I finally review Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers, and find one of the strongest FF stories ever told within it. Square Enix’s CBU3 inspires me in ways I haven’t felt in a ages from the series, and have earned their place in the series future.
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I mean… Heavensward and Stormblood are also really good… but Shadowbringers is all killer no filler yeah
She also co-wrote Heavensward. Which is why it's story is also pretty tight.
Giga chad but lowkey depressed 😂
Thanks for that. Got a hearty laugh from that.
4:53 That's actually a fan theory. The real reason is merely that they wanted Lakeland to reflect the purple skies of Mor Dhona. One of the background artists who helped design it also mentioned that they thought of cherry blossom trees when envisioning a forest of purple-leafed trees. You can watch Episode Two of the Creation of Shadowbringers series they released last year.
I was always of the opinion that Emet-Selch was an antagonist rather than a villain. His motives are not evil, and he shares our desires and feelings when it comes to his home and his loved ones. Glad to see you agree. 🙂
Final Fantasy X has way better story. I don't know what you idiots are fucking smoking.
But FF14 is the worst storytelling pacing I have seen to date.
(づ￣ 3￣)づ
Remember…..remember us
Emet-Selch did nothing wrong.
It's crazy that it feels like Endwalker is going to curbstomp Shadowbringers on how good it is
Just saw this and couldn't helped but notice, you missed one tiny bit of detail, when you praised Emet-Selch, that carries so much impact (imo). He goes on and on, how he carries such a important burden, has a duty to fulfill. It is really good seen in the scene directly after the battle, where he does not want to give up. Now fast forward, where he lifts his hood and in his dying breath asks you to remember. We see him standing up-straight for the first time, not hunching like "he is carrying something really heavy on his shoulders". This little detailed combined with the slight smile … he died without regret, knowing the his people might not be brought back, but their legacy will live on.
"wait till you get to shadobringers" – Skelington waiting meme
Before SB was out everyone kept telling me “Before you reach HW it’s boring. But after, baby, best expansion.”
After SB, everything else pails in comparison. Except maybe for Lolorito. He always steals the show whenever he’s on screen. Or maybe I’m biased since he’s my favorite character.
"It's a story that remembers to use fantasy to reveal nature of human nature through fiction" great line, couldn't have said it better myself.
"one for adults who grew up playing final fantasy games"
me: a 16 year old who has only recently bought ffxv and has finished SHB "👁👄👁"
I might get hate for saying this, but IMO Emet-Selch/ Hades is Ardyn but done right. I think the writers of Shadowbringers had a script of ff XV's narrative in one hand at all times while writing the character of Emet-Selch.
Can someone explain is hotbar setup at 9:54? The main hotbar is there with the PS set up but then on the bottom right is an extra set with numbers above it.
Fantastic write up and video
Small correction! Soken doesn't write the song texts – Michael Christopher Koji Fox does! They are a great team in that regard.
I agree with the rest of your presentation of the story, though, this is an awesome story.
The first Final Fantasy push out when the studio almost collapse.
The critically acclaim Final Fantasy VII has change the overall story after Mr.Sakakuji died.
Shadowbringers 5.3 has been made in pandemic with the composer fighting cancer in hospital.
Now I know that if any FF came out and not meet the expectation maybe just because everyone is healthy and well.
Emet Selch is another prime example for the key component that makes great villains. Regardless of the medium in any story the best villains are almost exclusively the ones that you can relate to. You understand their motives and feel for them, even though the path they chose is the "wrong" one and even that is often a blurred line if you look at it objectively.
Every time he overly pronounces the "G" in shadowbringer, my ears bleed a little.
How do you say the word "bring"? Brin-Geh"? Ooof.
REMEMBER US :")
The point that really shows you how horrific the sin eaters are is Tesleen. A small character but a HUGE impact. It was hard to watch.
In FFXIV there is no bad story. There is only good story. Shadowbringers is the culmination of all those other expansions. Shadowbringers reveals that we aren’t as clearly the good guys as we thought. Emmet Selch’s final words were to remember the ascians. Not to piss off and die. He understands why we conflict with him. He even tries to avoid conflict with us. He doesn’t want to fight. But to bring back those he’s lost he has to. He can’t just accept that his whole world of immortal friends are dead forever. He’s tried to live on without them. He had kids, he fell in love, and everyone he cared for kept dying. Ascians are often despicable from the millennia of wrongdoings they’ve spent trying to fix their original universe. But once upon a time they sought other solutions. When you understand their goal and reasoning it’s hard to hate ascians. You can’t back down though. The most we can do is pity them. This game has us with our finite lifespan pitying the immortal. Emmet Selch might be one of the most formidable foes we’ve faced but that’s not why it’s hard to kill him. He spent most of shadowbringers trying to find a way to coexist with us despite our differences. Even though we’re his main obstacle to achieving his goal. Despite all the pain he feels he still tries to find a way to be reasonable.
Wrong. Heavensward is better. Yikes..
Spoiler…
That moment where Emet is talking to you after you got the giant lift to the second half of Khoulusia up and running… I was READY to betray the Scions and join his cause… I had officially bought his story and if I could, I would have joined him.
WOW can only imagine to have these kind of storytelling and depths of its character period…
The way I often see it: other MMO games like WoW are MMORPGs, but FFXIV is an RPGMMO. It is a Final Fantasy game first, and tells a (VERY STRONG) Final Fantasy story. This video was great!
Was waiting to beat it until looking at any videos…well I just beat it and yours was the first video I watched. You’re spot on and I agree with pretty much all of it. Shadowbringers was one of the best FF stories to me, perhaps even THE best, the music was great, it was super immersive, and easily had my favorite villain out of any FF game. It’s crazy that they have such an amazing experience hidden behind…idk how much content but I was around 55 days of play time I guess. Ironically I didn’t come back specifically for this but for the Nier content – I had played up to and through the end game when ARR was all there was and the patch content burned me out. When I returned early this year I was greeted with the fantastic Heavensward story and just really have loved everything but Shadowbringers is an experience I will not forget and am very glad I experienced.
Lol Naminé
Remember…remember us – remember that we played a goddamn awe inspiring expansion!~
I can agree with this video on so many levels, I have played ff14 for years along with having a love for the series and playing all the games throughout the series since I was young but yet have felt conflicted with some of the directional choices the series has taken in previous titles. All of FF14 has felt like they have written it for the long term fans and new ones alike but I will say Shadowbringers has felt like the biggest love letter to the OG fans that grew up with these games. SO MANY easter eggs, connections to the previous games made and really just tying it all together in one amazing package. Shadowbringers story is a strong one and could easily be played as a standalone triple A game had Square written it to be, I have felt so revitalized in my love for this series since finishing the expansion and it leaves you wanting more.
My favorite line that sums up shadowbringers' genius is one that emmet says:
– "The victor shall write the tale, and the vanquished become its villain"
It says SO MUCH about how the game is.
Both side are morally grey and it supports everything you said.
And the best part of it: Real life is the same way.
Every war is told by the victors and pictured them as the good side no matter what.
That extension is a masterpiece. I'm a RPG player and, in MY OPINION, it is the best story is video game history.
I really love your analysis of Shadowbringers, it's such a brilliant story. Soken is simply my favorite musician right now. I wanna ask if I could have your permission to translate this video and upload it onto a Chinese video site, since Chinese viewers have no access to YouTube. I'll keep all your links and info if you agree! Please?😃 🙏
It might have a good story bit it has also terrible controls, ui and combat.