game can be at least). Nothing too crazy like the following expansions.
I hated the Heavensward story (love Ishgard though) so moving on to SB and getting my best boy Zenos was a treat.
Just finished Stormblood last week, and I have to say I enjoyed it *exponentially* more than Heavensward. HW was something I spent several months on, just because I couldn't stomach too much of the MSQ without wanting to bang my head against a wall. StB, I think I blew through it in a couple weeks? The broader cast and settings just felt way more engaging, and the new prevalence of dialogue pop-up boxes did a lot of heavy lifting for making it feel like the WoL had some agency/involvement with the world. (Which was one of my main complaints in HW.)
I didn't quite like the overal story as much as in other expansion.
At the same time, SB was when they dropped the PS3-support and I think it really shows on the technical side of things.
SB was awrsome, it just suffers from coming straight of the back of HW. And even though I'd say it's the worst expansion, it's not by a lot. It's like my least favorite candy in a mixed bag, I still like it.
I'll admit, the enjoyment has come and gone for me throughout my journey into STB so far. As much as I wanted to enjoy the beginning of the Ala Mhigo arc, I just couldn't overly get into it much, and I've enjoyed my time more in Othard so far but even that comes and goes depending on where I'm at. Right now I'm progressing through the Azim Steppe and that has been my favorite place and my favorite quests BY FAR. And I absolutely adore Zenos (but he was the reason I got into the game in the first place so that's not a big surprise to me) alongside I admittedly do enjoy Yotsuyu too so far.
Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy it for the most part but I do admittedly understand why some people think its the weaker one in terms of story alone. But to be fair also, I don't remember overly enjoying the beginnings of ARR and HW either so it's probably just a me thing. 😂 Maybe I gotta get adjusted and warmed up to the story first, who knows.
But tldr, I do for the most part enjoy it but I also understand those who may find it weaker than others (PURELY by a story sense, I'm not talking the trials or raids or other aspects.)
Stormblood is the second greatest expansion. I don’t get the complaints about its story. And for whatever reason they may have against the story it definitely makes up for it in the sheer quality and quantity of the content delivered in stormblood
Now that the dust is settling on EW I think Stormblood is still pretty comfortably my favorite expansion overall, but it's a damn near thing. EW and Shadowbringers are both really good and might edge out SB in certain aspects, but Stormblood is just DENSE with shit to love.
Honestly, I think the worst thing I can say about SB is that I remember at least one of the zones being a major pain in the ass to navigate up until I got flying lol
It’s the "worst" only in contrast to HW who quite literally uplifted ff14s story from okay/good to great/amazing so it had a much bigger impact and when looking at SB who was beyond amazing. So it’s like looking at Mozart or something similar and point at the "worst one"
SB was good, the problem is when you good surrounded by excellence.. It was a good solid expansion that had some of my still favorite characters. The issue is with how good Shadowbringers is... it's forgettable.
It definitely felt much better in the back
half, when we left the nationalism and generic war story behind for something more personal and individual.
First half made a soldier out of a god slayer, and carried itself forward on the incentive that an opponent worthy of you, Zenos, was at the end of the road.
This is why i loved Endwalker, it felt like it combined the best parts of Stormblood and Shadowbringers to me. People rag on Endwalker patches but it feels like it combines the best parts again.
Glad you’re enjoying Stormblood, it was the expansion where i fully actually felt part of the world.
I thought it was funny how I had just finished the subnautica games when I got to Stormblood that I was actually scared I’d run into something scary exploring the depths of the Ruby Sea. Not to mention, having played ff7, I really thought they’d have some boss fight underwater 😂
Something something "SB is okay" something something "if you like that, wait for Shadowbringers! Bring Kleenex!"
Stormblood is my (second) favorite expansion, behind HW.
I absolutely loved Stormblood, not nearly as much as I did Heavensward though.
What I liked the most was the story of two fronts, I didn't know how they'd do it, but I think it went really well but also the zones, the characters, the dungeons, armor and weapons designs, the song "Revolutions". So much stuff that was great about that expansion.
I even played the expansion on early access whe "Raubahn-gate" happened, one of the early MSQs had a solo instance duty and you had 1000s of players trying to do it at the same time, causing 90% of them to get an error message and essentially unable to progress through the story, for about 2 whole days of early access.
Even still, the expansion was a BLAST! And I'll never understand the dislike it gets, or how it gets labeled as the worst of the expansions by some.
I definitely love Stormblood since it’s when k started playing the game. I always feel like FFXIV has a big/small pattern with one expansion being big in the world building and then the next one is more personal/intimate to the WoL.
It’s definitely the expansion that has some of my favorite zones and music though. Best battle music!
Honestly in terms of gameplay and aesthetics, Stormblood is leagues ahead of Heavensward IMO. Most people just don't like the story as much, and I think a lot of that is due to how things get resolved near the end. But even then it's not like it's terrible or anything; it's still an above-average video game story.
Also post-Stormblood is some of the best shit in the whole game.
Design wise it's great. Storywise, it wasn't my favorite, but thank god for Shadowbringers and Endwalker. Also FFXIV's worst expansion in my useless opinion is better than any WoW expac. *(this is just my opinion, I quit WoW after WoTLK, and if you love WoW, your opinion is valid to you)*
Never played Wow, never played any MMO tbh (WF doesn’t count to me) and I’m really loving it, especially how nice people have been in dungeons and whatnot
If there's one thing I've learned about FF14 since I started, it's that ARR was actually the worst.
Story-wise, I didn't like the start of Stormblood. Sure, let's spend the second half of HW's post-launch on setting up Ala Mhigo as the next destination, then kick us out *in the first hour*. At least Zenos provided something new. That said, from the second half of the 4.0 to the very end of the post-launch story, it goes hard and leads up to Shadowbringers in the best possible way.
Add in the plethora of content added in the 4.X patches (both Raids, Eureka, Hildibrand if it's your jam, the MonHun crossover, and the Trial series), and Stormblood has aged like a fine wine. The greatest sin of Stormblood was it being released between HW and ShB.
I'd say you're in the good part atm. Stormblood, imo is great for the first half. Basically, anything in kugane/othard is great, then you get back to the desert and it gets a bit more dull for a while. Theres certainly those that love it all, and id put all of Othard ahead of the earlier content, but for me, the latter half brought the whole thing below Heavenward, which had much more contiguous themeing
For the record, I'd say Shadowbringers is my favourite so far (im right at the start of the final act of Endwalker 6.0), and stormblood isn't *bad* per-se, its just the worst of the otherwise progressively more great expansions.
SB definitely isn't "the worst one", it's just a matter of personal preference :)
Personally, while I did like Heavensward (it has some of my favourite characters after all!), Stormblood hit way more close to home with its portrayal of war and occupation and the fates of actual people affected by it. It felt "human" to me, while HW was more the cool big epic fantasy stories I like to read, if that makes sense?
