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Youef
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lol, I had this whole thing written up after I beat 3.0 but got lazy. I'll paste it here with some general updates after finishing most of the MSQ.
Stormblood was okay. The writing really suffered in splitting the story between two continents. To be honest, I think I would’ve enjoyed spending more time in Doma and the rest of the East than Ala Mhigo. The conclusion for the Doma arc was rushed. We beat the final boss, and then we’re suddenly going back to Ala Mhigo, which itself had a rushed conclusion as well. I mean, I guess we achieved our goal in Doma, but there it still felt that that plotline was disconnected from whatever happened in Ala Mhigo. It made for some very jarring pacing.
Lyse was a bad character, and she was more entertaining when she was disguised as Yda in ARR. She was goofy, and her dynamic with Paplymo was endearing. But she lost that charm in Stormblood, and I didn’t take much subsequent interest in her character because of that. A lot of wasted potential here.
Zenos was dumb in Stormblood. Yotsuyu and Fordola were more compelling villains. I hope we get some more interesting Empire characters in the future, but the writers are determined to keep Zenos relevant. However, I think Natsuko Ishikawa has proven herself with Shadowbringers, the DRK job quests, and Azim Steppe, so I hope she can do something good with Zenos if she is given authority over his character arc.
This game also revives characters too often. Gaius, Zenos, Gosetsu, Yotsuyu. I really liked Gosetsu and Yotsuyu's relationship in the post-Stormblood patches, but I think it should have been weaved into 3.0's plot rather than have the story kill them off and bring them back later. That said, I actually really like Gaius, and I enjoyed his brief adventures with Estinien in Shadowbringers. He's the only character I'm glad was brought back. Also he's voiced by Roose Bolton, so that's cool.
Other than the mediocre story, I still really enjoyed the dungeons, bosses, and music in Stormblood. Aside from whatever issues I had with the story, the expansion was otherwise solid. However, overall I believe that Heavensward and especially Shadowbringers were easily superior.
ShB however was pretty fantastic. The hype greatly heightened my expectations, and they were actually met. I'll post more detailed thoughts later.
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