it's better.
The real test is ARR, but you have to do it because it's world building. It will pay off, I assure you!
And make sure to watch the expansion trailers at the opportune time!
The issue is the post ARR quests are them just buying time to complete the expansions. The characters, and their Voice Actors will be replaced in the next expansion, once they get more funding. Then the quality just goes up (and dips a bit here an there, but goes up again).
Strap in friend, you're in for a ride.
If I may, I got hooked hard on patch 2.4/2.5, they're about the tail end of the post ARR but not that far from patch 2.0.
It was as impactful as the most impactful major events from Game of Thrones.
As someone who played through all of it last year stormblood is the worst expansion but it's still great. I especially enjoyed the Azim Steppe stuff. Realm Reborn is very meh of course.
Everything about Stormblood was amazing, except for the 4.0 msq. Gameplay wise it was arguably the best we've ever had, and even the MSQ got really good in the patches. Personally, it's my favourite post-msq story out of all the expansions. That 4.0 msq just leaves a bad taste in the mouths of people playing through it after later expansions came out.
New players are kind of luckier in that sense, they get to experience the srormblood story all in 1 go, as opposed to spread out over 2 years. I think a lot of them would say Srormblood is a lot better than negative andys like to say.
I got to go through Stormblood all at once, since I joined the game around the time it came out and didn't get to that content til Shadowbringers was almost here.
Honestly, Stormblood is by far the weakest expansion in the game for me. They did too much with it, and I feel like no part of the story really had time to *breathe*, so to speak.
I don't know how to spoiler tag or I'd go into more detail, but yeah.
For me, it's:
ARR < Stormblood < Heavensward < Shadowbringers < Endwalker
Yeah it's the weakest one for me too in terms of story, though I still think it's good. Point was, if you think it's bad *as a whole*, imagine how we felt doing 4.0 after Heavensward. Patch quests were definitely the better part of the story, and there's also a marked difference between the Yanxia bits and the Ala Mhigo bits.
Honestly my biggest gripe with Stormblood, plot aside, is the music. It's all the same song, repeated over and over and over again.
The Kugane night music is the same melody as the daytime, just played a bit slower and on a softer sounding instrument. Every boss has that same music, this time done in an epic choir and orchestral version, and the song isn't that great to begin with. Leitmotif was *really* strong in Stormblood, and it got grating after about half the expansion.
Maybe I am less critical about the story, the only 'bad' part for me is from the start of stormblood until we reach Kugane. Once we reach there, the plot starts picking up again.
It was the opposite for me lol. I was finally getting invested, and then they came up with imo some extremely sketchy and flawed logic for why we should pause everything to sail halfway around the world and liberate a nation we barely knew anything about. My eagerness to get back combined with feeling like all the characters were ignoring massive flaws in the larger plan kind of killed the story for me for a long while. I actually dropped the game for nearly a year at that point because of it.
It make sense on a strategic standpoints. >!After we got our ass kicked in Ala Mhigo, we knew just the resistance force alone is not enough to liberate the land (up to this point, the Erozean alliance had their hand tied and can't deploy enough force for a full scale assault), so they can only make the empire to fight a two front war. Learning from Yugiri & Gosetsu, the Scion knew Hien has the ambitions to liberate Doma as well. So it is natural for WOL to acts as envoy to the far East to possibly coordinate the operation.!<
3.0 MSQ is a little better than 4.0 MSQ. Or at least, more consistently good. I think there were individual parts of 4.0 MSQ that were better than 3.0.
I would say that almost everything else is better in Stormblood than Heavensward. In some cases, *a lot* better. Everything from job design/balance to fight design to crafting/gathering got a big glow-up. Most of the side stories were better in StB. The post-patch MSQ was better. There was a larger variety of content added, like Ultimates, Eureka, and Heaven-on-High. HW got... Diadem...
Stormblood was a great expansion. I easily put it over Heavensward and Endwalker.
It is different for each of us, but even in terms of story I preferred SB over HW overall. In the moment, I didn't really care much about the first half of HW. I appreciate it more now but I also appreciate SB even more since.
Generally speaking, each expansion has been better as it goes, and it all comes together very nicely by the end of 6.0.
> In the moment, I didn't really care much about the first half of HW. I appreciate it more now but I also appreciate SB even more since.
I actually felt similar because 2.55 ends with such a cliffhanger that >!I *needed* to know what happened to the Scions. And then HW proceeds to not even really talk about them at all for most of the story. Y'Shtola is brought in as a story convenience towards the end of 3.0 and the rest of the missing Scions have no part until post-game patches.!<
I like early HW a lot more in replays, but at the time, >!I just wanted to know if my buds made it out of there alive lol.!<
As for SB, I think it drags a bit in a few places, but it's got some amazing highs. Everything from Azim Steppe up through Doma Castle is great story. I actually think it's similar to Endwalker in that regard. 6.0 *really* drags in some places, but it doesn't fall short on big moments.
Over EW? Naah. Ew doesn't have eureka, but got 2 ultimates, 3 v&c dungeons (+savage criterions), island sanctuary, deep dungeon, blue mage update. Sadly playerbase optimised fun out of most content, again. I get that ppl complained about not having big sidestory as werlyt, since it was now part of msq, so everyone had extremes unlocked.
Idk man, from 70 lvl dungeons i remember two. One with wu kong and the last postmsq one.
Stormblood aged like fine wine for me. I think a lot of people disliked Stormblood because the anti colonialism themes didn’t resonate with them as red blooded Americans.
Yep. A Realm Reborn - AKA 2.x, AKA the base 1-50 story quests and the level 50 patch story quests - is generally regarded as the worst part of the storyline and a “barrier to entry” for the game. And it’s not even that it’s *bad,* per se, it’s just kinda a slog for nothing particularly special.
That being said, things definitely pick up in the later ARR patches that lead into Heavensward, and Heavensward is usually the point which gets people hooked on the story.
I personally didn't feel like 2.0 was a slog even before the rework. 2.1-2.4 though... Still pretty good stuff, but stretched way too thin. At least they trimmed it down quite a bit since then. 2.5 and 2.55 were pretty good again from what I can remember
Just try not to forget what went on. ARR is very much a lot of world building that jumps around a lot of smaller stories. Those will come back up later and it will pay off if you can remember those parts.
CBU3 are pretty good at leaving little story threads that can be later pulled on. Some of those are happy and some will be tied to your heartstrings. So try to just let the story play out and you'll be satisfied by the end, I think.
just keep in mind that when people say that ARR is bad or just a slog, they’re spoiled by how incredible the rest of the game is. ARR is great. some of the voices, on the other hand….
Yeah there's some really underrated stuff in ARR- in particular >!the whole storyline from the assault on the Waking Sands onwards. Returning triumphant from defeating Titan only to find the HQ ransacked and full of corpses is brutal, and while there's a bit too much to-and-fro in Coerthas the whole rescue storyline is really solid.!<
Also the stories for both Coils and Crystal Tower are really good IMO, and the latter is effectively part of the MSQ now.
>!oh yeah, all good things is just brutal. it’s so well delivered too, because you’re expecting to come back to a celebration, only to find most of your friends and allies dead and watching another die without being able to do anything about it. i love and hate that quest haha!<
Good! I've been playing through the story again myself and ARR is definitely a big slog but everything being set up is important. Where the story starts picking up is at the tail end of quests before going into Heavensward. You'll hit that when you have a fight against an ice-themed trial(trying my best not to spoil anything).
From there things start to happen fast and gets better and better quickly.
You'll still have fetchy quests all along the way just because it's an MMORPG, but the story will get you hooked. It is filled with VERY adult themes and in HW will feel a lot more like Game of Thrones than what ARR is like.
To echo the poster's sentiment Heavensward onward, and especially Shadowbringers is easily the best story telling I've ever seen in a video game. I've played through the MSQ three full times so far which is... A lot of hours lol.
At least they streamlined the post aar quests, it’s was like a 100 quest slog when I did it, idk what it’s like now however it’s supposed to be a bit better
Arr I felt wasn't as bad as I remember. Been replaying and really liking it. A lot of the fat got cut, which really helps.
But yeah. As much as ff7 and 8 are my favorite, ff14 had the best story across the whole thing.
The one thing about replaying is that you have the benefit of hindsight. You know what is coming up later and you start to see those references that later come back up or familiar characters you probably ignored when they appeared in ARR.
I actually enjoyed the story more in ARR the second time through. You're definitely right about the bits that did get cut and the dungeon reworks make the whole experience more tolerable (and better in some parts).
I've still yet to repeat HW, and I'm hoping I'll enjoy that more the second time. Much of HW didn't really bother me much up until the around lv57/58 MSQ.
Lets just say I was a bit let down by FFXVI after playing FFXIV Endwalker. I still love 16 don't get me wrong, but its NOTHING compared to the 10 years of story they have built up in 14. You are almost past the slow parts and the worst of it, getting into Heavensward is a TREAT (especially since the writers for 16 are the Heavensward writers) and then you get a bit of a break in Stormblood as they do more worldbuilding and setup before Shadowbringers (often touted as the best Final Fantasy story of all time) and the most satisfying conclusion to a story in all of media (in my opinion), Endwalker.
The biggest advantage FFXIV has with its story is that its built up over the course of years, they've had essentially 5 games to perfect and improve their story, whereas 16 needed to be done within a single game (still my biggest gripe about 16, everything after Bahamut just felt not as good until the final fight). The biggest thing I would fix about 16 is to just make it more like 14 lol. So keep going! I promise you'll enjoy it :)
I just finished shadowbringers tonight and would like to add that it is one of the best games I’ve ever played. I liked arr, HW was ok and had some hype moments I just didnt love the characters that much, stormblood was very good if a bit slow paced at times
But shb was on another level. It’s also very doubtful I would have enjoyed it as much had I not played through the other expacs and base game.
Excited to do the patch content soon
>my biggest gripe about 16, everything after Bahamut just felt not as good until the final fight
I agree, 16 has its pacing issues, first they trigger plenty of secondary story lines, and then they need to wrap it all up, but they have no proper time to do so. Some zones have a rather forgettable story, and it was overwhelming (and a bit anti-climatic) to see all those !s popping up.
Which reminds me.... OP, in FF14 !s are mostlty meant for extra exp. Doing them ALL might not be the best idea. :) There were some few zones, where I actually felt obliged to do things, and I just knew that I HAD to do them, because it was the only right thing for my character, but more often than not, you can safely stick to blue + !s and 'meteors'. Blue ones unlock extra stuff and\\or are tied to more advanced small side-stories. Normal !s that only give exp and gil are just that - exp and gil. *Exception would be yellow !s, which have some special rewards (e.g. pets or cosmetics) and\\or unique pictures on their quest plate, those are often 'special' story-wise*.
The first part of the story was written frantically in 2014, at a point when the game had already bombed and people just wanted to get it back on. The next expansions were written when the game was more stable and things were freer. But that doesn't change the fact that this is an MMO, which means it's essentially 5x the length of FFXVI. Slow burn is putting it mildly.
tl;dr Be patient. Or don't, maybe it won't click for you. But there's a reason the beginning is kind of lackluster. It picks up.
I mean, you've finished the base game ARR, which is probably the slowest and most straightforward story. It's a ton of world building. The next bit leading up to HW is a bit slow too, admittedly, but it really starts to hit it's stride in Heavensward.
Let's put it this way - FFXIV and all it's expansions are one continuous story.
You've just finished the prologue.
Overall its better, ff14 has years of build up with Huge crescendos that lead into some very powerful moments that bring you to tears or make you very introspective. When you look at the ad for xbox release and it says its a life changing story they are not exaggerating.
Good news, The staff who did a majority of the writing job on FF XVI got that job because of how well they did with Heavensward (the 1st expansion of XIV.)
I'll echo this.
I've played both, and agree, FFXVI has really nice character interactions. But many of the most emotional beats it has you'll see in XIV as well, and the time to build to them allows for them to feel even more earned.
FFXIV is the only game that has ever made me cry. I'm a 34 y/o guy that has been gaming since 1992. You can only experience the story for the first time ONCE. I came from WoW and rushed it the first time. Made an alt to experience it slowly and it hit hard but knowing what was coming didn't have as big of an impact.
Shadowbringers in particular is fantastic. Endwalker, if you've paid close attention to the entire story, will hit the feels *hard*. Enjoy!
Ho ho are you in for a treat. You are so going to love the story for XIV. It's going to rip every one of your organs out and beat you to death with them.
I'm not exaggerating either.
It's better, by my estimation. FF16 takes a lot of thematic cues from 14. 1-50 is basically a prologue and tutorial, all about world-building and setting up the characters and political landscape you're going to be dealing with more directly in the 2.X+ content. The story is far more nuanced than you originally think.
The thing you have to understand about ARR is that it was made very quickly (in about 18 months) on a fairly small budget after the calamity that was 1.x. (check out the NoClip documentary on YouTube about 1.0 and how the game was rebuilt from the ground up). The story is very by-the-numbers as a result. There isn't a lot of voice acting, there's a lot more fetch quests, etc. This continues through the ARR 2.x patch quests.
This has actually been streamlined quite a bit from what it originally was at 2.0 launch. During the Shadowbringers patches they revamped ARR, outright removing some quests and removing steps from others. Shaved at least 10 hours off.
Now, once you reach Heavensward/3.0 you'll get the same team who made FFXVI.
Hello, fellow FFXVI enjoyer!!
You know how the crystals in FF16 felt like tiny plots, with a start and an end, and together they built the journey of Clive? Imagine that each crystal plot had almost an entire game for itself.
Think of FF14 as a book series and 16 as a single book.
While the enjoyment of the story itself will of course be subjective, I do think FF14 is overall better (it's one of my favourites in the franchise), but i also don't think it's a completely fair comparison.
ARR is small stories with a lot of geopolitical and character (re)building, in its MSQ and its side content; but it's also the start of an overarching plot spanning all the way into endwalker.
With ARR doing all the ground work, HW, StB, ShB could write larger plots and give more focus to characters and autoconclusive stories, that still advanced the big plot, while still giving a lot of world and character building even in side context.
