|
 My name is Sanguinia, and this thread is my belated birthday gift to myself. Nearly three years ago, after 15 years as a World of Warcraft player, I decided to give the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV a serious look. I'd heard a lot of praise for the game over the years, but the few times I dipped a toe in, it hadn't grabbed me. The promise of Endwalker, the epic conclusion to a ten-year story, convinced me to try again. This time, the game's hooks dug deep, and I finally realized what I'd been missing. When I started playing, I made a few posts to share my reactions, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. The deeper I went down the rabbit hole, the more I had to say, and the more people seemed interested in hearing my thoughts. By the time I reached Heavensward, I had turned a few stray thoughts into a full-fledged Let's Play. I wanted to dig into the guts of this game I was coming to love, to understand why I loved it, and to explore where and why it made mistakes. Now, I stand at the threshold of the FFXIV's most critically acclaimed and beloved expansion. I wasn't sure I'd ever get this far, let alone produce two threads worth of synopsis and analysis that together have achieved nearly ONE MILLION views. I've grown as a gamer and writer thanks to this project and the readers who've taken the journey with me. I couldn't be more grateful. Still, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous. This time, I'm not just analyzing a piece of media; I'm stepping onto holy ground. I feel a certain weight of expectation. If even half of what people claim about this expansion is true, it deserves my very best. Am I up to the task? Let's find out together.   My Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/sanguinequest - Donations tip jar and off-site backup/archive for LP chapters..png) My Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sanguinelp.bsky.social - For news, updates, and random tidbits related to the LP, such as collectibles and achievements. At least, you know, in theory. I'm kind of bad at Social Media. My Twitter: https://twitter.com/SanguiniaLP - Mirror/Backup for Blusky, really just a death watch for Elon's Wild Ride at this point. .png) FINAL FANTASY XIV: Shadowbringers - Remember that we once posted (Sanguinia's ARR Journal Posts)The Award-Winning Heavensward Expansion(tm)! Let's Play Final Fantasy XIV!Controversy Creates Ca$h! Let's Play Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood! Inspired by the work of content creator SFDebris on his Star Wars: The Old Republic Campaign Reviews, this LP is an exploration of Final Fantasy XIV as both a video game and a work of fantasy fiction. Rather than exactly recreating the dialogue line by line or posting copious screenshots to capture every moment, I use an essay-style format and more carefully chosen images to convey the story and how I experience it as a fresh audience member.  big enough) I prefer to digest the text a bit rather than going for the pure gut reaction. The goal is to condense, analyze, and provide commentary and critique as I explore as many aspects of the game as possible. Think of the project as one part screenshot LP, one part episode guide, one part game review, and one part travel log. I'll examine each thread of this massive tapestry in depth, studying characterization, theme, tone, and all those other Literary Thingies you learned about in 8th-grade Language Arts. How well were these elements crafted? How do they interact with each other in a holistic sense? What makes this story good, and does it ever falter? These are the questions I want to answer. The LP also has a narrative element. The emergent narrative of your character's personal story, the order they go through the available content, and the dialogue options you choose for them are all a big part of the FFXIV experience. Thus, I've attempted to make them a part of my writing. What feels "right" for my Warrior of Light to do at any given time will be a driving force in this LP. I'll try to note any relevant distinctions between my personal feelings and what the game conveys about my character's feelings, though any fan of this game can tell you there are times when that line can blur.  