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Blueberry Pancakes posted:That comment about the pants is apparently still there even if you don't do Hildibrand, but I think I did HW Hildibrand before Stormblood. This is one of the things I still appreciate very much about FF14. As silly as the Hildibrand quests are, they are absolutely canon to the story. To the point that in upcoming content you're required to have caught up with Hildibrand to do some new stuff.
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Jul 21, 2022 21:24
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To be fair I have raided tombs and killed hundreds of bandits and soldiers or whatever just to maybe find pants in a chest on the way
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Jul 22, 2022 01:10
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Sadly for lalafels, your shoes obstruct the pants about 80 percent of the time.
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Jul 22, 2022 02:59
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SirPhoebos posted:Sadly for lalafels, your shoes obstruct the pants about 80 percent of the time. I can assure you, this is not a problem unique to lalas
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Jul 22, 2022 03:04
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DoubleNegative posted:Can confirm. I hear the Ala Mhigo music and go "yeah that's just America the Beautiful" thank GOD it's not just me, I mentioned this to people one time and they acted like I was nuts
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Jul 22, 2022 03:29
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"From sea to shi-ning sea~" is all I hear in it too
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Jul 22, 2022 06:35
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I always hear "I'm wiiiith you in the daaaaark" from Deltarune.
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Jul 22, 2022 06:37
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DanielCross posted:I always hear "I'm wiiiith you in the daaaaark" from Deltarune. God, that's what I've been hearing! 
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Jul 22, 2022 08:34
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Still can't go to Rhalgr's Reach without John Linnell's "Michigan" popping into my head
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Jul 22, 2022 08:46
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Comrade Koba posted:Ngl , this one made me go “FOR GLORY, GARLEMALD!” every time I heard the SB quest complete sound. This song's leitmotifs are in a whole bunch of spots in this expansion. Spoilers, though...
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Jul 22, 2022 14:09
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Chapter 10: Big in Japan Kugane means “Gold,” in Ancient Hingan, or so Hancock tells us as we make our way through the city. Funnily enough, this is true in real-life Japanese, although the more common reading of the kanji for this term is “ogon.” They went with Kugane for an extremely Japanese reason, but I’ll explain that a bit later. Kheris mixes with the locals at each stop on the tour, as she’s wont to do, while I enjoy the city’s daylight theme  “Crimson Sunrise,”, an alternate arrangement of “Storm of Blood,” using only traditional Japanese instruments. Doing so nets some helpful insight into our new locale. Kugane is the only port open to foreign trade in Hingashi because the government is pursuing a national policy of isolationism, not unlike Ishgard. Put a pin in that factoid. Imports are subject to strict scrutiny, and all business transactions occur under harshly enforced laws. The hands that dish out these penalties are the red-robed samurai police force known as the Sekiseigumi. These folks are an unmistakable riff on the historic Shinsengumi, which I mentioned in my Heavensward LP during the Hildibrand quests. Of course, that reference was a broadside shot at the fan culture surrounding them. This is a straight allusion. While the term Shinsengumi loses something in the translation (New Select Squad), sekisei remains artful in English. It means “sincerity.” That certainly sounds like a term that Customs Cops would want people to associate with what they do. The two kanji which make up sekisei also have relevant meanings. The first is a form of “red,” explaining their red kimonos, which stand in sharp contrast to the iconic Shinsengumi blue. The second has several possible readings, including “fidelity,” “admonish,” and “prohibit.” The foreign presence is evident across the city. Right next to a local tea shop, we see a levequest recruitment tent run by the Adventurer’s Guild of Eorzea. Outside the tavern, you can find a monster hunter from Clan Centurio. Outfits from Ul’dah, Limsa, Ishgard, and Sharlayan stick out among all the traditional Japanese garb. Many people talk excitedly about Triple Triad’s growing popularity. The local’s attitudes at first seem to align with Hancock’s assertion that these are folks who prize ambiguity and misdirection. Their demeanor is courteous, bordering on servile. The business people and government officials you meet speak with excess politeness despite their words often containing veiled threats. Even among the cops, only one or two comments could be called ‘rude.’ This is very much in line with real-world stereotypes about Japanese society. Still, it doesn’t take much scratching at the surface to reveal that these are entirely ordinary people. You can see it in the sake connoisseur wondering what region’s spirits he’d like to try next and the drunk on the corner ranting about how he used to serve a great lord’s house. You’ll hear it in the well-dressed woman at the tea house complaining that no handsome gentlemen are fawning over her and the pining of the studly Roe for the tea house’s owner, who never notices his affections. From the dock worker on break who simultaneously wonders at and mocks the size of Western ships to the gossipy grandma complaining about the daughter who ran out after an argument, none of these people would be out of place in any other city that we’ve visited. The polite stereotype they’re leaning into is a mask they wear for dealing with their foreign ‘guests.’ Alisaie finds Hingan buildings to be ostentatious and showy. She has a point. Gilding and bright colors are everywhere, and many structures’ sheer scale is downright gratuitous.  Given the dichotomy of character within the people, it makes me wonder if this is their typical architecture or if Kugane was built to appear especially grand. Is this an effort to present the appearance of wealth and prosperity to the foreigners regardless of reality? We’d have to see other Hingan settlements to get an idea, but it’s a thought. Speaking of visible tradition, one of the first things we’re shown is an aetheryte, which the locals refer to as a Tenkonto, or “Spire of Drifting Souls.”  I couldn’t connect this word to any real Japanese, though I know “Ten,” is typically the kanji for Sky or Heaven, so that’s on point. Hancock explains that these are a completely different design from the Sharlayan aetherytes we’re used to (or any of the Tribal or pre-modern types we’ve seen). They’re as reliable as any other, though. The Onishishu artisans guard the secret arts that create them with great care. I also discovered that their porters use Giant Falcons rather than Chocobos, which tracks since the Domans had never seen “bird-horses,” before coming to Eorzea. Neat! The second stop is the city’s largest marketplace, the Kogane Dori. Remember how I said I’d return to the city name and why they used a less common pronunciation for a very Japanese reason? To illustrate the Hingan language’s nuances, Hancock explains that Kogane means “Lesser Fortune,” and that the name was intentionally derived from the city’s name. In Japanese, Ko is a diminutive when used as a prefix or suffix. It refers to something that is a child of, or smaller than, the original thing. The street name is an elaborate pun. You don’t get more Japanese than that!  Hoo boy, we might have released an invasive species into this ecosystem. Where are those Customs agents when you need them…? We’re briefly introduced to the master of the market, a Roe named Keiten. He’s here mainly to inform us that we can use our Gil like normal because they perform so much foreign trade. As always, the attention to detail this game provides warms my cold critic heart. I also note that the street has the same collection of vendors as Ishgard’s market did, making this a great place to buy catch-up gear for slots lacking item level. We round a corner (past a woman complaining that her husband spends too much time “under Sanjo’s red lamps.”  ) and spy our destination: the Ijin-gai, or Foreigner District. You’ve probably heard the term gaijin, a Japanese word for foreigners, and might have assumed that they used a similar but made-up word to replace it because it can sometimes have pejorative implications. However, the actual reason is that gaijin, and the more formal gaikokujin, were not standard terms until the mid-1800s. In the centuries prior, ijin, was the generally applicable word for travelers from other countries. Put a pin in this fact as well.Ijin-gai is where the embassies of foreign governments are located. There’s a Thavnairian consulate, which makes me wonder what government exists there beyond the city of Radz-at-Han. Of course, Alphinaud is far more interested in the Garlean’s cermet eyesore, guarded by soldiers wearing the same armor as the intro cutscene.  Hancock quickly warns us to keep our distance. This is out of fear of our hosts rather than the Empire. While there is no law forbidding us from carrying weapons, physical altercations are subject to decisive punishment from the Sekiseigumi. Exile from the city is a potential sentence, but they’ll often execute offenders in the street and save themselves the trouble.   Now that’s what I call a Deep Cut Reference! …Oh god, what have I done? I’m so sorry. (I love how after Hancock wanders off laughing at this little joke, Alis rolls her eyes and follows him, but the rest of us keep frozen in our horrified poses for several more moments.) As an aside, despite the opening movie depicting them as brazenly fighting gang wars in the streets, this policy supposedly applies to the Garleans as well. A later sidequest would mention that those posted at the diplomatic mission are so frustrated by their inability to solve every petty grievance by inflicting violence on their savage lessers that they have taken to paying exorbitant fees to have hot water brought in for their baths. The indignity of disrobing in front of the subhumans to use the public hot springs, as if they were all EQUALS, is simply too much for them to endure. We finally arrive at the branch office of the East Aldernard Trading Company, a lovely red brick manor with white stone columns bearing the crest of Ul’dah above its doors. Once we’re inside, Hancock gets down to business. He assures us the Company’s finest mages have warded the building against all magical and technological eavesdropping, which Alisaie confirms. Then he tells us that Lolorito has instructed him to give us free rein of the building and to put all the branch’s resources at our disposal. Alphinaud naturally refuses, but Lolorito anticipated that response and left instructions to assure the Scions that this is meant to be a penance for his actions during and after The Banquet. Of course, Alphi doesn’t care about anything that came out of Lolorito’s lying mouth, which is why the little jerk left further instructions to inform our boy that the Company is attempting to assist the "Doman Liberation Front." They are happy to share any information which might be helpful to the Scion’s plans because of this mutual alignment of interests, no strings attached. This is stunning for several reasons. First and most obviously, Alphi would like to know how Lolorito found out about the secret plan we told maybe four people. Granted, it wouldn’t have been hard to guess why the Scions left the Ala Mhigan warfront for Doma of all places, but still. The bigger reveal here is that Lolorito considers helping the Doman rebels to be forwarding his interests, and a further implication that he’s been at least trying to support them long before we thought of it. The question is if this is just him playing both sides of the war or if it’s a sincere attempt to maneuver against the Garleans. Regardless, it works in our favor. Alphi asks what the Company knows of Yugiri and Gosetsu. They’re our best shot at finding the rebels, so it would be wise to