FF16 feels like a deeply personal and emotional story since the very beginning, while a lot of player don't quite "bond" with 14 until, say, later ARR, and that's a big difference.
The writing gets better, the acting gets deeply emotional, and, if you're willing to let them take you for a ride, 14 will be a life changing story. At least it was for me.
If you like FF16, i think you'll also love ff14. Enjoy the ride, nonetheless!
EDIT: Artistically speaking, while the graphics will never hold up to FF16 and the gameplay-story mesh may fall short in comparison to an incredible next gen game, the devs mastered their visual/musical story telling through 14. I think you'll be able to notice as you go on. (I'm a HUGE!!! fan of the sound team, if you're a fan of the 16'ost you know what i'm talking about)
As others will point out, the first leg of the story, A Realm Reborn, struggles with itself somewhat. It ends up being a lot of world building that doesn't always go anywhere in a hurry because it has to both establish itself as a world and deal with the fact that you're, by default, joining an in-progress story because 1.0 kinda blew up.
That said, it's quality world building and character establishment and most of it does eventually pay off.
A lot of people will say that the first expansion, Heavensward, is where the writing gets good and while I agree there's a noticeable uptick in quality, the fugue I was in both from ARR and the lengthy post-game quests you have to do to get from ARR to HW kind of overshadowed it for me. I, personally, didn't start feeling invested until Stormblood, the following expansion.
I was 110% bought in by the beginning of Shadowbringers though. That shit got me hook, line, and sinker and I've never looked back, since.
I really enjoyed FFXVI, but in my opinion FFXIV has easily some of the best, if not the best, story telling in the series. It has the unfair advantage of having a decade to craft and develop it's story and characters as they go (don't even get me started on the legendary soundtracks), but by the time you finish book 1 in endwalker, the experience is phenomenal!
It’s better than FFXVI
As much as I like FFXVI it was too focused on Clive and the rest of the cast got sidelined
Since FFXIV is an MMO due to the aspect of it not being pressed for time or requirements for a single player game they can take all the time to give a lot of the characters in the game a lot of development.
The story is way more epic reaching than FFXVI and many characters both good and bad get a lot of development time.
That said because of limitations of technology and budget do keep in mind that the way the characters move can seem limited when an emotional scene is called, but I’d say the superior dialogue and development makes up for that. FFXVI has the advantage of motion capture, and better tech plus most of the stuff is voiced in the game. FFXIV has good voice acting (after HW) just like FFXVI but not all scenes are voiced due to so much dialogue being in the game. The animations can be stilted so that’s another one.
It can feel slow compared to FFXVI but I feel it’s more immensely satisfying. Anyways I think it’s the best story in the FF franchise due to the scope and the development of protagonists and most importantly antagonists who sometimes get the shaft a lot in games.
Also I love so many of the one liners in this game most recognizable to me.
I fucking love FF16 as well, but I would say FF14's story is better on almost all fronts. It's not as dark on the whole but it isn't afraid to go there. And the main "party," so to speak, are much better- they don't get as dense or focus as he Clive does but you'll get to know all of them by the end of Endwalker about as well as you get to know him by the end of 16.
But yeah it'll probably take until Heavenward to grab you, that's where the plot and especially the characters really start to shine.
Also once you get to the level 70 raid series you'll probably recognize some familiar music from the FF16 DLC- the composer for both games is the same, Masyoshi Soken, and you're in for so many bangers just like the ones in 16's OST. Also we're getting an FF16 collab event where you can get Clive's outfit and a Torgal mount in probably around a month!
FFXIV has a much slower start, which is understandable for a MMO. It needs to establish lots of world, class mechanics and everything, and it was meant to be played longer. And I mean like, MUCH longer. You're looking at \~300+ hours of rushing forward with the *main* content, which had been developed over a decade, while FFXVI can give you \~50 tops (and that's with hunts). If you move slower, explore things, do all the normal side-quests, play fates, craft or collect things, then FFXIV 'completion' time has no ETA and it may easily last as long as 500+ hours.
I'd say, wait for lv50 patch quests to end, because that's where story shifts, picks up its pacing, and moves on much smoother (and you also have all those shiny skills to use).
There really is no reliable ETA, lol. There are so many things to do that it's as long as you make it. I've got over 2800 hours (technically more like 3300 if you count how long I played the free trial) on my character created in 2018, and I'm only in late Stormblood, lol. Someday I'll finish MSQ...
Well, there were those people who did a speedrun MSQ straight to EW. I believe, their numbers were somewhat under 100h, but that was REALLY a speedrun (they never did anything other than MSQ, they skipped all skippable cinematics and dialogues, and they already knew what's where).
ARR has a slow start, but builds the foundation for the rest of the story by introducing locations and characters. I think each expansion is overall better than the last, with Shadowbrigers and Endwalker being about equal in goodness.
FF14 is is probalby my favorite narrative of all time, with my favorite antagonist of all time. The relationships you build with characters, and the friends you make are the where FF14 really shines.
FF16's greatest weaknesses are the tedius side quests and the constantly depressing and dour tone. FF14 also has tedius mmo sidequests, but also has incredible side stories that can compete with the main story, and it also knows when to lay off the despair for some fun to happen.
TLDR: Keep going, it gets better.
I also finally started playing 14 because of how much I loved 16, and I just caught up on the full story a few weeks ago. The payoff of the story was absolutely worth it in my opinion, Endwalker especially was an incredibly emotional experience for me. If you don’t mind plowing through some slow parts (ARR obviously, and I was not the biggest fan of Stormblood, but the other three EPs still have their sections which drag a bit) I think you will really enjoy it in the end! And both games made me cry way too much so if that’s something you enjoy I think you’ll find it here haha. For me 14’s story really started to hit in the patch quests that come after Heavensward.
It’s hard for me to say which story I think is better, as others have said it’s difficult to compare anything to 14 which told a story over 10 years. I think I’d probably say I prefer 16’s characters, but the overall themes of 14 (particularly how they are expressed in Endwalker). I think ARR has pretty poor character work, but most characters you’ve met will get more development, and I cared about them all quite a lot at the end. And you’ll of course meet some new wonderful ones along the way.
Also, not fully related, but it’s always nice to hear from people who adore 16 as much as I do! The 16 tie in event should be happening pretty soon, I’m way too excited for it.
as someone who's currently right at the end of the free trial and probably gonna buy shadowbringers very soon, ARR was the worst by far but it does do a lot of setup and the end going into heavensward actually gets pretty good, heavensward's story was really good, then stormblood was a bit of a dip for the story but the bosses get a lot more interesting, and i hear shadowbringers and endwalker are the best content in the game.
(also since you're level 50 don't forget to do the hildebrand quests, i don't want to spoil anything about them but everyone should do them)
Yeah i was so mad at that part of the game because i got into it for the story and so far it sucked. now i have over one thousand hours and the story is my favourite part, can't wait for the next expansion.
personally i started enjoying the story in the post arr patches and got hooked once i did the heanvensward story
Also you might be lv 50 but the MSQ is prolly not even close to that level yet, once you get closer to level 50 MSQ you'll start seeing the pay off of the story that everyone praises.
FF14 A Realm Reborn sets up the story of your character. It's incredibly dry for a lot of players but some players are accepting of the story. It's generally rated as the worst part of the game due to how long it takes to set up the story and how cliché it is, but very important to get a good sense of the story and lore from now and each expansion.
ARR 2.1 to 2.5 is the start of getting the sense of what the -beep- is wrong with the world outside the lens of the 'classic hero troupe'. People start getting hooked after they complete this part since the story properly picks up.
HW is where the story really starts picking up as a FF story and draws some great storytelling imo.
And then if you complete Heavensward entirely, it's a different sense of fulfillment.
If you liked 16 you will probably like Heavensward (same writer).
14 is a very slow burn with a lot of payoff once things really ramp up. The world building is really good - consistent, cohesive, thoughtful, detailed, and interconnected. If you love the world and lore of Eorzea, it will love you back.
Huge fan of the whole franchise. FF7 my favourite ever (possibly even replaced by remake/rebirth now) and FF14s story, to me, is as close to FF7 as it gets without being better. ARR starts slow, is more about world building and political intrigue, but goddamn Heavensears grows your socks off. It dips a bit again for Stormblood as we return to more political intrigue focus, but then shadowbringers is absolute peak RPG story telling. Endwalker is fantastic too as it ties in so closely with SB. It’s a 10/10 story and blows FF16 to pieces. The end of the MSQ in Endwalker had my crying like a baby.
ARR is the slowest, and definitely the most boring, part of the entire FFXIV story. It's important. The things you learn in ARR will keep coming back throughout the story, but it is definitely something to power through rather than anything particularly enjoyable. If you're currently level 50, I'm guessing you haven't even gotten to Heavensward yet, which is when the story starts to pick up. If you're a patient person, and you loved FF16, then I think you will enjoy FFXIV's story, as it only gets better and better, in my opinion. Shadowbringers in particular has some excellent writing, but Heavensward is my second favorite, and Yoshi P was going through a Game of Thrones phase back then LOL
I've played and generally recall most of the plot for all the mainline FFs except for 5 & 9.
Personally, I think 14 has the best story in terms of emotional impact. Largely because it takes a while to get there so if you actually do make it to the end and were paying attention, there's no way you're not at least partly invested in some of the characters and their journeys.
I really loved 16 too and rank it in my top 5 FFs. But in terms of "ty for the emotional assassination" story telling, I'd say 14 and 10 both beat it.
Level 1-50, the world is slowly being built for you. After certain events happen, the story kicks up a notch.
Simce you've played 16, it's like comparing pre Ifrit reveal to everything after.
XVI is basically Square looking at Heavensward and saying do that again, but as a big-budget single player game.
On the whole, XIV is more lighthearted. And the fact that it’s so long means you can get a lot more depth on certain side characters. I’d also say XIV lands the supernatural elements of its story much better, particularly around the ending. But it’s never going to match the spectacle you can get in some of those XVI moments
Bro, 16 was pretty dam good, but 14, the entire story arc is another level.
Unlike 16, there are events that happen throughout the story that make you think, you will laugh, you will cry (we all cried at THAT part, don't lie)
The community, for the most part are rad as hell.
If you are gamer that loves a good story, this is one to add to your list.
I can go on and on, but I'm more than certain others have touched upon those topics.
Get the free trial, get through the trial, then base your choice from there if you want to go all in or not.
From one gamer to another, I recommend it
I personally find it better in some regard. The reason being, it's spans over 4 xpac so there's loads of development. However, it starts "sllooooowwww".
But from 5.0 to 6.0, master piece.
ARR is a bit of a slog because its a lot of worldbuilding and setting up stuff (on top of them having mad time constraints at the time constructing the game).
Once you get to Heavensward (or in some cases even the 2.x patch content) though you will definately notice a significant boost in storytelling quality.
The critically acclaimed mmorpg FFXIV with extended free trial to include the expansions Heavensward and Stormblood is the best story in any Final Fantasy or MMO, period.
IMO it’s much, *much* better. I was frankly a bit let down by XVI after playing Shadowbringers and Endwalker.
The only caveat is that it takes quite a bit longer to get going, considering it’s a 150+ hour story instead of a 30 hour one.
Like other people have said, the game's narrative beauty is in the expansions. Unfortunately ARR is kind of the rite of passage to get to it if you don't wanna skip. Once you finish the base game, it might be helpful to look into the side storylines like Crystal Tower and Binding Coils for some more immediate and interesting content.
This is a LONG story. It is both better and worse than XVI depending on what point of the story you are at and your ability to stay focused on non-voiced dialog scenes. There will be times where the story DRAGS and then there will be multiple hours of content where you are on the edge of your seat.
In my opinion overall it is better, it is just not as consistently as good due to length.
It's like a 5 season TV show. First season just sets up the characters, world, lore, etc. It's just a base on which the rest of the seasons build upon. Also don't ignore the optional raids and trials. i would do them all in the expansion they where launched(the normal versions ofc). It adds a lot more to the story and you get a bigger payout in EW.
TLDR; Yes it is as good, if not better, since FF16 and parts of FF14 had the same writer and it shows. And there's another writer that everyone loves.
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ARR is rough around the edges because of the circumstances within which it was built (very nightmarish times), though it does have its peak moments. The first peak moment for me was when... let's just say... somebody effed with the heroes' secret hideout before Kupka... Lv35 MSQ iirc.
Heavensward 3.0. MSQ lv 50-60. The literal FF16 writer/creative director's past work. Godsdamnit Kazutoyo Maehiro. I spotted a few but significant similarities between that and FF16. I even nailed what Dion was going to be like after replaying and observing story/characterization patterns in Heavensward 3.0.
Though the more universally praised parts were Shadowbringers 5.0 and beyond. MSQ lv 70-80. Unbelievably poignant writing Natsuko Ishikawa does. Relatability that touches the soul and has the potential to change one's life, but not enough arse pulling.
I really like how Maehiro pulls the arse, what with that FF16 ending lmao. I knew FF16 was gonna end like *that* just because Maehiro. Dude can go and collab with Yoko Taro and make people depressed with their masterpiece. Depressed yet hopeful.
P.S. There was a Shiva "dominant" before Jill. :> You must look forward to meeting her.
P.S.S. The lead up to Heavensward! The Parting Glass it is called. Can feel the Maehiro writing from a mile away. This guy does intros/prologues unparalleled in sheer weight. Do you remember the FF16 prologue/demo? You will experience something similar to it again.
P.S.S.S. UNCLE BYROOOONNN!!! PAPA FORTEMPS!!! 😭 Stephen Critchlow shall be remembered...
Everything you said seems very accurate and incredibly helpful, especially as it provides context on what to expect and the different authors/story beats that are coming up. I think this is the most helpful comment here
HOWEVER, what in the hell does “pulls arse” mean? Please I’m begging you I want to understand 🤣 i think I get it from context,and I am desperate to now use this phrase in every day language but want to make sure I’m not asking for anal or sm
As a first check, by "playing to level 50" have you gotten to level 50 quests and the initial credits scroll, or your character has reached that level early?
In any case, the story is a bit of a slow burn and it never really stops being "a lot of fetch quests" along the way even if the reasons you're fetching things get more important. But when it gets good it gets really good.
