It’s Also a Very Mature Game
Despite the occasional feel-good moments when the whole team is back together, though, FFXIV: Shadowbringers isn’t afraid to get heavy either. We’ve seen some dark themes get explored in Stormblood, and that trend continues in Shadowbringers as well.
Without going into spoilers, the early hours of the game contain some of the darkest, and most unsettling scenes we’ve ever seen in the Final Fantasy series, period. It’s pretty powerful stuff, and the pacing never lets up throughout the entire opening act of the expansion. It’s a great way to set the scene for the rest of the story arc.
Shadowbringers also continues to flesh out the game’s lore by exploring different religious factions in the First, and introduces very complex and nuanced characters that really help to bring it to life.