try and reconnect with them. As it turns out, they came to Kugane aboard a Company ship, so Hancock knows they’ve been here. The problem is he lost track of them as they went deep into the city’s seedy underbelly, attempting to find passage across the Ruby Sea. One would think that makes little sense. After all, travel across this modest body of water for trade must be an everyday occurrence! Except, as it turns out, things are complicated. For nearly all recorded history, the Ruby Sea has been controlled by neither Doma nor Hingashi. A "maritime collective," known only as The Confederacy, rules those waves. This alliance of ship crews native to the region employs a fleet large enough to police the entirety of the sea. They use it to maintain the stability and neutrality of the historic trade routes… provided you’re willing to pay the Ruby Tithe. They’re pirates running an extortion racket in lieu of actual piracy! Why Doma and Hingashi were willing to put up with this for so long isn’t made clear, but recent events have thrown the balance of power into chaos. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the Garlean Conquest that caused the problem. When Doma fell, the Empire elected to leave the Confederacy in place. Perhaps they feared attempting to seize the Ruby Sea would force the Hingans into war and preferred consolidation of their new holdings? Regardless, the recent appointment of that ‘witch’ we keep hearing about to the post of acting viceroy while Zenos went to Eorzea started the trouble. Soon after her rise, she announced that the Garleans would no longer recognize Confederate authority and that any who did would be declared "Enemies of the Empire." Students of Roman history know what bad news that is. Hingashi, faced with possible military retaliation if they refused the Garlean ultimatum, chose to blink.  No wonder our friends had to go off the grid looking for transport. It’s illegal, possibly deadly, AND could start a war! Nevertheless, we also need such transportation. If we’re lucky, we’ll learn what happened to Team Doma while we search. The Scions split up to hunt for clues. Alphi even prepared something special to help!  You get a wall-mountable version of his sketch for player housing as a reward for completing this quest. Also, did you know that Gosetsu is a Roegadyn? It gets tossed out off-handedly in all this dialogue. I was sure he was just a large Hyur because of his nose! So far, we haven’t seen any others like him, but maybe that’ll change. ~*~*~ Lyse and Kheris are told they might be able to get information from a few key people around town, but this step of the MSQ also unlocks sidequests. You know how I handle my business, so it’s time to dig deeper into Kugane by helping the locals. One theme that sticks out in many of these quests is a degree of tension surrounding the merchant class. The ordinary workers and artisans are being pushed by the emergent middle class of traders and business owners, who flex the relative power granted by their wealth at every turn.  A local lantern maker complains that he hasn’t been able to sleep for three days because of the demanding timetable a Hannish trader set when purchasing one of his luxury designs. A shopkeep bullies a noble’s housemaid into accepting a gouged price, and Kheris has to demand the excess be refunded, or the girl will have to repay it out of her own pocket. A ship captain talks about how lucrative it’s been moving goods from other ports across Hingashi to Kugane to sell them to foreigners… right before he asks Kheris to let his customers know there will be delays because he has to flog his usual porter for laziness. A shipwright notes that he’s been made to work twenty-hour shifts recently, even though the overseer running the drydock complains that the Hingan government is starting to scale back on new sea-faring vessels to invest in airship construction. This once again reflects real Japanese history. The two details I asked you to put a pin in, the policy of isolationism combined with a single open port and the use of the historic term ijin for foreigners, fit together perfectly with this theme. Our last puzzle piece is a new vocabulary term that appears in these sidequests several times: bakufu. This is the word for a particular form of historic Japanese government, the feudal pseudo-dictatorships operated by the shoguns. Under the bakufu system, the emperor is a figurehead who exists primarily to legitimize the reigning shogun. The shogun, in turn, rules mostly through military authority, although all three of the major Shogunates also utilized bureaucratic power to various degrees. Regional authority rests with feudal lords known as daimyo, another term mentioned in the game’s dialogue. These landed lords owe the Shogun fealty but also hold tremendous personal power. All these clues place our setting’s point of inspiration squarely within the Tokugawa Shogunate, aka The Edo Period, in the 1600-1800s. This was the era between the famous Warring States period and the Meiji Restoration. Or, for the more anime brained, the era of Gintama, Samurai Deeper Kyo, Samurai Champloo, and Ninja Scroll. That's after anything you ever saw with “Sengoku,” or “Nobunaga,” in the name and just before Ruroni Kenshin. During the Edo period, Japan had only one port open to Western influence (though others existed for similarly isolated trade with other parts of Asia), the city of Nagasaki. They dealt almost exclusively with the Dutch East India Company. The government observed the expansion of Europe into Asia via Imperialism and Colonialism and justifiably feared that Japan would be victimized by this as well. Thus came the policy of Sakoku, a 265-year period where all contact between the outside world and the ordinary people of Japan was strictly controlled. This can be considered the last true era of the samurai, as the Meiji period saw that caste broken during the process of modernization. It’s also a period known for the ascendence of the Japanese merchant caste. Financial wealth began to challenge feudal authority, land ownership, and tradition for influence in society. Japanese media commonly portrays this social shift with the samurai as protagonists, romantically clinging to the bushido code and their purported noblesse oblige to the weak and helpless. Greedy and corrupt merchants, government