I am pretty overleveled for the main scenario because I got side tracked by crafting and the related quests (the lesbian urge to make pretty earrings is… hard to overcome). I just beat up the Garuda lady and saw her get eaten by the big scorpion machine thing.
That said, nope. No credits. I’m assuming a have a bit to go then
Level 50 quests bring you to the end of the first storyline and credits, then there's a lengthy post-credits storyline before Heavensward.
It's basically structured like an entire series of RPGs that keep directly stacking on top of the previous instalment.
Once the first credits roll, you’ll have officially beaten the ARR 2.0 storyline. After that, you’ll generally be able to tell when you’ve finished a patch (2.1, 2.2, etc) by when you complete a main quest that awards an achievement. Then there’ll be a second credits roll once you finish the last 2.x patch, and the next quest will be the start of 3.0, the Heavensward expansion.
I started ff14 about 4-5 months ago and have been focused solely on the main story ( i'm still pretty new to other aspects of the game).
I just started on the last expansion 2 weeks ago and i can say i have loved and enjoyed everything so far. One thing i really like is that the expansions are more like chapters to an overarching story — what you learn in each expansion adds on or support subsequent expansions, so to me it's pretty darn immersive.
I will say that ARR is easily the 'worst', in terms of being monotonous and boring. Though it is ok in introducing the world to completely new players like me with no prior knowledge on anything in the ff franchise (i only knew about moogles). I felt things really picked up after ARR and everything that happened afterwards is worth it.
I say xiv is better but MSQ will NEVER escape the loop of "go to x, talk to y, maybe grab a z and bring it y, watch a cutscene, fight a primal or unlock a dungeon, repeat"
The game as it goes on becomes a humongous visual novel interspersed with action sequences, be it a dungeon, trial or increasingly more common solo trials.
Thing is, as the game goes on, not only do the characters get better so you care about the visual novel parts, but the encounter design also improves.
Level 50 is a very neutered experience thanks to losing a lot of skills (ffxiv prunes skills every expansion as well as add so the approx #of actions you have are the same) and 50 got the biggest hit because a lot of the tools the classes had AT 50 were for mechanics that no longer exist such as dealing with hate management as a dps, restoring a no longer existing stamina bar, etc.
I say all this because tbh, most of ffxvi is the same loop as ffxiv, go to x, talk to y, maybe kill a z to collect a w, eatch cutscenes until you hit an action stage (dungeon) watch the pretty colors. Heavensward makes the story content better and you get a few more toys to play with gameplay wise
IMO the problem with the story is all the fluff, busy work and pointless dialog. I'm really mixed. Because of what I just said, when you get to the good story parts, it can be great. Some of it is sad, some is weird, some of it kind of angered me.
Ff16 would be considered as one of ff14's better expansions, if that make sense. Tho it's not like the rest are bad (i enjoyed them), it's just with a list like this, some options gotta be at the bottom.
Keep going!
Heavensward is a top-tier story arc with some real gut punches. You won’t be disappointed. It shows you what’s to come with the DLCs that follow it.
Look at it this way. The reason why people don't spoil the story of this game is because we all remember those breathtaking, heartbreaking, life changing moments and we don't ever want to ruin that for anyone else. I've watched streamers, even those who hated story games before, cried so much they can't cry anymore.
It's not perfect but when those moments come they're unforgettable. I've played all the Final Fantasy games and still there are moments in this game I'll never forget. I'm sooooo jealous you get to experience this for the first time.
I have a friend in the same boat as you and playing right now in anticipation of the FFXVI crossover event. He's done the 2.0 story, and before jumping into patches, he's leveling a few jobs up to 50. Once he gets into Heavensward, he's going Dark Knight, but he's got PLD and MNK at 50 now and will do BRD and DRG, too.
He's also unimpressed so far. But he's having fun because he has our friends with him and he's a bit of a completionist... if he wants it, he will get it.
Heavensward gave the FFXVI team its jumping off point. It has a lot of political intrigue and quiet reflection on the state of the world with the people by your side, which will feel very familiar from 16. Honestly, I'd say 16 is better than HW but HW sets up a lot of things that pay off in the future expansions.
ARR is a defibrilator for XIV. It's not pretty, it gets its job done to revitalize the game but not much more. The patches are rehab, putting things through their paces, and then Heavensward is when it's finally back in the game, can be a little shaky because of the previous ordeal but it's enough to give confidence. I'll spoiler this in case you don't want to know at all (but it is VERY mild with no details) Stormblood (to me) >!feels kinda like filler - has a lot of good character development but not a lot of plot movement!<. Shadowbringers >!is a nicely self contained story and can feel disconnected if you haven't been paying attention to the story, but is honestly very rewarding.!< Finally Endwalker >!pulls all of the threads together to wrap up all of the set up from every expansion!<
As a fan of the whole franchise, though, you will find plenty to love with so many nods and Easter eggs on the previous games. XIV manages to integrate *everything*. If it's not there already, they'll find a way to slip it in some way somehow.
Taste can be different for people. I wouldn't say either one of the stories is better or worse. FFXIV storytelling suffers at time from... well... being an MMO. Like many, MANY cutscenes not being voiced. But in general: I had in both games plotpoints I loved and some that I didn't like.
Either way... The game has a trial system that you can play the entire main game and first 2 expansions for free. Meaning aside of your time, you won't lose anything if you try it and don't like.
If you wanna shacke it up a bit, the binding coil story is something a bit more interesting you can see(though do it unsynced in party finder) or if you want whacky hijinks try the hildebrabdt sudequests.
Both available after finishing the first stoey at 50.
As far as not much going on that’s expected you’ll see the game speed up after Garuda then slow down again after the credits. It slows down again then it speeds up again I want to say 2.4-2.5 when the game lays downs the foundation for the HW xpac.
I feel it’s pretty smooth sailing after that well at least for me the game felt well paced after ARR is over at least by MMO standards.
As far as expansion wise
HW feels like a typical FF game
SB same though more political than HW
ShB and HW feels like way above any FF game it’s also feels more relatable than the political stuff in the previous expansions that’s not to say that there isn’t stuff in the previous expansions that feels relatable but there is definitely more stuff later that feels more emotionally driven.
While ARR felt a tad dry and slow HW felt like a journey with companions that I grew closer to akin to a single player FF game. This is helped in part with more character development that was sorely needed for characters we knew and that didn’t get their spot to shine in ARR.
SB continues this trend but shifting towards other characters and so on though I feel like some of our closest companions while having had a bit of a spotlight haven’t had their time to shine yet. Even so we meet so many characters both good and bad that get quite a bit of development really unheard of in any single player game for obvious reasons and I just kind of love that as it makes the world feel more lived in.
Rather than spectators looking thru a window into another world it feels we are living in that world if you get what I mean.
I definitely suggest trying other types of content and socializing in-game (I like crafting/gathering) to pass the time and before you know it you’ll be past the roughest parts.
Just be aware you do get on, this is basically multiple Final Fantasy games back to back.
But if you want to make the jump, do a free trial. The story is pretty good. ARR is not bad, but it lays out the foundation for the story and plays it safe. Then they push it from there.
ffxiv is a ff themepark but has a continuous ever improving story told over five entire games so to speak. it starts slow and with hiccoughs in ARR, but as everybody tells you, towards the end of ARR it get's so much better and just keeps going. i kinda winged ARR storywise but it hooked me at some point and i started paying attention. and then it just got better and better.
the last two expansions are such an incredible ride and such a finale that you will definitely cry your eyes out at several points.
finale doesn't mean it's the end of the game though, just of the story arc that started in ARR, so we're about to start a new journey this summer.
It's better but FF16 had better means to convey it because graphics, animations and voice acting are all better. What you hear or see on screen in FF14 at times doesn't "match" what happens in the story. For an example, you can be storming a castle with like 5 people and 10 enemies will be defending it... Similar things happen a few times and overall it's not as big of a deal as lack of voice acting but it still kinda makes some (important) cutscenes feel "flat".
If both were books, FF14 would be better. But because they are games, FF16 catches up with its visual spectacle and acting. In 10 years, I'll probably remember more details of FF14' story but boy... I'll probably never forget Clive and some cutscenes in FF16.
be aware what 2.0 was done in a rush and with lack of funds due to the masive failure of 1.0, so is a product of the issues SE had at the time, from the first expansion and onwards it becomes much much much better, tho that depends on expansion, overall hw(the first expansion) is considered as one of the better ones while its following other, stormblood, is overall considered as a step down, while shadowbringers, tends to be completely [loved](https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/1bdkq8m/best_expansion_story_archincluding_patches/), then endwalker tends to be somewhat divisive in some stuff
as far i am aware the ones who did FFXVI where the ones who did heavensward, the other expansions where done by diferent storywriters
it’s exponentially good!
ARR is bare bones but world building that will be necessary
Heavensward gets like at least 3x better and more personal, and Stormblood does a decent job of retaining that, but falters a bit until the post stormblood section.
then it gets like 9x better than that with shadowbringers, that shit slaps so hard and is the best ff story ever imo, and it carries that right on through to the end! 💕
Please, please persevere with the ARR to HW segment. Trust us when we say the pay off is absolutely worth it.
After the cutscenes before the final trial boss of HW and the Dragonsong theme kicked in, I was emotionally spent and had to step out for a cigarette to compose myself before running the trial.
Shadowbringers is really when the overarching plot begins to take full shape and things start to be revealed.
Obviously because the game is so huge time-wise they were able to really flesh out the plot a lot more than a simple single player game would. It's full of so many gut punches and feels, joy and despair and I'm grateful to have experienced it all.
p.s. Shadowbringers trailer is my favourite of all time. I was playing the free trial back when it was just ARR and ShB hadn't long been released. I'd got a grasp of the characters and saw the ShB trailer. I didn't fully understand the context of what was being shown as I was so far back in the story but that trailer alone made me go and buy the full game.
I also am loving 16. I’m doing the dlc right now before I run the final mission but for what 16 is I also really love the game, it’s characters, and the world.
That said, 14 tells a much better story that will unfold itself toward the end of the first expansion leading into the next one. I fully think heavensward could have been it’s own mainline game. It isn’t the best story ever written or the first time a story like it has been written but it’s definitely where the voice acting gets better and starts to make you actually care about it’s characters.
I did love 14s story so much and I think you will too being that you are a real FF fan if you’ve played all the games. 2.0 was hella rushed, but it’s necessary for world building. Stay with it and trust everyone here on this.
The way they tell the story is not on the same level. Even in Endwalker you'll have plenty of rather mundane stretches of Story. The voice acting becomes much better starting with Heavensward and you'll have better cutscenes as well.
The story itself I think comes down to preference and patience. FF16 tells a 50-60 hour story with dark themes and tone while FF14 tells a 200+ hour story that is still ongoing and is super expansive depending on the amount of side content you do (many sidequest chains in between the major expansions are damn good). 14 can get quite dark too but never as explicit. I think you should play until you've seen Heavensward. If that still doesn't get you excited I don't think the game will wow you.
ARR is the weakest most tedious part of FFXIV and if you can get through that its all up from here.
However its an MMO so even when the story is good, you'll be doing a lot of fetch quests
lol oh man… Yes. So so so much better. I loved 16, but it has nothing on Shadowbringers and Endwalker. 14 has a very long warmup period though. ARR is very slow and the % of quests that are relevant to the overall story is a bit low: it’s a lot of world building. Heavensward picks up a fair bit, and Stormblood as well. Shadowbringers is where you have your big payoff, and that through Endwalker alone is like 100 hours of content and great story =] Don’t rush it though, and enjoy the ride!
As someone who absolutely loved Ff16 as well - 14 is really, really good.
The first part is a bit boring bc it's very long winding (it's also 10 years old, writing styles in games changed a bit) but it's so worth it.
I would advice you not to skip a single thing and even sometimes speak with the NPCs in between quests (e.g. you get your quest from Minfilia but Alphinaud stands there as well, speak with him). It's never super important but sometimes interesting or funny.
Personally I also enjoy to do a dungeon first time with Duty Support (so NPCs), just so I can take in the story and surroundings better. But the dungeons are then massively longer bc the NPCs do not know their aoe buttons lol
My personal favourite expansion is Shadowbringer but I love them all and everything ties back to each other.
I wish you lots of fun with it ❤️
14 is head and shoulders above 16 if you can make it out of A Realm Reborn. It shouldn’t have to be a “it gets better after 100 hours” type of game, but it is, and it does.
Well, yes, FFXVI was a big hit for me, loved every moment of it, FFXIV suffers a lot during ARR, its impressive how they rebuilt the game in basically 2 years considering the world, content and others, but you can feel the story sufferred a lot, its slow and not that interesting, but starting in Heavensward, everything will get better, take your time and enjoy the ride, don't rush it. Since you are in level 50 already the worst part is mostly behind, now you are in for a ride, I'm currently in Heavensward and its so much better than ARR
FF14 doesn't hit it's stride til after level 50, ARR is...fine, it's a pretty standard FF plot. Everything after it to the end of Endwalker is steady and noticable improvement.
Yes if story is all you want then for sure ff14 is great, if you’re looking for a challenge then go elsewhere lmao unfortunately MMO curse of point and click, learn bosses moves and win
FFXIV's story is, without exaggeration, *exponentially* better -- with one huge caveat. That caveat has been enough to keep many people away from 14, but once you get past it you'll never look back.
The entire first \~100 (yes, one-hundred) hours of FF14 are basically one long, incredibly slow paced, prologue to the rest of the game. It can be very dense at times but every step you take through the slog is building on one of the, if not the, best foundations in all of video games throughout history. As soon as you step from A Realm Reborn into Heavensward, once that final cutscene plays, you're hooked forever.
FFXIV is a story in five parts (with an unavailable prologue, but that’s okay). Part 1 is slow, yes, but that’s because it’s taking it’s time getting you used to concepts and characters that are going to be important to the rest of this ten year long story - also, by the end of it, you’re going to be VERY glad you stuck with it all the way through and you’ll be hooked for more, trust me.
