WoW streamer Preach has completed the story of the Heavensward expansion of Final Fantasy XIV and calls it one of the best stories he has ever experienced in gaming.
The situation in brief:
- Preach is a streamer and YouTuber who rose to fame primarily through the MMORPG World of Warcraft. He is a long-time fan who has also checked out other games like New World and FFXIV in recent months.
- Originally, Preach had no interest in FFXIV, as he found many aspects of the colorful MMORPG silly and stupid, including Moogles and the Lalafell people.
- In the end, Preach got into the game, and in his latest video about the Heavensward expansion, he showers the story of FFXIV with praise. It is the second game ever to make him cry.
“That was simply incredible.”
This is what Preach says: In his latest video about FFXIV, the streamer ranks the Heavensward expansion as number 2 on his list of the best video game stories ever. It is only surpassed by the co-op RPG Divinity: Original Sin 2. You can find Divinity on our list of the best co-op games of 2021.
The story of Heavensward, which revolves around the 1,000-year-long war between the nation of Ishgard and the dragons, touched Preach so much that he ended up in tears. Something that had only happened to him with one other game so far, according to the streamer.
During the stream, he could hardly find the words:
That was incredible. It was so well done; the whole thing is so well done. It was not even remotely silly. That surprised me. I really expected Moogles to fly in or some anime nonsense, but they [the developers] treated it with absolute respect. It was really good. […]
Preach during his stream
However, the streamer is primarily impressed by how well thought-out and planned the story of Heavensward was. Over and over, Preach emphasizes in the video that it is very important to let a game’s story “breathe.”
A story needs time to establish the setting and characters to provide reasons for why one should care about these characters.
He compares the pacing of the storytelling of the MMORPG to the movies of the Marvel universe. To build up to the grand finale of Avengers: Endgame properly, Marvel took their time beforehand to develop the individual characters.
And that is exactly what FFXIV does, according to Preach. It begins already in the base game “A Realm Reborn,” at the end of which several extremely important plot points are established, which the story picks up later. Main characters of Heavensward like Aymeric, Lady Iceheart, and the Dragoon Estinien are also established in the base game and are given enough time and focus to develop. And every character is important in their own way.
[…] All characters who are merely side attractions play a crucial role in the one big moment. And that one moment needs such a roller coaster ride to get there that it seems incredible that all of this [the plot] was so clearly planned and paced over several patches. […]
However, there is this criticism: While Preach is enthusiastic about the story of the MMORPG, he is less kind about the gameplay. In the video about his first impressions, he described it as trash and is still not really convinced by it.
In his opinion, the best gameplay is still that of WoW. It remains one of his absolute favorite games, even though the news around WoW is currently not so good.
According to Preach, Final Fantasy XIV is slowly getting better. As he levels up, he now gains access to new skills, and his expectation is that he might really enjoy the combat system of FFXIV in later expansions.
What’s behind this: Streamers like Preach, Pyromancer, and Asmongold go into FFXIV with the expectation that it is a “childish, silly Japanese RPG” that does not take itself seriously. Often, the term “Weeb Shit” is used in their streams. Weeb is a derogatory term for people who are huge fans of Japanese pop culture.
The expectation of these streamers is therefore that they will be overwhelmed with silly anime clichés in FFXIV as well. Accordingly, they are greatly surprised when they find out that this is not the case. While the MMORPG does not take itself seriously in many areas, it has many very dark elements and areas that particularly come to light in the stories.
The story writing in Heavensward is also highly regarded in the FFXIV community for its moral questions and tragic twists. The combination of the streamers’ low expectations with the high-quality story of Heavensward results in enthusiasm and praise.
Final Fantasy XIV makes its players cry
These streamers have cried too: Preach is by far not the only one who was able to evoke one or another tear with Heavensward. Former WoW lore YouTuber Pyromancer was also deeply moved by the emotional impact of the ending and called it a masterpiece (via YouTube). For him, FFXIV feels like therapy.
The streamer snackyyz joins him in the long line of players who had to cry because of FFXIV.
Based on their experiences, many FFXIV veterans expect that the upcoming expansion Endwalker will also make them use several boxes of tissues while playing. After all, the expansion will be the grand finale that concludes an 11-year story.
Many expect new character deaths or other tragic events that will make them cry. And director Yoshida has already warned that many characters are “not as safe as fans might think.”
You can find all the info about Endwalker here.
Final Fantasy XIV brings new expansion Endwalker – release date and all info