officials, and feudal lords crush the common folk underfoot, and samurai (those who are not lordless ronin, which is a whole other literary thing) are often caught between their obligations to serve the powerful and the demands of morality. It seems relevant to what we’re seeing in this expansion, doesn’t it? Another side quest that sticks out, this time mechanically, involves a young girl near the Thavnairian embassy. She’s half-Hingan on her mother’s side and was sent here to live with her father after growing up in the Near East. Though the family disapproved of the marriage that allowed her to be born, she’s still eager to form a connection with her deceased mother. She was gifted a pair of mom’s paintings and wants Kheris to find the spots in town they depict. This objective showcases a new quest mechanic where the player must match an image in their inventory with something on their screen. It also shows that many of the buildings in Kugane are climbable. One of the target locations is on a rooftop, which can only be reached by jumping on strategically placed boxes and balconies. If there aren’t Ninja quests that involve me doing more of this, I’ll eat my hat.  …  The last sidequests and the MSQ take me to another major area in the city, the Rakuza District. This is not a riff on Yakuza but another historic term taken from the economic policies of Oda Nobunaga. It roughly translates to “Free Markets.” Of course, I wouldn’t blame anyone who assumed it was a Yakuza reference because this is the “red lamp,” district which that housewife across town was complaining about.  Those into Japanese media will likely have seen depictions of a yukaku, a historic Japanese Red-Light District, at one point or another. They are generally portrayed as hotbeds of vice and debauchery, where every other storefront of some variety of brothel. They’re often identified by cooing courtesans outside the doors showing off their shoulders, inviting men with money to keep them company over a bottle of sake. The rest of the streets are often divided between bars, period equivalents of fast-food stands, and cheap forms of entertainment. A Medieval Las Vegas, if you will. One of the signature images of these districts are red paper lamps, the literal Red-Lights, and we see those here. I did some research, and it’s not entirely clear whether or not this is an anachronism used in modern media because it’s a well-known motif. Some historic paintings depict such areas with red lamps, and others don’t. I can tell you that many historians believe that the origin of the very concept of a “Red-Light,” district comes from Amsterdam, where prostitutes used red lamps to cover unsightly skin blemishes when meeting sailors. So, if the red lamps are authentic, we all know where the Japanese picked up the habit.  We also see evidence of the ‘den of sin’ aspect, but only to a point. The area is framed in a realist fashion rather than the more cartoonish portrayal used when a story wants to send a moralizing message. There aren’t any lurid Ladies/Gents of the Evening trying to pull Kheris into any brothels. She does come across a geiko (aka geisha) who’s off duty and needs help tracking down her pet Red Pandas before some grubby merchant tries to sell them. The woman offers some insightful thoughts on the nature of the city and those who frequent the Rakuza District.  She also offers Kheris some complimentary ‘service’ at the okiya for her help. What can I say? The ladies love a dashing and heroic catgirl. We can see drunks getting into fights, and a thief being chased down the thoroughfare by the cops. But we also see plenty of typical merchants selling knick-knacks and fashionable clothes. For every rich scumbag looking to indulge himself, three average people don’t want anything but a nice meal and a soak in the local onsen, where mineral waters and sake baths relax the mind and cure ailments of the body.  The Rakuza District is not a pit of immorality. It’s simply a place for people of all walks of life to gather and enjoy some leisure that knows no class divide. ~*~*~ This onsen is where Kheris and Lyse first attempt to gather information about our missing friends. Sadly, the innkeeper tells us they practice a policy of complete discretion regarding their clients and can’t inform us if our friends have even been there. We have more luck back at the Hostelry, where the owner Kotokaze tells us that she saw both our friends pretty recently. She was able to put them in contact with several ship captains on the sligh, as they hoped to find one willing to make the Ruby Sea run. The only bad news is that this information comes with a warning: in the interest of ‘equal treatment’ she’s obliged to tell the same to anyone who comes asking after us. This chat is our first insight into why the Hingans are pursuing their isolationist policy. It’s a reaction to Doma’s fall and the subsequent failure of the rebellion. Hingashi believes, probably reasonably, that they have little chance of standing against the Garleans in open warfare. Thus, they decided that their government’s official position in foreign affairs would be that they stand apart from all the troubles outside their borders. No matter what lands or people the Garleans attack, they will neither help nor hinder either side. All parties in any conflict are welcome in this one port, where they can enjoy the benefits of a stable and prosperous neutral ground and all the bounties of Hingan resources and culture. All they need to do is leave their wars at the door. They’re trying to position themselves as a sort of Switzerland. If they offer enough benefits to all the stakeholders on the world stage and do nothing that might make themselves a hindrance to anyone’s goals, the Garleans will leave them alone. After all, any gains from conquest would be marginal at best, mainly because the fight would be costly even if its outcome is inevitable, and striking would risk the ire of other powers they’re not prepared to cross in the process. As Kotokaze observes, “To be equal is to be fair and to be fair is to be free.” Of course, she also gives the game away in the same dialogue. “Indifferent and callous, some may call us.” People around the world are well aware that Hingashi is buying this freedom with other nations’ blood. By not taking a position on what the Garleans are