Overview: Final Fantasy XIV is the new king of MMORPGs. Game review Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn - revived MMO Final fantasy xiv game review

final fantasy XIV is an online game set in the Final Fantasy universe.

Everyone has heard of the Final Fantasy series. Yes all. Yes, even those who do not like anime, manga and Japanese at all computer games. And in terms of the number of outgoing parts, this series can be attributed to the record holders of the gaming industry.

Well, it's not about the whole series, but about the part for which the developers had to apologize for the first time. Even the most delicate of critics could not describe the 14th part of the Finale as "a very mediocre and uncomfortable MMO." Closing it, they exhaled, sought out a comrade named Yoshido Nasaki, and challenged him to try again, only this time successfully. He scratched his head (probably) and agreed. Now we have before our eyes the fruits of the labors of him and his team.

Admittedly, this time online Final Fantasy came out much better. And all that was needed was to make the world from scratch, leave it old version a couple of good finds (like multiple classes for one character) and throughout the entire development process, do not forget that an MMORPG is being made, and not just another part of the series.

The result is a very worthy MMO that was skeptical at first, but quickly gained popularity and today is already very much on its feet in anticipation of additions that further expand its content. True, she already has a lot of interesting things in stock. Interesting? Then let's start...

A little about the world

The atmosphere of the Middle Ages, originating in the 11th part of the series, has given way to "high fantasy".

Before the closure of the first "version" of this game, the developers hinted at some kind of meteorite that will blow this continent to its continent grandmother. It is obvious that the new team, when created, decided to play the role of this very meteorite. They have torn apart the continent. Almost nothing remains of the original geography. A couple of old names, however, remained, but everything else is radically new. Apparently, this meteorite not only reshaped the existing one, but also fell apart and increased the former area by several times. Now, instead of monotonous "tunnel" areas, there are vast colorful spaces that can be explored for hours.

A lot is built on the plot here. Up to most gaming features. However, do not be afraid, no one will constantly lead you by the hand. On the contrary, you will discover the main points relatively quickly, after which, again, no one will hold you back. Moreover, the sandbox mode here is quite interesting, and it will also take you a lot of interesting hours to master it.

But back to the plot. They won’t press a tear out of you, instead of it there is a well-measured dose of epic (“does not make you laugh and does not feel sick”, as they say). No, seriously, the plot is made so exciting that in the first passage you will not even think of switching to something else.

In addition, the developers clearly remembered well what MMOs were doing, so a lot of story missions tied to the team passage of many dungeons. By the way, the latter are made here, on the one hand, according to the classical scheme (“cut through to the boss and kill him”), on the other hand, the enemies here are so nimble, especially the bosses, that they don’t let you get bored either.

Therefore, it is necessary to work well with your team in advance, and only then will you have every chance of winning. All this makes the passage of the plot even more interesting, believe me.

Who can play?

In the world of the fourteenth " Final Fantasy"much more technology, the world around us has become more modern, and the races, although they have remained similar to their predecessors, have also evolved.

It was already mentioned at the beginning of the article that one character can, in principle, master all classes and professions. Yes, by the way, professions are also varieties of classes, with a completely separate buildup and gameplay (how). And how many of them are there, these same classes and professions? As Zadornov says, “did you get all the air ... are you ready?” So... Seventeen classes and ten prestige classes. Not impressive? And how do you like such a moment that, pumping the second class, you can attach any skills from the first (third, fifth, tenth) to it. Not a weak field for builds looms, right?

The combat classes are divided into Followers of War, of which there are six types, and Followers of Magic, of which there are only three. The peaceful professions are divided into Followers of the Hand, of which there are eight kinds, and Followers of the Earth, of which there are three more. Well, there are still ten prestige classes left. Although they should rather be called multi-classes, since in order to master them, you need to bring at least two other "basic" classes to a certain level.

At first glance, everything looks a little confusing, but this system is not only very interesting and unusual, but (which is rare) it works. That is, it is not so difficult to understand it. It is much more difficult to choose your own path. But that's the whole point, right?

Final Fantasy 14 videos

What is the upshot?