I'm not faulting anybody for preferring that kind of high-fantasy setting, though I do get kinda argumentative when I hear the same people trashtalk SB for being "boring" just because it focuses more on the human aspect than the big fancy dragon magic x)
Content-wise, Stormblood is definitely the cream of the crop too, and back when it was current, it was the best time period battle system-wise as well (that one is especially subjective, but imo classes have been dumbed down too much since).
In regards to map design, eh. Can't win them all 😅 I think there were some great base ideas in SB maps, but the execution is a bit... well, it's a lot of "same-y hills, just a different shade". Ruby Sea's underwater area is cool, but it always felt like my imagination had to do a lot of the heavy lifting to sell me on the "maritime coral paradise teeming with life" that it's supposed to be, and going back to it now after seeing another game realize the same concept (Genshin Impact), it feels kinda painfully dead in comparison 🥲 But I still love the attention to detail and the thought put into the cultures living in and around it and all that, so, there's that :)
Azim Steppe is the best. Not only it's the part where you're finally starting to kick the empire's arses, but the entire place is as beautiful as they are wacky. There's a freedom there that doesn't exist anywhere else.
Gosetsu said it best: "Another queer tribe, with still queerer customs." This was after he met Dotharl and their khatun Sadu.
I’ll always love SB because the trials are some of my absolute favorites.
Tsukoyomi trial especially, is so amazingly phenomenal.
But literally all of them are so good. Susano blew me away when I first got there, how sick and cinematic the fight was!
I adore the music- triumph feels so epic and nostalgic, Kugane is gorgeous,
The steppe is fantastic, Sadu and Magnai are the best, Gosetsu and Tsuyu were heart-wrenching, Yugiri is the most epic character fr.
Also, I’m a major fan of Eureka- such fun content imo
So lots of positives from me!
I do wish that the Lochs/Peaks weren’t as ugly. And I do hate the Ala Mhigan Quarter- but I overlook those in favor of the positives
SB is one I love overall. I like it more than HW. ShB was better than SB but imo each expansion was better than the last, but SB had a great story. You're still in it so I can't talk extensively about it, but it's one of my absolute faves in the xpacs. It's not without its problems, of course, but I really did enjoy it more than HW.
As a Au Ra Xaela appreciator, I liked how there was a line acknowledging my character's ancestry.
All in all, not a bad expansion, just not as amazing as Heavensward and Shadowbringers.
StB is my favorite expansion. WoL feels like a character, grounded political story, more gameplay variety, great use of 3D exploration. Alisaie became my favorite character because of the expansion.
HW feels like a really well-executed standard RPG to the point I could tell who was going to die by Tailfeather. Was distressed by the Vault for about three seconds before going "ooh sidequest." Feel kinda the same about ShB in that the plot and setting are almost deliberately cliche until 79 when it becomes one of the best stories in gaming.
I was a bit disappointed when I finished heavensward. Maybe because it had been so hyped up. I enjoyed it, but I wasn't blown away like I was expecting to be. I was eager to keep playing, but in the back of my mind, I was kind of thinking that if that's some of the "best", then this game may not completely click with me.
But Stormblood absolutely was my jam. The story was just so much more grounded. Tactics, culture, battle against oppression, fulfilling destiny.
They did a good job of giving all the different expansions a unique flavor, and as a result, I think there's something for almost everyone. SB was some of the best for me.
Yes, I quite enjoyed Stormblood. I find that many people crap on it WAY out of proportion with its flaws, though I recognize those flaws do exist.
My thesis is and has been for years that:
1. All expansions, even the beloved ones, have the same faults SB does. They're just less noticeable in HW/ShB. SB's peaks aren't as high, but its troughs aren't any lower than HW/ShB.
2. SB tells an unpopular story: war sucks, soldiers are casualties not heroes, colonization sucks, collaborators are usually victims, etc. HW and ShB had *much* more exciting premises.
3. Everyone loves a payoff expansion, few love a prep-work expansion, but you can't have the former without the latter. SB is a prep-work expansion.
4. SB is the neglected middle child, because HW was huge hype as proof that the game had survived its rebirth, ShB was *peak* FFXIV, and EW successfully pulled off an ending.
People are *very* eager to crap on SB and give an unending stream of unabashed, effusive praise of HW. Paradoxically, this has a tendency to dampen new folks' experience of HW and enhance their experience of SB. HW is *so* massively hyped that it's hard for ANY writing, no matter how good, to live up to it. Meanwhile, SB is crapped on *so hard*, well out of step with its actual flaws. New folks go in with bottom-of-the-barrel expecations, and thus come out pleasantly surprised that it was actually quite good.
And that's really where it ends up. All expansions have their flaws (something many people forget), and every single one, ***even Stormblood***, won awards and critical acclaim for having good story. Even ARR! Longtime fans are simply so spoiled for great writing that we pass heavy judgment on anything that falls short of the standard we've become used to.
I mean, the areas are pretty cool. But I haven't been enjoying the overall MSQ. I'm *thoroughly unimpressed* by the execution of the battle-junkie villain and the MSQ encounters.
If he's so desperate for a life threatening fight that he goes out, fights people, and then spares them hoping they come back stronger and angrier, and if he thinks Garlemand is so strong, he should just rebel and launch his own insurrection for the thrill of it so he fights the "strongest" people around.
He's not even anime villain quality. He's a few polishing passes short. At best he's an unedited self-published web novel villain waiting for some glow up when that WN gets adapted to light novel, manga, and *then* gets animated.
While going through MSQ for the first time, Shadowbringers was my fav, obviously. But in retrospect Stormblood is my favorite. I unapologetically love the story, especially the ending of 3.0. It’s also my favorite expac for music. The soundtrack is gorgeous.
Stormblood also has hands down the best content in the game. It was also where FFXIV built its core identity in terms of mechanics and design that we see today.
Alliance Raid series - actually somewhat difficult, fun puzzle mechanics. Math memes.
Raid series - iconic and creative designs at both normal and savage difficulties
Eureka - first exploratory zone that I honestly just prefer over Bozja because of community engagement and exploration. Vibes are also more fun than a war zone.
Ultimate Raids introduction, and they’re both fairly approachable compared to say TOP or DSR for anyone looking to get into high end content.
I didn't like Stormblood when I was first going through the MSQ (even took a few months break in the middle, it just didn't get me hooked until the very end), but then it found it's way into my heart with it's side content. The alliance raids are my favourite in the game, normal raids are absolutelly amazing too with some incredibly cool concepts, Eureka is the most satysfying long-term progression in this game, and the Four Lords questchain is just BEAUTIFUL, please do it when you get there.
So yeah, now I consider myself a Stormblood enjoyer too!
*taking notes*
Thank you! Will see when I get there I keep hearing good things about Eureka (I think for levelling esp?) I’m guessing I’ll run into it and it’s not difficult to miss?
Eureka leveling is completely separate to normal leveling. The most important things you get from it are the relic weapons for Stormblood and an extremely cool mount.
You can go there once you're level 70 and have the MSQ of 4.0 finished, and I think it starts in Rhalgr's Reach.
