Media Logs

So it took nearly 2 years, but I finally finished that somewhat divisive Stormblood MSQ storyline in Final Fantasy XIV. This arc is incredibly ambitious compared to Heavensward, as the plot largely focuses on a military conflict on a global scale and thus involves a lot of world building for other factions and cultures that exist within FFXIV. Stormblood is also, in simplest terms, an anti-imperial narrative, as the bulk of the MSQ focuses on the struggle to liberate Ala Mhigo and Doma from Garlean oppression.

From my estimation, this is where a lot of the mixed reception of the MSQ comes from, as anti-imperialism is a complicated subject matter, and as an MMORPG, FFXIV has a lot of structural hurdles and preexisting creative decisions that make Stormblood's handling of things like cultural identity, religious beliefs, and revolutionary conduct feel lackluster. However, I think going into Stormblood expecting a truly revolutionary piece of anti-imperialist art is setting yourself up for disappointment, and I feel that the story truly gets to shine once you focus on individual character arcs and the larger narrative that FFXIV is trying to tell from ARR to Endwalker.

The Warrior of Light in my opinion may be the biggest example of why Stormblood's story anti-imperialism themes were always going to get muddied when held up to greater scrutiny, because ultimately it's going to be very unlikely (if not impossible) that the Warrior of Light would be a representative of Ala Mhigo or Doma as a revolutionary. For what its worth, I think Stormblood does a good job at mitigating the problems this could cause by introducing this arc's central villain, Zenos the crown prince of Garlemald.

Zenos is a very odd character, seeming to have little actual interest in the imperialist project he represents, outside of how it allows him to engage in open conflict with other strong fighters. In short, Zenos is a prime example of the "Blood Knight" archetype, and while many may feel that he's an outlandish figure in this otherwise somewhat grounded fantasy war story, his presence gives the Warrior of Light something to do when they are otherwise not involved in political conflicts taking place in Stormblood. Both Zenos and the Warrior of Light are centralizing figures due to their absurd power scaling compared to the rest of the cast, so they are largely unaffected by the actual political intrigue going on around them. This is why Zeno works as the expansion's "final boss". Characters like Lyse, Raubahn, and Hien get to have their satisfying victories against the structural forces of Garlemald while the WoL gets to have a satisfying conflict with a character that personally mirrors them.

Speaking of, Lyse is the main character of this expansion and I greatly enjoyed her increased presence (especially as someone who's character started in Gridania). This is not to say that Lyse is a perfect fit for the role she's being cast in here, especially because it feels like the twist of her true identity being revealed in Heavensward was developed purely to justify her being the central character of Stormblood and otherwise feels like it comes out of nowhere at least in the context of A Realm Reborn. Her design as a blue-eyed and blonde haired pale skinned Hyur is especially unfortunate considering how most of her other Ala Mhigan countryman are noticeably brown-skinned and to me stands out as one of the biggest examples of FFXIV's racist character designs. Focusing on her arc itself, I'm glad that Lyse in particular is given this chance to stand out from the other Scions of the Seventh Dawn and the lengths she goes to in order to find allies for her cause and win Ala Mhigo's freedom greatly showcases how earnest she is. She's easily one of the most "direct" characters in FFXIV which I greatly appreciate.

Lyse's foil, Fordola is also a very interesting villain. I have some misgivings with her origin story hinging so heavily on the situation in which loyal Ala Mhigans choose to violently attack Fordola's imperial-loyal family while two Garlean soldiers are in sight yet don't receive any of the rioters ire in the same scene which is meant to serve as the source of Fordola's hatred of Ala Mhigan loyalists. That said, Fordola is by far and a way my favorite female villain in FFXIV thus far. Her presence as an indoctrined Ala Mhigan is incredibly fascinating and the uncompromising lengths she goes to climb the imperial ladder make her stand out from other female villains in the game which tend to be more passive. I'm glad that she's still around and now has the interesting wrinkle of possessing the Echo ability as a Resonant. My one concern is that now that Stormblood is moving into Shadowbringers, Fordola won't return in a major capacity because I think she has a lot of legs as a recurring character who can develop further at this point.

Speaking of female villains, while I may personally prefer Fordola, Yotsuyu, the Imperial Viceroy of Doma is more than deserving of her spot as a fan-favorite villain. While her sadistic streak as a femme fatale is definitely not reinventing the wheel here, again, just how uncompromising she is in her pursuit of power and her motivations make her another interesting figure in Stormblood. Yotsuyu's backstory as a young girl who was forced to become a comfort woman and then married off to an Imperial is probably one of the darkest origin stories in FFXIV so far, and ties into the questions Stormblood raises about nation rebuilding and how restoring the "natural order" of things is not going to be enough to address deeper societal problems. My big problem with Yotsuyu though is the amnesia arc she does through during the Stormblood patches where she is completely defanged and turned into this infantilized satellite character for Gosetsu (who I otherwise really like!) to bond with. The reveal at the end of all this that Gosetsu was a widow that lost his wife and child to justify the bond he formed with lobotomized Yotsuyu comes out of nowhere. I will say however, that Yotsuyu coming back to get revenge on her family and make one last stand to take over Doma are good enough to justify her coming back, I just wish it didn't have to be the amnesia arc.

Speaking of Doma, Hien is really charming, but I do feel that in the Stormblood patches especially, it kind of feels like he starts stealing the spotlight that was previously on Lyse. In general, I love that the MSQ now feels comfortable in allowing the player to control important NPCs for solo duties, but I REALLY feel like the one at the end of Stormblood in which Hien fights Zenos with Lyse and Yugiri, should have had playable Lyse instead.

Aside from that, this is probably FFXIV's best expansion for relevant woman, cause even as things move into the build-up for Shadowbringers, this is where I think Alisaie, a character I was already very interested in truly gets to shine. In many ways, she's echoing Alphinuad's role in ARR and Heavensward, but the stakes are so much higher now that it makes Alisaie's determination to help her fellow Scions and cling onto any hope that can be found in her situation feel all the more potent. Despite her own doubts, she really steps up to the plate to try and resolve the growing conflict with Garlemald, which makes it sting all the more when Alisaie gets "called" away, and it feels like the Warrior of Light is truly on their own.

In general, I feel like base Stormblood struggled to juggle the Ala Mhigo and Doma plotlines and the Stormblood patches before Alphinaud leaves to go the Burn have some story issues that I dislike, but everything building up to Shadowbringers was easily the best FFXIV MSQ has been for me so far. If this is the level of quality to expect Shadowbringers MSQ to have, I can already understand why Shadowbringers is so hyped up and beloved by the fanbase. I can't wait to play more and see if I fall in love with it like everyone else.