Bear and I have really been getting back into and are really excited to play Final Fantasy 14 again! We wake up every morning wanting to hop on, as if kids waking up at obscenely early hours to watch Saturday morning cartoons. XD Though the semi-recent Fan Festival with more news on the Storm Blood expansion and the reveal of Red Mage could be tinder to the relapsed obsession, it isn't the sole reason.

On whim one night, Bear decided that since we had enough people online, we might as well try putting together a party for near end game and raid content. We just rolled with it, did an Alexander arm encounter here, a demon infested air ship there, and just kept rolling! XD We ended up clearing Alexander (normal) and the Void ark raids last week. I know that's all pretty "old" content now, but, you know, Bear and I almost always take are sweet sweet time for all that stuff. -so it was a huge "flavor explosion" for us!

Clearing through Alexander was so impressive! The encounters and the environments were all very interesting and fun, and the story was surprisingly entertaining, interesting, and touching too. It wasn't just the Alexander raid but the Void Ark story chain. It's crazy to think back at how much of FF14's content is story driven, has context, and that it's actually good! Even something like the optional randomly generated "Deep Dungeon," Palace of the Dead has a bit of story; it's only a little, but since it's actually tied into and is a continuation of a small sad side even that happened in the main story quest, it means so much more.

FF14 is so chock full of good story, it's almost like playing a bunch of mini Final Fantasys within a large one that fits them all together into a greater whole. =D The story is also right there in front of you as you progress. Unless you're skipping all the dialogue and the cut scenes, you have context to what the dungeon is and why you doing it.

I know that there are a lot of people who skip the story, and I understand that everyone has their own play style and go to the game for their own personal reasons, but I love this aspect of the game so much, I can't help but to want other people to at least give it a try and possibly love it too. It almost feels comparable to the idea of someone playing through normal numbered console FF game and skipping all of its story; it feels nonsensical. @_@