Recent reviews by Godserv

(My DLC hours are because I play primarily on PS5, with Steam as a backup. I have been playing since late ARR.)

This is the better A Realm Reborn expansion, or what A Realm Reborn could have been had the developers been given 10 years to hone their craft. The story is a well-executed reset, where we put down our "main character" hat, and instead get to be party to someone else's trials, triumphs, and failures, mentoring them along the way. Conversely, going into this expansion wanting even higher stakes than the previous one will lead to disappointment. The writers have decided that they want to shelve the old, and slowly grow a fresh new take on what it means to be a Final Fantasy 14 story, and do it in world in a way that respects the legacy of those that came before.

The work they've done on the technical side of the game to improve quest design makes this expansion easy to enjoy. The artists took full advantage of the new graphics update, featuring a high level of detail in the outfits, facial expressions, and foliage. Prior to gaining flight, the zones feel even larger and more real than they did before, because they're able to use the denser foliage to make it feel as though you're actually winding through a forest, or a mountain region. And while a lot of maps have already featured impressive verticality, the new foliage means that those long-distance vistas are full of interesting things to look at, with different perspectives giving new appreciation for the map design. A tower set among a set of trees simply looks impressive from its base, but then its function in the nearby community becomes obvious when you're up high on a cliff, and see it set into the wider landscape.

The combination of low (or localized) stakes and the wide variety of music, landscapes, and cultures, makes it feel like this is a summer vacation, where we were invited by the locals to come hang out while nation-wide cultural events take place. It's such a refreshing change of pace from being constantly in fear of the world-ending problems, and possibly losing any companion at any moment.

The new raids have yet to release, but the existing selection of combat encounters have also been extremely creative. It's nice to see the developers try completely new things, even if they don't stick long-term. It's also nice to see that the new combat encounters give you much stronger negative feedback when a puzzle isn't solved correctly. It all adds to the thrill of exploration, discovery, and learning!

If there is one thing they could have improved, it would be that they could have done a better job integrating the "long-term" plot points into the individual side moments. There are many moments which are ultimately essential to the story, but in the moment feel like they are not yet connected. It requires a small amount of patience to take everything in, even as earlier teases tempt a rush to the end.

A truly one-of-a-kind co-op experience where it doesn't matter how much progress you've made compared to your friends. You'll still have a good time.

I heard about this game through a brief mention on a video game podcast and picked it up because it fit both my aesthetic tastes and was what I needed. It's stuff like this where I can sit on the floor, chill in a happy space, and just solve puzzles that really drive home to me how awesome VR can be. It's been my go-to after a stressful day. So many games want you to travel miles to find an adventure, but this game? The adventure is in the backyard that is the carpet of my room.

Oh, and that long silence broken my piano melodies is really just the icing on the cake.

If you have Elite, that game already gives a sense of scale, and better than this one. This game has no point of reference for those who get motion sick so this is also a rather motion-intense experience,.

I've deeply enjoyed this expansion. They have gotten better as time has gone on and the development team matures. The story is gripping, and the dev team stepped up the difficulty a couple notches in recognition of their maturing playerbase. I'm excited to see where they go next. :)

There are a lot of good things that can be said about this game. This is my first MMO, and with 1000+ hours in it, I obviously love it. I'm not going to repeat in detail everything that is great about this game. I will keep it short by saying, this is a fantastic traditional subscription-based MMO that focuses on story and making sure casual players have plenty to do. There's also plenty of end-game content if you want to get into it, but it's by no means expected that you'll do every single thing.

It helps that FFXIV is backed by possibly the best development team a game could have, that listens and prioritizes development based on community feedback (and will even explain practically why an idea got axed).

This is an incredible game. You have so much control over the detail of how your ship operates that at first it is overwhelming. Yet, this learning process is deeply important to later come to appreciate the scale of the universe. For example, the various motor skills and equipment needed to do something as seemingly-mundane as mining is what makes mining itself feel active and involved. And, when in a combat scenario, you have to make lightning-fast choices with the right priorities in mind (not unlike the real world... look up "Aviate, Navigate, and Communicate") and manage the situation well to come out on top.

There is a downside to Elite: it's a sandbox game. It does not have a journal that tells you what your long term goals are and how your short term goals relate. That's for you to discover. The apparent shallowness comes from not connecting activities to longer-term goals, or joining in community politics.

So far, so awesome. The style of music fits the feel of hitting drum beats, which is exactly the motion you're naturally doing as you swing the blade through notes. The more precise and lengthy the swing, the more style points you get. The beats are themselves an important instrument, adding an addictive rhythm track to the songs.

I only have two complaints so far:
- The style of music is mostly limited to trap. I'd appreciate a wider variety of music, even if it's still with the dance genre.
- There's no volume control in-game, so I have to use Windows' mixer to tone it down so I can still hear Discord.

Super optimized and plenty of options, this is my go-to for rendering my flat monitor in VR for Elite Dangerous. I have it set to be a Steam-sized flat panel in the back right corner of my space so I can read text easily, but I also have it set to a hotkey so it hides when I'm not using it. You can even add transparency effects or attach it to your controller like it's a watch.

Years later, this game is still super active. That says something about a game when its online scene is thriving, and at all levels of play. It's easy to learn and has a great, gradual learning curve where you can slowly learn new moves and styles of play. It's also the only "eSports ready" game I've played that doesn't induce ladder anxiety.