Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Review

00:00:06.770Final Fantasy 14 heavens ward is a

00:00:09.660strong example of what the leveling

00:00:11.580content for an MMORPG expansion should

00:00:14.250be in an unusual turn of events for an

00:00:16.980MMO one of the chief attractions of

00:00:19.109playing heavens ward is experiencing

00:00:21.180it's roughly 60 hours story this tale

00:00:24.060isn't just good for an MMO it's the best

00:00:26.760from the entire Final Fantasy series in

00:00:29.279more than a decade

00:00:39.130it starts immediately on the heels of

00:00:41.500where a realm reborn story left off and

00:00:43.600quickly elevates into an HBO worthy tale

00:00:46.390of betrayal and redemption wrapped up in

00:00:49.240one of the finest tales about dragons in

00:00:51.880any media of course this great narrative

00:00:54.730strength rests on the audience knowing

00:00:56.590the relationship between T final fantasy

00:00:58.84014 characters and their changes in

00:01:01.420attitude over time and the square-enix

00:01:03.820makes the questionable decision to

00:01:05.860require a full playthrough of all of a

00:01:08.380Rumer Bourne story before you can even

00:01:10.150see the new heavens board content it's a

00:01:12.790little jarring by MMO standards for

00:01:14.920players who might be returning to play

00:01:16.479heavens ward after putting Final Fantasy

00:01:18.43014 aside for a few months but if you're

00:01:20.890starting from scratch it's a smooth ramp

00:01:22.900up to the heavens Ward's story

00:01:29.350less wisely square-enix also gates the

00:01:32.290three new jobs behind the roughly 16

00:01:34.689hours of level 50 story content it makes

00:01:37.900some sense to restrict access to the

00:01:39.909Dark Knight machinist and Astro Jian

00:01:42.040from a lore perspective but that means

00:01:44.290that players who specifically returned

00:01:46.149for the new jobs will have to put off

00:01:48.220leveling them for a few hours and then

00:01:50.770they'll have to level them without the

00:01:52.630truckloads of XP they would have gotten

00:01:54.580from the story quests that's a shame

00:01:56.799especially since they're all quite fun

00:01:58.869even though they're only slight

00:02:00.369variations on existing jobs even so once

00:02:03.759I arrived in heavens Ward's new and

00:02:05.800diverse realms of ishgard and drove a

00:02:07.929Nia the dramatic shift from the zones

00:02:10.149we've seen so far impressed me whether

00:02:12.459it's mountains with dizzying summits

00:02:14.230gothic spires that touch the heavens or

00:02:16.569strange landscapes where rocks hover

00:02:18.550about like clouds heavens ward is full

00:02:21.430of visual surprises this is a landscape

00:02:24.340that's made for flying through on the

00:02:26.290new black chocobo mounts and square

00:02:28.330antics cleverly treats the attractive

00:02:30.489freedom as a reward by making us gather

00:02:32.650items through exploration and quests

00:02:35.110before we can unlock flying for specific

00:02:37.299zones when you finally do unlock flight

00:02:39.940all that effort makes the achievement

00:02:42.040feel all the more meaningful

00:02:48.879heavens Ward's chief law is a variation

00:02:52.010of the one that affected a realm reborn

00:02:53.860here as before the latter levels of the

00:02:56.900leveling journey get bogged down in

00:02:58.580grindy on fulfilling quest content in

00:03:01.760the past it was a Rumer borns over

00:03:04.370reliance on dynamic fate events for the

00:03:06.980final push but here it's an excess of

00:03:09.349dull bite-sized side quests that are

00:03:12.170meant to fill in the large XP gaps

00:03:14.330between story quests between levels 55

00:03:17.150and 60 fates themselves are now barely

00:03:19.790worth doing because of their

00:03:20.870comparatively small rewards these

00:03:23.480stretches are so dull in fact that's

00:03:25.310simply running the same level

00:03:26.900appropriate dungeons over and over with

00:03:29.360a more enjoyable way of earning XP that

00:03:32.420speaks to the strengths of Final Fantasy

00:03:34.09914 group-oriented dungeon and trial

00:03:37.040design each of the tough boss fights is

00:03:39.500fun and most require specific strategies

00:03:42.049to overcome Square Enix shows that it

00:03:44.629doesn't shy away from challenging fights

00:03:46.430by sticking one just a couple of levels

00:03:48.379into the new content it's required to

00:03:51.170advance the story which might make some

00:03:52.940solo players wince but the duty finder

00:03:55.040makes teaming up relatively painless and

00:03:57.410it serves as a welcome reminder that

00:03:59.780overcoming challenges with other people

00:04:01.790is a part of the genres whole appeal

00:04:09.970Final Fantasy 14 heavens Ward doesn't

00:04:13.010make sweeping changes to a realm reborn

00:04:15.590aside from new jobs and flying mounts

00:04:18.140but the outstanding story it tells and

00:04:21.019new lands we visit reinvigorate the

00:04:23.480adventure and demonstrate why Final

00:04:25.490Fantasy 14 is one of the best mmo's out

00:04:28.610there not every side quest is a winner

00:04:31.280but the exemplary journey to the new

00:04:33.440level cap is a model for all other MMO

00:04:36.500expansions to follow for more on Final

00:04:39.200Fantasy 14 you're already in the right

00:04:41.240place IGN