Braddigan

As a game Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn was lacking quite a bit. Queue times were maddening long and often over an hour every night, the PS3 version was so limited that PC Players would filter console players out of raids, Jobs were horrible unbalanced (SMN and SCH had to control their pets avoid knockbacks on Titan or die), and the grinds were designed to take months of your time away. It was a huge step up from 1.0 but ARR had a good number of flaws which is why so many, myself included, quit during this period of the game. Still even without the multiple server upgrades, job balancing, and QoL improvements that would come during later expansions there is a decent story buried under ARR's story playthrough. It is just a rough one to get through.

An improvement over ARR and HW to be sure but not quite there yet. SB begins to add some great characters mixed in with those you might not care for. Overall it's a pretty decent entry into the FFXIV saga which might drag on at times in some areas but isn't completely without value.

A continuation of A Realm Reborn's subpar story telling with heavy repetition in every conversation, characters that overstay their welcome, and several unengaging plots that won't just end. In terms of cutscenes Heavensward comes in under ARR for both expansion content and post-expansion content but the dry characters, plot, and scenery make it all feel so much worse somehow. Expansions like this is why the content skips were added. Consider skipping the long drawn out process of doing the content first hand and just watch a recap somewhere to save yourself from burning out before reaching ShB.

The turning point in a massive franchise that marks when things get really good. Shadowbringers takes some twists and turns to bring you a fresh adventure and managing to lose some of the shackles that brought the previous expansions down.

The culmination of a story over a decade in the making. The stakes are high and the game continues to pick up from Shadowbringers in providing more high quality entertainment that is work checking out instead of skipping through.

While not as over the top as the previous expansion Dawntrail managed to release a proper standalone adventure without requiring years of build up that gets a place in the top 3 of expansions so far alongside Endsalker and Shadowbringers. It's great to see the series finally shed the burden of reusing a decade of ongoing Ascian story and give us something new and downright refreshing to experience.