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Final Fantasy XIV – Showbringers Review

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Shadowbringers

Considered the biggest MMORPG out there, Final Fantasy is back with yet another enthralling chapter. But will it be able to make the cut? We try to answer this question in the article!

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First Impressions

Final Fantasy 14 never ceases to amaze us and has the potential of breaking new records with the launch of the Show bringers. All that I have come across has made me evermore excited including its new races, classes or the splendid modifications to the overall formula that endeavor to improve the gameplay for newer as well as older players.

Specifications

• Review Price: £29.99
• Developer: Square Enix
• Genre: MMORPG
• Release Date: July 2, 2019
• Platforms: PS4, PC, Mac

I was probably in the secondary school and have vivid memories of the original Final Fantasy 14 crashing and burning. In it, the developers had presented the more terrible of MMORPG experience that one could offer, as they appeared determined to stick to the same old routines instead of evolving with the rest of the world. The genre saw massive transformation thanks to the World of Warcraft that modified the entire dynamics of the category. Things had seen a gigantic paradigm shift and there was no turning back from here on.

Moving to 2019 and Final Fantasy 14 is one of the biggest MMORPGs of the modern era, taking the lead even ahead of World of Warcraft and making its place in the hearts and souls of the players around the world. The original game was reinvigorated by A Realm Reimagined as a fantastic basis with amazing endgame content; thereby attracting a massive range of audience from all corners of the world. Things looked pretty good with the arrival of first couple of installments in the shape of Heavensward and Stormblood. The latest episode named as Shadowbringer is loaded with tons of novel content, gameplay modifications and plenty more.

It may be quite complicated to determine the quality of an installment from a tiny slice of its pie, I was incredibly excited by some of the new ideas that have been incorporated into this episode of Final Fantasy 14. Whether it is the new races, tasks or configurations, I am sure that fans will flock around this expansion like ants spooning upon a beehive in a bid to suckle at all its sweet nectar.Dragging players out of the protected zone of Eorzea, Shadow bringers puts them in a new world known as The First. The Warrior of Darkness is awaited by this mysterious new world to caste all the light out of it, banishing the powers of evil and restoring darkness back into the land.

The protagonist is the warrior who will rescue this world out of the stronghold of the forces of evil. I appreciate the contorted expectations this installment brings alongwith it, making you to get rid of light when typically you would not be conforming to such an idea. Personally, I am all pumped up to reach to the darkest corners of my soul and thump my enemy away.A sight to witness is The Source. It’s amazing, resplendent with plethora of colors and uncanny fauna that makes it feel vibrant. It seems almost surreal, so angelic that it is evident something ominous is flourishing underneath the surface.

Similar to Heavensward and Stormblood before it, verticality is a clear feature of numerous zones. A mount rises into the sky with the press of a button that lets you soar upward, submerge into the water and do almost whatever you prefer. It offers a kind of liberating experience and it took me a huge amount of time just to soak all its mysterious into my heart and soul.The surroundings include an incredible cathedral that has a creek around it with lots of ruins absorbed to its core and shielding a past that all of the players out there would love to unravel. Other features include a massive forest with trees bearing shimmering purple leaves and the debris falls upon you as your cross it. Then we have The Crystarium which serves as a major hub for Shadow bringers and unleashes tasks, traders and storyline streams to dive into.

It is pertinent to mention here that I was playing a version of the game which was still in the process of development and had no functional NPCs, dialogue or any narrative background. I only had to select a character and then was planted into the mysterious world. So, it was not able to create an impression which was expected as each character repeated the same line of dialogue. It was terrifying and exciting simultaneously. Final Fantasy 14 has already come up with mind-boggling narrative moments and I am optimistic that this fashion will continue.

Coming with two new races, Shadowbringers has gender-locked both of them at the beginning. There has been no indication from the developers’ end yet whether there will be any further update or not but considering the resources available at hand, it seems almost unlikely. Most of you will be familiar with Viera from the 12th edition, bunny girls with tall physiques and long ears along with charming personalities. They look fabulous and I am looking forward to change my race as soon as the expanded version is made available.

