Final Fantasy XI: Rise of the Zilart
Best Final Fantasy MMORPG Expansion
It may not be completely obvious to non-Japanese players of Final Fantasy XI, but Rise of the Zilart is technically an expansion that was included with the original game in its worldwide launch.
Rise of the Zilart added a hefty load of fan-favorite zones such as The Sanctuary of Zi’Tah. There was the fabled “Sky” areas which could only be unlocked by completing a majority of the story and would be a staple of FFXI’s end game for years to come.
And also, it featured two classic boss fights: the battle against the Ark Angels, and the final fight against Eald’narche, each with appropriately amazing music.
The main issue with Rise of the Zilart is that prior to reaching Sky, aka The Shrine of Ru’Avitau, the story is nothing to write home about at least in comparison to other quest lines on this list.
Also, the three new jobs added Dragoon, Ninja, and Samurai were mostly a mess. Samurai in fairness was great out of the box and would be a staple job pretty much for the entirety of FFXI’s life, but the other two not so much.
After a very brief stint as the top damage dealer, Dragoon was nerfed into oblivion and it took many years before it ever (if ever honestly, Angon helped a bit) would be considered top tier again.
Ninja on the other hand was a total failure as a damage dealing class (its original intent) but crafty players eventually figured out that it actually worked better as a tank and had a pretty solid run in that role until the present day where it currently performs better as a DPS in most cases.