doing, they are arguably taking the de facto position that the Garlean’s actions are acceptable. By treating a belligerent warmongering nation as equal to not only peaceful countries but even their victims, Hingashi is helping to empower them toward further conquests. There’s a clear thematic link between what we’ve seen previously in Eorzea and what’s happening in the Far East. The Alliance nations also felt that they were no match for Garlemald and thus desired to avoid war at any cost. Like the Alliance nations, Hingashi taking this attitude is ultimately blatant self-interest contributing to ongoing injustice. Plus, regardless of how reasonable their position seems, it’s also an attempt to pretend a worsening problem doesn’t exist by ignoring it. As in Eorzea, the Empire’s show of strength in Othard taking one territory has led to a self-defeating attitude among the powers that might oppose them. The instinct that it’s every man for himself kicks in, and the result is to make yourself more vulnerable to future aggression. We don’t even need to look at any obvious real-world parallels for this. The game already provided us with one in this very quest series. Rather than stand with the Confederacy when the new Doman Viceroy targeted them, the Hingans backed down and left another neighbor to face the Empire alone. They should be able to see what the next domino is sure to be if the Confederacy falls, but they refuse to do so. In the immortal words of Upton Sinclair (paraphrasing William Jennings Bryan), “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” Lyse and Kheris speak with each ship captain, and all share the same story of informing the Domans that crossing the Ruby Sea was too dangerous before sending them away. Oddly, all three only speak of Gosetsu, having never met Yugiri. Our last hope is a meeting with a "Namazu," captain named Gyodo. Lyse was told he was a fisherman.  …  *Checks Notes* Sorry, that was a fish man, not a fisherman. It seems we’ve got another new Beast Tribe! When we put our proposition to Gyodo, he claims that shipping us across the sea will be easy provided we sail under cover of darkness. He also announces that he’s already delivered Yugiri and Gosetsu to the far shore. It’ll be expensive because the trip is dangerous, but he can take our entire party, no questions asked. Lyse is thrilled, and we hurry back to inform the others. At the Company office, Alphi relates how everyone he questioned also saw Gosetsu but Yugiri was nowhere to be found. When we inform him that we found the guy who claims to have sent them both to Doma, Tataru is annoyed that we didn’t haggle over the ticket price. Hancock and Alis are more concerned about how this is an incredibly obvious trap. The Namazu, we are told, are notorious scam artists. If this guy is the only one who claims to have seen Yugiri, odds are he’s just telling us what we want to hear so he can trap us. Hancock also mentions that the ‘witch’ running Doma was once a spy herself, so this could be much worse than just extortion. Lyse takes these points on board and suggests a very Lyse sort of plan: we walk into the trap. If we get the boat to Doma, great. If we don’t, we punch our way out of the problem and take the slimy little bastard hostage to find out what’s really going on. Alis, naturally, feels this is a perfect idea and has no notes. We meet Gyodo on a bridge near the docks, and he leads us to a discreet corner of the harbor. When we ask where the boat is, he calls out his Garlean friends. Lyse does not take her innocent and trusting heart being broken well and boots the little jerk so hard in the gut that he flies through the air and lands comfortably on her shoulder.  As usual, props to the facial animations team. That mix of disappointment, annoyance and contempt is priceless. With a bit of help from Alphi pulling a flanking maneuver, we put the Garleans down. This is the exact moment that our scuffle attracts the Sekiseigumi’s attention. Hancock warned us that if Garlean agents were to attack us, we should endeavor not to defend ourselves if possible. The cops will happily kill whatever group they see employing violence without care for who started it. Since we won the fight before they noticed it, we’ll enjoy the full share of the blame because Kheris can never have anything fortunate happen to her. The good news is that Tataru got us something special at the market to ease any necessary escape: shinobi smoke bombs! It’s probably best if we don’t ask how she knew where to buy those. In this Quest Duty, the bombs become a special action button near the middle of your screen. The cops are positioned all over the route from the docks back to the embassy, and you can either use the bombs to escape if you’re seen or pre-emptively give yourself several seconds of stealth so you can run past them.  Wisely, the designers did not include any escort portion to this quest, and your NPC allies handle their own business. We make our way back to the Company building, but it seems this was an even bigger trap than we predicted. The Sekiseigumi have placed a large force right in front of our doors, clearly having been tipped off that the Eorzeans were going to cause trouble tonight. All seems lost until we receive an unexpected assist:  I knew that was a Ninja Turtle! This chap is Soroban, and he’s a Kojin. Specifically, a Blue Kojin. This is an important distinction because he soon explains that the Red Kojin sold themselves out to the Garlean Empire as mercenaries. The Blue Kojin, on the other hand, are merchants. Soroban came to Kugane seeking treasures, but few in the city were willing to trade with him. It’s not specified if this is because of bigotry or fear of ticking the Garleans off by working with a faction that isn’t aligned with them. Since we’re talking about a Beast Tribe, I would assume the former. Indeed, this denial of opportunity is precisely why he chose to help. He felt the East Aldernard Trading Company would be more willing to do business and figured we’d provide an introduction as thanks.  