Imperiled by Dragons and embraced by Gods
From a game that got its name from an almost bankrupt beginning in 1987 to its massive success today , the Final Fantasy series has been a staple in all of our lives. Whether you are new to the series or an old salt, all of us have fond memories of our first time playing or will soon have them when you play the newest release to the series: Final Fantasy XIV, Heavensward.
The New Story
So welcome to Eorzea - A land embraced by gods and delivered from destruction by the Warriors of Light. Heavensward is an expansion that takes the wildly popular MMO to a whole new level by adding several new features that promise to keep the game interesting and playable for many years to come.
Dragon's Eye View. Can you see your house from here?
The story takes the Warrior of Light on a journey North fleeing the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, and though granted shelter by Lord Haurchefant, the heroes must travel to Ishgard, a land locked in a struggle with dragons.
Along the way, they will run into new characters including Archbishop Thordan VII, spiritual leader of the nation of Ishgard, Count Edmont de Fortemps, head of a noble family in Ishgard, and numerous other new characters, including Ysayle, Estinien, and Aymeric to name a few.
Need some divine intervention?
Expansion? Big enough to be its own game!
New jobs include the Dark Knight, a kind of dark justicer who protects the downtrodden from the elite, The Astrologian who draws power from the stars and the planets, and a machinist who appears to be a reintroduction of the famed character Cid using technology to battle any enemy foolish enough to stand in the way.
The Raen are members of the Au Ra race who embrace tranquility and solitude, while their brethren the Xaela are bent on destruction and internal conflict. Both are well done and highlight the contrast between light and dark which is so prevalent in the Final Fantasy theme.
New areas include Ishgard, a city atop the mountains in the highlands of Coerthas, Dravania a rugged mountainous area home to the dragonkin and the ruins of a population that fled in years prior, and Abalathia, the land of water and floating islands, majestic and a must see.
Islands in the Sky
New primals were also introduced into the fray like Bismarck, ruler of the clouds, The Vanu Vanu, an avian beast tribe nestled among the floating islands in the Sea of Clouds, and Ravana, Saviour of the Gnath, a tribe of insect like creatures.
The First Brood (namely the dragons) include the wyrms Nidhogg and Hraesvelgr two of the seven great Wyrms born to Midgardsormr. I did not see the other 5 great Wyrms of which I am sure will be part of the main storyline.
The youngest of seven?
Multiple new dungeons including Alexander, a new raid dungeon, have been added to provide for more higher level raid instances. So if you've been stagnant at the top you now have more to do.
Flying mounts include Black Chocobo's, Airships, and surely other types including possibly Dragons. Which is a huge improvement on the slow form of travel of the original game.
Just another day riding my... Dragon!
You’ll Love Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward
The expansion is massive and is a very large undertaking, one that the designers and the players should be proud of. Heavensward has learned from the past and other games and has applied this to a game that will propel it to the top spot in MMOs. This world is beautiful and the expansion looks great. FF XIV: Heavensward is a proud addition to the long running series and promises to deliver hours if not months and years of continued enjoyment to an already great game.
The expected release date is June 23, 2015 and preorder is already available, so whether you purchase the Collectors Edition for $129.99 or the Standard edition at $39.99, it will be well worth the money.
