The expansion Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood could be the MMORPG of the year 2017, if the side quests weren’t so dull. In reviews, it receives top ratings, but there’s also a curious warning: Avoid this part of the game.
We had an article a week ago about the first reviews and fan reactions to Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood. They were euphoric. Meanwhile, some reviews have appeared and they also describe Stormblood as a brilliant MMORPG with ratings around 92% (PC Gamer and IGN).
These are realms that lean towards “MMORPG of the year”.
Stormblood has what it takes to be MMORPG of the year, but God … it has a big problem
But even in these enthusiastic reviews, there is the note: For God’s sake, the side quests are boring. The testers rave highly about Stormblood: The story is fantastic, the sound is great, the two new classes are awesome, everything is now better and much prettier than before!
But the testers direct players to skip the side quests.
And there is a good reason for that: The side quests in Stormblood are boring.
4 reasons why the side quests in Stormblood are really boring
While the main story is filled with voiced cutscenes that lead players on an epic journey, connecting them with memorable characters and hunting them through the cleverest instances and boss fights one can imagine, the side quests are simply tedious. There are four reasons for that.
- The quests are too often “fetch” quests, where you don’t have to fight, but just run errands. They are often tedious and lead the player around the zone and back again. You wish you could just turn in quests “on the go”, but no. You have to trudge back to the quest NPC.
- If there are kill quests, you quickly realize that while the combat system of Final Fantasy XIV is great for complex boss fights and instances, in a fight against a single quest monster, the combat system feels painfully slow. Here you have to focus on nothing, just perform the same rotation and maybe dodge a simple AOE. That’s boring.
- The side quests don’t reward players enough. Usually, there is only EXP and a few Gil. Items sometimes pop out from the stingy rascals; they are useful, but the rather dull loot system doesn’t bring joy: “Oh, a ring that makes me 0.2% better at everything. I’m thrilled to have walked all this way for you!”
- The side quests are also not really spectacularly staged and varied. Most side quests are mediocre and sometimes deliberately “tedious”, so that the player realizes what they have achieved: They arrive in an area and must, despite being the much-praised Warrior of Light, earn the affection of the locals with menial errands. Side quests are often only nice when you’re done with them, “when the pain lessens” and you can be proud of what you’ve accomplished.
Many reviewers therefore advise players, despite great ratings: Leave the side quests in Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood aside and better go into the dungeons.
Side quests feel like doing homework
Mein-MMO thinks: Final Fantasy XIV feels like you have to complete the “annoying mandatory part”, do your homework before you can get to the cool part of the game, the dungeons and the main quest. A bit like: Do your homework first, then you can play.
Unfortunately, side quests take up a large part of the playtime. This is nothing new for FF14 veterans; it has always been like that, yet this weakness stands out more strongly this time because so much has improved with Stormblood: Leveling with side quests now feels even more tedious.
For a game that could otherwise be the MMORPG of the year, somehow unworthy, right?
What do you think?
A nasty side quest that is not boring, but mean, is discussed here:
Final Fantasy XIV: Rays against Snakes – How to tackle the nasty quest
