is a bit of an anomaly. In an age when most MMOs end up going free-to-play within a year (hello Wildstar and The Elder Scrolls Online), FF14 is going from strength to strength. And with good reason. Not only is it a great example of an MMO, but it’s also a fantastic Final Fantasy experience it’s its own right. It also works perfectly on consoles too, everything mapping to a PS4 or PS3 pad perfectly.

And now that world is about to get even bigger with the Heavensward expansion on 23 June. Following the events of the current story (you’ll have to complete it to get to the new areas), your adventurer sets off North to the gleaming city of Ishgard and beyond, and the story let alone any side quests. After a hands-on with it I’m as giddy as a Spriggan with a shiny new rock, there’s just so much on offer. So here’s seven reasons why Heavensward is going to be epic...

After waddling around A Realm Reborn with nothing but the tease of Gyshal Greens to keep it going, your Fat Chocobo is feeling seriously peckish. Whip out a slice of cake and your mighty yellow steed will be so excited he’ll take flight, his rolls gently wobbling in the wind.

You can also fly a more stern-looking Griffin and your normal, average weight Chocobo, but there’s a real sense of glee as the lemon chubster frantically reaches for his sugary prize. The sense of scale as you fly is just as joyful, the new areas are enormous. With multiple layers and hidden nooks to explore, swooping down over the landscape filled me with awe.

The healing Astrologian, defensive Dark Knight and damage-dealing Machanist all slot into the existing class balance nicely, each one bringing a little something special to the table. They’ll all start at level 30 rather than at one and you won’t need a base class to unlock them.

With such a huge Great sword, the Dark Knight feels appropriately weighty when swung during one of it’s many ‘dark’-themed moves. They also have two stances. Darkside will see you do some serious damage, but will drain your MP, while Grit will see you through any tough blows enemies can throw at you and get them to hit you rather than the rest of your party.

Machanists act a bit like the already existing Bards. They have two Turrets (one for groups, one for single targets) that need to be placed down to lend a helping hand, and can be switched to buff your party when needed. The Turrets won’t follow you like a Summoner’s pet will, it’s all about skillful deployment.

Finally, Astrologians are the star of the expansion (see what I did there, eh? EH?!), employing healing spells to keep your party alive, stances to aid with damage or buffing your friends, and a deck of cards that keeps you on your toes by dealing (and needing to manage) one of six random effects.

Part of a Free Company (that’s a guild in FF14 parlance)? Then you’ll be able to buy a workshop for your house and work together to fashion your own flying boat out of fancy lumber and nails. Accessible from the same door as private rooms, the workshop is a separate area where you can remodel the look of your house or swap out airship parts before sending them out of exploratory adventures.

The launch of Heavensward and airships will definitely be putting any crafters and gatherers out there in high demand. You’ll have to work together to build four different types of ship parts that are then slotted together. Each piece has different stats so, for example, you may build a speedy ship, but it’ll run out of fuel faster. It adds an interesting layer of customisation, though Square Enix has yet to release any details on what the rewards for sending out your ship will be.

As well as adding the three new Jobs, the expansion will also see all of the current classes getting an update as the reach the new cap at level 60. Adding so many new moves and making sure they all gel together is a tricky balancing act, and one that it still being worked on, but what I went hands-on with was promising indeed.

I tried out the Monk class, notorious in the current game for having an irritating dip in punching power when you find yourself with nothing to hit during a lull in hostilities, but the additions in Heavensward completely make up for that. You’ll be able to trade in your greased Lightning stacks for a powerful kick - great if you time it to land just before a break in a battle - and a Meditation mechanic that sees you stack the move while you have nothing to smack. Reach five stacks and you can choose to heal your TP (the stuff that lets you perform fancy moves) or unleash a really big attack to make up for lost time. It really keeps you on your toes, and as soon as I went back to playing without the new moves I found myself really missing them.

Adding an expansion to an MMO is a tricky business. New players start noticing it more as hype builds, but the amount to catch up on can be quite intimidating, and existing players often rocket off in the freshly added sunset to try out all of the new toys, leaving any newer players behind in the dust.

Game producer and director Naoki Yoshida aims to rectify that with a raft of measures to help new players catch up. If you’re starting fresh when Heavensward launches you’ll get to enjoy the benefits of double experience points for faster levelling, and priority in dungeon queues so you can work on finishing the current A Realm Reborn story. You’ll also be able to run dungeons with friends at higher levels without them scaling down, to help you power right on through. Yoshida’s aim is for people to play through the story “like they’re binge watching their favourite TV series.”

Like loot and running through dungeons? Then Heavensward will have eight new ones for you to challenge, among them the Sharlayan Library, which I got my hands on. Filled with books (that have a disturbing number of teeth and demons poking out of them), as well as angry ink pots and magic frogs, it’s an enchanting place. Its also a challenging one. While the group I was with was still getting to grips with new skills, they were all experienced players and yet we still wiped on bosses. It was never frustrating though, as each failure felt like a lesson that saw us come back even stronger.

