after finishing final fantasy 14 i took a break for a while before jumping right back in, though not to the big next expansion heavensward like i expected, no, instead there were dozens of hours of quests to get you there, tons of worldbuilding and set up, new primals and some of the games best bosses and even the first raids to try and get through, huge 24 person dungeons (in this case ones that are a big reference to final fantasy 3 complete with an appearance from that games main villain) with their own storylines and casts, for free stuff added in a patch its all very impressive and most shockingly of all, it might be the best stuff introduced to the game so far.

there's some big changes in the postgame, by then you'll be max level but your XP gain will slow down, you'll finally get your class gear and start with things like glams and experimenting with other classes, even unlocking some expansion ones like blue mage and samurai that you shouldn't rly have access to yet but the game still lets you and you'll see the story really start to set up its next arc and see some world changes to go along with it. there's a few big changes to the world here, for one you'll unlock a new hub with the rising stones in mor dhana, the final zone in the basegame, this is such a good hub and it has some great music to go along with it, you get a cozy lil tavern and the new scion base is just nice to chill around, you'll also see new allies here with the domans and their leader ends up being one of the best characters introduced, same with the new scion, moenbreada, the group inventor who is here for a super good storyline focusing around getting a weapon capable of killing the asciens. though there aren't really any new areas here, you'll spend more time in zones that felt underutilized like coerthas and mor dhona and you have the new dungeons and stuff, but the base map remains unchanged beyond this new hub, though it does finally make good use uldah and give you real reason to visit some of its less explored aras, uldah ends up being probably my favourite part of this postgame which was the most surprising part to me.

the new dungeons can range in quality but this does still have some of the games best so far, like snowcloak, an amazing snowy dungeon with what might be my favourite song in the game, it reminds me a lot of the crystal theme music for PSVITA, obscure reference but look both up, it made me feel super nostalgic and it was an amazing dungeon, there was also things like the abandoned city full of mushrooms and poison, which might have been basegame, i might have even mentioned it in the last page, but i feel like bringing it up again. there's tons of dungeon retreads with harder enemies, which also usually have a new gimmick or setting and new, usually better music to go along with them, the arena one was a particular highlight, same with the retread of the mansion which took more resi cues with its keyhunts which was cute. there's a cool dungeon inside a shipwreck that was also very memorable, with one of the games coolest bosses at the end with a huge dragon fight, though you won't see as many dungeons as the basegame, most are those retreads but they are very worth doing, especially tamtara deepcroft which has a very good story to it. there's also the coils of bahamut, a huge dozen dungeon long raid quest chain with its own bosses and story that's important to the next expansion, super difficult but very worth doing, even if i think the setting for them is a little bland, the fight with bahamut at the end is well worth the rush through though!

they also introduce alliance raids here, the huge multi part 24 person dungeon runs, where you have 3 groups of 8 all trying to clear it at once, these are really fun, though a little anxiety inducing your first few times since there's so many people, though i don't think you can really affect the other groups much, at least i'm not sure my healing output was at all, so it's not that stressful when you consider it's not much different from a normal 8 party run. they start with the crystal tower storyline, a sidequest chain you need to finish to get to heavensward, you investigate the huge tower near revenants toll with cid and some new characters like best boy g'raha tia and even an appearance from a basegame villain who has a super cool arc here. it's a great questline that expands on the ancient civilisation mentioned and the dungeons are so pretty, especially the second one when you near the top of the tower and it's covered in blue crystals and gold, and there's even a return to an old dungeon from FF3 for its finale with music from that game returning and the abandoned looking temples shrouded in darkness, it even comes complete with cloud of darkness as the boss, thankfully less horny in her design than she is in dissidia, the king you fight at the top of the tower is a highlight too, super fun fights. each of the 3 mini raids even have super different designs and gimmicks, the final one is just a spooky boss rush in a ruined world, the first dungeon is the most dungeony looking and its gimmick is rooms of enemies with platforms you need to stay on and the middle one is another boss rush as you climb the tower but one with some cute gimmicks, like a boss with elemental effects that requires you to drag orbs around the arena and one that turns you into frogs :)

the story is mostly focused on a few main arcs, the uldah refugee crisis and its political intrigue, which is probably the most interesting story in the game so far, more ascien stuff with the new scion and finding a way to kill the asciens, some extra primal stuff with leviathan, shiva, good king moogle mog the xiv and ramuh, a chunk of it dedicated to developing ishgard and a huge siege that occurs there that makes for one of the boss fight highlights of the whole thing and the new base for the scions and the development of alphinoud's guild. the primal stuff can be super hit and miss but most of it is pretty short so its not so bad and shiva comes with the games best boss so far and one of the best tracks in the game, plus the ramuh storyline is super interesting .above this would be the ishgard stuff, it's interesting but it is more focused on direct setup than actually being interesting on its own, love hauchefant though! i think the ascien storyline is a little above this, moenbreda is great and i like the little adventure it sends you on but it does feel like just more worldbuilding and doesn't feel super engaging to do. the revenants toll stuff would be above this and it's great, i love watching the new base get set up and the crystal braves stuff is really cool, though i am mixed on how this turns out in the end, with all of it feeling like it has very little payoff at least right now. the uldah stuff is the highlight of the story, the refugee crisis is so interesting and the domans are one of the best new factions and the factions within uldah are really interesting to watch play out, it helps to really build up the leaders of uldah, who felt like the least interesting and least developed of the city leaders, i don't want to spoil too much of this one but it really got me excited to see where the game goes, because its a perfect example of all the games strengths coming together in a single storyline, and unlike the basegames uldah story it doesn't drag with busywork and uneeded edge, it's excellent and the ending chunks are the games strongest bits, you get a full hour and a half or so of cutscenes.

there's some smaller things too, like the Hildebrandt quests which even have a cool fight at the end with a recurring series boss, which i started but didn't finish. you can join the moogles for delivery jobs in their own questline which i loved, there's also the treasure hunts, which give you a map and have you find treasure in an area (you can even unlock dungeons!) and monster hunts which send you to an area and has you hunting down more dangerous enemies, though this one takes forever to unlock. housing was added here though that's far beyond me for now, though i have been to a friends free company house and it's super pretty, the lavender beds is an amazing area. there is also the goblet for housing, but this isn't anywhere near as nice. there's PVP in the wolves den but again, way beyond me for now and i don't think i'm super interested in it in general. it added things like a roulette for dungeons, the ability to change looks for a fee from the beautician (even has a sidequest attached), marriage was added if you want that, new classes with rogue and later ninja, they focus on stealth and daggers mainly and this is also where the gold saucer was added, though you can go here basically any time in ARR, still, if you want to go there and play triple triad, do fashion minigames, gamble or do the lottery, you can thank these patch quests.

overall this post patch bit was a great addition, its probably the games peak and with every new chunk it just keeps getting better, i am sad i didn't see it when it first came out since apparently mohr dohna was actually built up as a settlement in real time back when this questline came out and seeing that happen sounds so cool, as much as i do like the area as it is now i do wish this was preserved for when you ran through it the first few times. after this came the games first expansion for both the ps3 and ps4 versions, heavensward, which got a physical release and all (i imported a Japanese copy on ps3 just to own because it looks very cool and i want to see what happens when you try and install it despite that version of the game being shut down) and i already started it by the time i'm writing it, super excited to see where it goes because i hear it's even better than this chunk of game!