The second attempt to bring Final Fantasy to the MMO arena turned out to be much more successful than the first. It is already clear that this is a completely independent, working and interesting project that will not only be able to hold on, but also begin to actively compete with many mastodons of the modern MMO world. He has the makings for this, and the developers do not intend to stop there, which is encouraging. So, if you miss good and interesting MMORPGs, Final Fantasy XIV: A realm reborn is definitely for you! Good luck!

Released on 04/14/2014 on PlayStation 4. Below is a review of the PS3 and PC version published in September 2013.

All MMOs are gradually changing. For example, it is now fashionable to play in a team except in Korean "grinds". As for the rest of the genre, for team games there are separate modes or tasks; the rest of the time the player goes through single quests, pumps in one person and gets to the conditional "final" of the story. The most striking example from the last - Star Wars: The Old Republic: Voiced dialogue, lots of beautiful scenes in the engine, a scenario that any single-player RPG would envy. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn develops this idea further. Now MMOs can and should be adapted for home consoles (they were before, on PS2 and Dreamcast, but not on such a scale), and the main problem here is by no means in management. Of key importance is the ease of passage for those who are not so fond of social activity outside of the actual gameplay.

Imagine Final Fantasy XII, the world of which is inhabited by avatars of players. There are NPCs, memorable characters, main characters and villains, a story with twists and turns. The first fifteen levels - and this is a few days of leisurely passage - the player, in principle, does not need to contact others. He receives tasks, looks for half an hour where to go, completes them, acquires new skills and receives a gift strong armor and weapons. After the fifteenth level, he is released from the starting city - to travel through the incredibly beautiful world of Eorzea, which, in terms of elaboration and logic of construction, is not much different from what you could see in other issues of the long-running series. But the story does not let go of the leash even then: the hero still travels from one story quest to another, watching beautiful five-minute screensavers and not even a shadow of a doubt flashes in my head that this is exactly Final Fantasy according to latest fashion, only very bizarrely arranged in terms of the combat system. If desired, in all this you can see the next World of Warcraft, but it's better not to rush to conclusions and go with the flow.

Final Fantasy XIV as a whole is surprisingly comfortable, but there are some unpleasant moments. In most cases, the player perfectly understands what he is doing and why, and most importantly, he constantly looks back at the plot, keeping in his head the general picture of the world and the state of things in it. But in some places the game is too traditional in relation to the MMO as a genre. Navigation, for example, sometimes raises questions: finding a place on the map without having been there before is extremely difficult. Teleportation from crystal to crystal requires money and, in principle, is convenient, only crystals are not everywhere - sometimes they are forced to rent a chocobo, for which, again, you need to check in with the owner of the mount in advance and shake for several minutes on the back of a yellow bird without the ability to turn left or right. Most of the time you have to spend just looking for something. It takes a little less time to move from point "A" to point "B" just to talk to someone. Although this is explained by the plot of the game, it does not make it easier.

Roughly the same story with races and classes. All the characters are beautiful, just in the style of the latest Final Fantasy. There is a cute race of dwarfs, there are cat girls, and tall, elf-like creatures, and just people. You can get lost in the settings of their appearance, but the stupor will cause something else - completely opaquely formulated descriptions and class names. The words are beautiful, but what lies behind them - go and guess. The second character, for example, I made a marauder. An armored warrior with an ax, whose description speaks of his strength and ability to inflict colossal damage, plays the role of a tank in all dungeons. However, he does not have a special ability to do so and does not carry a shield, but it is not possible to reassign the role in Duty Finder (automatic team selection service).

Over time, you get used to all this, as well as to control with a gamepad. This is not Diablo III on consoles, here you need to use all the available buttons, and sometimes hold down several at once and then select the desired icons. This is the only difficulty in the PS3 version: it is better to forget about any communication in the chat right away (you can connect a USB keyboard, but this is not very convenient when playing not at the table), and once you remember the layout, you are afraid to forget it after a long break. But having overcome this barrier, you want to return to Final Fantasy XIV again and again. Because it relies on the same enticing details as other successful MMOs: beautiful characters, easy leveling that brings tangible results, colorful locations that are not boring to wander around, cleverly planned boss battles and tons of fan service, starting with mail-delivering muggles. and ending with the battle with Ifrit.