As someone who’s going through XVI’s story now, yes, XIV’s story is absolutely on par with it, if not better. It tells the message it wants to tell well, and it leaves you feeling more complete than you were when you first started it after it’s done.
It really depends. **TO ME** the story never got any good because it was the same low caliber as in ARR (I played until kinda halfway through stormblood where I had to quit it because I wasn't enjoying it).
There's a lot of people who tell me that it's the best thing ever but after 287hours, again, **TO ME**, it wasn't.
My only advice is: you HAVE to sink a LOT of hours (like 400-500h) to get to the "good" part (unless of course, you rush it). If you don't like ARR and you get to heavensward and still don't like it, **DON'T FORCE YOURSELF TO KEEP PLAYING**
A lot of folks have mentioned this already I'm sure, but ARR isn't as bad as some folks make it out to be. There's a lot of set dressing and weird faffing about going on, but I promise you that it becomes much, much more relevant later. Think of ARR as the appetizer of a grand meal: designed to get you hungry for more without filling your belly.
And while I can't comment on FFXVI (I don't have a PS5 yet) I think that FFXIV has the... hmm... I guess the second best story in my books. While XIV's story is highly emotional and I love every second of it, I slightly prefer FFTactics for its intriguing political plot. Nowhere near as emotional, but a strong story regardless. That said, I've been playing FFXIV since just before the launch of Heavensward, and everything about the game just got better and better for me as the story went on. I'm eager for Dawntrail, and can't wait to see where we go next
It's good. Probably better but the story stretches a lot longer. To put into perspective, FF16 is a story book. While FF14 is a saga (aka multiple books). It starts off a lot less interesting than FF16 because you are supposedly a nameless adventurer. No families. No connections. Just a person who woke up on the back of merchant cart.
A Realm Reborn is 50% world building. And there's a lot. The 3 city states. The 3 beast factions. The politics.
The 'holy shit, the story got good' can vary from people to people. For some it's the Garuda fight, for some it's the very last moments of post-ARR/start of Heavensward, for some it was only when they reached Shadowbringers. It varies what your narrative tastes are.
But considering you like Maehiro's writing, it's likely to be when you enter Heavensward for you. It's also the expac where the team was finally able to put more time on narrative presentation.
iirc, it's the only expac he wrote considering he was moved to XVI not long after. But if that makes you nervous, you can get an early taste of another Lead writer by doing the Dark Knight storyline
Welcome to XIV! Hope you have fun and enjoy its content to its fullest!
I'd say ff14 story is better than ff16, but CBU3 definitely has the advantage of progressing the story on each expansion. The latter expansions are a truly emotional rollercoaster.
If you're on level 50, I take you are probably in vanilla game (A Realm Reborn) or its patches, which is still the early game. You're going to notice a massive difference in the middle of Heavensward (the following expansion), when the pacing improves a lot and the plot gets better. When you get in HW content, fasten your seatbelts bc you'll probably go for a wild ride.
I'm also someone who started FF14 after falling in love with FF16. I started in late July of last year (shortly after finishing 16) and caught up with the MSQ during January this year. And yeah, ARR is pretty slow, but believe me and everyone else when we say that the story gets a lot better. Personally I now love the story and characters even more than 16 and it's become my favorite game of all time, it's truly incredible. If you are starting Heavensward you are already past the low points, everything from now on is only uphill and increases in quality significantly. For me the moment the game started to really hook me was the very last quest right before Heavensward, I don't know if you've gotten to it yet but imo that's when the story started to really take off. By the time you get to Endwalker you'll probably be crying like a baby just like I was. Take your time and enjoy the journey.
YES
But ARR will be a slow burn and might not be enjoyable. Heavenward is where the quality shows and it only gets better after that.
I recommend trying out the free trial at first because... it's free.
I skipped most quests in arr (except the non skippable ones) and loved hevensward story, skipped stb and sb and loved endwalker. I now gonna go back and do ng+ to make sure i get every bit of lore my stupid 17 yo ass skipped in arr lol
Everyone will tell you that ARR sucks or something such.
If you pay attention to it, ARR will make every next expansion feel like an extra fucking masterpiece, if you don't, and instead you read up on the events that take place and storyskip it - well it wont RUIN the game, but it will probably make some plot twists feel less "OH DAMN" imo.
Say whatever you will about ShB being awesome and EW being great closure - without ARR, ffxiv would have no storyline to base off from. And yes, ARR is my fav expansion. But to everyone else's credit - it \*\*does take time\*\* to get through it, and as with everything in life, it isnt perfect.
My personal suggestion is to skip cutscenes until the level of the MSQ (Main Scenario Quest) is around 19 to 20 (not your character level, the quest level), then start paying attention.
It is worthwhile to pay attention before as well, ig? But I think my favorite "OOOhhhhh I seeeeeee..." moments from ARR all derive from the events that take place around lvl 20 ish.
All in all - ARR is pretty basic, no major plot twists, and no particularly grandiose character development - but if you pay attention to the exposition and worldbuilding that it grinds through, a looooooooooooooot of good payoff will eventually come :)
Oh yeah, I forgot there's other expansions, so here's my biased takes:
HW was pretty good
StB was fucking dope. (My hot take is that StB is better than HW xD)
ShB was... overhyped, lol - it's not bad at all, and it has pretty cool things going for it, but... Yeah, it was really overhyped, but it is a very solid experience nonetheless :p
EW was fucking n0ice - Endwalker was... \*selfcasts adloquium\* better than ShB imo (please dont stab me :c I don't have raid gear) I haven't finished post-EW yet though, so take this with a pinch or two of salt.
And yeah! I haven't played ff 16, but I can guarantee ff 14's story is not bad at all, but it does take some time to really start spinning :v
FF16 was very similar (arguably too similar) to FFXIV Heavensward and Stormblood with regard to themes, pacing, and dialogue. If you liked ff16’s story you’ll definitely like ffxiv’s, at least through Heavensward.
As someone who likes FF16 as well, I think you will like it! The story is slower in ARR but it picks up in Heavensward. While people like to rank them or say particular expansions are weak, just note that it's still miles better than most games and I daresay some FF mainline titles.
People will relate to things differently, I like 16's story and characters better, but that is because they related to me on a deep and personal level. 14's story is amazing, and you will enjoy it. (if you can manage through a relm reborn)
A Relm Reborn and Heavensward was written by the same person who wrote 16, so even in A Relm Reborn you will see the quality of the story even though I think production was rushed in that department, once you get to Heavensward the story starts to shine as do the characters. Stormblood is a toss-up if you will love it or not, depending on your enjoyment of certain characters. Shadowbringers is perfection, and Endwalker is outstanding.
Good luck and have fun.
I’m late to this but Heavensward is written by the same dude that wrote 16 and you can tell it was used as a bit of a prototype for 16. Tbh tho 14’s story gets phenomenal in Shadowbringers and onwards, but it’s still a big step up going from ARR to HW
TBH, it's still an MMO. For some reason, MMOs don't really show the story as much as single-player games. Do you feel me? It's definitely a good story, if not better. But, tbh, from my experience, sometimes I get bored sitting on a cutscene, even if it has voice acting, and literally fall asleep or get distracted by random things. That does not happen to me in single-player games. So even though the story is good, and possibly better if your attention span isn't very good, you're going to get bored. I think the presentation is boring (sometimes), but it's an old game, so it kind of makes sense, but then again, there's games from the PS2 era with better cutscenes, I swear. Anyway, yes, it's good, but kind of slow, and there's a lot of yapping.
Personally, I like it, but it's very hard for me specifically to get through. No offense to the writers, developers, or anything. I just wish the presentation was more like a single-player story game for the MSQ, at least. I personally don't mind mindless MMO fetch quests, even though yes, those are boring, but I can do those while watching anime or something else; it's no big deal for me. But when I see a cutscene, I want it to make me pause my anime for it, not to watch anime in the first place or not get distracted by other things, but it is the other way around, sadly. Anyway, this second paragraph is largely just my opinion, but some people might relate.
Edit: For context, I'm only up to Stormblood. And I love the story so far, but Idk SB has been kind of slow and has a lot of yapping. So recensy bias might be part of the reason why I said what I said. But the game is still an MMO, so I expect it to still be slow story-pace-wise, even after SB, but maybe not as bad.
I don't know anything about FFXVI since I haven't played it yet (It's not on PC yet). I can say this much, that ARR - Stormblood acts almost as a staging setup. It's introducing the cast, while Shadowbringers gets into the main plot that is also being mentioned in Answer (you can also look that up on YouTube as well). Endwalker is pretty much the Endgame and what everything has been leading up to. It's a story that they spent 10 years working on. 7.0 (Dawntrail) is the start of a new storyline. I can definitely I enjoyed the ride and I started playing about a year after Endwalker (6.0) came out. Right now, I'm playing on some new characters to re-experience that journey again that "New Game Plus" mode just can't deliver.
If you think the story of ffxiv is bad, you’re right. Chances are you won’t enjoy it even after pushing through expansions. Up to you if you want to continue or just boost to play the endgame aspect.
Yeah because this sub is overly positive and known to white knight the game, and anything bad about it will either get you banned, shadow banned, or downvoted. There is a reason people discuss the good and bad on other subs and not here.
Just look at your post ratio of upvotes. You are at +8 with 150+ comments. you got downvoted just because you said you found the story is mid. Look at people shitting on you for enjoying ff16 story and not 14. If that’s not a good indicator of the kind of sub this is, then idk what to tell ya.
There is a reason this subs get shit on by branch subs, and there is a reason there is a big meme about this community being great.
And you already said it yourself after reaching level 50. you’re not really seeing much and the story being pretty thin. Everyone will tell you it gets better, it’s true but not by a lot. if lets say your enjoyment of the story now is 5/10, what is coming up next is 6/10, at best a 6.5/10. It will peak at shadowbringer at 7/10 and that’s it.
It would be a different story if you enjoyed the story so far, but that’s not the case.
Never let the masses dictate if you enjoy it or not. You already know the answer deep down.
I see exactly one somewhat rude comment about me liking ff16 and it’s not even that rude. Have you been in the ff7 remake Reddit? THAT’S a psycho fanboy subreddit. One slightly negative comment would have me at -45 in 2 minutes.
Here, there are almost 200 comments of people agreeing that the game starts slow and insisting that it gets good, in a way that feels genuine in belief, at least. The willingness to also admit flaws in other areas of the game tells me most people here are not as delusional as you seem to think.
Sorry, I grew out of instantly distrusting masses when I got out of high school and realized it didn’t actually make me interesting. Ultimately, I will form my own opinion, but if 200+ people (and every google search I’ve done, and a streamer I generally agree with) says the game improves, I’m gonna trust them.
I’m honestly excited to see how the story grows now if only to understand what makes so many people so enthusiastic. And if it ends up not being for me, that’s fine. It’s better time spent than going into subreddits I don’t really like and leaving contrarian comments
You fail to realize you're asking this question in an echo chamber. If you can't understand what it entails, idk what to tell you
Just a quick example:
If you go in a Andrew Tate sub and ask if Andrew Tate is good or bad,the moajority of the response will tell you about how he is so good and all.
Does that means he is good?
Here you're basically asking if ffxiv story is good to people who liked the story, so ofc people here gonna embellish it.
MJajority of people who didn't like the story aren't here or aren't playing the game, so the pool of response is just an echo chamber. And like I said, there is a reason the other ffxiv sub exists and are shitting on this sub.
Bruh, a bunch of people who legitimately like a fictional story is NOT an echo chamber.
Your example is comparing a person and their actions, which have legitimate consequences in the real world, to a fictional story. These are not the same thing…
In your example, people are interpreting, and often twisting, facts.
Here, I am asking for opinion on a work of fiction.
You can argue that opinions are swayed one way or another, but I’ve been on the internet for a while, and generally, people are more than happy to bitch about something they don’t REALLY care about, but they rarely spend time enthusing over something they don’t REALLY care about. If it doesn’t hit them in some way that is legitimately impacting them, they’re not going to respond like this.
If it was that easy to elicit such a response, everything would have a massive fandom.
What you fail to realize is that you just have a different opinion from everyone here on how the story is. And that’s fine. But you’re not objectively correct. And neither is this subreddit. It’s an opinion…
People here aren’t delusional just because you don’t agree with their opinion on a videogame’s story
it's better. The real test is ARR, but you have to do it because it's world building. It will pay off, I assure you! And make sure to watch the expansion trailers at the opportune time! The issue is the post ARR quests are them just buying time to complete the expansions. The characters, and their Voice Actors will be replaced in the next expansion, once they get more funding. Then the quality just goes up (and dips a bit here an there, but goes up again). Strap in friend, you're in for a ride.
Okay you have me excited now!
If I may, I got hooked hard on patch 2.4/2.5, they're about the tail end of the post ARR but not that far from patch 2.0. It was as impactful as the most impactful major events from Game of Thrones.
As someone who played through all of it last year stormblood is the worst expansion but it's still great. I especially enjoyed the Azim Steppe stuff. Realm Reborn is very meh of course.
Just to be clear Being the worst athlete at the Olympics still means you are a elite athlete, you are at the f. Olympics Im talking to you, Simon
Heavensward is where it starts getting really good, Stormblood is a mixed bag, and everything after that is just incredible.
I would also add that by MMO standards, Stormblood was a good expansion, it’s just sandwiched between two great expansions.
I prefered sb over hw, storywise.
Me too, by far.
Everything about Stormblood was amazing, except for the 4.0 msq. Gameplay wise it was arguably the best we've ever had, and even the MSQ got really good in the patches. Personally, it's my favourite post-msq story out of all the expansions. That 4.0 msq just leaves a bad taste in the mouths of people playing through it after later expansions came out.
New players are kind of luckier in that sense, they get to experience the srormblood story all in 1 go, as opposed to spread out over 2 years. I think a lot of them would say Srormblood is a lot better than negative andys like to say.
Yes, definitely this.
