Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Reviews
A hugely enjoyable addition to the world of Eorzea with plenty of room to spread your wings and explore.
FFXIV: Heavensward is light on new features, but its story and wealth of content make it an expansion to remember.
A huge expanse of wilderness added to an already excellent MMO, Heavensward opens up the world of Eorzea to even greater possibilities.
Square Enix's MMO has gone from turmoil to triumph, but can the latest expansion take it even further?
Final Fantasy XIV evolves with Heavensward, an expansion that takes A Realm Reborn upwards on the wings of a Chocobo. In addition to flying, players get an all-new storyline, new Primals, a brand-new raid dungeon, and three new jobs to level up. FFXIV still retains a few annoying issues here and there, but Heavensward is one of the best MMO expansions I've played.
Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward is more A Realm Reborn, which is a fine thing to strive for in my book. Whether you're the type of player who enjoys crafting, endgame content, or role-playing, there's so much to do here for people of all skill levels it's insane. While I fizzled out a bit after completing the main story in 2.5, Heavensward has rekindled my flame.
Leveling suffers from repetitive quest design and its zones are troublesome to traverse until you can fly, but these issues are soon left in history as you plunge into Heavensward's magnificent story conclusion, and engage in its wonderfully composed group content.
Even so, the vast majority of Heavensward is outstanding and it's easy enough to endure the occasional slow patch. A Realm Reborn was an impressive revival when it launched in 2013, and Heavensward elevates the game to an even higher level. Rarely do expansions feel so fully formed. A Realm Reborn is no longer a grand apology, but instead a fantastic Final Fantasy game in its own right.
The Heavensward Stone & Steel and The Scars of War art books are a must have for any Final Fantasy XIV fanatics. The art is gorgeous and detailed, and while the latter book doesn't have as much artist commentary as I would like, both give detail into each artist's process.
Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward felt mixed. Interesting story that started a large-scale conflict was spoiled by the slowness. Exciting new classes for each combat role is great, but controversial pantheon of tribal gods are not left us in awe as Titan or Leviathan. Highly complicated and overburdened combat system and the uneven balance of battles and dungeons also do not benefit the project.
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A gorgeous, stirring, mechanically solid, feature-rich expansion to what is the best MMO in years.
The beautiful new areas, incredible story, and massive additions to existing content make Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward an amazing package. Despite some minor annoyances, the overall amount of additional, enjoyable content proves to be highly entertaining for those who have exhausted Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn. Whether you're a newbie or a returning adventurer, there's no better time than now to give the brilliant world of Eorzea a shot.
Final Fantasy XIV newcomers might have to jump through hoops to access the new content, but believe us when we say it's worth the effort.
Treading water is exactly what we have here with Heavensward. Besides ingenuity, Heavensward doesn't necessarily fail in any regard.
All in all, you'll literally get hundreds of hours of gameplay to do, with more content added roughly every three months. This is hands down the best MMO on the market currently, in my opinion, and I think every Final Fantasy fan should at least play it through. Even if you're not the type to join clans, it's a game you can play almost exclusively solo except for a couple bosses and some mandatory dungeons. If you have been waiting on picking up Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward there is no better time than now to pick it up. It's a solid 4.5 out of 5 for me.
Yoshida and his team has cemented FFXIV's place amongst the MMO titans that dominate today. They're not going anywhere - if any new MMO is going to see a decade plus lifespan, it's this one. Don't wait another second - Final Fantasy XIV, along with Heavensward, is an MMO you need to be a part of.
Some may argue that the current generation of MMORPGs is filled with throw away imports that focus on monetization over quality. While that seems true for most of 2015's releases Final Fantasy XIV's expansion Heavensward bucks that trend and proves that there is still room for subscription based MMORPGs on the market that are not named World of Warcraft.
An extensive and well-planned expansion that makes Eorzea an ever-more compelling place to get lost in.
Final Fantasy XIV Online: Heavensward & Final Fantasy XIV Online: Stormblood are prime examples of how you should follow up a great opening chapter in a multi-game game like Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn. The time spent with Final Fantasy XIV Online now feels like it is really getting somewhere instead of just one long introduction. While Final Fantasy XIV Online: Stormblood doesn't quite balance the leveling experience with the story questline, everything comes together as an overall amazing experience leading into Final Fantasy XIV Online: Shadowbringers.
We couldn't have asked for anything better than Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward. It comes packed with a staggering amount of content that will leave players overwhelmed in both quantity and quality. It contains a storyline that's highly entertaining and rivals most RPGs in length, three new jobs that are more than welcome additions and flying mounts that help revolutionize traversal in Eorzea.