Shadowbringers is the third expansion pack to the well-received MMORPG video game FF XIV from 2010. It was developed and published by Square Enix in July 2019. Shadowbringers continues the story presented in the previous expansion, Stormblood. It also introduces new races, jobs, New Game+ option, and raises the experience level cap from 70 to 80. The expansion is available on PC (Windows).

Shadowbringers Expansion Pack

Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers implements multiple new features for players to discover. The most obvious and easiest to spot ones are new playable gender-locked races – females got slender bunny-eared Viera, while males got lionlike brawny Hrothgar. There are also 2 new character jobs - these are tanky Gunbreakers and swift damage-dealing Dancers. The former wear damage-soaking heavy plate armors and use gunblades to fight, while the latter throw chakrams and glaives to shred opponents from afar.

Shadowbringers also packs a lot of additional content, namely new dungeons with more powerful loot waiting to be collected by courageous adventurers, as well as entirely new locations to explore. There are also new raids to master, including the massive adventure-themed after NieR: Automata. To spice up the whole, there are also new Primals ready to fight your party. Defeat them in trials and acquire new powerful items they are jealously hiding out of your reach. To make it easier for players to face the new demanding challenges, the maximum experience level was also raised to 80.

Gameplay

Gameplay in the expansion pack received some important changes and adjustments. One of these is the removal of tactical points, previously used to perform weapon-based actions. Shadowbringers remove TP to create a more streamlined experience – from now on both weapon abilities and magic spells will use magic points instead. Another feature worth mentioning is the Trust System, which allows entering dungeons in a party with computer-controlled characters. Now the game will be more accessible for people playing alone most of the time or playing at night when finding a full party might take too long.

There is also a World Visit option available. In Shadowbringers you will be able to visit other servers whenever you like. It’s a great opportunity to meet new people and make new friends in case there’s nothing happening on your own server at the moment. There are some restrictions, however. Some of the restrictions include the inability to hire or summon retainers while visiting another world. You won’t be able to gather resources from legendary and unspoiled nodes, enter or form Free Companies and purchase estates. Additionally, Deep Dungeons results won’t be saved to leaderboards. On top of the changes Shadowbringers also brings a New Game+ feature, allowing players to rediscover the entire story while retaining character’s earned progress and jobs.

Reception

FFXIV Shadowbringers is considered by critics a very successful expansion and as such received mostly positive reviews. Among the most praised elements, the rich and exciting story was mentioned most often. New beautiful locations and inspiring music also didn’t go unnoticed, as well as the general gameplay changes and game mechanics adjustments.

Key features:

• Approach new challenges as Viera or Hrothgar, two completely new playable races
• Level cap increased to 80 – make your character even more powerful than ever
• Conquer 9 new dungeons filled with powerful enemies and get rewarded with incredible loot for your efforts
• Battle system revamp – tactical and magic points combined into one resource to make fighting more convenient
• Visit new locations, meet new Beast Tribes and defeat new powerful Primals