You’ll also have more say over how your party approaches dungeons, with the updated duty finder letting you set a ‘loot master’ or having ‘greed only’ on rolls to give everyone an equal chance, as well as syncing everyone down to a lower level or challenging it with fewer party members to make things more challenging.

Okay, so those are the six BIG reasons to pick up Heavensward on 23 June, but there are so many other exciting additions that I couldn’t choose a seventh. So here’s to all the other little reasons that this is the MMO you need to be playing, be that on console or on PC. Deep breath now everyone…

A new eight-man raid (with a normal and hard mode) set inside a giant living Fortress called Alexander that’s coming two weeks after launch; an extension to the crafting system that lets you specialise in three crafts, and a similar system for gatherers that grants ‘divine favours’ for getting rare items; your retainers will also be rising to level 60; a new Frontline PvP area with a completely different rule set that features varying spawn points and ruins to take control of; a brofist emote; and new large-scale FATES, recipes, hunts, treasure maps, sightseeing points, quests, and, most importantly, new Triple Triad cards to dish out the pain. With so much on offer, I can’t wait to get stuck in.

There was a time when video game voice acting could've conceivably doubled as torture. Simply slap a pair of headphones on your primary suspect and proceed to bang out a 'best of the mid-'90s' VO playlist. I'll bet that by the time they reached Grandia, said villain would have been too busy contemplating the innumerable, illogical absurdities of the 'Jill sandwich' to put up too much of a struggle. Word to the wise - if they're muttering something about a wizard, the moon, and sucking on their thumb from the foetal position then you know you've gone too far.

Thankfully, in-game audio has come an awfully long way since then. For example, we now have actual professionals voicing our icons, as opposed to whichever member of the penal system didn't fancy stamping out license plates that day. Today's big list of stuff will attempt to acquaint you with some of the more prolific players in the modern industry. Particular attention has been paid to the most versatile stars therein, as opposed to folks like Keith David who're specifically contracted for their rich, silky speaking voices. Sorry about that Keith, but knowing that the same bloke voices both Batman and Sonic is just way teresting.

Who? Robin Atkin Downes is a film, television, theatre and video game voice actor, mo-cap performer and music producer. He also has experience in directing. Think of him as the Swiss army knife of this list. A Swiss army knife with great hair.

Who else? Downes portrays Metal Gear Solid's Kaz Miller, Just Cause's Rico Rodriguez, Uncharted 2's Tenzin, Ratchet and Clank's Captain Slag, Team Fortress 2's Medic and Gear of War's Locust Kantus - among others.

Who? Jennifer Hale is the veritable 'first lady' of video game voice acting, though she's also appeared in several live action productions. Last year Hale engaged in a spirited 8-week hot-air balloon race, vying against Tara Strong for the opportunity to call 'dibs' on all of 2015's best roles. Of course, none of that actually happened, but it should've done.

Who else? Hale is the woman behind Bioshock Infinite's Rosalind Lutece, MGS2's Emma Emmerich, Metroid Prime's Samus Aran, Halo 4's Sarah Palmer and Mass Effect's female rendering of Shepard. She also provided the voicework for both versions of Metal Gear Solid's Naomi Hunter (both the early British and later American incarnations).

Who? Mike Patton is the uber eclectic frontman of Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, and about a dozen other bands. He began voice acting in 2007, and is typically tasked with providing gruesome monster noises.

Who else? Patton has provided the pipes behind Portal 2's Anger Core, Left 4 Dead's Infected (including the Smoker Hunter variants) as well as The Darkness' titular nasties. Oh, and he's also responsible for Bionic Commando 09's gritty, cheeseball hero.

Who? Tara Strong is a well known voice over artist and television actress. Her distinctive surname was bestowed upon her by the old gods after witnessing Tara's completion of the 12 labours of Hercules. Of the 12, Tara counts the Lernaean Hydra as being the single most challenging foe.

Who else? Strong has voiced Batman: Arkham's Harley Quinn, Mortal Kombat's Ferra, Metal Gear's Paz, Jak Daxter's Keira and Final Fantasy X's Rikku. Plus a boatload more.

Who? Armin Shimerman is a film and television actor best known for playing Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Principal Snyder and Star Trek: Deep Space 9's Quark. Fun fact: Shimerman came up with the design for Quark's face while bashing a catcher's mitt with a baseball bat? No, not really, but he might as well have done.

Who else? Shimerman has appeared as Mass Effect's Salarian Councillor, Ratchet and Clank's Dr. Nefarious and Bioshock's Andrew Ryan.

Who? Grey DeLisle is a singer, voice actress and occasional stand-up comic. She also goes by the pseudonym of 'Grey Griffin', which probably comes in really handy during live action role-playing.

Who else? DeLisle has voiced Jeanne from the Bayonetta series, Catwoman in Batman: Arkham, Sly Cooper's Carmelita Fox and Amanda from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

Who? Nolan North is a professional actor and voice over artist/bona fide gaming institution. Little known fact: both he and Troy Baker are immortal Highlanders simultaneously attempting to corner the voice over market, because of course 'there can only be one'.