This LP is intended to be an academic endeavor, which means I value the contributions of the commentators. Even if they disagree with me, have radically different interpretations of the text, or think I got a fact flatly wrong, I want to hear from them so we can discuss. However, I also do not want spoilers for this highly story-driven game. Therefore, I have set the following rules. If you think someone is violating these rules, please do not get into a lengthy argument about it. Say something in the thread or via PM, and report it if they don't correct the post in a reasonable timeframe. Rule 1) No Spoilers for in-game content beyond the current update. You can get hype and post all the popcorn emotes you want if I'm getting close to something you're excited about, but I don't want to know anything that has not happened yet. I don't want to know when or if a character will return, the places I might go, creatures or people I might meet when I get there, or anything else in advance. I don't care if such details were part of promo material, Patch Trailers, or the Patch Notes. I am isolating myself from such things as completely as I can because I want to experience the text as freshly as possible. If you're going to post about them, you must wait until I've cleared the content. Be patient. Along this line, we've all seen that the XIV story often contains ambiguity, deliberate misdirection, red herrings, and intentionally incomplete information that the characters reexamine over time. If you think I got something wrong or disagree with a conclusion I've reached, I welcome the discourse, but it must stay within the limits of the content I've seen. If you're unsure about a point because you haven't done these quests in years, double-check the dialogue at The Gamer Escape Wiki or restrain yourself until we reach an appropriate time. Rule 2) Discussion of Supplementary Materials like Art Books, Short Stories, Dev Interviews, etc., is permitted but must wait until after I've seen the relevant in-game content. One of my biggest frustrations with WoW in recent years was the absolute necessity of external information and secondary sources to understand the plot at a basic level. I came into FF14 knowing nothing, and as I go forward, I want to know only what the game tells me while I'm playing through it. The story, as presented, should stand on its own merits, so I want to minimize the influence of outside materials on my reading of the in-game text. To that end, I need some control over when or if I see other things. Please wait to talk about them until I'm past the point where they are directly relevant. Relatedly, I don't have much specific knowledge of the Final Fantasy franchise as a whole. If something in the game references another FF game, exercise caution about when or how you talk about that if it might tend to spoil this game. Otherwise, feel free to chat away. Rule 3) References to Final Fantasy 14 1.0 content are permitted. The only exception to this (obviously) is if that 1.0 information will somehow spoil something in the future, but that should be common sense. Rule 4) The Catch-All Spoiler Rule: If you have any doubt regarding whether or not you should be making a comment, just put it in spoiler tags. If it's blacked out, it's my call whether or not to check it, and I'll have nobody to blame except myself. At the same time, if you find a conversation devolving into a CIA Document's worth of black bars, consider taking the conversation elsewhere. Finally: Rule 5) Be Respectful to Each Other. As I said, this is supposed to be an academic endeavor, so I encourage discussion and debate about the story in the comments and with each other as well as me. However, I don't want to be constantly calling in Mods to break up arguments. If someone says something you disagree with, discuss it civilly or don't discuss it at all.   Chapter 0: My Evil Ways (Opening Cinematic) Prelude: Should I Stay Or Should I Go?   (Heavensturn 2024, Fictional Interlude)Chapter 1: I've Got Friends on the Other Side   (The Crystarium 70)Chapter 2: Bleeding Heart (Ahm Araeng 70)Chapter 3: We Are Programmed to Receive (Kholusia 70)Chapter 4: Prisoners, Here of Our Own Device (Kholusia 70)Chapter 5: Crossing Arcadia  (Lakeland 71, MSQ Dungeon)  Coming Eventually... ~*~*~ Bonus Content: Chapter 47: Footprints in the Sand (April Fools 2024) Sanguinia fucked around with this message at 06:37 on May 7, 2024 |
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 06:28
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 7, 2024 23:49 |
|
|
  SUBSCRIBERS AND MULTI-TIME DONORS-Casper -PenguinZero -ChaseSP -Runa -Shador -Anonymous Ko-Fi Supporter #1 -Shador -Terror-billie -Rythian -IrinaRuna -Zomborgon -Anonymous Ko-Fi Supporter #2 -Dyslexicfaser -KZV -Rook -Primaltrash  WARNING! THE FOLLOWING SECTION MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!  King of Games shared by Blueberry Pancakes  Pull My Devil Trigger shared by Galaga Galaxian  All Hail Shadow shared by Blueberry Pancakes 
Sanguinia fucked around with this message at 01:44 on Apr 27, 2024 |
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 06:28
|
|
|
