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alwaysbeenasmilerProbably 80 percent of this is going to be cut-text for spoilers-- not even going to apologize. I didn't really want to put my thoughts into words until I had successfully completed the game, and complete it I dd. Let me tell you, that was ONE HELL OF A RIDE. Though luckily for all and sundry, I've decided to put this all under a cut text-- because I'd like to think I am a considerate person, not to mention I also do realize that there are people that didn't have a luxury of a five day weekend with which to complete the game-- I did press through it pretty fast though, and that is with doing EVERY SINGLE SIDEQUEST (I like to think of it as immersion, to be honest)
To describe adequately how I felt about this expansion, we have to go back to how I felt about the previous expansion-- so we'll be here for a moment while I start word vomiting on the last expac. Stormblood-- I was excited about it, I mean the chance to play a Red Mage was like the be-all end-all. But when I played through the story, I just wasn't 'feeling' it-- I just didn't buy in to the Ala Mhigo liberation-- not that I found it contrived, but rather that I just wasn't interested in it except for in the stake the Garlean Empire had in it-- a lot of people have bad memories of Stormblood for personal reasons, mine was that I really didn't like Ala Mhigo, I didn't like the maps, it was very boring and not colourful at all-- the only map that I REALLY liked was Ruby Sea (and to be honest, one of my favorite Stormblood moments was diving under the Ruby Sea and discovering Shisui of the Violent Tides and how all you could see was distant lights as you swam to it, and then suddenly it lay out before you in the most serene bubble under the sea-- just magical).
The thing was, I wasn't emotionally invested in it. When I beat the main part of the game, I didn't theorycraft, I didn't hunt for lore, I didn't spend much time in thought over it because it was over and done with and I played each patch as it came out.
Somewhere though between the end of Stormblood and the beginning of ShadowBringers, I started to care. Originally of course it was because I thought, "Aww hell, we gonna go to the Empire!"-- and that's something that I CARE about. Of course then they brought in a character that I was like "Hmmmm?" about, and suddenly my stake was driven in not because I was completely SOLD on this character but because he had the possibility to tick ALL THE BOXES in terms of "TYPES OF CHARACTERS NIA LIKES".
Now is not the time though to theorycraft-- on to the meat and potatoes of this post. ShadowBringers...
SquareEnix outdid themselves with this expansion-- like, there was only fleeting mentions of the Empire here and there but there didn't need to be because they just made this alternate world and they made it amazing-- just similar enough to the world that we came from, but different enough that you can see where the differences start beginning. They gave you a set of villians so well thought and and evolved, they gave you moments that just made terror course through your very blood stream, and the most important-- each piece of music MATCHED it so perfectly-- (like, I will be throwing my money at SE for the OST.). And they made me CARE about the fate of this world so different from my own-- and I didn't even realize how much I didn't like Stormblood until I started playing through ShadowBringers and was touched by the sheer artistry.
And it was like this from the first time you enter that hidden cavern underneath the Crystal Tower until the very first moment you find the city of the ancients underwater as you are preparing for the final showdown of the game. To be honest, the last time I ever really felt that feeling course through me was when I played Xenogears for the very first time. That is a long time in between such strong feelings.
And now after having beaten that expac, I am having a severe storyline hangover. My mind is still in ShadowBringers even though I myself am not at the game right now, so there'll probably be ICONS-- because when I am passionate about something, about feelings-- it always translate into creative outlets.
Also Emet-Selch-- he is bae and best Ascian, he ticked those boxes and then he completely burned the competition as far as FFXIV men go (THAT IS AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT POST-- i am sorry cid, i still love you)
So now I just want more story-- and I have to wait another 4 months probably for the next major story patch. *sobs*
To describe adequately how I felt about this expansion, we have to go back to how I felt about the previous expansion-- so we'll be here for a moment while I start word vomiting on the last expac. Stormblood-- I was excited about it, I mean the chance to play a Red Mage was like the be-all end-all. But when I played through the story, I just wasn't 'feeling' it-- I just didn't buy in to the Ala Mhigo liberation-- not that I found it contrived, but rather that I just wasn't interested in it except for in the stake the Garlean Empire had in it-- a lot of people have bad memories of Stormblood for personal reasons, mine was that I really didn't like Ala Mhigo, I didn't like the maps, it was very boring and not colourful at all-- the only map that I REALLY liked was Ruby Sea (and to be honest, one of my favorite Stormblood moments was diving under the Ruby Sea and discovering Shisui of the Violent Tides and how all you could see was distant lights as you swam to it, and then suddenly it lay out before you in the most serene bubble under the sea-- just magical).
The thing was, I wasn't emotionally invested in it. When I beat the main part of the game, I didn't theorycraft, I didn't hunt for lore, I didn't spend much time in thought over it because it was over and done with and I played each patch as it came out.
Somewhere though between the end of Stormblood and the beginning of ShadowBringers, I started to care. Originally of course it was because I thought, "Aww hell, we gonna go to the Empire!"-- and that's something that I CARE about. Of course then they brought in a character that I was like "Hmmmm?" about, and suddenly my stake was driven in not because I was completely SOLD on this character but because he had the possibility to tick ALL THE BOXES in terms of "TYPES OF CHARACTERS NIA LIKES".
Now is not the time though to theorycraft-- on to the meat and potatoes of this post. ShadowBringers...
SquareEnix outdid themselves with this expansion-- like, there was only fleeting mentions of the Empire here and there but there didn't need to be because they just made this alternate world and they made it amazing-- just similar enough to the world that we came from, but different enough that you can see where the differences start beginning. They gave you a set of villians so well thought and and evolved, they gave you moments that just made terror course through your very blood stream, and the most important-- each piece of music MATCHED it so perfectly-- (like, I will be throwing my money at SE for the OST.). And they made me CARE about the fate of this world so different from my own-- and I didn't even realize how much I didn't like Stormblood until I started playing through ShadowBringers and was touched by the sheer artistry.
And it was like this from the first time you enter that hidden cavern underneath the Crystal Tower until the very first moment you find the city of the ancients underwater as you are preparing for the final showdown of the game. To be honest, the last time I ever really felt that feeling course through me was when I played Xenogears for the very first time. That is a long time in between such strong feelings.
And now after having beaten that expac, I am having a severe storyline hangover. My mind is still in ShadowBringers even though I myself am not at the game right now, so there'll probably be ICONS-- because when I am passionate about something, about feelings-- it always translate into creative outlets.
Also Emet-Selch-- he is bae and best Ascian, he ticked those boxes and then he completely burned the competition as far as FFXIV men go (THAT IS AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT POST-- i am sorry cid, i still love you)
So now I just want more story-- and I have to wait another 4 months probably for the next major story patch. *sobs*