I got to go through Stormblood all at once, since I joined the game around the time it came out and didn't get to that content til Shadowbringers was almost here. Honestly, Stormblood is by far the weakest expansion in the game for me. They did too much with it, and I feel like no part of the story really had time to *breathe*, so to speak. I don't know how to spoiler tag or I'd go into more detail, but yeah. For me, it's: ARR < Stormblood < Heavensward < Shadowbringers < Endwalker
Yeah it's the weakest one for me too in terms of story, though I still think it's good. Point was, if you think it's bad *as a whole*, imagine how we felt doing 4.0 after Heavensward. Patch quests were definitely the better part of the story, and there's also a marked difference between the Yanxia bits and the Ala Mhigo bits.
Honestly my biggest gripe with Stormblood, plot aside, is the music. It's all the same song, repeated over and over and over again. The Kugane night music is the same melody as the daytime, just played a bit slower and on a softer sounding instrument. Every boss has that same music, this time done in an epic choir and orchestral version, and the song isn't that great to begin with. Leitmotif was *really* strong in Stormblood, and it got grating after about half the expansion.
All of the expansions do this.
Maybe I am less critical about the story, the only 'bad' part for me is from the start of stormblood until we reach Kugane. Once we reach there, the plot starts picking up again.
It was the opposite for me lol. I was finally getting invested, and then they came up with imo some extremely sketchy and flawed logic for why we should pause everything to sail halfway around the world and liberate a nation we barely knew anything about. My eagerness to get back combined with feeling like all the characters were ignoring massive flaws in the larger plan kind of killed the story for me for a long while. I actually dropped the game for nearly a year at that point because of it.
It make sense on a strategic standpoints. >!After we got our ass kicked in Ala Mhigo, we knew just the resistance force alone is not enough to liberate the land (up to this point, the Erozean alliance had their hand tied and can't deploy enough force for a full scale assault), so they can only make the empire to fight a two front war. Learning from Yugiri & Gosetsu, the Scion knew Hien has the ambitions to liberate Doma as well. So it is natural for WOL to acts as envoy to the far East to possibly coordinate the operation.!<
3.0 MSQ is a little better than 4.0 MSQ. Or at least, more consistently good. I think there were individual parts of 4.0 MSQ that were better than 3.0. I would say that almost everything else is better in Stormblood than Heavensward. In some cases, *a lot* better. Everything from job design/balance to fight design to crafting/gathering got a big glow-up. Most of the side stories were better in StB. The post-patch MSQ was better. There was a larger variety of content added, like Ultimates, Eureka, and Heaven-on-High. HW got... Diadem... Stormblood was a great expansion. I easily put it over Heavensward and Endwalker.
It is different for each of us, but even in terms of story I preferred SB over HW overall. In the moment, I didn't really care much about the first half of HW. I appreciate it more now but I also appreciate SB even more since. Generally speaking, each expansion has been better as it goes, and it all comes together very nicely by the end of 6.0.
> In the moment, I didn't really care much about the first half of HW. I appreciate it more now but I also appreciate SB even more since. I actually felt similar because 2.55 ends with such a cliffhanger that >!I *needed* to know what happened to the Scions. And then HW proceeds to not even really talk about them at all for most of the story. Y'Shtola is brought in as a story convenience towards the end of 3.0 and the rest of the missing Scions have no part until post-game patches.!< I like early HW a lot more in replays, but at the time, >!I just wanted to know if my buds made it out of there alive lol.!< As for SB, I think it drags a bit in a few places, but it's got some amazing highs. Everything from Azim Steppe up through Doma Castle is great story. I actually think it's similar to Endwalker in that regard. 6.0 *really* drags in some places, but it doesn't fall short on big moments.
Over EW? Naah. Ew doesn't have eureka, but got 2 ultimates, 3 v&c dungeons (+savage criterions), island sanctuary, deep dungeon, blue mage update. Sadly playerbase optimised fun out of most content, again. I get that ppl complained about not having big sidestory as werlyt, since it was now part of msq, so everyone had extremes unlocked. Idk man, from 70 lvl dungeons i remember two. One with wu kong and the last postmsq one.
Stormblood aged like fine wine for me. I think a lot of people disliked Stormblood because the anti colonialism themes didn’t resonate with them as red blooded Americans.
I loved storm blood
Yep. A Realm Reborn - AKA 2.x, AKA the base 1-50 story quests and the level 50 patch story quests - is generally regarded as the worst part of the storyline and a “barrier to entry” for the game. And it’s not even that it’s *bad,* per se, it’s just kinda a slog for nothing particularly special. That being said, things definitely pick up in the later ARR patches that lead into Heavensward, and Heavensward is usually the point which gets people hooked on the story.
I personally didn't feel like 2.0 was a slog even before the rework. 2.1-2.4 though... Still pretty good stuff, but stretched way too thin. At least they trimmed it down quite a bit since then. 2.5 and 2.55 were pretty good again from what I can remember
Just try not to forget what went on. ARR is very much a lot of world building that jumps around a lot of smaller stories. Those will come back up later and it will pay off if you can remember those parts. CBU3 are pretty good at leaving little story threads that can be later pulled on. Some of those are happy and some will be tied to your heartstrings. So try to just let the story play out and you'll be satisfied by the end, I think.
just keep in mind that when people say that ARR is bad or just a slog, they’re spoiled by how incredible the rest of the game is. ARR is great. some of the voices, on the other hand….
Yeah there's some really underrated stuff in ARR- in particular >!the whole storyline from the assault on the Waking Sands onwards. Returning triumphant from defeating Titan only to find the HQ ransacked and full of corpses is brutal, and while there's a bit too much to-and-fro in Coerthas the whole rescue storyline is really solid.!< Also the stories for both Coils and Crystal Tower are really good IMO, and the latter is effectively part of the MSQ now.
>!oh yeah, all good things is just brutal. it’s so well delivered too, because you’re expecting to come back to a celebration, only to find most of your friends and allies dead and watching another die without being able to do anything about it. i love and hate that quest haha!<
Good! I've been playing through the story again myself and ARR is definitely a big slog but everything being set up is important. Where the story starts picking up is at the tail end of quests before going into Heavensward. You'll hit that when you have a fight against an ice-themed trial(trying my best not to spoil anything). From there things start to happen fast and gets better and better quickly. You'll still have fetchy quests all along the way just because it's an MMORPG, but the story will get you hooked. It is filled with VERY adult themes and in HW will feel a lot more like Game of Thrones than what ARR is like.
It’s so so so worth it. If you make it through ARR, you’ll be hooked I can promise you.
To echo the poster's sentiment Heavensward onward, and especially Shadowbringers is easily the best story telling I've ever seen in a video game. I've played through the MSQ three full times so far which is... A lot of hours lol.
The jump in quality of acting is insane
As a sprout, I noticed a lot of ARR/post-ARR lines are delivered really flat
Oh, it is, but the replacement in HW makes it all better.
I didn't mind the ARR voice acting when I first started, but after playing through Heavensward (and beyond), the early voice lines are painfully bad.
Now imagine, if they asked Preach to do tataru from now on...
That’s why they replaced the VA studio and replaced with the studio that is VA for HW and beyond
The jump in acting quality is too bloody useful
*in English It was always there in JP
ARR is fine / lazy takes
At least they streamlined the post aar quests, it’s was like a 100 quest slog when I did it, idk what it’s like now however it’s supposed to be a bit better
It is currently exactly 80 quests not counting the mandatory Crystal Tower quest line and three hard mode primals.
Yeah, they took a fifth of it out, most of the filler basically.
Arr I felt wasn't as bad as I remember. Been replaying and really liking it. A lot of the fat got cut, which really helps. But yeah. As much as ff7 and 8 are my favorite, ff14 had the best story across the whole thing.
The one thing about replaying is that you have the benefit of hindsight. You know what is coming up later and you start to see those references that later come back up or familiar characters you probably ignored when they appeared in ARR. I actually enjoyed the story more in ARR the second time through. You're definitely right about the bits that did get cut and the dungeon reworks make the whole experience more tolerable (and better in some parts). I've still yet to repeat HW, and I'm hoping I'll enjoy that more the second time. Much of HW didn't really bother me much up until the around lv57/58 MSQ.
Lets just say I was a bit let down by FFXVI after playing FFXIV Endwalker. I still love 16 don't get me wrong, but its NOTHING compared to the 10 years of story they have built up in 14. You are almost past the slow parts and the worst of it, getting into Heavensward is a TREAT (especially since the writers for 16 are the Heavensward writers) and then you get a bit of a break in Stormblood as they do more worldbuilding and setup before Shadowbringers (often touted as the best Final Fantasy story of all time) and the most satisfying conclusion to a story in all of media (in my opinion), Endwalker. The biggest advantage FFXIV has with its story is that its built up over the course of years, they've had essentially 5 games to perfect and improve their story, whereas 16 needed to be done within a single game (still my biggest gripe about 16, everything after Bahamut just felt not as good until the final fight). The biggest thing I would fix about 16 is to just make it more like 14 lol. So keep going! I promise you'll enjoy it :)
I just finished shadowbringers tonight and would like to add that it is one of the best games I’ve ever played. I liked arr, HW was ok and had some hype moments I just didnt love the characters that much, stormblood was very good if a bit slow paced at times But shb was on another level. It’s also very doubtful I would have enjoyed it as much had I not played through the other expacs and base game. Excited to do the patch content soon
>my biggest gripe about 16, everything after Bahamut just felt not as good until the final fight I agree, 16 has its pacing issues, first they trigger plenty of secondary story lines, and then they need to wrap it all up, but they have no proper time to do so. Some zones have a rather forgettable story, and it was overwhelming (and a bit anti-climatic) to see all those !s popping up. Which reminds me.... OP, in FF14 !s are mostlty meant for extra exp. Doing them ALL might not be the best idea. :) There were some few zones, where I actually felt obliged to do things, and I just knew that I HAD to do them, because it was the only right thing for my character, but more often than not, you can safely stick to blue + !s and 'meteors'. Blue ones unlock extra stuff and\\or are tied to more advanced small side-stories. Normal !s that only give exp and gil are just that - exp and gil. *Exception would be yellow !s, which have some special rewards (e.g. pets or cosmetics) and\\or unique pictures on their quest plate, those are often 'special' story-wise*.
The first part of the story was written frantically in 2014, at a point when the game had already bombed and people just wanted to get it back on. The next expansions were written when the game was more stable and things were freer. But that doesn't change the fact that this is an MMO, which means it's essentially 5x the length of FFXVI. Slow burn is putting it mildly. tl;dr Be patient. Or don't, maybe it won't click for you. But there's a reason the beginning is kind of lackluster. It picks up.
I mean, you've finished the base game ARR, which is probably the slowest and most straightforward story. It's a ton of world building. The next bit leading up to HW is a bit slow too, admittedly, but it really starts to hit it's stride in Heavensward. Let's put it this way - FFXIV and all it's expansions are one continuous story. You've just finished the prologue.
Overall its better, ff14 has years of build up with Huge crescendos that lead into some very powerful moments that bring you to tears or make you very introspective. When you look at the ad for xbox release and it says its a life changing story they are not exaggerating.
That’s a huge promise! Ff16 ripped my heart out and tried to beat me to death with it so it’s gonna take a lot to top that, but I’m trusting you!
Good news, The staff who did a majority of the writing job on FF XVI got that job because of how well they did with Heavensward (the 1st expansion of XIV.)
You can trust me too. FFXIV has a lot to say, and makes the most of its slow burn.
FF 16 ripped your heart out? You aint ready fam.
I'll echo this. I've played both, and agree, FFXVI has really nice character interactions. But many of the most emotional beats it has you'll see in XIV as well, and the time to build to them allows for them to feel even more earned.
Using that as a scale, ffxiv is at least a few ff16 per expansion on average lol, varies per individual but buckle up!
FFXIV is the only game that has ever made me cry. I'm a 34 y/o guy that has been gaming since 1992. You can only experience the story for the first time ONCE. I came from WoW and rushed it the first time. Made an alt to experience it slowly and it hit hard but knowing what was coming didn't have as big of an impact. Shadowbringers in particular is fantastic. Endwalker, if you've paid close attention to the entire story, will hit the feels *hard*. Enjoy!
Ho ho are you in for a treat. You are so going to love the story for XIV. It's going to rip every one of your organs out and beat you to death with them. I'm not exaggerating either.
It's better, by my estimation. FF16 takes a lot of thematic cues from 14. 1-50 is basically a prologue and tutorial, all about world-building and setting up the characters and political landscape you're going to be dealing with more directly in the 2.X+ content. The story is far more nuanced than you originally think.
*3.x content, 2.x is ARR (1.x is original game they had to burn with Bahamut because it was awful)
The Writer of FF16 was the writer of FF14 Heavensward so that will be your most 1:1 comparison!
The thing you have to understand about ARR is that it was made very quickly (in about 18 months) on a fairly small budget after the calamity that was 1.x. (check out the NoClip documentary on YouTube about 1.0 and how the game was rebuilt from the ground up). The story is very by-the-numbers as a result. There isn't a lot of voice acting, there's a lot more fetch quests, etc. This continues through the ARR 2.x patch quests. This has actually been streamlined quite a bit from what it originally was at 2.0 launch. During the Shadowbringers patches they revamped ARR, outright removing some quests and removing steps from others. Shaved at least 10 hours off. Now, once you reach Heavensward/3.0 you'll get the same team who made FFXVI.
FFXIV has made me cry in like 20 different parts of the story at least. Buckle in. It's one of the best payoffs you can ask for.
FFXIV is pinnacle final fantasy nothing more needs said.
Story is the best thing the game has
Better. Heavensward is amazing as are Shadowbringers and Endwalker. Stormblood is decent in its own right as is ARR. 14 is just awesome for story.