Chapter 0: My Evil Ways https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tyuIh12_HU Previously, on Final Fantasy XIV:  …  …  …  No, really! We're kicking off with a recap of the last expansion's ending. We technically got something like that in Heavensward with the flashback to Nanamo, but it's still an unusual beginning. The cinematic starts with sweeping shots of the front lines in the Ghimlyt Dark. At first, we keep our distance and watch the explosions and tracers that confirm the war zone is active. Then, we jump horribly close to examine the butcher's bill. A sharp-eyed viewer will make out the familiar silhouettes of Garlean and Alliance uniforms. The dead are intermingled even as the camera pans up to show us the divide between our nations. The flags of the Alliance cluster together; the Imperial standard flutters alone. All the banners are perilously close to being consumed by the flames around them. Not one soul survives to carry them. The natural reading of this imagery would be as a comment on the futility of war, but the story's recent events made clear that this fighting is for an important cause. Varis wants to turn the entire world into a sacrificial pyre to bring down the Ascians, and we're the only ones who can stop him. That sounds like something worth dying for… but then again, we've been told that this fight is the wrong one to focus on because, win or lose, our world is on the brink of doom. The lyrics seem equally non-plussed toward the struggle. An operatic female voice, which we can once again presume is meant to represent Hydaelyn, dwells on thoughts that hint at the pointlessness of all this killing: "Hydaelyn" posted:For whom weeps the storm, The Mother Crystal's songs have always expressed confusion and lamentation toward conflict, but this feels particularly bleak. We can directly compare it to "Answers," where we also faced the Empire on a hellish battlefield to avert a Calamity. There was plenty of sadness and confusion in that song, but there were also distinct notes of encouragement and expressions that seemed to implore the listener to hold onto the hope that something good would come from all the destruction. Here, even that much optimism is conspicuously absent. There's just a sense of imminent death and devastation. The camera moves again, revealing the Warrior of Light, good old Meteor Survivor, dressed in his Samurai set and facing off against Elidibus. From the broken mask, we can intuit that we're seeing a dramatization of Stormblood's final Duty Quest. Beyond that bit of damage, Not-Zenos seems untouched, while our hero is caked with dirt, sweat, and blood. Despite this, he appears unwavering. The pair sheath their swords for a quick-draw duel.  …  While they stare down, we get something new to FFXIV opening movies: a character voice-over. “Glassjaw Jackass” posted:
It will be confirmed later in the video, but the speaker is obviously our pal Mysterious Voice from the First Shard. Like any good Samurai Showdown (Copyright SNK Corporation 1993, all rights reserved), we get close-ups of narrowed eyes and tightened grips… and then, right when the song asks "Who falls," a banner does just that.  Nice touch.  Once the shockwave of their clash parts the clouds, reveals the moon, and (after a suitably dramatic pause) blasts away everything on the battlefield, the Ascian collapses to one knee, leaving the hero untouched. "The Hooded Dipshit" posted:
Yep, everything is just like I remembered. So why do I feel so nervous? The screen goes black, and the music changes. Gone are orchestral violins, and in their place are low, somber strums from an electric guitar. We also have a new singer, male this time, bringing a new setting and a new look for Meteor… or is it?  Something about this rocky landscape with pools of water and visible crystal formations seemed very familiar, as did the WoL's oddly simple armor. It clicked when I casually said to the friend I watched the video with, "OK, we've gone from Samurai to Bard," and they smugly replied, "Not Bard. Archer."  THE 1.0 CINEMATIC TRAILER?! Talk about a deep cut. That would make our location Mor Dhona… but something isn't right. The Mor Dhona of the 1.0 Trailer was lush. There were giant trees and pervasive greenery. The water was crystal clear and covered everything. Now, most of the plants look shrunken and withering, and the water has receded, leaving lifeless stone in its place. The yellow and grey lighting, right out of a Gears of War game, evokes a sense of decay and hopelessness that would be at home in that series. Our protagonist isn't helping anything on that score. He shambles across the landscape like a zombie, staring at the ground. We briefly see through his eyes, and his vision is blurry like he's on the brink of collapse from exhaustion. The look on his face says it all.  Note the empty quiver. He's been through some poo poo. Out of nowhere, he is struck by what appears to be an Echo vision, though all he sees are his own memories. Moments from the previous cinematics (including 1.0) intermingle, each flash causing visible pain.  …  As the vision fades, some little shithead appears to taunt us.   