i love hw, sb, and arr but shb just hits different. i even said i love hw more than sb but again shb is just different. let me gather my thoughts here lol
the thing about shb, it's a fresh start for me. although the first was only but a small map, i really enjoyed my stay there. from the rotten eulmore to the magical pixies and ofc amaurot. the osts were good and the story line is always on point that i never had any dull moments
on the expansion. my guess is that bc it touches the parts of the base game that has been unexplained (the calamities, ascians, and more). it does leave me wanting more of the lore and the explanation of things. basically, shb pulled me back to the roots of when the world started
and that's a good catch for me since it gives me backstory. also, i have never been this attached to npcs lol and yes, they did it again and they're good at it. THEY DID IT AGAIN WITH EMET (yotsuyu
) and now i sympathize with emet and the ascians