Who else? North voices everyone from DOTA 2's squealing Gyrocopter pilot to the CoD franchise's zombie-mad Richtofen. Other characters include Uncharted's Nathan Drake, Injustice's General Zod, Batman's Oswald Cobblepot and Portal 2's Space, Adventure and Fact Cores.

Who? Ellen McLain is an opera singer and voice actress who regularly contributes to Valve Corp. video games. Her husband is similarly involved with the company, having provided the voice of the Sniper in Team Fortress 2. And no, they didn't meet up while screaming robotic threats into a microphone. Shame.

Who else? McLain's work includes stints as DOTA 2's Broodmother, Left 4 Dead's Witch monster, Half-Life 2's Overwatch speaker and - most famously of all - Portal's array of talkative turrets and the evil A.I. GLaDOS.

Who? James Arnold Taylor is a professional cartoon and video game voice actor. Long-term exposure to the man's unique brand of laughter has been known to cause ferocious irritation in viewers.

Who else? Taylor's most notable roles include Ratchet from the Ratchet and Clank series, the Clone Wars' Obi-Wan Kenobi (both in video games and TV) as well as Final Fantasy X's boisterous lead character Tidus. He also does a rather good Jack Sparrow impression.

Who? Lani Minella is a professional voice actress specialising in video games. I wonder how many people accidentally call her Liza Minnelli on a daily basis?

Who else? Lani voices the female infected in The Last of Us, Sheeva from Mortal Kombat 9, Ivy in SoulCalibur, the Koopa kids from the Mario franchise, and the female fighters in the Worms series.

Who? Troy Baker is a musician, mo-cap actor and award-winning voice over artist specialising in video games. He spends much of his time coated in brightly coloured ping-pong balls trying not to laugh.

Who else? Baker's work includes appearances as Batman: Arkham's Two-Face, Metal Gear Solid V's Ocelot, The Last of Us' Joel, Far Cry 4's Pagin Min and Arkham Origins' Joker.

Who? Jen Taylor is a professional voicework and theatre actress, contracted to the Halo franchise for the next 187,000 instalments, or the complete heat death of the universe - whichever comes first.

Who else? Taylor's impressive C.V. boasts several big name gigs, including those of Princess Peach and Halo's Cortana. Other notable performances include No One Lives Forever's Cate Archer, Left 4 Dead's Zoey and DOTA 2's Medusa.

Who? Fred Tatasciore is a prolific voice actor appearing in film, television and video games. He once voiced one of Jar Jar Binks' annoying Gungan buddies, and probably felt really terrible about it afterwards. We forgive you Fred, you couldn't have known.

Who else? Tatasciore has voiced Baird from Gears of War, Zeratul (Starcraft 2), Bane (Arkham City), Mario (Assassin's Creed 2), both the Tank and Boomer monsters from Left 4 Dead, and Mass Effect's Saren Arterius.

Who? Terrence Carson is an acclaimed stage actor, tv performer and vocalist. Fun fact: Carson was also betrayed by almighty Zeus. He was pretty chilled about it though.

Who else? Carson has portrayed God of War's vengeful Spartan Kratos, the Saints Row series' Big Tony and Star Wars' own Mace Windu.

Who? Quinton Flynn is a video game voice actor and writer. Fun fact: the name Quinton Flynn would also suit a restaurant critic and/or a wealthy teenaged adventurer.

Who else? Flynn voices Sonic's Silver the Hedgehog, Metal Gear's Raiden, Henry from the No More Heroes games, and Crash Bandicoot's Dr. N. Gin.

Who? Mark Hamill is a professional acto… - y'know what, forget it, the man's Luke Skywalker, LUKE SKYWALKER damn it! Oh and he was in all those Wing Commander games too…

Who else? Hamill has provided the voice behind CoD 2's old-timey narrator, X2's Wolverine and of course Arkham's main-series iteration of the Joker.

Who? Matthew Mercer is an anime and video game voice actor. His name is also an anagram for 'Mew Meth Carter', which in the context of the Pokémon franchise would certainly explain a lot…

Who else? Mercer provides the pipes behind Street Fighter 4's Fei Long, Arkham Origins' Anarky, Resi 6's Leon, and Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell's Blackbeard.

Who? Roger Craig Smith is a professional voice actor specialising in anime, video game and cartoon-based voicework. Since winning the role of Batman in Arkham Origins, Smith has received numerous lewd phone calls from a man referring to himself only as 'Conroy Kevin'. Police are baffled. And of course, none of that actually happened.

Who else? Smith lends his considerable talents to a wide array of gaming icons, including Ezio Auditore (Assassin's Creed 2), Chris Redfield (Resident Evil 5), Batman/Bruce Wayne (Batman: Arkham Origins) and err… Sonic the Hedgehog. That's quite the range.

Who? Steve Blum is a professional voice actor specialising in anime, cartoons and video games. Fun fact about Steve: he was only one botched birth certificate away from being called 'Steve Bum'.

Who else? Blum has voiced Sub-Zero and Reptile in Mortal Kombat X, Wolverine from the X-Men franchise, Killer Croc in the Batman: Arkham series, Vincent Valentine in Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus, Final Fantasy Type-0's Cid, and Grayson Hunt from Bulletstorm. Also, about .