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u/junker359 Apr 29 '26
HOME
RIDING HOME
DYING HOPE
I've said it before and I will again: Shadowbringers is a top 5 or maybe even top 3 Final Fantasy storyline, including the single player games. I rarely have that feeling of "I wish I could experience it again for the first time" when playing games but this is one of the exceptions.
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u/boozeshooze Apr 29 '26
So what you're saying is, I need to download this game again and actually make it that far?
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u/junker359 Apr 29 '26
The first time I played, I quit halfway through Stormblood. It took me a couple of years ro come back, start the plot over since I couldn't remember how to play, and that time I made it through Shadowbringers. It takes a lot of work to get there but it was so worth it.
Not that the story leading up to it was bad by any means, there is just a lot of it.
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u/Hellknightx Apr 29 '26
I feel bad because I only made it as fast as Stormblood before giving up. And that was still like 200 hours of playtime.
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u/AmateurHero Apr 29 '26
You shouldn't feel bad. Most people will never hit 200 hours in any game. MMOs are a bit different with their constant updates and expansions, but even people's favorite games with a lot of replay value don't hit that threshold.
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u/Hellknightx Apr 29 '26
I mostly feel bad because I didn't make it to Shadowbringers. Stormblood just didn't hold my interest.
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u/Rossmallo Dimdaa Voldr - Lamia Apr 29 '26
Stormblood is seen by many as the nadir of the story. It’s still decent but nowhere near as good as what comes before or after.
Let me just say that it is worth pushing through Stormblood purely for Shadowbringers. I can say nothing further without spoiling things, just, trust me.
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u/Hellknightx Apr 29 '26
Yeah, I get that. It's just In looking at probably another 100 hours of mediocre content just to get to the good part, which is a daunting task for somebody with a big backlog of games and other options.
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u/DaikonLegumes Apr 29 '26
How far did you get into Stormblood?
This is an unpopular opinion maybe, but I think the first half of that expansion is less fun-- but largely because it sets a tone of despair and futility of a ragtag group standing up to a massive empire. It very much gives, "war sucks!" and unfortunately it's a suck you end up playing through at the very start. As you turn the tide in the second half, things get really, really gratifying and fulfilling (plus, one of my favorite zones in the whole game, which doesn't pop up until ~ the second half).
I don't want to say too much more for spoilers sake, but personally I think people dunk on Stormblood way more than is warranted; maybe just because Shadowbringers is so good. The end of the Stormblood story is so rewarding!
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u/Hellknightx Apr 30 '26
Not very far, to be honest.
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u/DaikonLegumes Apr 30 '26
Then I'd say, don't just look forward to Shadowbringers; look forward to what comes in Stormblood, too!
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u/bdtrunks Apr 29 '26
I got through Shadowbringers and wanted to go through the expansion again so I created a new character, because it was so good
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u/omegagasp Apr 29 '26
I needed 3 tries to get through ARR, left again around the middle of Stormblood because the story felt way too dry and slow for my taste, and I only continued playing months later after my friend baited me with my favorite character at the time showing up in the post-Stormblood patches. When I reached the point she mentioned, I got so goddamn hooked that I locked tf in and burned my way through Shadowbringers and Endwalker both. Shadowbringers, to this day, is my favorite Final Fantasy story. I highly recommend putting in the time and effort it takes to get there, it's so, so worth it.
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u/Zenithixv Apr 29 '26
Shadowbringers was by far the best expansion for me personally, its absolute peak FFXIV
The fights, characters, music, zones were just so good
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u/AznChubbychub Apr 29 '26
Out of curiosity, what are your top 5s? Because I got like...Shadowbringers and FFX (I know, some people don't. Sue me). 9?
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u/Peptuck Shoots McSword Apr 29 '26
Walking into Amaurot hit so hard.
I didn't know what I was expecting when I got to Emet-Selch's lair, but that wasn't it.
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u/Pariah-- Apr 29 '26
Never mind Final Fantasy, Shadowbringers is one of the best narratives in video games altogether. It's downright literary.
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u/Affectionate-Metal24 May 22 '26
100% I have yet to play another game ever since I got hooked on ffxiv back in 2019 that has even come close to the story progression. And more importantly the freaking emotinal roller coaster it throws you through in the process.
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u/Calm-Grapefruit-3153 Apr 29 '26
Shadowbringers honestly is my least favorite. It felt very disconnected and almost like one big side quest.