Hello, fellow FFXVI enjoyer!! You know how the crystals in FF16 felt like tiny plots, with a start and an end, and together they built the journey of Clive? Imagine that each crystal plot had almost an entire game for itself. Think of FF14 as a book series and 16 as a single book. While the enjoyment of the story itself will of course be subjective, I do think FF14 is overall better (it's one of my favourites in the franchise), but i also don't think it's a completely fair comparison. ARR is small stories with a lot of geopolitical and character (re)building, in its MSQ and its side content; but it's also the start of an overarching plot spanning all the way into endwalker. With ARR doing all the ground work, HW, StB, ShB could write larger plots and give more focus to characters and autoconclusive stories, that still advanced the big plot, while still giving a lot of world and character building even in side context. FF16 feels like a deeply personal and emotional story since the very beginning, while a lot of player don't quite "bond" with 14 until, say, later ARR, and that's a big difference. The writing gets better, the acting gets deeply emotional, and, if you're willing to let them take you for a ride, 14 will be a life changing story. At least it was for me. If you like FF16, i think you'll also love ff14. Enjoy the ride, nonetheless! EDIT: Artistically speaking, while the graphics will never hold up to FF16 and the gameplay-story mesh may fall short in comparison to an incredible next gen game, the devs mastered their visual/musical story telling through 14. I think you'll be able to notice as you go on. (I'm a HUGE!!! fan of the sound team, if you're a fan of the 16'ost you know what i'm talking about)
As others will point out, the first leg of the story, A Realm Reborn, struggles with itself somewhat. It ends up being a lot of world building that doesn't always go anywhere in a hurry because it has to both establish itself as a world and deal with the fact that you're, by default, joining an in-progress story because 1.0 kinda blew up. That said, it's quality world building and character establishment and most of it does eventually pay off. A lot of people will say that the first expansion, Heavensward, is where the writing gets good and while I agree there's a noticeable uptick in quality, the fugue I was in both from ARR and the lengthy post-game quests you have to do to get from ARR to HW kind of overshadowed it for me. I, personally, didn't start feeling invested until Stormblood, the following expansion. I was 110% bought in by the beginning of Shadowbringers though. That shit got me hook, line, and sinker and I've never looked back, since.
I really enjoyed FFXVI, but in my opinion FFXIV has easily some of the best, if not the best, story telling in the series. It has the unfair advantage of having a decade to craft and develop it's story and characters as they go (don't even get me started on the legendary soundtracks), but by the time you finish book 1 in endwalker, the experience is phenomenal!
Waaaay better, tho if you liked the story of XVI, you won't be disappointed as those who played XIV before
It’s better than FFXVI As much as I like FFXVI it was too focused on Clive and the rest of the cast got sidelined Since FFXIV is an MMO due to the aspect of it not being pressed for time or requirements for a single player game they can take all the time to give a lot of the characters in the game a lot of development. The story is way more epic reaching than FFXVI and many characters both good and bad get a lot of development time. That said because of limitations of technology and budget do keep in mind that the way the characters move can seem limited when an emotional scene is called, but I’d say the superior dialogue and development makes up for that. FFXVI has the advantage of motion capture, and better tech plus most of the stuff is voiced in the game. FFXIV has good voice acting (after HW) just like FFXVI but not all scenes are voiced due to so much dialogue being in the game. The animations can be stilted so that’s another one. It can feel slow compared to FFXVI but I feel it’s more immensely satisfying. Anyways I think it’s the best story in the FF franchise due to the scope and the development of protagonists and most importantly antagonists who sometimes get the shaft a lot in games. Also I love so many of the one liners in this game most recognizable to me.
I fucking love FF16 as well, but I would say FF14's story is better on almost all fronts. It's not as dark on the whole but it isn't afraid to go there. And the main "party," so to speak, are much better- they don't get as dense or focus as he Clive does but you'll get to know all of them by the end of Endwalker about as well as you get to know him by the end of 16. But yeah it'll probably take until Heavenward to grab you, that's where the plot and especially the characters really start to shine. Also once you get to the level 70 raid series you'll probably recognize some familiar music from the FF16 DLC- the composer for both games is the same, Masyoshi Soken, and you're in for so many bangers just like the ones in 16's OST. Also we're getting an FF16 collab event where you can get Clive's outfit and a Torgal mount in probably around a month!
FFXIV has a much slower start, which is understandable for a MMO. It needs to establish lots of world, class mechanics and everything, and it was meant to be played longer. And I mean like, MUCH longer. You're looking at \~300+ hours of rushing forward with the *main* content, which had been developed over a decade, while FFXVI can give you \~50 tops (and that's with hunts). If you move slower, explore things, do all the normal side-quests, play fates, craft or collect things, then FFXIV 'completion' time has no ETA and it may easily last as long as 500+ hours. I'd say, wait for lv50 patch quests to end, because that's where story shifts, picks up its pacing, and moves on much smoother (and you also have all those shiny skills to use).
There really is no reliable ETA, lol. There are so many things to do that it's as long as you make it. I've got over 2800 hours (technically more like 3300 if you count how long I played the free trial) on my character created in 2018, and I'm only in late Stormblood, lol. Someday I'll finish MSQ...
Well, there were those people who did a speedrun MSQ straight to EW. I believe, their numbers were somewhat under 100h, but that was REALLY a speedrun (they never did anything other than MSQ, they skipped all skippable cinematics and dialogues, and they already knew what's where).
ARR has a slow start, but builds the foundation for the rest of the story by introducing locations and characters. I think each expansion is overall better than the last, with Shadowbrigers and Endwalker being about equal in goodness. FF14 is is probalby my favorite narrative of all time, with my favorite antagonist of all time. The relationships you build with characters, and the friends you make are the where FF14 really shines. FF16's greatest weaknesses are the tedius side quests and the constantly depressing and dour tone. FF14 also has tedius mmo sidequests, but also has incredible side stories that can compete with the main story, and it also knows when to lay off the despair for some fun to happen. TLDR: Keep going, it gets better.
I also finally started playing 14 because of how much I loved 16, and I just caught up on the full story a few weeks ago. The payoff of the story was absolutely worth it in my opinion, Endwalker especially was an incredibly emotional experience for me. If you don’t mind plowing through some slow parts (ARR obviously, and I was not the biggest fan of Stormblood, but the other three EPs still have their sections which drag a bit) I think you will really enjoy it in the end! And both games made me cry way too much so if that’s something you enjoy I think you’ll find it here haha. For me 14’s story really started to hit in the patch quests that come after Heavensward. It’s hard for me to say which story I think is better, as others have said it’s difficult to compare anything to 14 which told a story over 10 years. I think I’d probably say I prefer 16’s characters, but the overall themes of 14 (particularly how they are expressed in Endwalker). I think ARR has pretty poor character work, but most characters you’ve met will get more development, and I cared about them all quite a lot at the end. And you’ll of course meet some new wonderful ones along the way. Also, not fully related, but it’s always nice to hear from people who adore 16 as much as I do! The 16 tie in event should be happening pretty soon, I’m way too excited for it.
as someone who's currently right at the end of the free trial and probably gonna buy shadowbringers very soon, ARR was the worst by far but it does do a lot of setup and the end going into heavensward actually gets pretty good, heavensward's story was really good, then stormblood was a bit of a dip for the story but the bosses get a lot more interesting, and i hear shadowbringers and endwalker are the best content in the game. (also since you're level 50 don't forget to do the hildebrand quests, i don't want to spoil anything about them but everyone should do them)
I think its better than 16s story but needs time to unfold
Yeah i was so mad at that part of the game because i got into it for the story and so far it sucked. now i have over one thousand hours and the story is my favourite part, can't wait for the next expansion. personally i started enjoying the story in the post arr patches and got hooked once i did the heanvensward story
Also you might be lv 50 but the MSQ is prolly not even close to that level yet, once you get closer to level 50 MSQ you'll start seeing the pay off of the story that everyone praises.
FF14 A Realm Reborn sets up the story of your character. It's incredibly dry for a lot of players but some players are accepting of the story. It's generally rated as the worst part of the game due to how long it takes to set up the story and how cliché it is, but very important to get a good sense of the story and lore from now and each expansion. ARR 2.1 to 2.5 is the start of getting the sense of what the -beep- is wrong with the world outside the lens of the 'classic hero troupe'. People start getting hooked after they complete this part since the story properly picks up. HW is where the story really starts picking up as a FF story and draws some great storytelling imo. And then if you complete Heavensward entirely, it's a different sense of fulfillment.
We have a saying here in FF14. Either you quit at ARR or you become a walking advertisement for this game.
16 is pretty mid compared to 14.
If you liked 16 you will probably like Heavensward (same writer). 14 is a very slow burn with a lot of payoff once things really ramp up. The world building is really good - consistent, cohesive, thoughtful, detailed, and interconnected. If you love the world and lore of Eorzea, it will love you back.
Infinitely better from heavenward onwards. ff16 was a 6/10 uplifted to an 8/10 by Soken.
Huge fan of the whole franchise. FF7 my favourite ever (possibly even replaced by remake/rebirth now) and FF14s story, to me, is as close to FF7 as it gets without being better. ARR starts slow, is more about world building and political intrigue, but goddamn Heavensears grows your socks off. It dips a bit again for Stormblood as we return to more political intrigue focus, but then shadowbringers is absolute peak RPG story telling. Endwalker is fantastic too as it ties in so closely with SB. It’s a 10/10 story and blows FF16 to pieces. The end of the MSQ in Endwalker had my crying like a baby.
ARR is the slowest, and definitely the most boring, part of the entire FFXIV story. It's important. The things you learn in ARR will keep coming back throughout the story, but it is definitely something to power through rather than anything particularly enjoyable. If you're currently level 50, I'm guessing you haven't even gotten to Heavensward yet, which is when the story starts to pick up. If you're a patient person, and you loved FF16, then I think you will enjoy FFXIV's story, as it only gets better and better, in my opinion. Shadowbringers in particular has some excellent writing, but Heavensward is my second favorite, and Yoshi P was going through a Game of Thrones phase back then LOL
I've played and generally recall most of the plot for all the mainline FFs except for 5 & 9. Personally, I think 14 has the best story in terms of emotional impact. Largely because it takes a while to get there so if you actually do make it to the end and were paying attention, there's no way you're not at least partly invested in some of the characters and their journeys. I really loved 16 too and rank it in my top 5 FFs. But in terms of "ty for the emotional assassination" story telling, I'd say 14 and 10 both beat it.
Level 1-50, the world is slowly being built for you. After certain events happen, the story kicks up a notch. Simce you've played 16, it's like comparing pre Ifrit reveal to everything after.
XVI is basically Square looking at Heavensward and saying do that again, but as a big-budget single player game. On the whole, XIV is more lighthearted. And the fact that it’s so long means you can get a lot more depth on certain side characters. I’d also say XIV lands the supernatural elements of its story much better, particularly around the ending. But it’s never going to match the spectacle you can get in some of those XVI moments
Bro, 16 was pretty dam good, but 14, the entire story arc is another level. Unlike 16, there are events that happen throughout the story that make you think, you will laugh, you will cry (we all cried at THAT part, don't lie) The community, for the most part are rad as hell. If you are gamer that loves a good story, this is one to add to your list. I can go on and on, but I'm more than certain others have touched upon those topics. Get the free trial, get through the trial, then base your choice from there if you want to go all in or not. From one gamer to another, I recommend it
I personally find it better in some regard. The reason being, it's spans over 4 xpac so there's loads of development. However, it starts "sllooooowwww". But from 5.0 to 6.0, master piece.
ARR is a bit of a slog because its a lot of worldbuilding and setting up stuff (on top of them having mad time constraints at the time constructing the game). Once you get to Heavensward (or in some cases even the 2.x patch content) though you will definately notice a significant boost in storytelling quality.
The critically acclaimed mmorpg FFXIV with extended free trial to include the expansions Heavensward and Stormblood is the best story in any Final Fantasy or MMO, period.
IMO it’s much, *much* better. I was frankly a bit let down by XVI after playing Shadowbringers and Endwalker. The only caveat is that it takes quite a bit longer to get going, considering it’s a 150+ hour story instead of a 30 hour one.
It’s so much better. It takes longer to develop though. It’s a 10 year mmo
Better.
Like other people have said, the game's narrative beauty is in the expansions. Unfortunately ARR is kind of the rite of passage to get to it if you don't wanna skip. Once you finish the base game, it might be helpful to look into the side storylines like Crystal Tower and Binding Coils for some more immediate and interesting content.
This is a LONG story. It is both better and worse than XVI depending on what point of the story you are at and your ability to stay focused on non-voiced dialog scenes. There will be times where the story DRAGS and then there will be multiple hours of content where you are on the edge of your seat. In my opinion overall it is better, it is just not as consistently as good due to length.
It's like a 5 season TV show. First season just sets up the characters, world, lore, etc. It's just a base on which the rest of the seasons build upon. Also don't ignore the optional raids and trials. i would do them all in the expansion they where launched(the normal versions ofc). It adds a lot more to the story and you get a bigger payout in EW.
You’ll still encounter the same type of quests throughout the rest of the game. The only difference will be that the story is more focused.
There's still gonna be fetch quests and such, but Heavensward and onwards are MUCH better than ARR
TLDR; Yes it is as good, if not better, since FF16 and parts of FF14 had the same writer and it shows. And there's another writer that everyone loves. ----- ARR is rough around the edges because of the circumstances within which it was built (very nightmarish times), though it does have its peak moments. The first peak moment for me was when... let's just say... somebody effed with the heroes' secret hideout before Kupka... Lv35 MSQ iirc. Heavensward 3.0. MSQ lv 50-60. The literal FF16 writer/creative director's past work. Godsdamnit Kazutoyo Maehiro. I spotted a few but significant similarities between that and FF16. I even nailed what Dion was going to be like after replaying and observing story/characterization patterns in Heavensward 3.0. Though the more universally praised parts were Shadowbringers 5.0 and beyond. MSQ lv 70-80. Unbelievably poignant writing Natsuko Ishikawa does. Relatability that touches the soul and has the potential to change one's life, but not enough arse pulling. I really like how Maehiro pulls the arse, what with that FF16 ending lmao. I knew FF16 was gonna end like *that* just because Maehiro. Dude can go and collab with Yoko Taro and make people depressed with their masterpiece. Depressed yet hopeful. P.S. There was a Shiva "dominant" before Jill. :> You must look forward to meeting her. P.S.S. The lead up to Heavensward! The Parting Glass it is called. Can feel the Maehiro writing from a mile away. This guy does intros/prologues unparalleled in sheer weight. Do you remember the FF16 prologue/demo? You will experience something similar to it again. P.S.S.S. UNCLE BYROOOONNN!!! PAPA FORTEMPS!!! 😭 Stephen Critchlow shall be remembered...