The Hrothgar are huge creatures clad in fur and you would certainly want to stay away from them but I am sure that they are quite tender at heart. If you are not quite fascinated by either of the two races, then the free benchmark option lets you choose the one you prefer. For the launch of the game, appearance data can also be saved so even if you have to spend several hours while preparing an immaculate hairstyle, there will be no fear of losing out all the hard work.

Races are merely for the sake to keep up with the apperances and do not have any bearing on the gameplay. It does not hold true however for the two new races being introduced as part of Stormblood. In the beginning, Dancer and Gunbreaker will be introduced alongwith their own story narratives and equipment. I got to play an extensive amount of time with the two classes as I traveresed dungeons and got a fair idea about how they will fare in the bigger scheme of things of the entire game.

Mushrooming from its JRPG roots, Dancer is a DPS race. Clad in fantastic apparel and a pair of weapons that can be thrown at your opponents, their prowesses are a blend of rhythmic tools and useful techniques that can turn out to be handy for themselves and supporters in their vicinity. Some powers can let you heal your allies, make you get away from risky scuffles and bind opponents at the desired location, leaving them at your mercy to be bombarded with your weapons.

It goes without saying that a Dancer cannot exist without remaining in sync with the rhythm and it appears that this holds true for the Dancer race. I was able to traverse through only a single Dungeon with both Dancer and Gunbreaker, it will be a long time before we get to know how they will gel in with the other races and how they will impact the entire gameplay. We are optimistic that all will come out nicely.Gunbreaker is a “tank” class that can be related to Final Fantasy 8 and I am not surprised with it. To be honest, the bunny girl blowing away enemies does tend to let you in on that secret. Unfortunately, I was not able to spend a lot of time with it as the Dancer but it seems to be an accessible tank class that is great for attracting enemies before you pull off a barrage of threatening buffs.

There is a gauge on the screen similar to a gun’s barrel that can be filled with two bullets and employed as ammunition for triggering dangerous abilities. This rotation seems quite natural to employ blending in perfectly with Gunbreaker’s skills. To be honest, I am not the most seasoned of tansk out there, because responsibility can always freak you out but this race made me feel more powerful and capable of safeguarding my allies. That alongside Gunblades are indubitably cool.There is a plethora of modifications in gameplay in addition to all the spicy content. As far as the race amendments are concerned, we won’t be delving into the details as it could turn out to be really time consuming but according to the game director Naoki Yoshida, several of them will be taken care of. TP is being gotten rid of while MP will be restricted to 10,000 across all races.

The weird feeling around role actions has been refined with races now earning them at certain levels rather than having to assign them manually. This should make things simpler, ensuring that you do not have to scour through the user interface again and again. The primary statistics content is being gotten rid of so you will need to bring about modifications to armour when currently clading it.As someone who is still getting to term with the tension related to the extensive MMORPG dungeons, the introduction of Trust System appears to be a blessing in disguise. You can traverse through the dungeons with AI allies in contrast to matchmaking with other players. This will let you overcome the urge to spend time in lengthy queues, it also add a storyline to dungeons with dialogues and subtle additions.

It was a tremendous experience to fight alongside The Scions of the Seventh Dawn despite the fact that the serenity associated with the dungeons appeared slower. If you do not have any issues with this that this will surely not break your heart and during my sojourn through the dungeons I rarely felt monotonous. Exceptional queue times will be observed by those playing through A Realm Reborn so this option to experience past content sounds like a pretty cool idea.

Here is a list of the latest additions that I have compiled for you:

• 9 dungeons at launch, with more to come in future updates
• 2 new classes: Dancer and Gunbreaker
• 2 new races: Viera and Hrothgar
• Level cap enhanced to 80
• Trust System
• New Game+ for primary scenario tasks
• World Visit System

First Impressions

Final Fantasy 14 never ceases to amaze us and has the potential of breaking new records with the launch of the Show bringers. All that I have come across has made me evermore excited including its new races, classes or the splendid modifications to the overall formula that endeavor to improve the gameplay for newer as well as older players.

Trailer

Here is a list of all the teasers that have come out so far.

Time of Release

Shadow bringers was launched across PS4, PC and Mac on July 2, 2019 while early access for pre-order began on June 28 which may have changed owing to server demand.