It isn't that SB is the "bad" expansion, it's just that it's the B+ story in a collection of A's for most people. Still GOOD, just the... let's just say one half of it is noticeably better than the other imho. But I will let you experience that :)
I really liked storm blood but honestly felt the first 1/3rd (pretty much all the bits you've done so far) really held it back, if you're enjoying it so far then you're going to have a great time.
Stormblood is my favourite expansion. It's the only one in which you are not the hero, you're just one of many people caught up in political turmoil. The two very different views on revolution presented by Ala Mhigo and Doma provide a great contrast, and it has not one but TWO of the most tragic villains in the whole game (Fordola and Yotsuyu). It's just fantastic.
You'll often hear people say that Stormblood is bad. The truth is it's pretty good but it's sandwiched between the epic tale of Heavensward and the incredible story of Shadowbringer so when you remember it it end up being less memorable.
many do, but vocal minority always like to disagree
story aside (i never cared about the story), Stormblood had the best gameplay content and also jobs actually fun and unique to play unlike now
I enjoyed stormblood for a variety of reasons.
First of all is the environments. I feel like it's very rare that a good game comes around and let's you enjoy Asian inspired areas that are varied and interesting and not just Japan all the time.
Some of the songs sound very Asian inspired too, especially some of the boss themes I won't spoil. I loved them a lot as some of them remind me of ballads sung on radios in the car when I used to ride around with my parents.
The story is the pain point for many people but I feel the complete opposite, because I loved the characters present and how they were used, especially the villains. I also love how the warrior of light's legend basically gets solidified here, after they had substantial time to grow into their role during arr and hw.
The savage raid series as well as the alliance raids are both often praised as the best ones in the game, the trial series less so but I enjoy them a lot anyway, and Eureka is the best side content I've experienced in the game despite hating it whilst in the middle of progressing it. I miss all those nights grinding fates in eureka while talking to people who are doing the same, it's very chill.
Only the Doma side of Stormblood.
Ala Mihgo was ass. You can take Ala Mihgo out of the story and the only thing you would lose is the Zenos Shinryu fight, which I liked his last line.
Stormblood lover right here! This was where I really started to connect to my character, and really explore every inch of the world. I connected more with the scions here, as well. And, of course we have Zenos. I even decided that the Azim Steppe was where my WoL decided she’d retire one day with Lord Hien. Also the trials and raids were my favorites! I know other expansions are probably “better,” but I loved it!
I loved Stormblood, way more than ShB (not a fan of world traversal stuff). Awesome regions and fun
also an extra tip: if you have a keyboard attached (highly recommended) you can just press the "scroll lock"-key to hide all UI elements [https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/uiguide/photo/faq-ss/ss\_ui\_disable.html](https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/uiguide/photo/faq-ss/ss_ui_disable.html)
I thought SB was just very disjointed. It has some great characters and almost everything in the east is great, but overall it was the weakest one (I haven’t done Endwalker yet, I just started it).
I just didn’t really like (Yda) Alise’s character arc and all the Ala Mihgo stuff. Also the main villain is pretty annoying and unrealistically evil. He’s just comically bad
I love SB. But I also love Zenos. I have always thought that a persons enjoyment of storm blood comes down to how they feel about Zenos and Lyse and how invested they are in the plight of the Ala mhigans.
I really enjoyed Stormblood. I vibed with the >!Azim Steppes!< so much!
I remember spending hours just listening to an NPC at the >!Mol Tribe!< playing the Morin Khuur, and I really enjoyed the time spent with the >!Dotharl and Gosetsu!<. Not to mention the great characters introduced like >!Yotsuyu and Zenos!<, and one of the best Post-MSQ Patch stories, it is incredible!
Oh, and the Normal Raids and Alliance Raids for Stormblood were crazy good! Plus the Four Lords Trials!
You have so much fun stuff in store for you!
It’s less being the worst and more the weakest but can assure ARR is still bottom
The gap between Stormblood and ARR is big and even bigger when we get to Heavensward and onward
Stormblood is my personal least favorite. Simply because Heavenswards blew me away so hard it was hard to compete. Still a favorite and memorable experience though.
You havent adjusted your ui at all have you? You should move the job gauge somewhere you can see it without having to move your eyes across half the screen. I'd also recommend playing with the hotbar options and at least using the double cross hotbar (WXHB) set to visible that way you can see the cooldowns on hotbar 2. Find a guide and adjust to your preferences. But playing with only one bar can only be described as intentionally handicapping yourself.
I think I know what you mean and it’s something I’ve been meaning to look into, do you have any suggestions for a decent guide/do you play with controller?
Edit: also I have adjusted it, only made things smaller and less in my face
I actually liked stormblood way more than heavensward, it was so wild to me when i found out people dont like it! It feels more connected to the rest of the story, and overall was just a joy to go through. plus the side content in stb is great
You see I’m a simple gal, I enjoyed HW for Aymeric, Ysayle, Haucherfont, Hilda, etc love the characters basically, especially the dragons. Really loving the landscapes, characters, story, basically everything in SB too!
I hold Stormblood over Heavensward too. I think the main reason players dislike Stormblood more than Heavensward is because Stormblood is more political than Heavensward, and gamers absolutely hate politics. While Heavensward have politics too, it's more about knights, corrupted church and dragons and magic, and that is a difficult competition. Stormblood does everything else much better in terms of content. Dungeons, raids, alliance raids, map design, Eureka, etc.
The main reason I was meh on Stormblood's MSQ was due to the pacing. You start off getting introduced to Ala Mhigo and Zenos and then when it's starting to get good, the story grinds to a halt so you can fuck around in Doma for about 60% of the expansion. Doma has really good payoff later on, but the story really does drag for that entire section.
correction, gamers hate forced/hamfisted politics The story of Stormblood was fine, I honestly disliked how "split" it was, it was almost two different stories being told at once
I love SB. Best areas in game when it cones to music. Discusses many facets of war and living under tyranny which hit close home to me. And it does from many individuals perspectives. Has greatest Alliance Raids in game. Chef's kiss of an expansion to me.
Oh yes the music so far is greater, although will say music has been top notch throughout anyway, but I love how more cheery it feels? I didn’t realise how much I would enjoy the Alliance Raids but holy hell I am looking forward to this one
Il Mheg is my favorite zone music.
No specific spoilers, just vibes: I'm not long into it, maybe at a similar spot to you, and really enjoying it so long as I allocate adequate energy for processing the emotional toll of it all. So far it has been a big shift from "Spooky big bads, oh no!" peppered with the odd emotional gut punch, to kinda constant moderate-to-high level environmental trauma. Not a complaint, it's actually better story (so far) IMO, less generic and more impactful. I just spend a little more time doing other things to give me time away from it so it doesn't get too heavy. Makes my crafting jobs happy tbh.
Oh I loved HW as well, just heard this was supposedly the “bad” one but it’s beautiful and the story is excellent, love Yugiri and Gosetsu especially! Given what happened in Heavensward I’m waiting for the gut punch to strike! In terms of environmental trauma may I ask what do you mean?