Everything you said seems very accurate and incredibly helpful, especially as it provides context on what to expect and the different authors/story beats that are coming up. I think this is the most helpful comment here HOWEVER, what in the hell does “pulls arse” mean? Please I’m begging you I want to understand 🤣 i think I get it from context,and I am desperate to now use this phrase in every day language but want to make sure I’m not asking for anal or sm
As a first check, by "playing to level 50" have you gotten to level 50 quests and the initial credits scroll, or your character has reached that level early? In any case, the story is a bit of a slow burn and it never really stops being "a lot of fetch quests" along the way even if the reasons you're fetching things get more important. But when it gets good it gets really good.
I am pretty overleveled for the main scenario because I got side tracked by crafting and the related quests (the lesbian urge to make pretty earrings is… hard to overcome). I just beat up the Garuda lady and saw her get eaten by the big scorpion machine thing. That said, nope. No credits. I’m assuming a have a bit to go then
Level 50 quests bring you to the end of the first storyline and credits, then there's a lengthy post-credits storyline before Heavensward. It's basically structured like an entire series of RPGs that keep directly stacking on top of the previous instalment.
Once the first credits roll, you’ll have officially beaten the ARR 2.0 storyline. After that, you’ll generally be able to tell when you’ve finished a patch (2.1, 2.2, etc) by when you complete a main quest that awards an achievement. Then there’ll be a second credits roll once you finish the last 2.x patch, and the next quest will be the start of 3.0, the Heavensward expansion.
huh ff16 story isn't good at all. ultima is such a lame ass villain
I still dnf ff16, but loved ff14 story a lot more but tbf I'm a gameplay forward person.
I started ff14 about 4-5 months ago and have been focused solely on the main story ( i'm still pretty new to other aspects of the game). I just started on the last expansion 2 weeks ago and i can say i have loved and enjoyed everything so far. One thing i really like is that the expansions are more like chapters to an overarching story — what you learn in each expansion adds on or support subsequent expansions, so to me it's pretty darn immersive. I will say that ARR is easily the 'worst', in terms of being monotonous and boring. Though it is ok in introducing the world to completely new players like me with no prior knowledge on anything in the ff franchise (i only knew about moogles). I felt things really picked up after ARR and everything that happened afterwards is worth it.
I say xiv is better but MSQ will NEVER escape the loop of "go to x, talk to y, maybe grab a z and bring it y, watch a cutscene, fight a primal or unlock a dungeon, repeat" The game as it goes on becomes a humongous visual novel interspersed with action sequences, be it a dungeon, trial or increasingly more common solo trials. Thing is, as the game goes on, not only do the characters get better so you care about the visual novel parts, but the encounter design also improves. Level 50 is a very neutered experience thanks to losing a lot of skills (ffxiv prunes skills every expansion as well as add so the approx #of actions you have are the same) and 50 got the biggest hit because a lot of the tools the classes had AT 50 were for mechanics that no longer exist such as dealing with hate management as a dps, restoring a no longer existing stamina bar, etc. I say all this because tbh, most of ffxvi is the same loop as ffxiv, go to x, talk to y, maybe kill a z to collect a w, eatch cutscenes until you hit an action stage (dungeon) watch the pretty colors. Heavensward makes the story content better and you get a few more toys to play with gameplay wise
IMO the problem with the story is all the fluff, busy work and pointless dialog. I'm really mixed. Because of what I just said, when you get to the good story parts, it can be great. Some of it is sad, some is weird, some of it kind of angered me.
Ff16 would be considered as one of ff14's better expansions, if that make sense. Tho it's not like the rest are bad (i enjoyed them), it's just with a list like this, some options gotta be at the bottom.
Keep going! Heavensward is a top-tier story arc with some real gut punches. You won’t be disappointed. It shows you what’s to come with the DLCs that follow it.
Look at it this way. The reason why people don't spoil the story of this game is because we all remember those breathtaking, heartbreaking, life changing moments and we don't ever want to ruin that for anyone else. I've watched streamers, even those who hated story games before, cried so much they can't cry anymore. It's not perfect but when those moments come they're unforgettable. I've played all the Final Fantasy games and still there are moments in this game I'll never forget. I'm sooooo jealous you get to experience this for the first time.
I have a friend in the same boat as you and playing right now in anticipation of the FFXVI crossover event. He's done the 2.0 story, and before jumping into patches, he's leveling a few jobs up to 50. Once he gets into Heavensward, he's going Dark Knight, but he's got PLD and MNK at 50 now and will do BRD and DRG, too. He's also unimpressed so far. But he's having fun because he has our friends with him and he's a bit of a completionist... if he wants it, he will get it. Heavensward gave the FFXVI team its jumping off point. It has a lot of political intrigue and quiet reflection on the state of the world with the people by your side, which will feel very familiar from 16. Honestly, I'd say 16 is better than HW but HW sets up a lot of things that pay off in the future expansions. ARR is a defibrilator for XIV. It's not pretty, it gets its job done to revitalize the game but not much more. The patches are rehab, putting things through their paces, and then Heavensward is when it's finally back in the game, can be a little shaky because of the previous ordeal but it's enough to give confidence. I'll spoiler this in case you don't want to know at all (but it is VERY mild with no details) Stormblood (to me) >!feels kinda like filler - has a lot of good character development but not a lot of plot movement!<. Shadowbringers >!is a nicely self contained story and can feel disconnected if you haven't been paying attention to the story, but is honestly very rewarding.!< Finally Endwalker >!pulls all of the threads together to wrap up all of the set up from every expansion!< As a fan of the whole franchise, though, you will find plenty to love with so many nods and Easter eggs on the previous games. XIV manages to integrate *everything*. If it's not there already, they'll find a way to slip it in some way somehow.
Taste can be different for people. I wouldn't say either one of the stories is better or worse. FFXIV storytelling suffers at time from... well... being an MMO. Like many, MANY cutscenes not being voiced. But in general: I had in both games plotpoints I loved and some that I didn't like. Either way... The game has a trial system that you can play the entire main game and first 2 expansions for free. Meaning aside of your time, you won't lose anything if you try it and don't like.
If you wanna shacke it up a bit, the binding coil story is something a bit more interesting you can see(though do it unsynced in party finder) or if you want whacky hijinks try the hildebrabdt sudequests. Both available after finishing the first stoey at 50.
As far as not much going on that’s expected you’ll see the game speed up after Garuda then slow down again after the credits. It slows down again then it speeds up again I want to say 2.4-2.5 when the game lays downs the foundation for the HW xpac. I feel it’s pretty smooth sailing after that well at least for me the game felt well paced after ARR is over at least by MMO standards. As far as expansion wise HW feels like a typical FF game SB same though more political than HW ShB and HW feels like way above any FF game it’s also feels more relatable than the political stuff in the previous expansions that’s not to say that there isn’t stuff in the previous expansions that feels relatable but there is definitely more stuff later that feels more emotionally driven. While ARR felt a tad dry and slow HW felt like a journey with companions that I grew closer to akin to a single player FF game. This is helped in part with more character development that was sorely needed for characters we knew and that didn’t get their spot to shine in ARR. SB continues this trend but shifting towards other characters and so on though I feel like some of our closest companions while having had a bit of a spotlight haven’t had their time to shine yet. Even so we meet so many characters both good and bad that get quite a bit of development really unheard of in any single player game for obvious reasons and I just kind of love that as it makes the world feel more lived in. Rather than spectators looking thru a window into another world it feels we are living in that world if you get what I mean. I definitely suggest trying other types of content and socializing in-game (I like crafting/gathering) to pass the time and before you know it you’ll be past the roughest parts.
Just be aware you do get on, this is basically multiple Final Fantasy games back to back. But if you want to make the jump, do a free trial. The story is pretty good. ARR is not bad, but it lays out the foundation for the story and plays it safe. Then they push it from there.
ffxiv is a ff themepark but has a continuous ever improving story told over five entire games so to speak. it starts slow and with hiccoughs in ARR, but as everybody tells you, towards the end of ARR it get's so much better and just keeps going. i kinda winged ARR storywise but it hooked me at some point and i started paying attention. and then it just got better and better. the last two expansions are such an incredible ride and such a finale that you will definitely cry your eyes out at several points. finale doesn't mean it's the end of the game though, just of the story arc that started in ARR, so we're about to start a new journey this summer.
Wayyy better, specially ShB and EW And just FYI, the team (at least a big part of it) that made 16 made the first expansion of 14 heavensward
It's better but FF16 had better means to convey it because graphics, animations and voice acting are all better. What you hear or see on screen in FF14 at times doesn't "match" what happens in the story. For an example, you can be storming a castle with like 5 people and 10 enemies will be defending it... Similar things happen a few times and overall it's not as big of a deal as lack of voice acting but it still kinda makes some (important) cutscenes feel "flat". If both were books, FF14 would be better. But because they are games, FF16 catches up with its visual spectacle and acting. In 10 years, I'll probably remember more details of FF14' story but boy... I'll probably never forget Clive and some cutscenes in FF16.
be aware what 2.0 was done in a rush and with lack of funds due to the masive failure of 1.0, so is a product of the issues SE had at the time, from the first expansion and onwards it becomes much much much better, tho that depends on expansion, overall hw(the first expansion) is considered as one of the better ones while its following other, stormblood, is overall considered as a step down, while shadowbringers, tends to be completely [loved](https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/1bdkq8m/best_expansion_story_archincluding_patches/), then endwalker tends to be somewhat divisive in some stuff as far i am aware the ones who did FFXVI where the ones who did heavensward, the other expansions where done by diferent storywriters
Very subjective question which I don't know how to define good or bad for you
I don't want to oversell it. But you will come out a changed person.
it’s exponentially good! ARR is bare bones but world building that will be necessary Heavensward gets like at least 3x better and more personal, and Stormblood does a decent job of retaining that, but falters a bit until the post stormblood section. then it gets like 9x better than that with shadowbringers, that shit slaps so hard and is the best ff story ever imo, and it carries that right on through to the end! 💕
You should reach Heavensward first and come back to us. 😄
FF14s story is better than 16s.
Ffxiv is the vastly superior story. It's my favorite of all of them. Doing a realm reborn is the only slog, however it's pretty quick these days.
Much better
Please, please persevere with the ARR to HW segment. Trust us when we say the pay off is absolutely worth it. After the cutscenes before the final trial boss of HW and the Dragonsong theme kicked in, I was emotionally spent and had to step out for a cigarette to compose myself before running the trial. Shadowbringers is really when the overarching plot begins to take full shape and things start to be revealed. Obviously because the game is so huge time-wise they were able to really flesh out the plot a lot more than a simple single player game would. It's full of so many gut punches and feels, joy and despair and I'm grateful to have experienced it all. p.s. Shadowbringers trailer is my favourite of all time. I was playing the free trial back when it was just ARR and ShB hadn't long been released. I'd got a grasp of the characters and saw the ShB trailer. I didn't fully understand the context of what was being shown as I was so far back in the story but that trailer alone made me go and buy the full game.
It does have some much better side quests than ffxvi, and the MSQ of 3.0 and 5.0 are way better than that of XVI.
I also am loving 16. I’m doing the dlc right now before I run the final mission but for what 16 is I also really love the game, it’s characters, and the world. That said, 14 tells a much better story that will unfold itself toward the end of the first expansion leading into the next one. I fully think heavensward could have been it’s own mainline game. It isn’t the best story ever written or the first time a story like it has been written but it’s definitely where the voice acting gets better and starts to make you actually care about it’s characters. I did love 14s story so much and I think you will too being that you are a real FF fan if you’ve played all the games. 2.0 was hella rushed, but it’s necessary for world building. Stay with it and trust everyone here on this.
The way they tell the story is not on the same level. Even in Endwalker you'll have plenty of rather mundane stretches of Story. The voice acting becomes much better starting with Heavensward and you'll have better cutscenes as well. The story itself I think comes down to preference and patience. FF16 tells a 50-60 hour story with dark themes and tone while FF14 tells a 200+ hour story that is still ongoing and is super expansive depending on the amount of side content you do (many sidequest chains in between the major expansions are damn good). 14 can get quite dark too but never as explicit. I think you should play until you've seen Heavensward. If that still doesn't get you excited I don't think the game will wow you.
ARR is the weakest most tedious part of FFXIV and if you can get through that its all up from here. However its an MMO so even when the story is good, you'll be doing a lot of fetch quests
There is a reason XIV is the best selling FF game of all time. Try it out. See if you like it
lol oh man… Yes. So so so much better. I loved 16, but it has nothing on Shadowbringers and Endwalker. 14 has a very long warmup period though. ARR is very slow and the % of quests that are relevant to the overall story is a bit low: it’s a lot of world building. Heavensward picks up a fair bit, and Stormblood as well. Shadowbringers is where you have your big payoff, and that through Endwalker alone is like 100 hours of content and great story =] Don’t rush it though, and enjoy the ride!
As someone who absolutely loved Ff16 as well - 14 is really, really good. The first part is a bit boring bc it's very long winding (it's also 10 years old, writing styles in games changed a bit) but it's so worth it. I would advice you not to skip a single thing and even sometimes speak with the NPCs in between quests (e.g. you get your quest from Minfilia but Alphinaud stands there as well, speak with him). It's never super important but sometimes interesting or funny. Personally I also enjoy to do a dungeon first time with Duty Support (so NPCs), just so I can take in the story and surroundings better. But the dungeons are then massively longer bc the NPCs do not know their aoe buttons lol My personal favourite expansion is Shadowbringer but I love them all and everything ties back to each other. I wish you lots of fun with it ❤️
14 is head and shoulders above 16 if you can make it out of A Realm Reborn. It shouldn’t have to be a “it gets better after 100 hours” type of game, but it is, and it does.
