This review was originally written on July 10th, 2015.
Final Fantasy XIV has gone through a rough life. After the rocky original release of Final Fantasy XIV Online in September 2010, most people did not believe Final Fantasy XIV would last for long. After poor sales and criticism, Final Fantasy XIV shut down in November 2012. Eight months later, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn released on PC and Playstation 3 (and later on Playstation 4), completely re-envisioning the game with new gameplay systems, new areas, new dungeons, and much more. Fast forward to June 2015, and Final Fantasy XIV has finally released its first expansion—Heavensward. To be brief, Heavensward is exactly what we have been waiting for.
Running at approximately $40, Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward offers well enough content to justify the price tag. With a story that nears the length of A Realm Reborn’s, six massive new maps with flying mounts, a new playable race, three new jobs, an increased level cap, eight new dungeons, three new trial boss encounters, a new raid, and countless new items, Heavensward will keep players busy for months. Similar to A Realm Reborn, players with Heavensward will also receive content updates intermittently which will provide more story, new dungeons, trial bosses, raids, items, and more. These updates occur approximately every two to three months, giving even the most casual of players a reason to log on.
Before getting into the details of Heavensward, it may be advisable to know that Heavensward content (outside of the new playable race) cannot be accessed until the entirety of A Realm Reborn’s story has been finished. This includes not only the completion of the standard 2.0 story which will take the player to level 50, but also all the updates afterward which extend the story even further. This adds another 20 to 30 hours of game time that must be completed before accessing the content. If you are a new or returning player wishing to play one of the new jobs (Dark Knight, Astrologian, and Machinist), know that you must complete the entirety of the A Realm Reborn storyline as one of the original nine classes before accessing those jobs. Fortunately, Square Enix has updated the story quests after the 2.0 story to grant experience, so any player who has Heavensward installed may start leveling up past 50 early.
Despite the unfortunate requirement for players to complete the full A Realm Reborn storyline to access Heavensward, the story more than makes up for this issue. While players may have found themselves skipping cutscenes in A Realm Reborn due to the grotesque amounts of monotonous filler, Heavensward finally finds itself at peace with storytelling. Alongside a small cast of characters from A Realm Reborn, Heavensward introduces new characters and enemies which become both likable and relatable as the story progresses. I would describe myself as a rather cold-hearted person at times, but some of the more intimate moments in Heavensward had me wanting to tear up. The emotional attachment brought about in Heavensward reaches the same standard found in other Final Fantasy titles and even surpasses them in some regards, even as an MMORPG. Of course, as is standard for the story in Final Fantasy XIV, the end of the 3.0 Heavensward storyline leaves the player on an extremely satisfying cliffhanger itching for more.
In terms of gameplay, Heavensward is still the same game as A Realm Reborn. Players looking to return and expect a new experience will not find that and likely leave disappointed. All other players, however, will find the gameplay of A Realm Reborn updated along with a number of fascinating new features. All new zones in Heavensward are notably larger than A Realm Reborn’s, and to compensate for this, flying mounts have been added. Strangely, players may not fly in any of the new areas until they have attuned with all of the aether currents which are unlocked by exploring the area and completing sidequests. This may have been done to prevent players from advancing too far without properly doing the story quests, but I often found myself unable to fly until I had nearly completed all of the tasks in a zone.
In addition to the three new jobs that have been added, all old classes have also been updated. With an increased level cap to 60, all old classes learn a total of five new abilities. Some of these are more useful than others, while others change the way a class works. The Bard class, for example, received a new ability titled the Wanderer’s Minuet. In order to use the other four new abilities, Bards must first be in the Wanderer’s Minuet stance. However, Wanderer’s Minuet adds a casting time to all main abilities, thereby transforming the class into a caster like the Black Mage.
The new jobs, Dark Knight, Astrologian, and Machinist, each have their own niche but have yet to surpass any of the old classes. The Dark Knight is the newest tanking role, using MP and the forces of darkness to harness its abilities. With its own unique skillset, the Dark Knight manages to differ enough from both the Paladin and Warrior to warrant using. As for the newest healing role, the Astrologian, many have found it to be weaker than the White Mage and Scholar jobs. Using a randomized card-based system, the Astrologian draws cards from a deck with buffing abilities that may be used on party members. This is the Astrologian’s major benefit, as its overall healing and damage capabilities are lower than the other healing classes. The Astrologian also has two stances, Diurnal Sect and Nocturnal Sect, which add a regeneration effect and shield buff to healing spells respectively to complement the other healer’s abilities, but many have complained that Nocturnal Sect’s shields are not strong enough to be worth using. As the newest DPS class, the Machinist greatly resembles the Bard glass a ranged support class. With an ability that functions almost identically to the Bard’s Wanderer’s Minuet, the two classes are almost interchangeable aside from a few select abilities and the Machinist’s ability to place turrets on the field. While the Machinist has been hampered with negative comments such as low damage output, a recent update has upped its stats and potencies to keep it more on line with the other classes.
The eight new dungeons and the three new trials in Heavensward are an absolute blast. The benefit of locking these new dungeons and trials behind story is that all players are higher leveled and more skilled, meaning that new content is relatively challenging and allows players to experiment with new skills. Game mechanics borrowed from some of the endgame content in A Realm Reborn show up from time to time in story content in Heavensward, requiring all players to be alert at all times. This does, however, mean that a poor tank or healer can cause issues in completing dungeons, but I never personally ran into this issue. One of my personal favorite moments is found in a dungeon where players must move totems out of a boss’s area of effect ranged attack or else the totems transform into monsters. Another remarkable moment is the mechanics found in one of the new trials—players must be aware of additional monsters, cannons that allow the party to attack the monster, and a shield which protects the island’s health. This may seem to be a boatload of mechanics at first, but strategically memorizing them and successfully completing the trial is wholeheartedly satisfying.
Endgame content in Heavensward is nearly identical to how it was in A Realm Reborn. Players fight Extreme versions of the trials, run the Alexander raid, do daily roulettes for tomes to obtain high-level gear, and participate in hunting monsters to further upgrade the aforementioned gear. Crafting and gathering classes have also been updated, but as I have not personally leveled any of them to level 60, I am unable to give my own perspective. Nevertheless, crafting classes have been given new recipes to create, some of which require drops from the newest dungeons and harvesting items obtainable in new zones, encouraging players to level all classes to level 60. With a double experience bonus granted to classes under level 50 and a 1.5x experience bonus granted to classes between 51 and 60 for anyone who has a higher leveled class, Square Enix motivates players to spend as much time as possible in the world of Eorzea.
With a fantastic story, great new additions to gameplay, and fun new dungeons and trials, Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward is a must for any current Final Fantasy XIV player. Returning and new players alike may need to exercise caution before purchasing Heavensward as the majority of content is locked behind the entirety of A Realm Reborn’s story, but any player willing to persevere through will find an absolutely wonderful experience. The new jobs may need some work to become on par with the old ones, but they are still completely viable and worth using, even if more difficult to play. Whether you are a hardcore fan who will play for years or a returning casual player interested in playing only one month for the story, Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward is a steal at only $40.
Score: 9/10