So! It's been three weeks since the launch of FFXIV's Stormblood expansion, and while Pie and I are still doing our slow roll through story progression, we have to say we have been thoroughly impressed with it thus far. To be honest, after the announcement of Stormblood, I was really apprehensive about if I would like this expansion or not as I was incredibly skeptical of the setting of Othard. To me, what was presented felt ostentatious...unapologetic in it's roots in Japanese and asian cultures, it felt completely bereft of the elements that I cherish about unique fantasy game environments. Which, to be precise, is that I adore having only loose attachment to the real world in a presentation that feels uniquely its own...at least for this sort of game.

What I was met with, however, was some really compelling story that got me excited early on in the expansion and reeled me in with great settings and characters that were quick to cut to the immediacy of the need for liberation. This came as quite the surprise after the somewhat rushed feeling that Heavensward's final patch gave me, lacking an energy and urgency to its call to Ala Mhigo. Contrasted with the exhilarating end to ARR and all the hype that lead into Heavensward only to be met with a rather slow and unenergetic start to its expansion, I feel I can forgive them for holding out the best of the exciting content for the actual content instead of the patch prior to release.

As my heart melted into a story and characters that felt alive and unique, I felt I could start to see with eyes unclouded. I was able to immerse myself in the environments and settings, and appreciate their homages to the cultures from whence they came. And, upon closer inspection, I could see a game that had found a way to still make these settings their own...to add that unique liveliness I had assumed would be absent. It appears that the developers of FFXIV are remaining humble and looking to their competitors for inspiration on how to make their baby shine as brightly as possible, and I think the Kugane jumping puzzle is a great example of this.

Obviously, such lavish praise might not seem very impactful from such a known avid fangirl of this game, but I did want to state that I did harbor a lot of doubt going into this. Ah, the sweet sweet joys of being wrong~