My scoff at this line was LEGENDARY. Ah yes, no man is more known for his desire to treat Beast Tribals fairly or provide them chances for honest commerce than Lolorito. Anyway, Soroban can offer us passage to the Ruby Sea! Hooray! Before we go, we interrogate our new fish friend. He swears up and down that he is not a Garlean spy and was merely trying to cash in on a bounty that the Empire has posted for any Domans who travel to Kugane. Alis is not impressed by this dirtbaggery, so to avoid further beatings, he informs us that he never met Yugiri but did try to spring the same trap on Gosetsu. The big guy took out the entire Garlean squad but was subsequently arrested by the Sekiseigumi for his trouble. Since they didn’t kill him on the spot, this is actually great news. Hancock informs us that the Sincerity Squad are comically easy to bribe. A few gil in the right pockets, and he’s a free man. While Tataru revises our budget to account for graft, we make our way to the Sekiseigumi Barracks, the last significant section of the city. It’s a gorgeous little temple that makes me nostalgic for when I lived in Japan and vacationed in Kyoto. The men practicing their forms with wooden swords, the meditative rock garden, the white stone outer walls, the classical wooden buildings with the sliding paper doors… even by Kugane’s standards, it’s quintessentially Japanese.  One of the NPCs inside notes that despite appearances, the Sekiseigumi operates on a shoestring budget, and resupplies from the central government are painfully infrequent. This kind of makes me chuckle because it’s hard to read it as anything but an excuse for why they just HAVE to take those bribes. The Scions hang around outside the gates while Hancock negotiates the freedom fee, but our waiting is soon interrupted when we hear Gosetsu’s voice shouting. Lyse barrels past the guards, fearing he might be in trouble. Instead, we see… a friendly spar.  It turns out that while we were monkeying about, Gosetsu contrived to secure his own freedom. The Hingans were so enamored by the presence of a samurai from Doma with his exotic foreign techniques that they couldn’t turn down a friendly wager. They agreed to cut him loose and drop all charges if he could secure ten straight victories on the training field. That shout we heard was him winning his tenth match. And best of all, the Squad Commander agrees to count the bribe toward the NEXT prisoner Hancock wants to spring instead, so we didn’t even waste our money! What a friendly bunch of horrifically corrupt police. Rescuing Gosetsu rewards us with some exposition. Yugiri is no longer in Kugane, and he believes she’s already crossed back to Doma. They separated because they were both seeking information about the current location of their mysterious Lord, who we learn is named Hien. Son of the late Lord Kaien and heir to the Doman throne, he was one of the loudest voices pushing his father for the Revolution. When Zenos and the XIIth Legion brought the Empire’s retaliation, he was the one who took command when his father fell, seeking to take responsibility for his role in instigating the war. He ordered Yugiri to flee to Eorzea with as many Domans as she could, then elected to remain behind and continue the fight in guerilla fashion. The young lord vanished during a skirmish on this hopeless campaign, and though Gosetsu knows he is out of the Empire’s hands, he does not know where he’s hiding. As for the peril mentioned when Gosetsu came looking for Yugiri’s help, that takes the form of the ongoing efforts of the ‘witch’ in Doma Castle to find him. Our large friend is kind enough to give us her name: Yotsuyu. Soroban is more than happy to give passage to Gosetsu. Tataru elects to remain behind, which makes me weep for the unprepared merchants of Kugane. Alphinaud, despite his desperation to remain a field operative, has his arm twisted by Alisaie until he agrees to stay behind in this tense world of espionage and political intrigue. How sad for him.  We bid Kugane a temporary farewell and strike out for new waters. It’s one hell of a city. The sheer scale of it is mind-blowing compared to the others I’ve seen so far. The environmental storytelling was on a completely different level. The atmosphere is lively and energetic. Even compared to the accomplishments of other FF14 cities in creating a sense of place and the feeling of legitimate habitation, Kugane stands head-and-shoulders above. So far, this expansion has been achieving a very high batting average. Here’s hoping the Ruby Sea keeps the train going…
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Jul 23, 2022 01:08
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I can appreciate a good Teledjii joke, so I was laughing almost as hard as Hancock at that one. Anyway, Namazu. They're weird, shifty, and delicious. Rumor has it that the Qiqirn were supposed to get more focus in Stormblood, but the Namazu upstaged them handily.
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Jul 23, 2022 01:31
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kugane is almost worth the price of admission on stormblood by itself, it's such a spectacle of a city
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Jul 23, 2022 01:32
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Alas, my strongest frame of reference for Edo era Japan is Gintama (though Gintama is actually set in the Bakumatsu specifically which is the very, very end of the Edo period after it was forcefully opened to the West), so there are many times dealing with Kugane and the Sekisengumi where I was more busy giggling than anything else. Kugane’s in a weird place where it has a Shinsengumi counterpart while still being only open in one port though so it’s kinda a blend of All the Edo Period.
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Jul 23, 2022 01:36
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 Honestly it's been so long since I've done Kugane's sidequests that I forgot how neat they were, aside from the one where you have to get the Garleans their bathwater. That and I think one that unlocks a little later, maybe, that I rather liked. I definitely remember losing my poo poo at Hancock's Teledji Adaledji joke as well. Come on, party, it was a good one! ...also yeah I didn't recognize that Gosetsu was a Roegadyn at first either, I thought he was a big Hyur.
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Jul 23, 2022 01:45
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Ran Rannerson posted:...also yeah I didn't recognize that Gosetsu was a Roegadyn at first either, I thought he was a big Hyur. Same.
