Item: Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward
Rating: 9
Author: Michelle Bryant

FFXIV: Heavensward is the first expansion of ARR - and it does much to flesh out and find a cohesive story for the player to sink their teeth into. It takes us to Coerthas, and ultimately Ishgard, a location mentioned but not shown until that point. Here, we’re thrown into a thousand year war between man and dragon, where one side doesn’t even remember how and why it started. This puts the player character front and center to try to resolve it between the two sides. Characterization is leagues better than ARR - Lady Iceheart is an interesting anti-hero, Estinien (my favorite NPC) is jaded but willing to do what it takes to protect his people, and Alphinaud has to rapidly realize his limitations and overcome them. Further, Aymeric and his story is heart breaking and hopeful. Haurchefant breaks my heart. Nidhogg as the primary antagonist of the story isn’t resolved on the bulk of the expansion, however. Instead, Heavensward has you resolve the corruption of the Ishgardian church instead.

  

I live for this kind of storytelling. Heavensward feels like high fantasy storytelling. It has grandiose scale - this isn’t a personal fight between you and one person responsible for one specific ill - you are in essence in opposition to an entire foundation and institution, seeking to right generational wrongs committed out of greed and hate. That’s my jam.

As for game play, this expansion introduces the Machinist, Dark Knight, and Astrologian, and those three jobs are much needed additions to the roster of jobs available. My major gripe with Heavensward is that it introduced the Aether currents to the game, and those are one of the most annoying things I’ve dealt with in an MMO. I hated the same collecting mechanic in every assassin’s creed game I ever played and I continue to hate it in every other game. Jumping puzzles are genuinely a hindrance to my enjoyment of any game.

With that being my only real major gripe with the game, I have to say that Heavensward really set the bar for me for other expansions going forward. I was invested in the story - and I found it to be extremely enjoyable. Heavensward is the moment when the writing in FFXIV picked up and became better than what was presented in ARR.

FFXIV: Heavensward is the first expansion of ARR - and it does much to flesh out and find a cohesive story for the player to sink their teeth into. It takes us to Coerthas, and ultimately Ishgard, a location mentioned but not shown until that point. Here, we’re thrown into a thousand year war between man and dragon, where one side doesn’t even remember how and why it started. This puts the player character front and center to try to resolve it between the two sides. Characterization is leagues better than ARR - Lady Iceheart is an interesting anti-hero, Estinien (my favorite NPC) is jaded but willing to do what it takes to protect his people, and Alphinaud has to rapidly realize his limitations and overcome them. Further, Aymeric and his story is heart breaking and hopeful. Haurchefant breaks my heart. Nidhogg as the primary antagonist of the story isn’t resolved on the bulk of the expansion, however. Instead, Heavensward has you resolve the corruption of the Ishgardian church instead. I live for this kind of storytelling. Heavensward feels like high fantasy storytelling. It has grandiose scale - this isn’t a personal fight between you and one person responsible for one specific ill - you are in essence in opposition to an entire foundation and institution, seeking to right generational wrongs committed out of greed and hate. That’s my jam. As for game play, this expansion introduces the Machinist, Dark Knight, and Astrologian, and those three jobs are much needed additions to the roster of jobs available. My major gripe with Heavensward is that it introduced the Aether currents to the game, and those are one of the most annoying things I’ve dealt with in an MMO. I hated the same collecting mechanic in every assassin’s creed game I ever played and I continue to hate it in every other game. Jumping puzzles are genuinely a hindrance to my enjoyment of any game. With that being my only real major gripe with the game, I have to say that Heavensward really set the bar for me for other expansions going forward. I was invested in the story - and I found it to be extremely enjoyable. Heavensward is the moment when the writing in FFXIV picked up and became better than what was presented in ARR.

Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward

Review Title

Player Score

Michelle Bryant