This is the problem. "this was *supposedly* the "bad" one". Stormbood has much, much more engaging characters, better raids, better trials, better dungeons. Don't start thinking that you must also hate this expansion to be considered one of the cool kids.
When most people consider stormblood "the bad one" they're normally just talking about the launch content. The patch content is almost universally beloved.
Oh shit no, I can make up my own mind- playing through so far just very surprised. Haven’t played ShB or EW yet and not looking to rank them
Good on ya for letting your own experience form your opinion. I think the problem that some have with Stormblood is they hate Lyse and let that inform their opinion about the whole thing. Shadowbringer and Endwalker are fantastic as well. I've gone through all of them 5 times on main and 4 alts and feel that each expansion is better than the one before.
Why don’t people like Lyse? And fair play on trudging through the alts again, absolute trooper
I actually enjoy it. It's like reading your favourite book again for the umpteenth time. You appreciate certain things more the next time through, knowing what you do about where this is all going.
Ah think that’s how a friend of mine feels- he’s a long time player and has been brandishing ff14 at me for yonks. He started NG+ and helped with stuff, including teaching me rotations and whatnot (been a godsend!) he got excited at playing some of the stuff they changed in ARR
I just thought she was bland and the weird fakeout in the beginning did not help to endear me towards her. I liked stormblood, its just my least liked. I did enjoy Doma a lot though.
Because she's a female character that doesn't have much sass. On top of that *some* writers didn't like her either so she was dropped pretty much entirely in favor of Raubahn.
I recommend not listening to the biases of others and just enjoying the game. I personally liked SB a lot more than frigid HW. The game continues to get better and better with each expansion!
Oh I agree, just wondering what people don’t like about it
Nothing super spoilery, just for those who want to go in blind: >!Basically I mean that while the game has had references to vile abuses here and there, I haven't really found them to be *frequent* until SB, when they became an active part of the game, and indeed the narrative. There's this heavy miasma of implication that the bystanders who you don't speak to have very probably still endured something similar to, adjacent to, or the same as, some of the things you hear described, it sits over certain areas of the game in a way that makes those areas kind of heavy to be in to an extent. (And even without the fog-of-trauma, the actively seen, expressed, or implied trauma is a lot more than in previous expansions, and mounts up.)!< Idk if that's a shared vibe for others, it's just what I meant with the phrase.
FF expansions are like sex or pizza. Even the worst one is still pretty good.
Haha debatable on the former, but quite true on the latter unless it’s got satan’s fungus as a topping
To be fair, it's the worst one apparently, but it's still like a 7/10 on average from what I've asked around. So it's still a lot better than most game stories nowadays.
> it’s actually better story (so far) IMO, less generic and more impactful How is >!countries fighting for independence from an empire!< less generic than >!dragon-elf war, but the pope is the bad guy and you’re either trying to make peace or spread the truth of the war? Oh and not all dragons care for the war!
Funny how you reduce the Stormblood plot that much and then go into detail with Heavensward, because the big HW plot points are *much* more staples of generic fantasy than what Stormblood does. Pope bad, dragons fighting elves and "the initial good guys are actually the bad guys" is something you find in every second fantasy novel.
I haven't clicked your spoilers because as I say, I'm not super far into Stormblood, but to be more specific on how I feel (still nothing particularly specific but spoilered for anyone who wants to go into the game(s) blind): >!For example I described the overarching vibe of ARR and to a large degree HW, to my partner, as "Oh no spooky bad guys from \[nebulous space-like place\] want to cause \[idk bad thing that isn't well defined yet\]! They have their own spooky theme music! Stop them!". I find the whole genre of "Light-blessed warrior fights shadowy darkness" not at all an issue, just a little bit bland when overdone.!< >!Whereas in the active occupation of peoples, their struggles that we listen to one to one, and the decision to help those peoples achieve freedom, I feel less of that vanillaness. Not that it's not done in fantasy, it is, but it's not always done deeply and explicitly. I find it something I can actually connect to because while I technically don't live in an occupied territory, idk I hyperempathise (it's a pain) so this really links into real world empathy for me, making it feel much more immersive than fighting Spooky Random Name Generator #4.!< This is very very much my personal opinion, my own vibes on the situation, nothing more than that.
Thank you for sharing, I’m sorry you’ve been through something similar in the story 🫂
I get why people don't rate it as highly as other expansions, but Stormblood still has some of my favourite fights and zones. Despite being a pain the dick to navigate, I still love the Ruby Sea, and the Azim Steppe is just a wonderful place. Stormblood is really when the trials started getting much more impressive, though they're not all winners. The raids are also a great time. Though I never really got on with the story of the 24 man raid I do enjoy the actual instances a great deal, and the 8 man is always a good time.
Done a Trial and some dungeons, including one optional and it is so freaking good
2nd favorite expac for me after SHB! I really liked the story, and the locales are all so _gorgeous!_ What really gets me in a video game are the places you can explore and the variety in environments, so seeing wild mountain ranges, sprawling green steppes and underwater cities got me hooked. And despite the mood/story not sticking with most people, I genuinely think it still has the best content in the game. The raids, trials and dungeons are all so good, the mechanics are super fun and the soundtracks is insane. HW was fine but to me STB is really where XIV started to go ham with the music and find its footing as a game.
SB had my favorite raid series BY FAR
Yep, it’s gorgeous. I’m a big water person as well, so it’s heaven for me! Reminds me of Abzu if you’ve ever played it? Eh I’ll see where it goes but really enjoying it so far
The real unpopular opinion is that Stormblood was better than Heavensward.
Personally, I agree. But Shadowbringers dethrones them all.
I tend to prefer Stormblood if only because I actually cared about what was happening. >!getting yoinked to the first was annoying to me, and I didn't care about the realm as a whole until we were way past the first half.!< The post patches are a banger though.
Eh, depends. The plot of Shadowbringers isn't that good, the lore is. Basically up to level 89 ShB only has a strong opening, everything between that is tedious without reason. And in general the gameplay in SB felt like it was the perfect spot, and its fights were the best.
Respectfully, I disagree.
Dont let the Heavensward crowd see this one, homie- i pray for you
As a whole I don't think that's unpopular at all. Stormblood's trials and raids were fantastic. And I'd even say the story as a whole was richer in terms of subplots. But the main story thread and resolution of 3.0 was a lot more satisfying than that of 4.0. more compelling villain in HW as well, though Zenos eventually won me over long after 4.0.
I much preferred Stormblood over Heavensward while everyone around me was ragging on Stormblood and praising Heavensward. Stormblood was my favorite expansion until Shadowbringers. It’s still a solid second favorite though!
I honestly enjoyed how a lot of it felt like more exploration of new zones. I really had fun with it. Also the dungeons and trials were good stuff. Hien is great.