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Jul 23, 2022 01:47
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Alas, certain limitations of the character system are highlighted in Gosetsu - he's a native Othardian, but there's not really any "far eastern" roegadyn faces of the standard four per race (save midlanders having a few extra), so he has a custom facial model that you could probably imagine is more akin to the features of the region, even if it's not reflected in less significant NPCs. A demographic you might have noticed reflected in Kugane, though, is that the local population is largely hyurs, roegadyn, and raen au ra, and deviation signifies foreigners - such as the only lalafell around besides Tataru (and possibly the WoL) being with the East Aldernard Trading Company.
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Jul 23, 2022 01:49
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Ran Rannerson posted:...also yeah I didn't recognize that Gosetsu was a Roegadyn at first either, I thought he was a big Hyur. Same. For me it was less his face and more his skin tone.
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Jul 23, 2022 01:49
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Sanguinia posted:While Tataru revises our budget to account for graft... I would be shocked if that isn't within our first five line items. Maximum.
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Jul 23, 2022 01:54
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Hogama posted:Alas, certain limitations of the character system are highlighted in Gosetsu - he's a native Othardian, but there's not really any "far eastern" roegadyn faces of the standard four per race (save midlanders having a few extra), so he has a custom facial model that you could probably imagine is more akin to the features of the region, even if it's not reflected in less significant NPCs. A demographic you might have noticed reflected in Kugane, though, is that the local population is largely hyurs, roegadyn, and raen au ra, and deviation signifies foreigners - such as the only lalafell around besides Tataru (and possibly the WoL) being with the East Aldernard Trading Company. The Hannish merchant who's a jerk to the lantern maker is also a Lalafel. Zomborgon posted:I would be shocked if that isn't within our first five line items. Maximum. She actually specifically says she didn't account for bribes in the budget. She's not quite a completely soulless business machine yet it seems.
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Jul 23, 2022 01:59
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On Lolorito backing the Domans: he's been a pretty consistent voice for opposition to the Empire for the entire game. All the Imperial connections were Ilberd and Teledji's. Lolorito on the other hand was the first to warn the Scions that Varis was taking a renewed interest in Eorzea, which he did immediately upon clearing their names. Lolorito has a political agenda for Ul'dah that is troubling at best, but in terms of his foreign policy goals he seems to be in lockstep with the Royalists. And economically it makes even more sense, as he can't trade with nations under Imperial rule. Lolorito may be a snake, but he's a snake who opposes the Empire. As long as he can find a way to profit off of it at least.
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Jul 23, 2022 02:03
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Yeah, Gosetsu and "Far Eastern Roegadyn" is our first example of a specific subset of a race that players don't have access to.
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Jul 23, 2022 02:13
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DanielCross posted:Yeah, Gosetsu and "Far Eastern Roegadyn" is our first example of a specific subset of a race that players don't have access to. Technically “Ishgardian Elezen” also is, Ishgardian NPCs use both Wildwood and Duskwright models and Wildwood vs Duskwright is a very Gridanian division. Same deal with Sharlayan Elezen as well, though the four we know (Louisoux, the twins, and Urianger) all use either custom models or Wildwood.
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Jul 23, 2022 02:19
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sweet geek swag posted:On Lolorito backing the Domans: he's been a pretty consistent voice for opposition to the Empire for the entire game. All the Imperial connections were Ilberd and Teledji's. Lolorito on the other hand was the first to warn the Scions that Varis was taking a renewed interest in Eorzea, which he did immediately upon clearing their names. Lolorito has a political agenda for Ul'dah that is troubling at best, but in terms of his foreign policy goals he seems to be in lockstep with the Royalists. And economically it makes even more sense, as he can't trade with nations under Imperial rule. It was never made completely clear exactly who among the Monetarists was taking advantage of Ivy's manipulation of the Alliance and Garleans to continually force a stalemate as a means of facilitating war profiteering. We were told explicitly she was feeding them information on both sides. I would be pretty surprised if Lolorito wasn't involved in that business whatsoever and it was ONLY Teledji, especially since Teledji's plans went far beyond simply making money. We can also take into account that donation of half of his fortune to the Royal coffers. That money is going straight into the war effort as much as it is the refugee crisis, and that might be pushing him to take a firmer stance on our side just for the sake of his indirect investment. But on the other hand, the Garleans continually providing crises is how he's managed to quash Nanamo's desire for government reform. That could incentivize him to keep both sides from winning. But hey, I'm biased against the guy, I'm not ashamed to admit it. He deserves to be biased against. For now, though, we can be reasonably sure he wants the Domans to be helped, even if we shouldn't take his word as to why. We have to be wary of another turn of his cloak because he merits that kind of wariness based on past behavior, but he's already become a lot more shades-of-grey-ish than I expected. It's something I'll keep my eyes on as the story moves on.
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Jul 23, 2022 02:20
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There's a ton to unpack from this update, but one thing I can say for sure: the Namazu are excellent, yes yes. Soroban of the Blue Kojin is also a pal. And yeah, the East Aldernard Trading Company is certainly an East India allusion, and the whole setting of Kugane is beautifully done. It's always a shame to see the older hubs depopulated in later expansions; Pier 1 and the Kogane Dori were both quite packed in their heyday.
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Jul 23, 2022 02:31
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I personally think of Lolorito as profiting off Eorzea's military-industrial complex, such as it is. War can be very good for business indeed.
