Final Fantasy XIV (Guide in first post)

I thought the raids weren't bad. There were some new mechanics introduced that hadn't been seen in any other raids that were interesting, but they weren't particularly difficult to figure out if you paid attention (That latter part is important). Overall mechanics I would say were enjoyable.

The new gear fits a 'futurepunk/biker gang' feel, which I guess goes with the aesthetic of some of the stuff they have going on in the zone. Its not really my thing though. I'd rather them go full Mad Max arena, or go full cyberpunk. Just seems really... mid and there isn't much variation between the sets. Do you want a vest or a halter top with your duster, and what color?

The story was... hrm. It was again one where the ingredients were good, the cooking was poor. I like the characters for the most part. Lot of interesting stuff that was dropped, but none of it was really given time to cook. Most stuff that was introduced is dealt with in the same or next cutscene so its not like we really have a lot to mull over or build tension with. Feels like a lot of good ideas squandered on poor writing and pacing. Also don't think about it too hard or it will quickly stop making sense.

The raid is pretty much WWE in a fantasy/sci-fi setting. Even had fighters attacking the refs lol. It sort of works

1st boss was a lot harder than the 2nd and 3rd. Way too much pattern memorization - i can't remember phone numbers, I'm not going to remember some 10 step sequence bullshit

Cybsled said:

The raid is pretty much WWE in a fantasy/sci-fi setting. Even had fighters attacking the refs lol. It sort of works

1st boss was a lot harder than the 2nd and 3rd. Way too much pattern memorization - i can't remember phone numbers, I'm not going to remember some 10 step sequence bullshit

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I didn't bother trying to remember her whole sequence. Just focused on 2 or 3 spots and watched those so I could just step back and forth between them. You should be able to see an order in a much more local spot like that. Move to this one, than this one, and if needed either back or to a 3rd. Just beware of the floor being destroyed.

1st boss tile pattern you can ignore the outer and focus on center, hell only two tiles you have to look at really. Of the center four, one north and one south will get double tapped while the other two are only damaged once. Then it regenerates the center for you anyways.

2nd is annoying if you are a soaker for the second heart and have no leeway to get hit by anything til the end of the phase. 3rd was a problem because it's a 2/3 room cleave instead of half making you run that extra distance for any pattern.

By comparison the 4th was easier than the 3rd because all of the cleaves were halves so you can sidestep around the middle of the arena or back and forth for the cannon. On the floor buster the front facing arrow on the hitbox will move slightly left or right telling you which side gets targeted and you can make it to the safe row with a single tick max.

Malakriss said:

1st boss tile pattern you can ignore the outer and focus on center, hell only two tiles you have to look at really. Of the center four, one north and one south will get double tapped while the other two are only damaged once. Then it regenerates the center for you anyways.

2nd is annoying if you are a soaker for the second heart and have no leeway to get hit by anything til the end of the phase. 3rd was a problem because it's a 2/3 room cleave instead of half making you run that extra distance for any pattern.

By comparison the 4th was easier than the 3rd because all of the cleaves were halves so you can sidestep around the middle of the arena or back and forth for the cannon. On the floor buster the front facing arrow on the hitbox will move slightly left or right telling you which side gets targeted and you can make it to the safe row with a single tick max.

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1st boss was super messy, was chain ressing and healer LV3. People kept failing the glass mechanic.

I did like you say, focused on a couple of tiles only eventually settling on the middle four to look at. Only time I failed the mechanic was when there was a stack marker and I didn't see I was the target to be punted.

3rd was the only one that got one shot, seemed simpler than the others? The others I got on the second try after seeing mechanics once, though I did watch short videos on them.

2nd one is for sure the most enjoyable and made a million gil on the orchestration roll!

A few of that bosses have repeat stack markers which I love as a WHM, slam down Liturgy of the Bells and start DPSing while healing explosions keep going off.

4th boss is always easier, sense they are a "door" boss they don't want to show too much on just Normal Raids. You can get slight hints at what they are gonna be doing for Savage Mode, how the "Gun Charges" showing Chariot/Dynamo "with" a color is a big hint.

Honey Bee is just a ctrl-c/ctrl-v fucking Barbariccia, the only thing they changed was they removed the "sword" but everything else is still there, fucking just *shrug* whatever.

Folanlron said:

4th boss is always easier, sense they are a "door" boss they don't want to show too much on just Normal Raids. You can get slight hints at what they are gonna be doing for Savage Mode, how the "Gun Charges" showing Chariot/Dynamo "with" a color is a big hint.

Honey Bee is just a ctrl-c/ctrl-v fucking Barbariccia, the only thing they changed was they removed the "sword" but everything else is still there, fucking just *shrug* whatever.

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Only did regular Barbariccia once, I bet a lot of people do way more raids than extreme trials. Don't mind them reusing things.

Chris said:

2nd one is for sure the most enjoyable and made a million gil on the orchestration roll!

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Kinda crazy people would pay then when everyone is going to be running these for awhile now, but nice job making gil where you can

Took a pause when I arrived at the 4th zone. Did the story pick up after the contest was done?

Merrith said:

Kinda crazy people would pay then when everyone is going to be running these for awhile now, but nice job making gil where you can

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It takes a very long time for the price to go down - people roll just to be able to resell them

Cybsled said:

It takes a very long time for the price to go down - people roll just to be able to resell them

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Just would seem easiest time to farm them would be now when people are running in constantly. I'd expect price to go back up eventually when no one was running the first 4 fights as much later on in expac

Aazrael said:

Took a pause when I arrived at the 4th zone. Did the story pick up after the contest was done?

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The 4th zone is the most underwhelming nothing zone in the game, literally nothing happens there. This is an acheivement because not much happens in the first 3 zones either.

The 5th zone is where the story picks up and something actually happens, it's worth pushing through for.

I suggest skipping everything until you get to the train station.

Aazrael said:

Took a pause when I arrived at the 4th zone. Did the story pick up after the contest was done?

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If the 4th is the 'Cowboy Western' zone than yeah. I enjoyed it cause your tagalong chatterbox is gone, but not much really happens. The story there has very minor relevance as they talk about Eren's history a little bit, but its all pretty much repeated again later so you can skip it.

I did enjoy the MSQ story for the zone, but it was legitimately more a sidequest and not really related to the main plot. Just an interstitial.

Well i guess any concerns they weren't going to address the soul stuff going to get taken care of by the 8 man raids this go round. Always annoying right when you get to decent bit of plot you have to wait 2 more patches for next bit of story.

I wonder if the feral souls ends up becoming related to the beast master class

Cybsled said:

I wonder if the feral souls ends up becoming related to the beast master class

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That's a possibility? Don't think they've really stated when they were going to put in that content...but the other 2 Arcadion patches will be 7.2 and 7.4.

So I have a question that has popped up in a few different people's reviews of the MSQ and I am interested in what you all think.

Who do you think the target audience for the MSQ is? What age/demographic?

FFXIV is now over 10 years old, and even if you were 13 at the start you are now 23 and supposedly have graduated college and starting a career. I am curious what the age of the average 14 player is and what the writing team's target is.

I heard one reviewer put it this way, "Is this a story for adults? If it is, it doesn't rate. Is this a Saturday morning cartoon story for kids? If so, I will review it entirely different." But his big take away is he has no idea who the story is for. Concepts are higher, writing is lower.