Today, Final Fantasy XIV seems like the perfect example of a console-based MMO with shared servers for the PC version. It is still not perfect in some details, but the most important thing is that it is convenient and fun to play on PS3.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Available now for PS3, PC and PS4. The PS3 and PC versions were reviewed.

The game is perfect even for those gamers for whom online fun is associated with an endless wank of simple quests and raids in the dungeons. After all, great attention is paid to the plot with an abundance of unexpected twists and turns and cutscenes.

Addon Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood

Final Fantasy 14, upon its release back in 2010, is remembered by players as one of the worst online games in history. A lot of bugs, antediluvian graphics, a small amount of content and a stupid system of gaining experience, where it was allowed to pump the character only for 8 hours a week - all this buried the game and made a big stain on the reputation of the great series.

Subsequently, the developers even made a public apology to the players and vowed that in future additions they would revive the game and make it worthy of the Final Fantasy license line. To our joy Square Enix not just scatter words and in 2017 released the third addition - Stormblood, which allowed the game to climb the Olympus of the best MMORPGs.

Story-driven MMORPG

To begin with, it's worth saying that Final Fantasy XIV online continues the tradition of the JRPG series and is focused on the story. Therefore, expect an abundance of cutscenes, dialogues and unexpected scenario turns. In this case, there is no need to know the events of previous additions or past parts of the series. The game, as befits every new release of Final Fantasy, offers a new universe, lore and characters, so both fans of the series and new players can immerse themselves in the story to the same extent.

In addition to the locations familiar from previous add-ons, in the addon players will visit Coogan, Dom and Azim lands. All locations are stylized as medieval Asian countries and differ both in nature and in the customs of the peoples that live in them. There is even an underwater city with a detailed marine landscape and ecosystem.

The plot in Final Fantasy XIV is really captivating and presents new mechanics every time, like stealth missions, where you will have to throw darts at opponents from the first person. Just one important note: there is no Russian localization in Final Fantasy XIV. Of course, this can cause problems, but it will provide a friendly and mature community where every player you meet does not threaten to take your mother to the movies.

How Final Fantasy XIV is played

The gameplay of the online Finals will be familiar to all players who once launched an MMORPG. First you need to choose one of the 6 races, choose the right look with dozens of sliders, and most importantly - decide on the class. In total, 8 classes are available, among which 5 deal damage with weapons, and the rest prefer to deal with enemies with magic. The choice of class also determines the available quests and the location the player starts from.

The combat system takes place in real time and is different for PVP and PVE battles, but in general is based on building long combos. In total, several types of attacks are available: normal weapon attacks with a 2.5 second cooldown, magical and special abilities. In battle, you have to constantly monitor the scales for filling attacks and choose skills suitable for certain opponents. At the same time, the selected class affects the type of attack, so in battles against large mobs it is better to select a motley team.

In Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood, the developers decided to expand combat system. For each class, separate strips with the accumulation of a unique ability, which depends on the type of combat stance. In general, the combat, although it looks cumbersome, but with all the variability is easy to learn and offers a fun, but at the same time tactful reprisal against enemies.

Final Fantasy 14 - the world of catgirls and opportunities

The game will soon turn 8 years old, so it is ready to provide you with hundreds of hours of exciting content without any problems. Basic, additional quests, dungeons, instances, fakes ( random events in the game world), PVP arenas, hundreds of possible crafting options, killing bosses that change shape during the battle… You can talk about the number of available options for hours. One character editor is worth something.

Final Fantasy XIV is a great alternative to boring WOW and probably the best PVE online RPG in the world. The creation of Japanese developers harmoniously combines a long story company with a typical MMO games a grind that sucks up time like a vacuum cleaner. Download Final Fantasy 14 you can the official site of Square Enix, just keep in mind that the game is available for a subscription fee.

If you prefer more single entertainment, then we advise you to read the article where we talk about.