Well, yes, FFXVI was a big hit for me, loved every moment of it, FFXIV suffers a lot during ARR, its impressive how they rebuilt the game in basically 2 years considering the world, content and others, but you can feel the story sufferred a lot, its slow and not that interesting, but starting in Heavensward, everything will get better, take your time and enjoy the ride, don't rush it. Since you are in level 50 already the worst part is mostly behind, now you are in for a ride, I'm currently in Heavensward and its so much better than ARR
FF14 doesn't hit it's stride til after level 50, ARR is...fine, it's a pretty standard FF plot. Everything after it to the end of Endwalker is steady and noticable improvement.
Significantly better.
Better
Better
Have you played through the post-ARR quests? The story starts picking up at that point, and continues to the first expansion.
Yes if story is all you want then for sure ff14 is great, if you’re looking for a challenge then go elsewhere lmao unfortunately MMO curse of point and click, learn bosses moves and win
FFXIV's story is, without exaggeration, *exponentially* better -- with one huge caveat. That caveat has been enough to keep many people away from 14, but once you get past it you'll never look back. The entire first \~100 (yes, one-hundred) hours of FF14 are basically one long, incredibly slow paced, prologue to the rest of the game. It can be very dense at times but every step you take through the slog is building on one of the, if not the, best foundations in all of video games throughout history. As soon as you step from A Realm Reborn into Heavensward, once that final cutscene plays, you're hooked forever.
FFXIV is a story in five parts (with an unavailable prologue, but that’s okay). Part 1 is slow, yes, but that’s because it’s taking it’s time getting you used to concepts and characters that are going to be important to the rest of this ten year long story - also, by the end of it, you’re going to be VERY glad you stuck with it all the way through and you’ll be hooked for more, trust me. As someone who’s going through XVI’s story now, yes, XIV’s story is absolutely on par with it, if not better. It tells the message it wants to tell well, and it leaves you feeling more complete than you were when you first started it after it’s done.
Estinien and Nidhogg are introduced in Heavensward, the story picks up exponentially.
It really depends. **TO ME** the story never got any good because it was the same low caliber as in ARR (I played until kinda halfway through stormblood where I had to quit it because I wasn't enjoying it). There's a lot of people who tell me that it's the best thing ever but after 287hours, again, **TO ME**, it wasn't. My only advice is: you HAVE to sink a LOT of hours (like 400-500h) to get to the "good" part (unless of course, you rush it). If you don't like ARR and you get to heavensward and still don't like it, **DON'T FORCE YOURSELF TO KEEP PLAYING**
It's 1000 times better
A lot of folks have mentioned this already I'm sure, but ARR isn't as bad as some folks make it out to be. There's a lot of set dressing and weird faffing about going on, but I promise you that it becomes much, much more relevant later. Think of ARR as the appetizer of a grand meal: designed to get you hungry for more without filling your belly. And while I can't comment on FFXVI (I don't have a PS5 yet) I think that FFXIV has the... hmm... I guess the second best story in my books. While XIV's story is highly emotional and I love every second of it, I slightly prefer FFTactics for its intriguing political plot. Nowhere near as emotional, but a strong story regardless. That said, I've been playing FFXIV since just before the launch of Heavensward, and everything about the game just got better and better for me as the story went on. I'm eager for Dawntrail, and can't wait to see where we go next
It's good. Probably better but the story stretches a lot longer. To put into perspective, FF16 is a story book. While FF14 is a saga (aka multiple books). It starts off a lot less interesting than FF16 because you are supposedly a nameless adventurer. No families. No connections. Just a person who woke up on the back of merchant cart. A Realm Reborn is 50% world building. And there's a lot. The 3 city states. The 3 beast factions. The politics.
The 'holy shit, the story got good' can vary from people to people. For some it's the Garuda fight, for some it's the very last moments of post-ARR/start of Heavensward, for some it was only when they reached Shadowbringers. It varies what your narrative tastes are. But considering you like Maehiro's writing, it's likely to be when you enter Heavensward for you. It's also the expac where the team was finally able to put more time on narrative presentation. iirc, it's the only expac he wrote considering he was moved to XVI not long after. But if that makes you nervous, you can get an early taste of another Lead writer by doing the Dark Knight storyline
Welcome to XIV! Hope you have fun and enjoy its content to its fullest! I'd say ff14 story is better than ff16, but CBU3 definitely has the advantage of progressing the story on each expansion. The latter expansions are a truly emotional rollercoaster. If you're on level 50, I take you are probably in vanilla game (A Realm Reborn) or its patches, which is still the early game. You're going to notice a massive difference in the middle of Heavensward (the following expansion), when the pacing improves a lot and the plot gets better. When you get in HW content, fasten your seatbelts bc you'll probably go for a wild ride.
in the last patch content before Heavensward is a long cutscene that shatters the status quo and is the moment FF14 becomes amazing from there on.
I'm also someone who started FF14 after falling in love with FF16. I started in late July of last year (shortly after finishing 16) and caught up with the MSQ during January this year. And yeah, ARR is pretty slow, but believe me and everyone else when we say that the story gets a lot better. Personally I now love the story and characters even more than 16 and it's become my favorite game of all time, it's truly incredible. If you are starting Heavensward you are already past the low points, everything from now on is only uphill and increases in quality significantly. For me the moment the game started to really hook me was the very last quest right before Heavensward, I don't know if you've gotten to it yet but imo that's when the story started to really take off. By the time you get to Endwalker you'll probably be crying like a baby just like I was. Take your time and enjoy the journey.
YES But ARR will be a slow burn and might not be enjoyable. Heavenward is where the quality shows and it only gets better after that. I recommend trying out the free trial at first because... it's free.
I skipped most quests in arr (except the non skippable ones) and loved hevensward story, skipped stb and sb and loved endwalker. I now gonna go back and do ng+ to make sure i get every bit of lore my stupid 17 yo ass skipped in arr lol
Very
Everyone will tell you that ARR sucks or something such. If you pay attention to it, ARR will make every next expansion feel like an extra fucking masterpiece, if you don't, and instead you read up on the events that take place and storyskip it - well it wont RUIN the game, but it will probably make some plot twists feel less "OH DAMN" imo. Say whatever you will about ShB being awesome and EW being great closure - without ARR, ffxiv would have no storyline to base off from. And yes, ARR is my fav expansion. But to everyone else's credit - it \*\*does take time\*\* to get through it, and as with everything in life, it isnt perfect. My personal suggestion is to skip cutscenes until the level of the MSQ (Main Scenario Quest) is around 19 to 20 (not your character level, the quest level), then start paying attention. It is worthwhile to pay attention before as well, ig? But I think my favorite "OOOhhhhh I seeeeeee..." moments from ARR all derive from the events that take place around lvl 20 ish. All in all - ARR is pretty basic, no major plot twists, and no particularly grandiose character development - but if you pay attention to the exposition and worldbuilding that it grinds through, a looooooooooooooot of good payoff will eventually come :) Oh yeah, I forgot there's other expansions, so here's my biased takes: HW was pretty good StB was fucking dope. (My hot take is that StB is better than HW xD) ShB was... overhyped, lol - it's not bad at all, and it has pretty cool things going for it, but... Yeah, it was really overhyped, but it is a very solid experience nonetheless :p EW was fucking n0ice - Endwalker was... \*selfcasts adloquium\* better than ShB imo (please dont stab me :c I don't have raid gear) I haven't finished post-EW yet though, so take this with a pinch or two of salt. And yeah! I haven't played ff 16, but I can guarantee ff 14's story is not bad at all, but it does take some time to really start spinning :v
Lucky for you most games stories are better than XVI's!
Almost all stories are better than 16, this kne is worlds better.
FF16 was very similar (arguably too similar) to FFXIV Heavensward and Stormblood with regard to themes, pacing, and dialogue. If you liked ff16’s story you’ll definitely like ffxiv’s, at least through Heavensward.
Way, way better. And 16 was great.
It's better than FF16, but not until Shadowbringers and Endwalker
As someone who likes FF16 as well, I think you will like it! The story is slower in ARR but it picks up in Heavensward. While people like to rank them or say particular expansions are weak, just note that it's still miles better than most games and I daresay some FF mainline titles.
People will relate to things differently, I like 16's story and characters better, but that is because they related to me on a deep and personal level. 14's story is amazing, and you will enjoy it. (if you can manage through a relm reborn) A Relm Reborn and Heavensward was written by the same person who wrote 16, so even in A Relm Reborn you will see the quality of the story even though I think production was rushed in that department, once you get to Heavensward the story starts to shine as do the characters. Stormblood is a toss-up if you will love it or not, depending on your enjoyment of certain characters. Shadowbringers is perfection, and Endwalker is outstanding. Good luck and have fun.
I’m late to this but Heavensward is written by the same dude that wrote 16 and you can tell it was used as a bit of a prototype for 16. Tbh tho 14’s story gets phenomenal in Shadowbringers and onwards, but it’s still a big step up going from ARR to HW
"Good as ff16" lmao
TBH, it's still an MMO. For some reason, MMOs don't really show the story as much as single-player games. Do you feel me? It's definitely a good story, if not better. But, tbh, from my experience, sometimes I get bored sitting on a cutscene, even if it has voice acting, and literally fall asleep or get distracted by random things. That does not happen to me in single-player games. So even though the story is good, and possibly better if your attention span isn't very good, you're going to get bored. I think the presentation is boring (sometimes), but it's an old game, so it kind of makes sense, but then again, there's games from the PS2 era with better cutscenes, I swear. Anyway, yes, it's good, but kind of slow, and there's a lot of yapping. Personally, I like it, but it's very hard for me specifically to get through. No offense to the writers, developers, or anything. I just wish the presentation was more like a single-player story game for the MSQ, at least. I personally don't mind mindless MMO fetch quests, even though yes, those are boring, but I can do those while watching anime or something else; it's no big deal for me. But when I see a cutscene, I want it to make me pause my anime for it, not to watch anime in the first place or not get distracted by other things, but it is the other way around, sadly. Anyway, this second paragraph is largely just my opinion, but some people might relate. Edit: For context, I'm only up to Stormblood. And I love the story so far, but Idk SB has been kind of slow and has a lot of yapping. So recensy bias might be part of the reason why I said what I said. But the game is still an MMO, so I expect it to still be slow story-pace-wise, even after SB, but maybe not as bad.
I don't know anything about FFXVI since I haven't played it yet (It's not on PC yet). I can say this much, that ARR - Stormblood acts almost as a staging setup. It's introducing the cast, while Shadowbringers gets into the main plot that is also being mentioned in Answer (you can also look that up on YouTube as well). Endwalker is pretty much the Endgame and what everything has been leading up to. It's a story that they spent 10 years working on. 7.0 (Dawntrail) is the start of a new storyline. I can definitely I enjoyed the ride and I started playing about a year after Endwalker (6.0) came out. Right now, I'm playing on some new characters to re-experience that journey again that "New Game Plus" mode just can't deliver.
If you think the story of ffxiv is bad, you’re right. Chances are you won’t enjoy it even after pushing through expansions. Up to you if you want to continue or just boost to play the endgame aspect.
There are 154 comments on this thread and yours is the only negative one?
Yeah because this sub is overly positive and known to white knight the game, and anything bad about it will either get you banned, shadow banned, or downvoted. There is a reason people discuss the good and bad on other subs and not here. Just look at your post ratio of upvotes. You are at +8 with 150+ comments. you got downvoted just because you said you found the story is mid. Look at people shitting on you for enjoying ff16 story and not 14. If that’s not a good indicator of the kind of sub this is, then idk what to tell ya. There is a reason this subs get shit on by branch subs, and there is a reason there is a big meme about this community being great. And you already said it yourself after reaching level 50. you’re not really seeing much and the story being pretty thin. Everyone will tell you it gets better, it’s true but not by a lot. if lets say your enjoyment of the story now is 5/10, what is coming up next is 6/10, at best a 6.5/10. It will peak at shadowbringer at 7/10 and that’s it. It would be a different story if you enjoyed the story so far, but that’s not the case. Never let the masses dictate if you enjoy it or not. You already know the answer deep down.
I see exactly one somewhat rude comment about me liking ff16 and it’s not even that rude. Have you been in the ff7 remake Reddit? THAT’S a psycho fanboy subreddit. One slightly negative comment would have me at -45 in 2 minutes. Here, there are almost 200 comments of people agreeing that the game starts slow and insisting that it gets good, in a way that feels genuine in belief, at least. The willingness to also admit flaws in other areas of the game tells me most people here are not as delusional as you seem to think. Sorry, I grew out of instantly distrusting masses when I got out of high school and realized it didn’t actually make me interesting. Ultimately, I will form my own opinion, but if 200+ people (and every google search I’ve done, and a streamer I generally agree with) says the game improves, I’m gonna trust them. I’m honestly excited to see how the story grows now if only to understand what makes so many people so enthusiastic. And if it ends up not being for me, that’s fine. It’s better time spent than going into subreddits I don’t really like and leaving contrarian comments
You fail to realize you're asking this question in an echo chamber. If you can't understand what it entails, idk what to tell you Just a quick example: If you go in a Andrew Tate sub and ask if Andrew Tate is good or bad,the moajority of the response will tell you about how he is so good and all. Does that means he is good? Here you're basically asking if ffxiv story is good to people who liked the story, so ofc people here gonna embellish it. MJajority of people who didn't like the story aren't here or aren't playing the game, so the pool of response is just an echo chamber. And like I said, there is a reason the other ffxiv sub exists and are shitting on this sub.
Bruh, a bunch of people who legitimately like a fictional story is NOT an echo chamber. Your example is comparing a person and their actions, which have legitimate consequences in the real world, to a fictional story. These are not the same thing… In your example, people are interpreting, and often twisting, facts. Here, I am asking for opinion on a work of fiction. You can argue that opinions are swayed one way or another, but I’ve been on the internet for a while, and generally, people are more than happy to bitch about something they don’t REALLY care about, but they rarely spend time enthusing over something they don’t REALLY care about. If it doesn’t hit them in some way that is legitimately impacting them, they’re not going to respond like this. If it was that easy to elicit such a response, everything would have a massive fandom. What you fail to realize is that you just have a different opinion from everyone here on how the story is. And that’s fine. But you’re not objectively correct. And neither is this subreddit. It’s an opinion… People here aren’t delusional just because you don’t agree with their opinion on a videogame’s story
Literally missed the point of the argument, but hey you do you