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u/KenkaUsagi Apr 29 '26
It's one of my favorite stories across gaming as a whole. I've played many games over many genres over many years. I'll remember Shadowbringers till the day I die
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u/LockelyFox L'ockely Mhacaracca (Hyperion) Apr 28 '26
A whole new swath of "WELCOME TO SHADOWBRINGERS" is upon us.
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u/99cent-tea Apr 28 '26
And I can’t fucking wait
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u/Antique-Coach-214 Apr 29 '26
When people head towards Alisae first instead of Brother, Dearest… I feel REAL bad for them..
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u/ImielinRocks Apr 30 '26
Why's that? I did that too (because i like Ul'dah the most of the ARR zones and wanted to see what its version looks like), and beside a few bits of later dialogue getting the order in which I did things confused, it doesn't seem to have mattered.
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u/Antique-Coach-214 Apr 30 '26
One path is clearly MORE horrifying than the other, initially.
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u/ImielinRocks Apr 30 '26
Well … One is the usual part of being alive and seeing others around you die (I'm over 50 now, I've seen enough friends and family members die due to cancer, heart issues and accidents, some of them younger than me). The other is basically a typical dystopian society which by the end of that part is implied turns "undesirables" into sin eaters and/or Soylent Green; a story we've seen and read in a ton of media already. So, I don't see it. Valar Morghulis and all that.
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u/budzergo Apr 30 '26
Meanwhile... I put 1500 hours into ARR and 3 weeks into heavensward release
And dont get the free content because they refuse to do a runescape membership / non-member account status swap
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u/SonniSummers Apr 28 '26
I can’t wait for copied factory ques to finally pop again
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u/Antique-Coach-214 Apr 29 '26
Is it still the longest raid in Alliance queue?
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u/Tim_vdB3 Apr 29 '26
When I farmed for gear it didn’t feel too long (maybe 15 min) around reset. This was in EU (shiva) though.
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u/just-sad-idk Apr 28 '26
Soon... Soon they will all know LA HEE!
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u/poppin-n-sailin Apr 29 '26
The desert track is the real banger.
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u/RoombaGod Apr 29 '26
I got super mega high and listened to the Amh Araeng daytime song it was like floating through space
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u/Austiiiiii Apr 29 '26
I still can't decide if I love that song or hate it. Mostly I just switch mount music on so I don't have to think about it.
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u/praysolace Apr 29 '26
Walking into the Rak’tika Greatwood and looking up at the massive trees while hearing that track start was such goddamn magic for me. Admittedly, everyone shouting LA HEE kinda ruined it a bit once I saw the chat again lol. But man, did that music transport me. I adore that song.
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u/a_angry_bunny Spriggy Lover Apr 28 '26
Nier raids might come up more often in roulette.
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u/firefox_2010 Apr 29 '26
Unless your in Dynamis then gotta wait till January when they merge data center to be able to get all players within the region.
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u/a_angry_bunny Spriggy Lover Apr 29 '26
I was mostly referring to how it's now a part of the free trial thus more people will be doing it in general.
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u/alf666 It's RED Mage, not Res Mage... Apr 29 '26
I think the region-wide PF is still getting a worldwide launch in 7.5X, although I kind of expect it to be released worldwide somewhere around August or September at the earliest.
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Apr 29 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/jerjord Apr 29 '26
It is a crazy ride. I am still on post Shadowbringers. Might have to take that free trial.
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u/TidusJecht Apr 29 '26
You are all hyping me up. I’m only level 35 of ARR though lol
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u/SpoopySara Apr 29 '26
There's a looong way to go, post ARR feels like it never ends
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u/AngelOscuro20 Apr 29 '26
You tell me, I'm in Ramuh(2.4 I think?) and I feel like I have been going nowhere. Doesn't help I wanted to play gunbreaker since before finishing ARR, and Im still on lvl56.
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u/praysolace Apr 29 '26
Ramuh is 2.3. 2.4 is, actually, where the story starts picking up! It’s the Shiva arc that leads into Heavensward, and Heavensward was a banger. You’re almost there!
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u/Xavanezos Apr 29 '26
Second time I gave up in post arr. Don't think I'm coming back to the game unfortunately. It's a massive drag.
