It’s nice to see Square Enix expanding on supportive abilities again, and both jobs are highly polished and fun to play. Both jobs feel powerful and well designed, and complement party play quite nicely. Like Dancer, Gunbreaker is highly supportive-a tank with a heal, and two defensive party buffs. Both jobs, like most of the newer classes implemented later into the game’s lifespan, feel more complete upon reaching max level, and boasts robust tool kits that feel different enough from their counterparts (Bard and Machinist for Dancer, Warrior, Paladin and Dark Knight for Gunbreaker) yet blur the line of the classic MMORPG role trifecta we’ve all become so accustomed to. Gunbreaker, naturally welding a gunblade, is a major nod to Squall Leonhart (and rival Seifer Almasy as well) from Final Fantasy VIII, right down to several of the ability names Rough Divide, Fated Circle, Blasting Zone, and Demon Slice. Gunbreaker is a tank, bringing the total of tanks in the game to four, and throwing off the traditional healer/tank balance of 1:1 that has been consistent throughout the series thus far. The Rak-tika Greatwood is a sprawling forest with waterfalls and a canopy city a comparable to Final Fantasy XII’s Eruyt Village, home of the Viera. Each region is enormous and can fully be explored via ground or air. Il-Mheg being a personal favorite of mine, is literally faerie land-littered with pink flowers, faerie houses and a fae castle at the center of the zone. Ranging from colorful, surreal forests of Lakeland to the shadowy depths of The Tempest, it offers a wide variety of visual updates the game was definitely in need of. Each new zone is a welcome addition to the game with an ultra-fantasy vibe, and is a departure from the more realistic looking zones from the prior two expansions. Shadowbringers truly brings the fantasy back to Final Fantasy with each of its new areas. Each is unlocked in staggered level ranges as you progress from Level 70 to the new cap of Level 80. Across these six new continents, are eight brand new dungeons, and three new trials (the first two, per the usual content structure, having an Extreme version for more seasoned players to attempt). Following the trend from previous expansions, players will have six new regions to explore-Lakeland, Ahm Araeng, Kholusia, Il-Mheg, The Rak-tika Greatwood, and The Tempest. All the more interesting is that Eulmore has a strip club as well, ironically called The Beehive, in a nod to the series’ most successful gameĪs the story unfolds, your Warrior of Darkness will continue their pilgrimage through a series of new areas. Eulmore, ruled by a corpulent Jabba-esque tyrant named Vauthry, feels like a mash-up of a Victoria’s Secret dressing room and the Sector 7 slums from Final Fantasy VII. Buildings roofed with stunning crystalline domes, ethereal purple trees cover the landscape, with a neon floral garden in the lower level of the town-making the Crystarium the most beautiful city ever realized in the game for me, personally. Both hub worlds have a gorgeous design, with the feel of the Crystarium being a wonderful contrast to Eulmore-an educational city progressively accepting everyone, reminiscent of areas you’d find in high fantasy work. The secondary hub world is the city of Eulmore-a heavily class divided region which is stunningly decadent on its upper levels, and a literal slum on its lowest one. The flow of the story also follows the pursuits of Garleans, Gaius van Baelsar, and Emet-Selch (two characters you’ll be very familiar with if you’ve been playing since the previous expansions), from where the story left off during Stormblood. With his help, you track down your Scion companions one-by-one and encounter a plethora of new characters along the way. You quickly begin your journey and discover that the state of eternal daylight is tied to powerful beings called “Sin Eaters.” Your A-Team of Scions (my personal favorites being Y’shtola and Alisae) from the previous expansions are adventuring around The First as well, and will join your character on their mission to restore night to each of The First’s regions by defeating the respective “Light Wardens” that prevent nightfall from returning, whom also control the Sin Eaters terrorizing the local populace.Įarly on, your travels will lead you to the first new major hub city, The Crystarium, lead by the mysterious, benevolent Crystal Exarch. Shadowbringers is no exception to this for the first time ever your character is transported out of Eorzea, and to another plane of existence called “The First.” Here you find yourself entrenched in a world without night. One of the things that has always impressed me the most with any online Final Fantasy title (going as far back as Final Fantasy XI) is that Square Enix has always created story content usually absent from many MMORPGs that feels absolutely worthy of the esteemed reputation of most traditional Final Fantasy titles.
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