The decision to prevent you from flying in each zone until you've discovered all these aether currents has proven divisive, but ultimately it works out for the best with regard to world-building and narrative coherence. It's practically essential to complete at least a few side quests: certain challenges unlock "aether currents" in the zone you're in, and in order to take advantage of Heavensward's new flying mounts, you have to track down all of these currents, many of which are hidden in tricky locations, making for impromptu environmental puzzles similar to Guild Wars 2's "Vista" system. Although grinding dungeons will probably get you to level 60 quicker, following the side quests gives you a much more arresting, varied experience, particularly if you're interested in the game world's lore. So many, in fact, that it's possible to level from 50 to 60 using little more than the main story and the various NPCs you come into contact with on your travels. To help flesh out the game's substantial lore, Heavensward's main narrative is supported by side quests, and there are a lot of them. Some of the environments look like they're straight out of a Roger Dean artbook, and are particularly striking from the air. The storytelling is supported by a beautiful soundtrack and voice acting of a considerably higher calibre than that heard in A Realm Reborn-though the decision to recast most of the main voices, in some cases with entirely different regional British accents to the characters' previous incarnations, is a little jarring at first. Meanwhile, the ensemble of non-player characters evoke a delightful feeling of going on a grand adventure with a party, similar to that in a single-player RPG. The writing also boasts strong characterisation, including some deep, detailed exploration of interesting yet tragically flawed characters such as Ysayle, who we only saw briefly in A Realm Reborn. It also captures the feel of a traditional Final Fantasy even better than A Realm Reborn had, due to some excellent writing and strong characters, presented with a delightfully theatrical tone throughout, which builds on the substantial lore introduced in the game's previous incarnations. The overall plot deals with themes such as the unquestioning adoption of religious dogma and how that can lead to societal problems such as racism-or in this case, speciesism, thanks to the conflict between the Ishgardians and the Dravanian dragons. Heavensward's main story is spectacular, with a series of dramatic moments throughout that are among the series' most memorable. (Previously, the game necessitated a certain degree of replaying old content to earn enough endgame currency to purchase this gear, but now main story quests provide you with everything you'll need to survive your first foray into Ishgard and beyond.) "Heavensward's main story is spectacular, with a series of dramatic moments throughout that are among the series' most memorable." Thankfully, the prerequisite content has been adjusted and rebalanced to ensure that players can get through it and into Heavensward as painlessly as possible with minimal grinding: simply following the main A Realm Reborn quest will now see you happily outfitted in good quality gear by its conclusion, ready to begin your new adventures. However, this makes sense in the context of the game as a whole, since Final Fantasy XIV is one of the most narrative-rich MMOs on the market. Many MMOs tend to open up expansion content immediately upon release for those at an appropriate character level, regardless of their quest progress, but Square Enix has taken a stricter approach here. This may be frustrating to those who enjoyed A Realm Reborn but never worked their way through the narrative.
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