MMOs work to a different evolutionary schedule to most living games: grinding rumbles are first heard deep below the world's surface (or within its orbiting forum threads) followed by those tectonic lunges that accompany the release of each aptly named 'expansion'. Stormblood is the second such world-inflating addition to Final Fantasy 14, a release which the game's much-loved director-cum-saviour, Naoki Yoshida, has likened to the third season of a Netflix TV show.
It's a reasonable comparison. Stormblood continues the story of your hero protagonist and his or her band of warrior friends with unpronounceable names (Alphinaud, M'naago) while introducing a range of new locations with unpronounceable names (Rhalgr's Reach, Yanxia). There are fresh themes, subplots and a subtle shift in style and urgency in order to keep the game lively and interesting. Unlike the new season in a television series, however, picking up these new threads of plot is much more involved than merely clicking a button to confirm that yes, you are in fact still watching thank-you-very-much.
Final Fantasy 14 boasts one of the more involved and demanding storylines in the MMO multiverse. For dedicated players who have fully chipped away at the game's grand stretch of core missions over the years, Stormblood's opening can be freely triggered - so long as your character has reached level 60 (although, in these early weeks, when demand is high, you may have to queue for up to half an hour for a slot to open up allowing you to exit the purgatory of the title screen). Lapsed players, or those who want to start their journey from Season 3 will need to purchase two items: one to raise their character to level 60, and the other to auto-complete the hundreds of story missions that precede Stormblood.
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