Shadowbringers was very much a personal journey for me, as was largely the intent of the game I imagine. Its excellent writing between each of the major characters reflected equivalently on the Warrior of Light's development. Its themes of post-apocalyptic despair and the misgivings of humanity of the past are shined brightly on as the shadow of the world is reclaimed. I felt a strong attachment to the setting by the end, an irreplaceable memory of all that transpired that left me walking away at the end bittersweet and in tears. There's a lot to get into, especially in terms of the utopian breakdown in Amaurot, but I would choose to move on with the idea that people on their own can come to play Shadowbringers and think, hear, and feel exactly how these stories came into play.
The music and aesthetics themselves are the best the MMO's ever had too. Though it does similarly work with Heavensward and Stormblood's motif usage, the way tones were remixed and placed in the story were incredible. The oft-memed song is A Long Fall, but I have stronger attachment to Tomorrow and Tomorrow. The cutscenes also have phenomenal lighting and direction, and there's actual animation with some of the scenes now, especially with the latest ones.
The gameplay has also reached new peaks, especially with the latest patch's trial. While there are a lot of issues with how they made classes simpler (that I guess fortunately haven't experienced myself having joined afterwards), the ending rotations in Shadowbringers are still intensely fun to manage, some even for the first time. The solo duties continue to be interesting now since the tail end of Stormblood, and dungeons now let you play with the Scions, which is such a welcome change in terms of making the experience more personal. The raid and trial content especially hits new peaks, with the Seat of Sacrifice being my all time favorite fight in the entire game up to this point. Or at least, my favorite fight on Normal, since I have yet to do any of the Savage/Extreme/Ultimate content.
There are a few issues in the rough through it all. Despite my massive love and respect I hold towards this game and Yoshi-P now, there were definitely still weak points to cross over I can't easily forgive. The first half of the tempest pace breaker and the trashy trolley subplot I could very well have done without. The Alliance Raid, while WONDERFUL NieR fanservice, is mostly disappointing in its story and newest content too. The Raid and postgame Trial storyline are similarly at underwhelming ends here, the latter much worse for the potential it could've explored.
There's still three major patches of content left we haven't seen out of Shadowbringers by the time of this review, but it doesn't matter at this point. Shadowbringers is my favorite FF game, and I recommend anyone reading this make it a point of consideration to get far enough in FF14 to make it to this point.
Pray don't forget us, your bygone kin With one world's end does a new begin And should our soul scatter onto the wind Still we shall live on.
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looking back at this expansions base patch 5.0 compared to endwalker's, i think 5.0 was more consistent from start to end, but the high points of endwalker are the best in the entire game.
I have massive grievances with Shadowbringers in that I think it's paced like fucking garbage and Heavensward is FFXIV's only well paced expansion (serious plot movements every 20 quests). I also think Shadowbringers is riddled with meaningless world building that serves zero purpose to the overarching narrative or important characters. Questlines 70-72 and 80 were peak Final Fantasy; everything in the middle frustrated me because I kept waiting for more "big" plot movements ala Heavensward in an expansion that really just wanted to be an apocalyptic, high fantasy slice of life.
That said, Emet-Selch is arguably the greatest character in the franchise and Shadowbringers' emotional feel is unrivaled. 4 instances brought me to unrestrained sobbing, and another 8 to 10 got me a little misty eyed. Especially with the more resounding conclusion of 5.3, I concede that Shadowbringers is top tier... but man I'm still angry about the pacing.
That said, Emet-Selch is arguably the greatest character in the franchise and Shadowbringers' emotional feel is unrivaled. 4 instances brought me to unrestrained sobbing, and another 8 to 10 got me a little misty eyed. Especially with the more resounding conclusion of 5.3, I concede that Shadowbringers is top tier... but man I'm still angry about the pacing.