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Jul 23, 2022 02:31
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Sanguinia posted:It was never made completely clear exactly who among the Monetarists was taking advantage of Ivy's manipulation of the Alliance and Garleans to continually force a stalemate as a means of facilitating war profiteering. We were told explicitly she was feeding them information on both sides. I would be pretty surprised if Lolorito wasn't involved in that business whatsoever and it was ONLY Teledji, especially since Teledji's plans went far beyond simply making money. One point to note, the Ivy was supposedly a Monetarist spy who had actually sold her services to Varis. So even if Lolorito was one of the people involved with her it doesn't necessarily mean he was working with the Empire. She pretty much double crossed everyone. That being said, Lolorito is one of the more difficult characters in FFXIV. He's a user, and that isn't going to change any time soon. But he's good at being just on the right side of the line that'll get him swatted like a bug.
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Jul 23, 2022 02:40
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Lyse has a very understandable reaction to being met by what is clearly an anime mascot character attempting to mess with her. Namely, punt it. I also appreciate some of the info you included regarding some of the terminology brought up in Kugane and how it relates to existing Japanese words, not all of which I knew. I should have figured the wordplay went deeper than I was already aware of!
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Jul 23, 2022 02:48
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any time Soroban isn't on the screen, everyone should be asking, "where is Soroban??" soroban might just be my favorite character from stormblood i'ma have to think on that one
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Jul 23, 2022 02:58
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sweet geek swag posted:One point to note, the Ivy was supposedly a Monetarist spy who had actually sold her services to Varis. So even if Lolorito was one of the people involved with her it doesn't necessarily mean he was working with the Empire. This is slightly backwards according to Let Us Cling Together. Ivy was put into the Flames by the Monetarists but she was originally planted by Varis. Her primary mission was not to sabotage the Alliance but to sabotage Project Meteor, which is why she was able to get in with the Monetarists so easily despite ultimately serving Garlemald. That said, she also helped the 14th Legion successfully entrench in Eorzean territory in the first place. When Gaius moved to seize Eorzea with Ultima Weapon she was ordered by Varis to help the Alliance against him, but that's when she went into business for herself and started playing both sides for the sake of making money and keeping the conflict bogged down into Forever War.
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Jul 23, 2022 03:03
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Namazu time, yes yes!!!
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Jul 23, 2022 03:12
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Man, I love Kugane. I'm usually not super into the Japanese/Asian aesthetic so much, but they just really nail it here. The Namazu are also amazing. Kojin are fine, but Namazu are show-stealers. Also, Sanguinia, have you been keeping up with your Sightseeing Log? There's a couple of cool ones in Kugane worth checking out.
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Jul 23, 2022 03:49
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Say hi to Festus
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Jul 23, 2022 04:03
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Rythian posted:There's a couple of cool ones in Kugane worth checking out. Gah!
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Jul 23, 2022 04:48
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Ah, yes, the best beast tribe,
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Jul 23, 2022 05:00
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both far eastern roe and far eastern hyur are considered distinct 'tribes' from the eorzean perspective, which increasingly makes one wonder if this whole idea of tribes isn't really just an eorzean perspective in general. though for any race with a non-western origin, things are quite a bit different... also, speaking of attention to detail, ninja's inherent stealth works just as well for that solo duty as the smoke bombs Mister Olympus fucked around with this message at 05:55 on Jul 23, 2022 |
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Jul 23, 2022 05:39
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A note for the future: when a duty would give you a special action like that, you can bind Duty Action I and II to buttons on your hotbar. Look in the General commands on your job actions list and you'll find the icons.
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Jul 23, 2022 05:40
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Kugane is where they show what they can do when not limited by the PS3. It would have had a way different feel if it needed to be split.
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Jul 23, 2022 06:36
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Sunday Morning posted:Kugane is where they show what they can do when not limited by the PS3. It would have had a way different feel if it needed to be split. Yeah, Stormblood is the point where the PS3 version of the game was shutdown and stopped holding the game back. You might have noticed that Kugane is only one zone, unlike all the previous major cities which are two, and certainly not because it's smaller or less detailed than them! The major cities of the future expansions are one zone too, and they're plenty big and detailed alike. I'd love to see them go back and re-work the ARR cities at least to make them one zone, it'd be cool to see the crowd around Limsa's aetherite from the upper levels. But I'm sure that would be a ton of work at this point. And I have no idea how you would make Ishgard one zone, you seem to travel quite a distance when travelling between the two. Veotax fucked around with this message at 08:06 on Jul 23, 2022 |
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Jul 23, 2022 08:03
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Veotax posted:Yeah, Stormblood is the point where the PS3 version of the game was shutdown and stopped holding the game back. You might have noticed that Kugane is only one zone, unlike all the previous major cities which are two, and certainly not because it's smaller or less detailed than them! Probably because the ARR cities WERE originally one zone in 1.0 (with some very large loading tunnels that meant you didn’t use a lot of the entrances to the zones you use today) while Ishgard was the only city designed from the start to be broken up into two zones. You can kinda tell because while Limsa’s division makes sense and Ul’dah’s makes some sense, Gridania’s is very arbitrary and ends up having almost all the big things except two guilds, the aetheryte, and the Adventurer’s Guild on one side.
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Jul 23, 2022 08:29
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