It fills you even now, doesn't it? The hunger. To bite down on my jugular, to feel the warmth fill your mouth and run over even as you drink deep. Good, good! This is the beast I have longed to face!
Beaten: September 2019, one replay in spring 2020
Anyone who says Stormblood sucks is flat-out wrong. Sorry, that's just how it is.
Okay, so I'm a little defensive. Much like ARR is often regarded as a stepping stone to much better content, SB is the red-headed stepchild of FFXIV. And yeah, it struggles to bridge two very disparate plotlines. But Stormblood is a vital part of the overarching story of FFXIV, and without it the game simply wouldn't be what it is today.
A major part of FFXIV's setting is its evil empire, Garlemald. While it's the antagonistic force of ARR and a part of HW, Stormblood is where we actually dive into the horrors of war, imperialism, and revolution. And the game does not pull its punches. It is not easy to rise up against an overpowering force, much less inspire others to do the same, much less win.
Yet that's exactly what Stormblood is about. No longer able to turn a blind eye to the atrocities just beyond their borders, the Eorzean Alliance turns its attention to the mighty empire that seeks to claim dominion over all. And the reasons for this empire's conquest are far more chilling than one might expect...
Stormblood is also, quite frankly, where the game starts to resemble its modern form. Jobs start to resemble how they play at endgame. The dungeons, raids, and trials are all much more involved and engaging. FFXIV is a game that builds upon itself from level to level, and it's no more clear than in Stormblood.
Unlike every other expansion, I haven't actually replayed Stormblood since 2020, and I'd like to revisit its story sooner than later. While Stormblood is not about the Warrior of Light (the player character) in the way that other expansions are, it forms the building blocks for the entire rest of the game.
Alisaie! Though she appears briefly before this point, Stormblood is where she comes into her own, and I adore her. She'll always be my favorite twin.
As far as Stormblood-specific characters go, Yotsuyu is far and away my favorite. I wasn't sure what to think about her story the first time through, but in the years since I've really come to appreciate it. Though there are parts of it I find clumsy, overall she's a very compelling villain in a story that, well, desperately needed a good villain.
I am also very fond of Fordola, whose arc was not at all what I expected. Lyse, too, is a huge favorite of mine. Stormblood is really all about the women to me.
So many of Stormblood's tracks are just bangers. "Songs of Salt and Suffering" is my favorite, but I could name half a dozen others to go right along with it. In fact, I will:
This is a hard choice! People rag on the SB zones, especially the Gyr Abanian ones, but I love all of them, particularly Rhalgr's Reach and the Lochs. Kugane is utterly beautiful. Yanxia and the Azim Steppe are stunning.
And I'd be amiss if I didn't mention the Eureka zones, too. Each one is wholly unique, and as much as I hate navigating through Pagos, even I have to admit it's a very well designed zone.
As mentioned above, this is where the game starts to come into its own. So many of the dungeons in this block are phenomenal, as much for their designs as the simple fact that the jobs are much more fun to play.
It helps that this is when I finally found my favorite job. I picked up red mage before starting Stormblood and soon found my favorite gameplay style in the entire game. Thankfully red mage hasn't changed much since I picked it up in 5.0; it's really only gotten improvements since then. And since it's a Stormblood job it feels fun to play at level 70, which is why I take it into Eureka.
Ah, Eureka. I knew what I was getting into from some excursions on my first character (who later became my alt), and so when I started working on it on my main, I enlisted a friend to come along. Eureka is an entirely different MMO hidden inside FFXIV, largely inspired more by FFXI and others of its time. It's a bit of an acquired taste, but if you've got friends to play with, it's a fun time.
The raids are where FFXIV really finds its footing. The 8-player raids are a boss rush of old FF classic villains, while the 24-player raids are a love letter to the Ivalice games. I will happily run Orbonne Monastery at the drop of a hat, just to get to fight classic FF Tactics characters again.
I've spent less time with this expansion's deep dungeon, Heaven-on-High, though I did clear it in 2023 with a group of friends. At some point I'll go back and do it again.