Role-playing game Final Fantasy XIV: Online went through many metamorphoses before becoming the very project that we see now. Eight years after the release of the franchise's first MMORPG, Final Fantasy XI, the original iteration is released Final Fantasy XIV. That game gained notoriety for its clumsy implementation of game mechanics directly taken from FFXI, with dubious content, when players quickly skimmed through the story and optional quests, and subsequently drowned up to their ears in a monotonous aimless farm with a slow combat system. The project was so bad that it almost turned out to be a swan song in this area for Square Enix. The losses were enormous, and the company lost one of its major investors.

Fortunately, Square Enix I decided to go for broke and completely redo the game. Responsible for the resurrection of the project, which received a speaking subtitle A Realm Reborn, was appointed Naoki Yoshida, who has been working in the industry since 1993 and is distinguished by a fiery love for IMO generally. Yoshida-san was inspired by the iconic World of Warcraft, Ultima and Dark Age of Camelot. And if FFXI featured a very complex game design, where you had to level up for a long time in the initial zones and make long-term reliable acquaintances in order to leave the first lands, A Realm Reborn has become the quintessence of the ideas of recognized online RPG framed by the legends of the series final fantasy- with the holy trinity of roles, a focus on constant loot, and an enemy-targeting combat system.

Before we plunge into the thick atmosphere of soul-warming adventures around the world" Finals", it is worth telling about the first experiment Square in the field of MMO - Final Fantasy XI. As Naoki himself said, "You can't make something completely new out of nothing." FFXI was very difficult game, where you had to literally gnaw experience on your character with only one chosen class, teaming up with more experienced people, conquering monsters in the initial zones and discussing in detail what to do next in specialized chats - the so-called Linkshell-channels. It was common to die in a normal location and lose your progress there. At the same time, the project had a specific progression system. The fact is that it took months and even years to farm the most powerful equipment - when it came to special outfits and other similar sets, as well as things falling with a certain percentage of probability from world bosses - monsters that rarely appeared on the location and required entire alliances high level heroes to kill. However, in turn, you could wear them for a long time and they were up-to-date in terms of characteristics, whereas today you have to constantly change everything with the release of certain patches.

Final Fantasy XI for its five additions, it has assembled a close-knit community of players with a special mindset, but it was not a game for everyone. A lot of people lacked the time and patience to methodically and continuously perform a pattern of hackneyed actions for the sake of a possible reward in the distant future, and even with the likelihood of losing what they earned. With all this, the game was actively supported for 14 years, until 2016 (on consoles. The game is still supported on PC), and became a cult.

original Final Fantasy XIV turned out the most beautiful game for owners of powerful hardware, but came out with a completely killed content and gameplay. Unlike FFXI, here it was easy to change the class, just by choosing a different weapon, and there were no loadouts in the zones. In general, this is where all the positives end. The project was horribly structured and executed, starting with the fact that you didn't even know where to go. When you started playing, you found yourself in a kind of MMO sandbox, where you had to constantly switch the character to combat mode and manually attack - there was no auto-attack then. To complete this or that quest, you were given explanations on the mini-map, the path to which took ten clicks, and pumping up to level 50 took about three months of real time. There were no recipes for crafting - you had to poke through hundreds of items or run to specialized sites. At the same time, it was possible to move mainly on foot - tens of minutes through giant zones, since teleportation cost a special resource, which was restored for a very long time - no chocobos were provided.

Everything was very bad with the content - for a long time the entire endgame consisted of two (!) Dungeons, and only later boss battles for eight people were added. First came the heavy version known to all fans of the series Garuda, and then Ifrita with a couple of primitive mechanics. Thus, for the first time after the release, players only had to farm dungeons, and you could be proud of the artifact armor knocked out of there, made for each profession in the classic style for the series, inspired by offline " Finals".

Released in 2013, it performed a miracle, and from an ugly duckling the project turned into a beautiful swan, fighting for the attention of gamers with such a mastodon as World of Warcraft, as well as other popular MMORPG. The first thing that draws attention in the game is how painstakingly and carefully recreated the world based on legends and myths about creatures, places and events from the license plates. final fantasy. At the same time, the project feels independent and complete, and not a game based on motives.

