Final Fantasy XIV

[Reign]

TIL JP Ardbert is Suwabe. Very fitting for him.

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I'm in the last zone and would love to finish the story but the SERVERS ARE DOWN

[Deathhappens]

TIL JP Ardbert is Suwabe. Very fitting for him.

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I'm in the last zone and would love to finish the story but the SERVERS ARE DOWN

Especially back when the Warriors of Cynicism Darkness first showed up, he was a dead ringer for Archer.

BTW, The Emperor is Joji Nakata.

EDIT: And Gaius is Akio Ootsuka playing to his strengths (unrestricted hamminess!) but I figure he's not really attached to Fate in the same way as the other two.

[Deathhappens]

I thought after Heavensward SE had learned their lesson, but no, we got another "hype you up for the final fight, lol have fun waiting for another seven people first".

Though come to think of it, Shinryu was the same in SB, so meh.

[Reign]

I think I still prefer Heavensward overall but that was really good. Kickass ending, that scene before the last boss is right up there with Dragonsong kicking in during Final Steps of Faith as my favorite scene in the game.

[Deathhappens]

Yeah, I'd have a hard time ranking expansions between this and Heavensward, but so far I think Shadowbringers deserves the top spot. I mean, HW didn't really get going until a couple patches in the cycle (Final Steps of Faith, which, as you noted, was the crowning moment of the expac, was patch 3.3) whereas Shadowbringers was a complete experience from the outset. (I'm fairly sure it's much bigger than either Heavensward or Stormblood in sheer time taken, though, so that's to be expected). Remains to be seen how the story unfolds from here, though. There's plenty of room for missteps, and this obsession with

Spoiler:

bringing Zenos back for who knows what reason

is already a move in the wrong direction, imho.

[Reign]

God, same with that spoiler. He's such a bad character.

[R.Lock]

I thought after Heavensward SE had learned their lesson, but no, we got another "hype you up for the final fight, lol have fun waiting for another seven people first".

Though come to think of it, Shinryu was the same in SB, so meh.

Every x.0 patch is capped by 8-man fight.

No exceptions.

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And hey, ARR experience's exactly why there's no 8man dungeons anymore.

[Reign]

Level 80 sidequest dungeon

[Deathhappens]

Lol yeah, everyone's hyping the Academia soundtrack and I'm here like "the single thing I liked from the Crystal Tower raids is back!".

[Reign]

Shoot, Eden is really good. This is the most interested I've been in the story of the 8-man raids since Coils.

[Deathhappens]

*On vacation away from any PC for at least a month*

I'll take your word for it. ;_;

[absolutezero001]

I was really surprised by how well done the music was this sect. tho the bait-and-switch-esque first fight makes one wonder on what'll be the final fight

[Altima of the Gates]

I thought after Heavensward SE had learned their lesson, but no, we got another "hype you up for the final fight, lol have fun waiting for another seven people first".

Though come to think of it, Shinryu was the same in SB, so meh.

I am a healer and was playing during early access, so I got in there with people being absolutely hype in the chat, "LET'S GO" messages everywhere. Square knows how to do final encounters, that is also why I enjoyed Stormblood's ending with you going up to all the peoples and leaders you met so far and them cheering you on, and when you've won, they have a special bit with everyone congratulating you.
Singing the anthem as we go into the title graphic was also patriotic as fuck. But Shadowbringers was excellent in itself precisely for the personal bond it had, Ardbert and all the setup they did culminated into something great. I played it in English, but there is just something hype about literally bringing Archer out of jaded-ness to do something heroic.

[Deathhappens]

Tangentially related, I was watching NEST's video reacting to the expansion and Drak had the audio set to English. I very rarely say this but I was honestly impressed by the voice acting. You could really feel the characters' emotions, and they managed without falling in the pitfall of being overly hammy and cheesy. It legitimately made me want to listen to the cutscenes again in English, which is honestly the highest praise I could bestow on a dub. :P

[R.Lock]

Yeah well, I can't imagine not listening to English VA's post-Heavensward.

I love Nanjolno, Sawashiro and Suwabe, but English dub has way too much style.

[Deathhappens]

The problem with the English dub (other than that the original audio is also full of talent) is that frequently the english text and what is actually being said in Japanese are completely different things. It's never gotten quite as bad as the Keeper of the Lake debacle, in my experience, but there's still info being shared in Japanese that you wouldn't glean from the English audio (JP Urianger, running away with his best developed character in Shadowbringers despite Thancred getting a daughteru award, is the most striking as his speech patterns vary a lot while the english text has him as flowery as ever).

[R.Lock]

The problem with playing FFXIV in Japanese is that it's a hundred times less funny.

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And dragonspeak debacle was dumb since EN text had all the info contained in JP.

[Deathhappens]

It not only lacked some info, it also completely recontextualized the info it did give to the point of being a different conversation altogether. Dumb is putting it mildly.

[R.Lock]

Yeah well, JP side fucked up big time by not revisiting the script given to Koji and revising it to actually fit the angry ancient dragon roused by his son's song of anger, betrayal and retribution. The dragon who's reluctant to help the wol, but obliged to due to the pact with Hydaelyn.

Besides, I see no critical information lost that is not filled in via the events of Heavensward.

[Deathhappens]

Yeah well, JP side fucked up big time by not revisiting the script given to Koji and revising it to actually fit the angry ancient dragon roused by his son's song of anger, betrayal and retribution. The dragon who's reluctant to help the wol, but obliged to due to the pact with Hydaelyn.

Besides, I see no critical information lost that is not filled in via the events of Heavensward.

Uhhh... It's the exact other way around. The JP text is consistent with the rest of the story in Heavensward whereby Midgardsormr awakes, curious about the power Hydaelyn has bestowed on the WoL, and decides to administer the test Hydaelyn contracted him to do about how the WoL fares without Her blessing. The English text straight up had him say he was planning on killing you but couldn't due to his contract with Hydaelyn, and then made the resultant depowering seem like some kind of plot to get the WoL killed indirectly. It went almost COMPLETELY contrary to the actual intent of the scene and the succeeding storyline. It was a fiasco, no two ways about it. And while this misinformation is eventually rectified as the WoL meets Middy again and gains more info about what the whole shenanigan was about, it still alters his character and the experience players would have playing through that part.