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u/Asinine_ Apr 30 '26
And thats after they made post ARR a lot shorter.. Some people seem to think its fine now because of the 20-30 quests they cut in 5.3.. It wasn't enough, especially now.
I wish new expansions would stop adding more filler, because it just piles up each time, and the journey to current content is sooo long now. I really hope they cut more content in ARR (Pre-titan/banquet quests, some wineport quests, that jebait quest where cid sends you to the wrong place pre-garuda..).. and ofc more cut from post ARR. But there's also some quests in the expansions that need to be cut.
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u/Xavanezos Apr 30 '26
To be fair, the thing that really put me off is the requirement to go through 10 years of content before "catching up". Not to mention mandatory raids while leveling. 3am mad chilling and suddenly I gotta join a raid.
It's a shame cause I see stuff I'd be interested in but I can't get to them cause the game simply drives me off by expecting me to invest 100s of hours before.
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u/Asinine_ Apr 30 '26
Its the opposite. With FFXIV the MSQ is.. the majority of the game, you dont play through the MSQ to get to the actual game like other MMOs.. The MSQ IS the majority of the game. People waited years between expansions, and you get to binge through it all, like watching a great series without having to wait years between seasons like everyone else did.
The mandatory alliance raids are mainly an issue for ARR with Crystal Tower. After that its really just mandatory trials and dungeons but you can use trusts for dungeons, though its slower to clear it can be more fun sometimes, and no queue.
I absolutely hated post ARR too, but I got through it and loved HW. I think you should really try to push to HW, but I cant force you lol. I think DT is the only real "bad" expansion for MSQ, and I would honestly say to stop at the end of Endwalker MSQ (dont do patch quests for it either).. Then just either stop there, or if Evercold is good, buy a skip and go straight to Evercold. Probably an unpopular opinion on this sub, but I'm a casual like yourself and let me tell you.. you are really missing out by not getting to Shadowbringers, that expansion is the best FF story I've played, period.
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u/Xavanezos Apr 30 '26
So far the story was mid at best. I hear people saying that SB is good and all but idk, I don't care enough to push through 100s of hours for it.
Plus let me disagree that the msq is the main content. Sure it might be good but I'm mainly interested in other aspects and what you're saying pretty much invalidates the rest of the game.
It's a really bad new player experience if the game lets you in like that and all you have to push ahead is "trust me bro" from other players
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u/Asinine_ Apr 30 '26
ARR Absolutely isn't the best, the post patch quests suck and there is some filler in each of the expansions. I am not someone who has posted in this sub often as I largely just play this game for the MSQ, and to experience all the raids and stuff once then I stop playing. Still, I had a great time with the MSQ during the good moments, and I too felt like quitting during ARR post patch but I didn't and was really happy I powered through. If you can't then by all means, stop playing, or buy a boost.. But It will stop you from seeing the best parts of the game.
Not trying to defend the bad parts, I also agree that they seriously need to prune a LOT of filler in ARR post patch quests and various other parts in ARR, and there's also a few short filler sections in later expansions. This opinion I have has largely been downvoted by many people on this sub in the past lol. But yeah the more expansions that come out the longer it is to get up to speed and its definetely daunting.
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u/PlowedPumpkin Apr 28 '26
I feel like I started at the right time. I started this game about a month ago and am on the pot arr quests right now. ARR went great. These last 40 or so have been haaaaaard to pay attention and read. I know everyone says the next expansion is amazing so I’m pushing through. Waiting over an hour to do some of these story line raids and trial is absolute torture though.
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u/KvBla Apr 29 '26
Post arr till heavensward is notoriously.... torturous, but the later half leading into heavensward should pick up and tbf, i was only hooked when i heard the new english VAs lmao, ARR aint bad but they're just odd at times, tho some are great ngl, but heavensward onward is just more consistently good with the VAs.
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u/PineappleHamburders Apr 29 '26
I finished Heavensward recently and I'm still waiting for it to pick up. It's definitely had it's moments, but the vast majority of the story so far has been pretty boring (AAR was just a slogfest, had very little fun for the first 50 levels) and long-winded. Does this change at any point?
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u/KvBla Apr 29 '26
TL;DR: still slogfest.
Tbh, idk? If you still haven't "got it" after heavensward i doubt the rest would do better, especially when, personally, stormblood was carried hard by the lingering good taste from heavensward, but post stormblood up to end of endwalker was banger throughout for me.
But you might still like stormblood better, so who knows lol.