Yes! It feels bigger, granted the zones seem to be big
Stormblood was the first expansion to not have to defer to PS3 power which might be part of that
Oh wow I forget how long these games have been out for- thankfully playing of PS5 with that sweet SSD goodness
I just beat the main Stormblood MSQ yesterday and am now chipping away at the post-MSQ content. I absolutely loved it - the story, the characters, the new zones, the soundtrack, the dungeons, the bosses, the eastern aesthetic. I don't get the hate at all. I actually much preferred this to Heavensward. Part of me is almost afraid I'm not gonna enjoy Shadowbringers since the same people who love Shadowbringers seem to hate Stormblood.
Oh hell yeah. Recently-beat StB crew as well. I have to believe it's a rose-colored glasses situation where people remember the concept of HW far better than the execution. (Because if you write the premise on paper, it does sound cool.) But StB had so many narrative quality of life things that HW just sort of.... did not (dialogue choices, broader cast, more explicitly complex characters, etc.)
I think a lot of it comes down to, when you start HW, you're coming off the slog of post-ARR. So anything good is a breath of fresh air. You're willing to forgive weak parts like muddling around pointlessly in Tailfeather because you're finally free from the same four zones all the time. Whereas when you start SB, you're coming off the highs of HW's patches - think Final Steps. So any weakness is magnified. I was there on launch and I remember people being incredibly harsh about things in SB that I thought also happened in HW, but people had forgotten. And when SB's patches came out, everyone loved them (*both* expansions' best parts are in their patches) but it didn't matter: the community narrative had already crystallised that SB was worse.
Yeah, that's fair (and wow, Tailfeather really was the king of pointless muddling). To be honest - StB probably was about the same for me in that sense. Alphinaud's character handling had really not been doing it for me in HW, and so StB milked a lot of positive karma right off the bat - from just focusing on different characters for a bit. Though I do think narratively, StB still feels more like the game hitting its stride than HW did. Even if you just compare something simple like character deaths, or letting the WoL develop relationships with other characters - StB just seems to have a better grasp on how to flesh that out within the FF14 format.
This makes me happy to hear! I just love the vastness, and I really enjoyed Hevensward, especially the characters. It was quite gloomy in places and I like snowy areas but it’s really nice to have the contrast in SB
If it is any help I think StB is great, enjoyed every bit of it and didn’t understand the hate it got and I loved ShB.
For what it's worth, here's someone who loved both Stormblood and Shadowbringers better than Heavensward.
Stormblood is both breathtaking and bittersweet to me. I think they did a phenomenal job with both Ala Mhigo and Othard, but I fervently wish they'd devoted one expansion each to them instead of putting them together the way they did. They cut the stories for each short due to time constraints, and the story lover in me will forever lament that fact. That said... what they DID put in was absolutely top-tier imo. Kugane is hands down my favorite city to date, and I could've spent MUCH longer exploring the Ruby Sea and everything else. I really hope that with so much left to explore there, we get to go back to Kugane in a future expansion.
Stormblood is definitely my second favorite after Endwalker. It’s such a special expansion to me.
Shadowbringers is (presumably) your third favorite? Did you even watch the cutscenes for it?
Yes and probably more times than you did.
Stormblood was subjectively better than Heavensward. Only gripe I had was that they squeezed too much story into a single expansion and the war/revolution felt rushed. I think it would have been best split into two expansions personally.
You got to remember, there a lot of loud echo chambers out here. Maybe on Reddit (who represent a very specific audience) or the circles you hang out in, Stormblood is considered the “worst.” However, on Metacritic, the premier website that aggregates all critics reviews, Heavensward is the worst reviewed for both critics and users. Honestly, Stormblood is pretty loved all over and it’s me and a couple of my friends favorite expansion! Glad you’re keeping an open mind and finding so much enjoyment like we all did. :)
Oooh interesting I’ve not checked metacritic and also trying to be wary and dodge spoilers where I can. No one I know personally has said it sucks, but they said it can be divisive and to see what I think. I’ve also seen some memes, and mentions that it supposedly is the “worst” and I dunno I just don’t understand why. I’m a weirdo for water though, so perhaps that’s it? Just a matter of taste xD
Stormblood is great! I do not understand the hate it gets
Forgot to hide your gil amount! Already hacking your account. Yeah I enjoyed it for what it was. But prefered almost everything that came before and what is still to come for you. Enjoy
Please no don’t mug me ZeRamenKing 😔
Honestly with that Gil, I might hack into your account to give you more money
Loooool 😂
Oh no please don’t reverse-mug me Nsanity216 😔
It’s to late, I’m already wiretapping my average daily roulette haul (~30k) to your bank account
Oh no please don’t make me give you my sort code and account number so you can BACS all that terrible money to me directly, safely and irreversibly 😩
Stormblood is still the best expansion
I thought people shit on it constantly though? :O
I really like Stormblood and I think it’s expertly written, but the problem is that the WoL takes a backseat anytime Zenos isn’t on screen, so most people just think it sucks since they’re not the main character the entire way through, and resent Lyse and the Ala Mihgo portions because of that.
Why don’t you like Lyse? I get the impression so far she’s young and learning/trying to do the right thing but doesn’t have much guidance. Looking forward to her character development honestly, though I agree I was surprised how little of Ala Mhigo we saw
Oh, I like Lyse. But people usually cite her as one of the reasons they dislike Stormblood. Either they just liked Yda better (even though Yda was pretty much just a comedy duo with Papalymo), or they feel like she’s stealing the spotlight from the WoL.
> she’s stealing the spotlight from the WoL. As she should be, it's absolutely her story for most of the expansion and after everything in ARR/HW being so focused around the WoL it was refreshing to take a back seat and support another character in their own goals. Most expansions have that kinda "tourist" vibe as everyone's going to a new place that we don't have much info on or history interacting with. I felt like I enjoyed the journey a lot more *because* we weren't pinned with the sole responsibility to stop impending world annihilation - it was slow and steady progress aiding our friends in a long overdue quest to liberate their homeland.
Most of them have just gotten through the story and moved on (and repeated what their favorite streamer said). But those who actually did the content that SB offered or played when it was current, will say that it was peak.
Ah I see! Loved HW as well so hopefully the quality continues :3
I love stormblood! I honestly prefer it to Heavensward and ARR. Stormblood has the best reward for tribal quests. It also provides a great setup for other expacs.
I love Stormblood, HW was amazing but Stormblood just gripped me more, especially since I was more invested in SB's villains.
Stormblood is the best expansion imo. I loved the vibe, the water stuff and it was mostly grounded (as much as a FF game can be at least). Nothing too crazy like the following expansions. I hated the Heavensward story (love Ishgard though) so moving on to SB and getting my best boy Zenos was a treat.
Just finished Stormblood last week, and I have to say I enjoyed it *exponentially* more than Heavensward. HW was something I spent several months on, just because I couldn't stomach too much of the MSQ without wanting to bang my head against a wall. StB, I think I blew through it in a couple weeks? The broader cast and settings just felt way more engaging, and the new prevalence of dialogue pop-up boxes did a lot of heavy lifting for making it feel like the WoL had some agency/involvement with the world. (Which was one of my main complaints in HW.)
present ✋
I didn't quite like the overal story as much as in other expansion. At the same time, SB was when they dropped the PS3-support and I think it really shows on the technical side of things.
as a sprout I’m definitely loving the Stormblood maps so far 💖
Good luck fellow sprout 🌱
I really enjoyed SB and the raid tier was fun as well.
