FF14 First Impressions of Shadowbringers
I’ve played WoW for over 15 years but given the state of WoW right now and the lack of content, some of my friends convinced me to try FF14. So I’ve been documenting my FFXIV first impressions, showing my journey through FF14 and giving my feedback along the way.
Throughout I will be comparing FF14 to WoW and references the differences between the two. Obviously, I do have some bias, but I will try and keep an open mind all the way. This will contain spoilers for FFXIV Shadowbringers, areas, character and main story and will also discuss optional content along the way.
Everyone has been telling me about Shadowbringers since my very first week of FFXIV, but nothing could have prepared me for what waited at the end of 5.0, it was honestly one of the best moments ever in an MMORPG. I didn’t expect anything that happened after the tempest and was completely blown away by how epic the ending was.
Catch us live on twitch:
https://www.twitch.tv/medievalmarty
Or join our amazing discord community:
https://discord.gg/a5bU6VsUqy
FF14 First Impressions Playthrough (ARR Complete):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiLzc…
FFXIV First Impressions Playthrough (Heavensward Complete):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtdVd…
0:00 Intro
2:10 I Like Urianger Now
5:20 Role Quests
7:10 The Tempest
9:45 Emet Is Incredible
13:00 Amaurot Dungeon
14:50 The Dying Gasp and Outro
source
5.3 broke me even further. the community is not lying.
I think the best role quest is the castor one, with the tank one being a VERY close second. (If you finish the tank one before doing 5.1, you get something special, and if you finish them all before the end of 5.2, then you also get something special.)
Please dont remind me of the Tank job quest. That shit hurt.
We remember
Marty, there's more lore about ardbert's crew if you complete all 4 role quests it opens up a quest chain that explains more. highly recommended
In regards to the "ending of 5.0 vs 5.3" I personally think that 5.3 is more emotional but 5.0 is the superior story.
My biggest advice going forward would be to start doing the Eden raids ASAP, do NOT wait until you've completed all the patches before going through or the story continuity starts to get a little screwy. The best way to handle it would be doing each tier of the raid after you've beaten the patch quests that the tier was introduced in.
Oh Marty, you sweet summer child. It's only just begun
My favorite role quest is the tank, second magical DPS followed by healer
Urianger: I do pray thee forgive my nebulous nature. 'Twas never my intention to deceive thee. Yet, in service to the greater good, I was sworn to still my tongue. For that, and the making of a half truth which may have lead thee astray, for that I am deeply repentant. If thou wouldst forgive mine err, I wouldst also beseech thee to begin a quest which wilt lead thee on a most curious path ahead. I believe this leg of our story would begin anon in Mord Soque.
Translation: Sorry I his stuff from you. Forgive me? If you like me more now then you may like the unlock quest for Eden. Have fun!
As for role quests, DPS get a bit of a raw deal… well… magic dps is better, though I most prefer the healer and tank quests. There are no job quests anymore, just the one time role quests.
I feel like I am the only person who thinks Graha is just kind of meh. He is written well and all but up to this point i was just like, "eh don't really care what happens to him". he was honestly my least favorite part of the Crystal Tower Raids as well. :/ Also I feel really bad for the Ondo, especially when you finish the Blue questline in the Ondo Cups. you take away there water making there lives much more difficult and the water never comes back. 🙁
You might not see how this can be topped. And I didn't either, until I saw it done.
^_^ So many feels, such a great story. And one of the brilliant things they did was take the character who "stands in" for the player in cut scenes and merch and literally merge him with us. He is no longer a stand in, he's one of our shards, it's an actually piece of us running around in those trailers. I love that. And they made him an awesome character to boot.
I think the tank role quest was a lot more fun then DPS, I'm enjoying healer more so far as well; I haven't done the magical dps yet. 🤷♀️
I understand why people love 5.3, and yeah it is great, but personally I prefer 5.0. It was just so epic. I've made that comparison to marvel movies too!
You should definitely try Hades extreme – it's a lot of fun. 😊 Crazy, but fun! 😄 Plus the mount drop is pretty. ^_^
Thanks for sharing your journey with us, it's been a lot of fun. 🥰 And I'll see you, in the next one. 😉
The Physical DPS role quest really is the weakest of all the role quests. Lou Reeq is just not as interesting as the other characters. And honestly, neither is Renda Rae.