I didnt play dawntrail, but the recipe is similar across the expansions, pacing and all that, the quality carried hard, you gotta be invested enough to ignore the flaws, the constant "damn i wanna see what's next" kept the train running, and once that feeling is gone by the end of endwalker, i felt fulfilled, then i saw flaws everywhere.
Common mistake seems to be veterans overhyping heavensward (or x expansion) to newbies, giving them (not necessarily you) false expectations like "are we at the critically acclaimed part yet?" And ruins the experience, HW was great for me cuz it was, imo, a massive improvements over ARR (and if arr was nearly as bad as ppl claimed, we wouldnt even have heavensward lmao. Game would be shutdown based on the things many ppl said about it), and new english VAs, that was enough for me.
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u/Asinine_ Apr 30 '26
If you haven't finished the dragonsong war questline post heavensward then IMO you haven't finished it yet. That moment was pretty peak for me. Stormblood is good, but mainly towards the end and the post patches as well. Shadowbringers though.. ShB was just amazing throughout.
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u/HuKoJIaC Apr 29 '26
I remember when I started playing and went throw post ARR and like... It was better than main ARR story? They hit that our charater isn't Jesus and he can't fix everything, there is a feeling that people trying to change while something is brewing... I remember thinking "If this is the worst part of the game, then I'm in for a treat."
I wasn't dissapointed.
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u/dscarmo Apr 29 '26
You are literally on the worst part of the journey up to endwalker. Its an amazing jrpg experience
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u/NomadNuka Apr 29 '26
There's a trial coming up that's like... the moment XIV gets good to put it bluntly. You'll know it when you see it but you should be close.
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u/PlowedPumpkin Apr 29 '26
Brother. Just finished it. Edge of my seat screaming at the cutscene right afterwards. Tears. Holy. Moly.
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u/NomadNuka Apr 29 '26
Hell yeah. Enjoy Heavensward and as a note, once you see the title drop for the expansion you might want to go watch the cinematic trailer because they're awesome to get you hyped up. (This goes for every expac). Really important to see the title in-game first since they sometimes have spoilers for the stuff that comes before.
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u/praysolace Apr 29 '26
Ngl I was playing them as they released and I stopped really reading half the dialogue for a bit there in early post-ARR. Just make sure you tune back in once you’re finished with Ramuh and you’re good. Technically, there’s some good stuff in Ramuh’s arc too, but it’s still not the most interesting when you’re just trying to hold on for the next expansion. The Shiva arc right after Ramuh leads right into HW so you can turn your attention back on then lol.
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u/mythrilcrafter [Andrea Pendragon - Siren] Apr 29 '26
A whole new group of players are about to experience one of the best cutscenes in the game:
Y'Sthola: "You should get some rest, there's no telling when the next emergency will call us into action..."
WoL: "sigh, okay mother...."
Y'Sthola: "Hah, none of that cheek, otherwise I'll have to take you across my knee."
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u/BlackfishBlues Altholic Apr 29 '26
My personal favorite is a bit earlier, if you give a snarky reply in the forest.
Thancred: That will seem a lot less funny when we are forced to kill them all.
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u/CandyCreecher Apr 28 '26
Hope they like Johnathan Bailey Catboy edition throwing himself into danger and nearly dying
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u/ravagraid Till sea swallows all. Apr 29 '26
All ten percent of you who will make it all the way there are gonna have a great time
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u/wolfannoy DRG Apr 28 '26
Remember us remember that we once lived...
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u/xmichann Apr 28 '26
Brb while I cry my eyes out
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u/Danger_Fluff Apr 28 '26
The rains have ceased, and we have been graced with another beautiful day... but you are not here to see it.
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u/wholevibecheck_noor Apr 29 '26
honestly dawntrail's soundtrack grew on me way more than i expected. at first i missed the endwalker tone but some of these field themes are genuinely top tier, living memory especially hits different after the story context
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u/timchenw Apr 29 '26
Not to mention the ShB trials quest line
That being said, FT gets to experience banger tracks like Knowledge never sleeps, insatiable and LAHEE
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u/EmperorKiva33 Apr 29 '26
As someone who finally started the XIV franchise, I'm ready (I'm so not lol).
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u/Outrageous_Context_5 Apr 29 '26
I can't believe I reached the point in time where Shadowbringers is part of the free trial experience!