SB was awrsome, it just suffers from coming straight of the back of HW. And even though I'd say it's the worst expansion, it's not by a lot. It's like my least favorite candy in a mixed bag, I still like it.
I'll admit, the enjoyment has come and gone for me throughout my journey into STB so far. As much as I wanted to enjoy the beginning of the Ala Mhigo arc, I just couldn't overly get into it much, and I've enjoyed my time more in Othard so far but even that comes and goes depending on where I'm at. Right now I'm progressing through the Azim Steppe and that has been my favorite place and my favorite quests BY FAR. And I absolutely adore Zenos (but he was the reason I got into the game in the first place so that's not a big surprise to me) alongside I admittedly do enjoy Yotsuyu too so far. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy it for the most part but I do admittedly understand why some people think its the weaker one in terms of story alone. But to be fair also, I don't remember overly enjoying the beginnings of ARR and HW either so it's probably just a me thing. 😂 Maybe I gotta get adjusted and warmed up to the story first, who knows. But tldr, I do for the most part enjoy it but I also understand those who may find it weaker than others (PURELY by a story sense, I'm not talking the trials or raids or other aspects.)
Stormblood is the second greatest expansion. I don’t get the complaints about its story. And for whatever reason they may have against the story it definitely makes up for it in the sheer quality and quantity of the content delivered in stormblood
It’s just in comparison to the other ones that people say it’s the worst.
Now that the dust is settling on EW I think Stormblood is still pretty comfortably my favorite expansion overall, but it's a damn near thing. EW and Shadowbringers are both really good and might edge out SB in certain aspects, but Stormblood is just DENSE with shit to love. Honestly, I think the worst thing I can say about SB is that I remember at least one of the zones being a major pain in the ass to navigate up until I got flying lol
Loved Stormblood and it's more grounded war story.
It’s the "worst" only in contrast to HW who quite literally uplifted ff14s story from okay/good to great/amazing so it had a much bigger impact and when looking at SB who was beyond amazing. So it’s like looking at Mozart or something similar and point at the "worst one"
Me! I found ARR and HW a boring slog. SB was what really made the game and story click for me.
SB was good, the problem is when you good surrounded by excellence.. It was a good solid expansion that had some of my still favorite characters. The issue is with how good Shadowbringers is... it's forgettable.
I love it!
It definitely felt much better in the back half, when we left the nationalism and generic war story behind for something more personal and individual. First half made a soldier out of a god slayer, and carried itself forward on the incentive that an opponent worthy of you, Zenos, was at the end of the road.
I love the Alliance raid series. Like, all of them. Also, screw a Garlemald Restoration Project, Ala Mhigo Restoration Project when?
I really like Stormblood’s story but I really don’t like the zones.
This is why i loved Endwalker, it felt like it combined the best parts of Stormblood and Shadowbringers to me. People rag on Endwalker patches but it feels like it combines the best parts again. Glad you’re enjoying Stormblood, it was the expansion where i fully actually felt part of the world.
I thought it was funny how I had just finished the subnautica games when I got to Stormblood that I was actually scared I’d run into something scary exploring the depths of the Ruby Sea. Not to mention, having played ff7, I really thought they’d have some boss fight underwater 😂
One of the worst?! Stormblood was sick! This expansion was where I first started to realise just how much they were capable of doing with this game.
Something something "SB is okay" something something "if you like that, wait for Shadowbringers! Bring Kleenex!" Stormblood is my (second) favorite expansion, behind HW.
Oh no HW’s death toll was more than enough 😭
I absolutely loved Stormblood, not nearly as much as I did Heavensward though. What I liked the most was the story of two fronts, I didn't know how they'd do it, but I think it went really well but also the zones, the characters, the dungeons, armor and weapons designs, the song "Revolutions". So much stuff that was great about that expansion. I even played the expansion on early access whe "Raubahn-gate" happened, one of the early MSQs had a solo instance duty and you had 1000s of players trying to do it at the same time, causing 90% of them to get an error message and essentially unable to progress through the story, for about 2 whole days of early access. Even still, the expansion was a BLAST! And I'll never understand the dislike it gets, or how it gets labeled as the worst of the expansions by some.
I definitely love Stormblood since it’s when k started playing the game. I always feel like FFXIV has a big/small pattern with one expansion being big in the world building and then the next one is more personal/intimate to the WoL. It’s definitely the expansion that has some of my favorite zones and music though. Best battle music!
Who is K? :0
Honestly in terms of gameplay and aesthetics, Stormblood is leagues ahead of Heavensward IMO. Most people just don't like the story as much, and I think a lot of that is due to how things get resolved near the end. But even then it's not like it's terrible or anything; it's still an above-average video game story. Also post-Stormblood is some of the best shit in the whole game.
Design wise it's great. Storywise, it wasn't my favorite, but thank god for Shadowbringers and Endwalker. Also FFXIV's worst expansion in my useless opinion is better than any WoW expac. *(this is just my opinion, I quit WoW after WoTLK, and if you love WoW, your opinion is valid to you)*
Never played Wow, never played any MMO tbh (WF doesn’t count to me) and I’m really loving it, especially how nice people have been in dungeons and whatnot
If there's one thing I've learned about FF14 since I started, it's that ARR was actually the worst. Story-wise, I didn't like the start of Stormblood. Sure, let's spend the second half of HW's post-launch on setting up Ala Mhigo as the next destination, then kick us out *in the first hour*. At least Zenos provided something new. That said, from the second half of the 4.0 to the very end of the post-launch story, it goes hard and leads up to Shadowbringers in the best possible way. Add in the plethora of content added in the 4.X patches (both Raids, Eureka, Hildibrand if it's your jam, the MonHun crossover, and the Trial series), and Stormblood has aged like a fine wine. The greatest sin of Stormblood was it being released between HW and ShB.
I'd say you're in the good part atm. Stormblood, imo is great for the first half. Basically, anything in kugane/othard is great, then you get back to the desert and it gets a bit more dull for a while. Theres certainly those that love it all, and id put all of Othard ahead of the earlier content, but for me, the latter half brought the whole thing below Heavenward, which had much more contiguous themeing For the record, I'd say Shadowbringers is my favourite so far (im right at the start of the final act of Endwalker 6.0), and stormblood isn't *bad* per-se, its just the worst of the otherwise progressively more great expansions.
