With the release of Square Enix's latest expansion pack Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward, players have been busy completing various quests and challenges. Gamers even found themselves fully immersed in Heavensward's world and beautifully created scenery, clocking in 40 hours or more of gameplay to explore everything that the game can offer.
Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward's storyline revolves around the thousand year conflict between Ishgard and Dravania, which is the home of the dragon beast tribe. Crossmap details the features of the expansion pack, which increased the level to 60 and introduced a new playable race called horned Au Ra. Three new jobs were also created: the Dark Knight (Tank), the Astrologian (Healer) and the Machinist (ranged DPS), with each new job having no base class and levels starting at 30. Primals known as Eikons were also introduced, along with a new guild system called Free Companies which serve as the facilitator between individual players, replacing Linkshell.
Current reviews from IGN, takes note of how Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward has an uncommonly well-written story for an MMORPG. And while the game offers numerous challenges, battles and side quests to satisfy a Final Fantasy fanatic, majority of that time will be spent "slogging through old content from before the Heavensward expansion." This means that gamers will only be able to play the new content or try out the three new jobs, after playing through the entire main storyline of Final Fantasy XIV. Although it is a good way to level up new classes, it is still unsure whether this will be a plus for players.
Meanwhile, game reviewers from Destructoid also mentioned the combination of sidequests, daily hunt marks and dungeon challenges in Heavensward. But noted that "a few portions can be off-putting sometimes in terms of pacing," with sidequests not nearly as good as the main story questline. But despite these factors, Final Fantasy players will still enjoy the latest expansion given the varied gameplay features such as the world hunt particularly once flight capability is unlocked. It also doesn't hurt that the Heavensward universe was rendered beautifully, with fantastic looking sceneries and locations. There's also some slowdown and longer load times for the PS4 version, but the PC version is more aesthetically appealing and runs more smoothly.
Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward has a lot to offer its loyal gamers, whether one enjoys role playing, exploring, questing, crafting or getting through to the end game, this latest expansion is sure to bring hours of gameplay fun.
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