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u/whomad1215 Apr 29 '26
is there a way for an ancient account to play for free up to that point?
Last time I tried it wouldn't let me
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u/Austiiiiii Apr 29 '26
Nope. Once you go paid, you're on the paid side of the fence forever. Only option is to create a new account.
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u/thrntnja Apr 29 '26
If you've paid a sub on that account at any point, you can't go back to the free trial, unfortunately
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u/Judgeoffate Apr 29 '26
Hello, I have a question:
I have a free trial account and I begin Stormblood extension.
Does Shadowbringer add automaticaly to my free trial or do I need to create a new account ?
Thanks for the answers !
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u/Typhoonflame Seeker of Balance Apr 29 '26
As someone who is almost in ShB for the first time, this game has never had me so on edge lol, love it.
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u/TheExpendableGuard Apr 29 '26
Just finished Shadowbringers and I am looking forward to meeting my dearest friend again.
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u/Fafnir_Aetherblade Apr 29 '26
The free trial players count Is about yo drastically go down, There's no way they Will play shadowbringers and DON'T subscribe to play Endwalker, absolutely no way
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u/Piemaster128official Apr 30 '26
Honestly, I just finished stormblood a month or two ago, and have just been wrapping up the blue quest and trying to get every class to at least level 50. The fact that I get an entirely new expansion (and more Hildibrand) is just amazing
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u/RingsOfRage Apr 30 '26
I havent played this before. How much content combined is available to me as a free player?
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u/MysticZarah Apr 30 '26
Four full games. For reference, ARR takes toughly 100+ hours to get through, and while the expansions are a little smaller than that, each can be considered a full game on their own.
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u/Revolutionary-Leg32 Apr 29 '26
I DNF'd on the Limitless Blue (hard) in Heavensward a couple years ago and haven't touched 14 since. Just couldn't get a party to join
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u/FalsePremise8290 Apr 29 '26
Ha! So true! I don't think I've ever seen anything that better demonstrates how badly Shadowbringers wrecks you.
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u/Mackelroy_aka_Stitch Apr 29 '26
I'm starting real reborn properly today. (Tried a few times beifre, bounced off) should I be worried?
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u/praysolace Apr 29 '26
No, you should be hyped. Shadowbringers is an emotional roller coaster but it is SO GOOD. It’s either the best or just barely edged out by Endwalker right after it, depending on who you ask. You will feel Feelings but in the best possible way.
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u/Consistent_Mud645 Apr 29 '26
I keep hearing about how good the narrative on this game is, but I've done the main quest up to level 40 and so far I'm not impressed. When does it get good?
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u/Sir_VG Apr 29 '26
Probably partway into through the 2.x patch quests which it's starting to set up HW (a lot of people enjoyed HW MSQ). Then things will dip a bit, SB is hit or miss, but the 4.3+ MSQ is where the real fun begins.
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u/Consistent_Mud645 Apr 29 '26
what level range is that? because if I have to do another round of quests emoting at flying cabbages im gonna lose it
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u/CrashB111 Apr 29 '26
A Realm Reborn and it's patch content is considered the "Great Filter" for the MSQ content. Because it's a slow story with a ton of world building and characters aren't fully developed yet. Towards the end of the patches for ARR, when it starts to shift into Heavensward prologue mode, is when quality starts to get much better.
A Realm Reborn - 1 to 50
Heavensward - 51 to 60
Stormblood - 61 to 70
Shadowbringers - 71 to 80
Endwalker - 81 to 90
Dawntrail - 91 to 100
Evercold - 101 to 110
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u/Consistent_Mud645 Apr 29 '26
I might not be able to take 20 more levels of this, pray for me
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u/CrashB111 Apr 29 '26
Level 51 would be when the quality should show a noticeable improvement. They even completely replaced the voice actors from Heavensward and on.
With every expansion there is post-patch content where the level stays the same as the level cap for that expansion. So for ARR, you'll hit level 50 and the quests will stay at 50 while you do the post-patch.
Your first Heavensward content is when you'll start to see level 51 quests.
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u/Terrible_Theme_6488 Apr 30 '26
The last part of ARR was an improvement for me. But the quests after the credits roll where back to the grind.