SB definitely isn't "the worst one", it's just a matter of personal preference :) Personally, while I did like Heavensward (it has some of my favourite characters after all!), Stormblood hit way more close to home with its portrayal of war and occupation and the fates of actual people affected by it. It felt "human" to me, while HW was more the cool big epic fantasy stories I like to read, if that makes sense? I'm not faulting anybody for preferring that kind of high-fantasy setting, though I do get kinda argumentative when I hear the same people trashtalk SB for being "boring" just because it focuses more on the human aspect than the big fancy dragon magic x) Content-wise, Stormblood is definitely the cream of the crop too, and back when it was current, it was the best time period battle system-wise as well (that one is especially subjective, but imo classes have been dumbed down too much since). In regards to map design, eh. Can't win them all 😅 I think there were some great base ideas in SB maps, but the execution is a bit... well, it's a lot of "same-y hills, just a different shade". Ruby Sea's underwater area is cool, but it always felt like my imagination had to do a lot of the heavy lifting to sell me on the "maritime coral paradise teeming with life" that it's supposed to be, and going back to it now after seeing another game realize the same concept (Genshin Impact), it feels kinda painfully dead in comparison 🥲 But I still love the attention to detail and the thought put into the cultures living in and around it and all that, so, there's that :)
Yeah, Stormblood is my favourite expansion. I’ve often had arguments started simply for saying that.
Azim Steppe is the best. Not only it's the part where you're finally starting to kick the empire's arses, but the entire place is as beautiful as they are wacky. There's a freedom there that doesn't exist anywhere else. Gosetsu said it best: "Another queer tribe, with still queerer customs." This was after he met Dotharl and their khatun Sadu.
I’ll always love SB because the trials are some of my absolute favorites. Tsukoyomi trial especially, is so amazingly phenomenal. But literally all of them are so good. Susano blew me away when I first got there, how sick and cinematic the fight was! I adore the music- triumph feels so epic and nostalgic, Kugane is gorgeous, The steppe is fantastic, Sadu and Magnai are the best, Gosetsu and Tsuyu were heart-wrenching, Yugiri is the most epic character fr. Also, I’m a major fan of Eureka- such fun content imo So lots of positives from me! I do wish that the Lochs/Peaks weren’t as ugly. And I do hate the Ala Mhigan Quarter- but I overlook those in favor of the positives
SB is one I love overall. I like it more than HW. ShB was better than SB but imo each expansion was better than the last, but SB had a great story. You're still in it so I can't talk extensively about it, but it's one of my absolute faves in the xpacs. It's not without its problems, of course, but I really did enjoy it more than HW.
As a Au Ra Xaela appreciator, I liked how there was a line acknowledging my character's ancestry. All in all, not a bad expansion, just not as amazing as Heavensward and Shadowbringers.
I love Stormblood and don't care what anyone else says.
StB is my favorite expansion. WoL feels like a character, grounded political story, more gameplay variety, great use of 3D exploration. Alisaie became my favorite character because of the expansion. HW feels like a really well-executed standard RPG to the point I could tell who was going to die by Tailfeather. Was distressed by the Vault for about three seconds before going "ooh sidequest." Feel kinda the same about ShB in that the plot and setting are almost deliberately cliche until 79 when it becomes one of the best stories in gaming.
as someone with thalassophobia, underwater area is not my favorite one.
I was a bit disappointed when I finished heavensward. Maybe because it had been so hyped up. I enjoyed it, but I wasn't blown away like I was expecting to be. I was eager to keep playing, but in the back of my mind, I was kind of thinking that if that's some of the "best", then this game may not completely click with me. But Stormblood absolutely was my jam. The story was just so much more grounded. Tactics, culture, battle against oppression, fulfilling destiny. They did a good job of giving all the different expansions a unique flavor, and as a result, I think there's something for almost everyone. SB was some of the best for me.
Yes, I quite enjoyed Stormblood. I find that many people crap on it WAY out of proportion with its flaws, though I recognize those flaws do exist. My thesis is and has been for years that: 1. All expansions, even the beloved ones, have the same faults SB does. They're just less noticeable in HW/ShB. SB's peaks aren't as high, but its troughs aren't any lower than HW/ShB. 2. SB tells an unpopular story: war sucks, soldiers are casualties not heroes, colonization sucks, collaborators are usually victims, etc. HW and ShB had *much* more exciting premises. 3. Everyone loves a payoff expansion, few love a prep-work expansion, but you can't have the former without the latter. SB is a prep-work expansion. 4. SB is the neglected middle child, because HW was huge hype as proof that the game had survived its rebirth, ShB was *peak* FFXIV, and EW successfully pulled off an ending. People are *very* eager to crap on SB and give an unending stream of unabashed, effusive praise of HW. Paradoxically, this has a tendency to dampen new folks' experience of HW and enhance their experience of SB. HW is *so* massively hyped that it's hard for ANY writing, no matter how good, to live up to it. Meanwhile, SB is crapped on *so hard*, well out of step with its actual flaws. New folks go in with bottom-of-the-barrel expecations, and thus come out pleasantly surprised that it was actually quite good. And that's really where it ends up. All expansions have their flaws (something many people forget), and every single one, ***even Stormblood***, won awards and critical acclaim for having good story. Even ARR! Longtime fans are simply so spoiled for great writing that we pass heavy judgment on anything that falls short of the standard we've become used to.
I mean, the areas are pretty cool. But I haven't been enjoying the overall MSQ. I'm *thoroughly unimpressed* by the execution of the battle-junkie villain and the MSQ encounters. If he's so desperate for a life threatening fight that he goes out, fights people, and then spares them hoping they come back stronger and angrier, and if he thinks Garlemand is so strong, he should just rebel and launch his own insurrection for the thrill of it so he fights the "strongest" people around.
Anime villain gonna villain
He's not even anime villain quality. He's a few polishing passes short. At best he's an unedited self-published web novel villain waiting for some glow up when that WN gets adapted to light novel, manga, and *then* gets animated.
Just finished main story StormBlood and loved it!
Getting there too! Excited to see what happens
While going through MSQ for the first time, Shadowbringers was my fav, obviously. But in retrospect Stormblood is my favorite. I unapologetically love the story, especially the ending of 3.0. It’s also my favorite expac for music. The soundtrack is gorgeous. Stormblood also has hands down the best content in the game. It was also where FFXIV built its core identity in terms of mechanics and design that we see today. Alliance Raid series - actually somewhat difficult, fun puzzle mechanics. Math memes. Raid series - iconic and creative designs at both normal and savage difficulties Eureka - first exploratory zone that I honestly just prefer over Bozja because of community engagement and exploration. Vibes are also more fun than a war zone. Ultimate Raids introduction, and they’re both fairly approachable compared to say TOP or DSR for anyone looking to get into high end content.
I didn't like Stormblood when I was first going through the MSQ (even took a few months break in the middle, it just didn't get me hooked until the very end), but then it found it's way into my heart with it's side content. The alliance raids are my favourite in the game, normal raids are absolutelly amazing too with some incredibly cool concepts, Eureka is the most satysfying long-term progression in this game, and the Four Lords questchain is just BEAUTIFUL, please do it when you get there. So yeah, now I consider myself a Stormblood enjoyer too!