The action takes place in the world Heidelin on the continent Eorzea. At the very beginning, you are prompted to choose a set of personality characteristics of the hero, such as the sign under which he was born, the class that determines starting location, appearances with a number of settings that almost always result in a pleasant appearance, and races.

There are five races to choose from - local Hury people, elven-like elezens, amusing lalafelli babies, big roegadins and cat-like mycotes. The equipment adapts to the physiology of the character, so, for example, mycots wear helmets with ears, and a tail is visible under the armor.

In addition to Garuda and Ifrit, we will get to know the whole story of deity worship. Primal(barbarian gods) on behalf of the animal races inhabiting a certain region of the world - telling about the power titan, Leviathan, Moogle King, Odin, Ramuha and Shiva familiar to all fans of the series. And, of course, not without Bahamut- the gigantic size of the supreme god of dragons merasidia in the ancient era. Almost all players agree that history Coil of Bahamut- the best chain of raids, as per game mechanics, as well as storyline and to this day. And if the intermediate stages only serve as a link for progressing through the scenario, then the battles with the eminent bosses of the series, from Twintanii from Final Fantasy V before rafflesia and Phoenix, let you feel the spirit of the series FF with his staging. Battle with Bahamut impresses with its atmosphere, the beauty of the attack animations and the musical theme that gives you goosebumps" Answers", which went on at an increasing pace and broke into a sonorous chorus at the final stage of the battle.

Here we should paint a picture storyline versions 1.0 and 2.0 to make the place clear Primalov in the universe. AT the last days Sixth Astral Era The Garlean Empire launches a full-scale assault on the continent of Eorzea. Alliance of Allied Forces, consisting of 3 Great Companies representing the main regions of the world, Gridania, Uldy and Lims Lomins tried to fight back the intruders. But they soon learned that the real plan of the imperials was to use the ancient magic of the Allaghans (an ancient race that was the most advanced) called Meteor, and end once and for all the allied forces, as well as the deities that pose a threat to the Harleans, who did not want to submit to the invaders.

The plot introduces us in detail to each country, its environs and myths, along the way leading us along the path of a flaring conflict with the empire. History successfully fulfills the mission of introducing players to the universe, but in the first half of the game, the authors went overboard with quests. Unfortunately, fillers that make little sense, but make us do tedious tasks, often give us a reason to get bored. However, the further you go, the richer what is happening with events and scope, and the unpleasant aftertaste is leveled.

Among the sidequests, a breath of fresh air is the story about the inspector hildibrand and his henchmen. The witty and funny line about Hildy's extraordinary investigations will not leave anyone indifferent. What is his father Godbert worth, walking around in his underpants so that playful muscles are better visible, and teaching how to be a “real man”!

In the project, given its colossal scale and updating of content, of course, a rather primitive production by the standards of modern plot RPG. The story is told through dialogues and cutscenes. Alas, only the most important videos are voiced, and the bulk of the narrative passes through reading the text. Of course, if they fight on the screen, then they try to show it in all its glory. When the characters communicate, only critical moments are voiced.

Speaking of lands, it is impossible not to look at the world. Each of the three regions presented is distinctly distinguished by its location, landscape topography, history, mythology, inhabiting creatures, available races, local crafts and curiosities, and of course, their capitals. Be it cozy turquoise groves Gridania, the harsh outlines of the sand scale of the fortress Uldy, or shores giving off the sea breeze Lims Lomins- cities and local locations are firmly engraved in memory from the first acquaintance. At the same time, according to the legends of the stories of the corresponding quests, inside the locations there are certain dungeons, fortresses and abodes of the gods, which we will visit in the course of completing tasks, both plot and optional. Even PvP-The arena with headquarters and the church for wedding ceremonies are thoughtfully woven into the geography of the game world.

A competent balance of distances to the most important points and sizes of zone maps makes movement on a feathered friend that has appeared here Chocobo pleasant and understanding.

