Final Fantasy XIV is known for its long-standing story that continues with every expansion. Here is the second part of the absolute highlights, compiled by MeinMMO author Irina Moritz after many sleepless nights.
The story of FFXIV has stretched over 10 years, counting about 1,000 individual quests, hundreds of hours of gameplay, and countless cutscenes. At times, it can be really tedious and lose excitement, but its high points left many FFXIV players and even the boss himself in tears and emotionally drained.
Here is the second article that covers the expansions Stormblood, Shadowbringers, and Endwalker. You can find the first part here:
Please feel free to write in the comments what your favorite moments were that really hit home.
Stormblood: Tsukuyomi
After several years of the ongoing story of FFXIV, a trend became apparent: The developers created a particular perception of reality for players in every expansion and then immediately destroyed it.
The good became the bad, the lines between right and wrong were no longer as clear as they once seemed. This trend continued with the post-expansion updates of Stormblood and raised various moral questions primarily revolving around war crimes.
However, the climax of this was the fate of the Viceroy Yotsuyu. Together with Gosetsu, she survived the collapse of the Castle of Doma, lost her memory, and became an innocent girl.
Throughout the story, it is revealed that she was abused as a child and later as a young woman by her family and strangers. Through the confrontation with her deceitful brother Asahi and her parents, her memories return to her, and she regrets never having met a good person in her life.
She accepts that she is “a monster” and becomes the Primal Tsukuyomi. The story of Tsukuyomi is one that could be talked about all day because so much was done right in it.
What impressed me the most was how one could even feel sympathy for the criminal Yotsuyu in the end because her family was a truly terrible bunch. It was also important and correct that the devs did not attempt to excuse Yotsuyu’s crimes, yet still gave her a satisfying end without a happy ending.
By the way, Tsukuyomi secured first place in our user voting for the most popular Primals in FFXIV.
Final Fantasy XIV: The most popular Primals in the ranking
Shadowbringers: Tesleen
It was really not easy to choose just two highlights in an expansion like Shadowbringers. The story is packed with really well-made moments that left me speechless time and again.
However, Tesleen’s transformation was the first and left the biggest impression. While it was already known that the world was threatened and the Sin Eaters are evil, blah blah blah. But it was at that moment that it became clear how terrible the situation on the first shard world is.
Yet Tesleen is not a big NPC. The young woman lovingly takes care of the outcasts, whose bodies have been corrupted by light, until she herself is caught by a Sin Eater.
To protect a small boy, Tesleen attacks a Sin Eater and is pierced by its sword. This corrupts her body and yes ... The transformation is one of the few “body horror” moments in FFXIV and is both visually and audibly truly disturbing.
The entire staging of the transformation is top-notch and it still gives me goosebumps today when I watch it. It is a preview of what awaits the player in this world, and the preview is really impressive.
The fact that Tesleen appears shortly afterward as a boss in a dungeon and you can free her from her suffering is only a small consolation.
Shadowbringers: The Ending
It is extremely important for a story that builds a lot of tension over its course to deliver a satisfying ending. That is exactly what had worried me while playing Shadowbringers. The devs managed to build so much tension that I was afraid of being disappointed.
Because the situation on the first shard world appears completely hopeless towards the end of Shadowbringers. The light is out of control again and threatens to overwhelm the character. After seeing what happened to Tesleen during her transformation, one does not want to think about what will happen when the Warrior of Light becomes a Sin Eater.
Nevertheless, you face the final battle against Emet-Selch, even though the odds are practically zero. The allied characters are wiped out one by one, and the character loses control.
The moment when the guitar kicks in the video and the theme of Shadowbringers starts knocked me out of my seat. At the last moment, the spirit of Ardbert, who was once an enemy, saves not only the player character but also turns the entire situation around 180°.
The light is defeated and the character is ready to fight again. The icing on the cake in this cutscene was the brief moment when Emet-Selch sees the original form of the player character as “Azem”.
Accompanied by top-notch music by Masayoshi Soken, this is one of the absolutely coolest moments in the FFXIV story that I will always remember.
Endwalker: The Suffering of Venat
Most players will find the goddess Hydaelyn, our patroness, to be “mega sus” at the latest from Shadowbringers. She is supposed to represent the good in the world, but her light causes incredible suffering on the first shard world.
Accordingly, I was rather cautious when I first encountered her in Endwalker. Maybe she is not good at all. Maybe she has been manipulating us all along. Yet, even after these doubts were dispelled, FFXIV does not treat Venat as a purely positive character.
After discovering what caused the world’s end in Endwalker, Venat decides to keep it a secret from everyone. She splits the world and the Primal Zodiark, who could have prevented the end, into 14 shards.
Her last moments as “Venat” are set to the iconic song Answers and show the despair that drove her to act. And the game does not shy away from showing the consequences of this. She condemned humanity to an eternity of suffering and accompanied them on this path.
The whole section in Elpis was simply wonderful. The reunion with Emet-Selch, the innocent friendship with Meteion, and of course the banter from Hythlodeus made all of Elpis a highlight. The suffering of Venat crowned it all.
Endwalker: The End
The burden of bringing a years-long story to a worthy conclusion has caused many series creators to crumble. Too often, we have seen once-extremely popular series whose endings were often disappointing. Therefore, I had some concerns about the ending of FFXIV. After all, Director Yoshida repeatedly compares it to a TV series.
My biggest fear was that the cause of the impending end of the world would be some new, great, completely faceless villain who wants to destroy everything just because, haha, he is evil. Given the many morally gray confrontations, it simply would not have fit FFXIV.
This fear disappeared at the latest when I first saw Meteion, as it was immediately clear that the cute and innocent being would be involved in something terrible.
The ending of Endwalker was incredibly satisfying on multiple levels. While I did not shed tears unlike many other players, it was still a highlight for me. It has almost become a tradition for Final Fantasy to question the meaning of life in their stories.
If Meteion’s sisters find nothing but death and suffering in the vastness of space, they will be overwhelmed by despair and come to the conclusion that the end of all life would also mean the end of suffering. Why should one even live?
It provokes thought without forcing a response on the player, because that’s the point. Finding one’s own reasons and joy in life. Therefore, the ending felt to me like a long exhalation and left me with a smile on my face.
Tell us: What were your absolute highlights from the FFXIV story? Which moments left you speechless? Let us know in the comments.
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