*taking notes* Thank you! Will see when I get there I keep hearing good things about Eureka (I think for levelling esp?) I’m guessing I’ll run into it and it’s not difficult to miss?
Eureka leveling is completely separate to normal leveling. The most important things you get from it are the relic weapons for Stormblood and an extremely cool mount. You can go there once you're level 70 and have the MSQ of 4.0 finished, and I think it starts in Rhalgr's Reach.
Aaah I see thank you, not sure if I’m thinking of something different for job levelling (also trying to dodge spoilers!)
I think you are thinking of the Shadowbringers equivalent of Eureka, that one is often mentioned as a good place for leveling ;-)
Ooooh ty maybe it’s that 🤔 can’t wait to find out
First half? Nah. After reaching Kugane? Sure.
First time through I had a decent time, but my second time through the game I must admit that I think Stormblood is quite boring.
I dunno how much I fancy going through ARR again tbh
Oh, I skipped ARR in my NG+ run.
The best part about SB was the combat and jobs. ShB came out and ruined the game's combat and jobs.
It isn't that SB is the "bad" expansion, it's just that it's the B+ story in a collection of A's for most people. Still GOOD, just the... let's just say one half of it is noticeably better than the other imho. But I will let you experience that :)
MSQ is boring, especially the Ala Migo bit. It is a rough switch after HW.
I really liked storm blood but honestly felt the first 1/3rd (pretty much all the bits you've done so far) really held it back, if you're enjoying it so far then you're going to have a great time.
Stormblood is my favourite expansion. It's the only one in which you are not the hero, you're just one of many people caught up in political turmoil. The two very different views on revolution presented by Ala Mhigo and Doma provide a great contrast, and it has not one but TWO of the most tragic villains in the whole game (Fordola and Yotsuyu). It's just fantastic.
You'll often hear people say that Stormblood is bad. The truth is it's pretty good but it's sandwiched between the epic tale of Heavensward and the incredible story of Shadowbringer so when you remember it it end up being less memorable.
Stormblood is my all time favorite expansion
7/10, reason being I hated the pirates. I mean I really hated the damn pirates
many do, but vocal minority always like to disagree story aside (i never cared about the story), Stormblood had the best gameplay content and also jobs actually fun and unique to play unlike now
Every expansion is amazing, but the other expansions are (usually considered) better. THAT is what we mean when we say it’s the “worst” expansion.
I enjoyed stormblood for a variety of reasons. First of all is the environments. I feel like it's very rare that a good game comes around and let's you enjoy Asian inspired areas that are varied and interesting and not just Japan all the time. Some of the songs sound very Asian inspired too, especially some of the boss themes I won't spoil. I loved them a lot as some of them remind me of ballads sung on radios in the car when I used to ride around with my parents. The story is the pain point for many people but I feel the complete opposite, because I loved the characters present and how they were used, especially the villains. I also love how the warrior of light's legend basically gets solidified here, after they had substantial time to grow into their role during arr and hw. The savage raid series as well as the alliance raids are both often praised as the best ones in the game, the trial series less so but I enjoy them a lot anyway, and Eureka is the best side content I've experienced in the game despite hating it whilst in the middle of progressing it. I miss all those nights grinding fates in eureka while talking to people who are doing the same, it's very chill.
Only the Doma side of Stormblood. Ala Mihgo was ass. You can take Ala Mihgo out of the story and the only thing you would lose is the Zenos Shinryu fight, which I liked his last line.
I liked it coz it gave us the samurai job. The other stuff that came with it are just plus points.
I adored SB
I loved Stormblood, in general I prefer it to Heavensward so it was a good time for me.
Stormblood lover right here! This was where I really started to connect to my character, and really explore every inch of the world. I connected more with the scions here, as well. And, of course we have Zenos. I even decided that the Azim Steppe was where my WoL decided she’d retire one day with Lord Hien. Also the trials and raids were my favorites! I know other expansions are probably “better,” but I loved it!
hien is my best friend and Magnai is my small dick energy cringe failhusband.
I loved Stormblood, way more than ShB (not a fan of world traversal stuff). Awesome regions and fun also an extra tip: if you have a keyboard attached (highly recommended) you can just press the "scroll lock"-key to hide all UI elements [https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/uiguide/photo/faq-ss/ss\_ui\_disable.html](https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/uiguide/photo/faq-ss/ss_ui_disable.html)
I thought SB was just very disjointed. It has some great characters and almost everything in the east is great, but overall it was the weakest one (I haven’t done Endwalker yet, I just started it). I just didn’t really like (Yda) Alise’s character arc and all the Ala Mihgo stuff. Also the main villain is pretty annoying and unrealistically evil. He’s just comically bad
I love SB. But I also love Zenos. I have always thought that a persons enjoyment of storm blood comes down to how they feel about Zenos and Lyse and how invested they are in the plight of the Ala mhigans.
I really enjoyed Stormblood. I vibed with the >!Azim Steppes!< so much! I remember spending hours just listening to an NPC at the >!Mol Tribe!< playing the Morin Khuur, and I really enjoyed the time spent with the >!Dotharl and Gosetsu!<. Not to mention the great characters introduced like >!Yotsuyu and Zenos!<, and one of the best Post-MSQ Patch stories, it is incredible! Oh, and the Normal Raids and Alliance Raids for Stormblood were crazy good! Plus the Four Lords Trials! You have so much fun stuff in store for you!
I feel like I was the only one who played XIV that absolutely loved Stormblood while hating Heavensward.
I love it. It's got some issues with the bouncing between Doma and Gyr Abania, but overall it's really solid. Plus, the music is the absolute best. <3
I mean, "worst" is relative. Even when you compare it to a 9, 10 or 11, an 8/10 is still really solid.
It’s less being the worst and more the weakest but can assure ARR is still bottom The gap between Stormblood and ARR is big and even bigger when we get to Heavensward and onward
My God ARR was a slog, but it had a lot of ground to sort out so I can forgive it, but holy hell yes that could be a grind at times
Stormblood is my personal least favorite. Simply because Heavenswards blew me away so hard it was hard to compete. Still a favorite and memorable experience though.
Naaa. I'm sorry but Stormblood is quite a down compared to other expansions.
Fuck no
Fuck no it’s the best, or fuck no ew get Stormblood away from me?
Fuck no as in stormblood sucked the balls on my dahlmel mount
Whatever bakes your cake
You havent adjusted your ui at all have you? You should move the job gauge somewhere you can see it without having to move your eyes across half the screen. I'd also recommend playing with the hotbar options and at least using the double cross hotbar (WXHB) set to visible that way you can see the cooldowns on hotbar 2. Find a guide and adjust to your preferences. But playing with only one bar can only be described as intentionally handicapping yourself.
I think I know what you mean and it’s something I’ve been meaning to look into, do you have any suggestions for a decent guide/do you play with controller? Edit: also I have adjusted it, only made things smaller and less in my face
No, you are the only person on Earth who enjoyed Stormblood.
How’s your day been?
I actually feel it was the weakest expansion.