Of course, any adventurer must excel at a craft, be it combat, gathering, or crafting. The holy trinity of combat roles of tanks, healers and DPS (damage-focused classes) is hierarchically divided into classes and professions (subsequently, only the latter remained, but more on that later). Thus, in order to acquire a profession, you need to pump the required classes to a certain level, namely the 15th and 30th, leading to the acquisition Soul Crystal, the idea of ​​which is taken from Final Fantasy Tactics and old final fantasy. A Realm Reborn gave a choice of 2 tanks: a paladin and a warrior, 2 healers: a white mage and a scholar, as well as 6 dps: a black mage, a summoner, a bard, a dragoon, a monk, and a ninja. At the same time, it is important to note that in this MMO you can upgrade all classes on one character - just like in offline final fantasy.

Professions in - not just icons above the names of the characters. Behind the titles native to the series is the centuries-old history of the formation and development of the martial arts of various nations, the stories of which are reflected in the chains of class quests. The developers have prepared whole story arcs with characters and various events, ending with epic battles to inspiring melodies.

At the end of September 2010, the second massive multiplayer game was released on PC. role play a series final fantasy at number XIV, which turned out to be a very low-quality product despite the high budget, which resulted in losses for its developer and publisher, the Japanese giant Square Enix. Undoubtedly, the project turned out to be a failure, so the president of the company, and at that time it was Yoichi Wada, apologized to the players and said that Final Fantasy XIV will be thoroughly revised and then released again. For this, a new development team was formed, which eventually created Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, which is fundamentally different from its predecessor. Although the game takes place in the same world of Eorzea, in addition, players were allowed to transfer their characters, A Realm Reborn uses new engine and network architecture, while the gameplay and graphics component have undergone major changes. The events of the original game came to an end in 2012, when its support ended: the dragon Bahamut escaped from the lunar prison and initiated the apocalyptic event - the Seventh Dark Calamity, which led to the destruction of most of Eorzea. However, thanks to a divine blessing, the player characters escaped death by moving forward five years. And while Eorzea was actively recovering, there was a threat of an invasion by the Harlean Empire from the north. This is how the story began, the revival of which received high marks from critics, as well as awards for the best MMORPG. The game went on sale on August 27, 2013 on PC and PlayStation 3, and on April 14, 2014 it reached PlayStation 4. Then the project received two full-scale expansions heavensward and Stormblood, the latter of which will be discussed in this article.

Since there is no review of the main game on our site Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, as well as the first major addition heavensward, released on June 23, 2015, it would be correct to make some digression, and also tell more about the system of classes, professions and races presented in the game. First, in Final Fantasy XIV the chosen class when creating a character is not fixed to him tightly, you can master any other as you progress, and then change them at your request almost at any time. For example, if you are tired of the role of a damaging DPS and want to heal your comrades in the dungeons, then you can safely pick up a staff... True, first you have to join the Wizards guild and upgrade the class from zero to the desired level. But with professions, things are different, their level is equal to the level of the class to which this profession belongs. The main professions are aimed at strengthening the class and allow you to develop its specialization. In addition, there are several other professions that do not depend on any class and were added in additions. heavensward and Stormblood. By the way, in addition to the two disciplines Disciple of War and Disciple of Magic, which include damage dealers (DPS), healers (Healer) and tanks (Tank), the game has craft professions Disciple of Hand, as well as miners useful resources Disciple of Land. And all of them can be learned by one character, without the need to create others.

AT Final Fantasy XIV you can meet a total of six races for every taste. We will not delve into their origin, I will only briefly explain what they are: hyur look like ordinary people elezen on elves, Miko "te on cat people, lalafell for the undersized Roegadine on giants, and besides Au Ra(race from expansion heavensward) on dragonmen.

The process of creating a character can be delayed not only because of the painful choice of race, but also due to the periodic unavailability of servers for creating characters. In addition, on crowded servers, for example, on Cerberus, which is popular with Russian-speaking players, this feature did not appear at all after the release of Stormblood. And who wants to play on a server whose queue for entry exceeds several thousand people, which in terms of time means more than an hour of waiting.