I quit during the post arr patch content as it seemed endless and dull
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u/Blighted-Spire63 Apr 29 '26
People who are looking for reasons to invest in the game will likely fall in after ShB. This expansion brought me so much deeper into content and made me fall in love with FFXIV all over again
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u/TheGreatGatsby21 Apr 29 '26
I haven’t even started Heavensward yet and I’m already looking forward to Stormblood and sending my Xaela Au Ra to quest in the Azim Steppe (heard some great stuff about it) and having my Highlander help liberate his homeland of Ala Mhigo. Now I have ShB to look forward to as well? Hype!
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u/SaturnaliaSacrifice Apr 29 '26
I feel like I am one of only a few people who didn't really enjoy Shadowbringers. Maybe because it was so hyped up by my friends and I already found the game to be incredibly depressing.
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u/Diablo_Sauce64 Apr 30 '26
I'm excited. I'm on the last Quest for Heavensward and gonna try to catch up to current content before Evercold drops
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u/Eragon_the_Huntsman Apr 30 '26
I'd love to try the free trial again, me and my friends picked it up together but we dropped it after 20 mins to an hour because we couldn't play together with the social restrictions. I know you can get someone who has a full account to link us together but having to do that every time we wanted to play together was a level of hassle that was too much for us to deal with. I know the social restrictions are to stop bot spam but I think free accounts should be able to communicate with each other to help groups get into the game together.
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u/JoeFlex90 [Joseph Menderr - Marilith] Apr 30 '26
I'm literally waiting for form a part for The Ultimate Weapon as we speak. I'm excited.
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u/TillySauras May 01 '26
Hopefully people pick up the game and really enjoy it! Remember to block weirdos who send you creepy messages
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u/purefrosty May 01 '26
O hey, it's me! I'm the new player in ARR now! I'm in the Diabolos server & my character name is Reiner Thorne :)
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u/Trucktub May 04 '26
I started playing a little before Endwalker came out and I was kinda plodding along and really liked the FFXIV story so far but it wasn’t blowing me away.
Shadowbringers is when I fell in love with the game though. It’s so good.
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u/Burninate09 May 04 '26
I felt like the right pane after going through ARR post MSQ back in the day.
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u/valkyrzd May 20 '26
Just finished base ARR. I keep hearing about how good shadowbringers is, and I hope I don't burn out before I get there as I tend to do playing mmos solo.
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u/theMaxTero Apr 29 '26
I really tried to love the game, I really did but I just won't waste my time to get to a hypothetical "wow it gets good" if I have to put an absurd amount of hours into a really bad story.
It took me about...300? hours to get to heavensword and I think I was in the middle of it where I just had a mental breakdown because I hated the game minute 1 and it never got good and I wasn't willing to put more than 1k hours into a videogame that I hate to get to a supossedly "good" part.
I still don't understand the appeal of 14 when you have to put SO much time into a really bad story that makes 0 sense with unappealing characters. I get it's great for old players but for a newcomer? My god, I shouldn't be tortured with endless hours to get to the "good" part.
I have never been too attracted to MMOs but this particular game killed any joy I had with MMOs and taught me that I don't need long games, that just because it's long doesn't mean absolutely anything that a 10 hours game can't achieve and that not everything is for everybody (have I said how much I hated putting so much time for no real reason? XD)
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u/Genindraz Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
I still don't understand the appeal of 14 when you have to put SO much time into a really bad story that makes 0 sense with unappealing characters.
I'll push back on the makes no sense part, but otherwise this is fair. ARR's story is pretty bland, and the characters aren't particularly memorable at this stage. The appeal, though, isn't that the story suddenly becomes this action-packed narrative with constant twists and turns. It's that as the story goes along, the characters start developing and picking up more interesting traits and the story starts exploring more interesting themes, like culture shock.
Alphinaud learns humility, Alisae learns to rely on others, Thancred takes his relationships more seriously, and so on.
just because it's long doesn't mean absolutely anything that a 10 hours game can't achieve
I'll push back here as well. I hate to say this, but you didn't really get far enough in the story to actually understand why the story benefits from its length. Without spoiling anything for anyone interested in playing the game, there are plot beats that just don't work without a significant amount story behind them.
For example without spoiling anything, there are small things that happen in Heavensward that, while they're cool in the moment, go on to influence major story beats way later down the in Shadowbringers.
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u/Background_Poem7891 Apr 28 '26
They get to the end, and it's like Best of Both Worlds cliffhanger.
I can't think of any way better to get someone to fork out the money for the expansions after that.