Magic dps was my favorite, with healer as a close 2nd, and tank shortly after, I didn't enjoy physical dps in particular. Btw, if you do all of the job quests, and if you've done the Warring triad there's an additional questline at the end that I recommend doing.
Been watching you since day 1 and it's been amazing following your journey. It's like watching a friend finish your fav book for the first time. I think the thing is, if you just watched that video out of context, all you see a bunch of characters and a random guy with an Axe you don't know, taking on a big bad which, isn't that impressive. I think one of reasons this is as good as it is, is it's taken the whole expansions (or even game) to build up the characters, build up the big bad and make you understand what's at stake. I think the only way Endwalker is better is by doing the same, building on anything you learned in ShB and make you understand more, why you're doing what you're doing.
The tank and healer one is amazing. Phy dps is meh. Magic dps role quest also memorable, imo
Hythlodaeus was made sentient by accident. He says "emet probably thought something like 'hythlodaeus would have been smart enough to realize it's an illusion' and so it was true"
Also next time you go into amaurot (the dungeon), look at the map and read all the locations
5.3 is hyped up for another reason
So far I've only done the mage and tank role quests, but the tank is by far the best
I think all the other role quests are equally good. So I'd start on the healer and magic dps soon. As for Amaurot while the theming is great I really disliked the mechanics of the dungeon which made it the level 80 dungeon I hate getting. I feel the 5.3 dungeon does a much better job as a finale since the mechanics don't grate half as much
is it safe to watch? did he finish the MSQ or up to 5.0 (shadowbringers)
"I don't think they can top it."
Oh Marty…. 🙂
I can't wait for his new favorite dungeon, the next one!
I also can't wait until his new favorite trial, the next one!
From your first ff14 video to now. I'm happy I found you early. It was amazing to see and feel it from a fresh perspective. Keep producing great content. #FireContent #Top10Youtuber
Ah yeah role quest. I personally found the physical dps ones the least interesting. Healer on the other hand is a favorite.
I do personally like the end of 5.0 a bit more than 5.3, but can certainly see where the people who prefer 5.3 are coming from. Definitely gives .0 a run for its money.
Go ahead and get the other jobs to 80; each class has an 80 class quest in the Source. For the most part they give some closure to things that popped up in previous class quests.
Fun fact about Amaurot. It's the name of the capital city in Thomas More's Utopia (the book which spawned the whole term), and the city in game actually takes some cues from its literary namesake beyond the name, like everyone wearing similar simple clothes.
Also, Hythlodaeus (Hythlo-daeus, rather than Hyth-lodeus, as far as I know – name literally means dispenser of nonsense, though he is far from that here) is a character in the book, and its pseudo-narrator. There's also a river called Anyder, and the place names Macarenses, Achora and Polylaeritae within Amaurot are also taken from the book.
"everyone's hyping up 5.3 but i don't see how this can be topped" and i CRACKED UP. you'll see marty. you'll see
I still think that Urianger is the most dangerous person in the Scions because of the first scene you explained and his vast knowledge. He's your Shakespearian wingman. Plus all the scenes he's been in the past with sus people. He could double-cross me and I'd never see it coming, lol.
And yeah, every rendition of the Tempest theme are 10/10; the music is so good and fits perfectly.
You will enjoy 5.3; don't worry. If you don't breakdown or feel any emotion through 5.3 then you're a robot…. seriously.
I almost forgot that you were on the Light server as well. I'm glad that you enjoyed the game so far and even made it to the endgame (almost).
I hope you reach the true endgame and maybe host a couple glam contest in your streams. I would happily join them >:3
Re: the job gear: You can actually grab a dyeable version of the job gear by doing a specific Extreme trial (which you unlock through the Bozja questline). The trial even gives tokens so any 3 runs will let you grab ANY job's gear.
Role quests are written to be done *as you level*, rather than all in a big dump at the end, and I really wish people would stop telling new players to save them for last.
People get told to do it in a way that's explicitly against the game and story design, and then they wonder why it feels weirdly paced and unsatisfying.
"I feel like I'm going to finish it before endwalker" Well, you have two additional weeks to do so now 😀 (Endwalker just got delayed 2 weeks). Side note, I've been enjoying these videos. It's been fun seeing someone else's perspective on all this content.
"Heavensward feels like an Avengers film" – the cruelest and most devastating insult to heavensward I have or will ever hear
I think in Endwalker not only will the scions all have their moment, and make a meaningful contribution – we'll see all the other leaders make their contributions too