Get comfortable in Final Fantasy XIV will not be difficult, all the basic functions necessary for beginners lie on the surface, and the knowledge of what the rest perform will come gradually over time. However, players who do not know English, French, German or Japanese at all may have certain problems, because Russian localization is not provided here. But it is also worth considering that in order to understand the description of quests, a minimum knowledge of one of the presented foreign languages ​​is sufficient, and an interpreter can help with unfamiliar words. True, in this case you will lose an excellent plot, which is rightfully considered one of the best not only in the MMORPG genre, but also in the series. final fantasy. By the time of passing the main game alone, it will last for more than two hundred hours.

So, two years after the release heavensward, June 20, 2017, Square Enix released a new major expansion Stormblood for Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Game Final Fantasy XIV on PlayStation 4, PC and Mac, and the old PlayStation 3 version of the project ceased to exist at this point. The plot of the expansion is based on the liberation of the city-state of Ala Migo from the invaders in the face of the Garlean Empire, as well as the restoration of the independence of Doma. Surely to loyal fans who played that very first version Final Fantasy XIV, the sad fate of Ala Migo is known, which is the only city of Eorzea captured by the Garlean Empire. However, after the end of the Dragonsong War between the Holy See of Ishgard and the Dravan Dragon Horde led by Nidhogg (the events heavensward) the previously impenetrable border fortifications of Baelsar's wall were breached, and the way was opened for the campaign to liberate the city. I will not reveal any more details of the story, I will only say that it is full of interesting characters and fascinating plot twists, backed up by sincere emotions. Only outdated animation in cut scenes, which looks a little clumsy for 2017, can spoil the impression. However, in the game itself, as well as in battle, it feels very high quality, so you should not rush to draw conclusions here. The voice acting of the dialogues is present only in the main episodes, the rest of the time the characters just open their mouths. Nevertheless, in this regard, the developers can be understood, since voicing a ton of phrases requires not only a colossal amount of time, but also money.

Controls are perfectly adapted to the DualShock 4 controller, the layout at the bottom of the screen allows you to quickly use abilities, as well as make multiple selections for all occasions. In addition, the gamepad touchpad can be used as a replacement for the mouse, it allows you to move the cursor and resize windows when necessary. Of course, if it is inconvenient for you to control the gamepad, then you can always connect a keyboard and mouse to the console, since this feature is present in the game.

Musical accompaniment as in the most Final Fantasy XIV, and in its two additions is delicious. At each of the locations you can hear motives that are pleasant to the ear, which are unlikely to get bored quickly. Because the A Realm Reborn had a restriction on pumping characters up to the fiftieth level, and heavensward raised this bar to the sixtieth level, then Stormblood did not lag behind and increased the maximum level of characters by another ten.

I think it's worth mentioning the problems Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood that occurred at the start of the add-on. Although with what popular online games does this not occur at launch? DDoS attacks hitting game servers created artificial entry queues of more than thirty thousand people, although without them on popular servers, as mentioned earlier, one had to wait more than an hour to enter the game. The free transfer of the character to one of the new servers saved, but Duty Finder, a mechanism that processes dungeons and mini-instances, without which it is impossible to go through certain moments of the storyline, periodically fell on them due to the influx of players. Nevertheless, there have not been so many players lately, so nothing prevents a calm game.

Among the notable innovations is the ability to swim and dive, the latter of which opens in the story at the sixty-third level. It provides an opportunity to go diving and visit underwater cities. The only sad thing is that there are almost no locations with deep reservoirs. In addition, starting at level 50, you can learn two new professions: Red Mage and Samurai, which have their own unique mechanics and combinations. You can get them by completing certain tasks. Both classes fulfill the role of DPS, however, the red mage is designed to conduct ranged while the samurai is passing by. Their animations, abilities, and everything else is done pretty well.

Graphic component in Final fantasy XIV looks very nice, besides the owners of the PlayStation 4 Pro, along with the release Stormblood received its improvement and support for 4K resolution. All the screenshots that you can see in the review are taken on the Slim version of the console, but even on it the picture is very good.

It is worth noting that all players have the opportunity to skip the story as the main A Realm Reborn, as well as additions heavensward, as well as instantly increase the level of the character to the sixtieth, in order to immediately go to the passage Stormblood with your friends, but you will have to pay dearly for such pleasure. You can learn more about these items