Never seen one of those before. Meteor has, though, and he's not pleased by its presence. He snarls at the puffball and stalks toward it, looking like he's ready to beat it to death with his bow. The creature cowers… until something bigger comes along.  …  Kuribu? From Amdapor?  …Well, I guess somebody better pick up that phone. BECAUSE I loving CALLED IT!  The game worked hard to throw me off the scent, but something was rotten in the state of Amdapor! The Gridanians and various scholars fed me so many excuses and willful misinterpretations of what was as plain as the noses on their faces. Everyone who knew the history insisted that the Ancient White Mages and their leaders were the heroes of the War of the Magi. Mhach was pure evil, and that was the end of it. Yes, the Mhachi were the greater villains, even Cait Sith and Shatotto agreed with that, but I followed the clues and put together that the City of Healers were no saints either! I saw through it all! The wave of unfiltered joy when this angel attacked, and I was vindicated, felt AMAZING! I mentioned there was a new singer. Their identity is… foggy. My best guess is he's meant to represent abstract humanity, as distinct from the divine Mother Crystal. His first verses end the moment the angel strikes, coinciding with a significant uptick in the intensity of the guitar riffs. They go like this: The spirit of humanity maybe? I dunno. posted:One brings shadow, one brings light This part is sung in whispers, and the verbiage is once again all death and the absence of hope. Waste, casting aside, flying away on shadows, a dark future no one survives, it's all pretty bleak. The bit about one bringing shadow and one bringing light could reference Zodiark and Hydaelyn's conflict, but it could also refer to the Warrior of Light. After all, the claim that keeps getting thrown at Kheris is that she's upset the balance. The line "Two-tone echoes tumbling through time" also stands out because Glass-Hand McGee said that history needed to be changed. Spoiler warning: That will come up again before this trailer ends, and it's heckin' confusing. Right around when the powderpuff appears, the voice starts belting out at full volume. The Collective Unconscious Of Mortals, I guess? posted:The road that we walk The light that signals Kuribu's arrival is almost simultaneous to the line about "proud angels." They're really having fun with this 'timing the words and lyrics' thing. But yeah, whispered or aloud, the guy seems utterly without hope. "Casting off tomorrow," at the end of the world isn't a subtle sentiment. Despite how bleak the narrator thinks things are, the Warrior of Light isn't about to go quietly into that good... morning.  …  Mid-air Job Change?! Instant, in-game-style Job Change in a cinematic? That's so dope. A flash of fire takes us away from the battle to yet another new setting, a forest burning to the ground as a meteor shower or bombardment blasts it to bits.  The simple wooden town surrounded by a geometrically shaped wooden wall immediately made me think we were in Quarrymill. The town's design is burned into my brain from all those trips into the Palace of the Dead. Of course, there's no giant tower there in current Eorzea. Is this a vision of the future? Well, there are two figures standing on the tower. Maybe we should ask the Astrologian?  Urianger becoming an AST makes way too much sense. He loves prophecies! Also, excellent taste in gear going for the Stormblood quest set. Before the camera focuses on his face, it lingers on his cards, which are scratched and beaten to hell. One gets the impression he's been doing a lot of readings, hoping the stars will tell him a way out of whatever mess is destroying the forest. Sadly, it seems like they're not giving him happy answers. "Urianger" posted:
MATOYA?  Matoya? posted:
Oh no, she's hot! So, this is… the past? No, that doesn't make sense… what is going on here? While this scene plays out, the whisper singing continues, and we can observe a distinct shift in the song's tone. Humanity's Incarnate Will? posted:One brings shadow, one brings light That "run from the light," coincides precisely with the hooded lady saying she doesn't run from her troubles. This verse moves distinctly away from despair and toward a new emotion: defiance. The problem of shadow and light, which until now the singer has seemed resigned to, is now identified as a riddle, which implies it has a solution. The description of "our moments," features some classic signifiers of rebellion, like the word "brazen," and the idea of being "forged in fire." There's also a noticeable shift away from negativity toward both sides in favor of exclusively disdaining the light. "Run from the light," is pretty straightforward, of course, but there's also the way the singer condemns Heaven's banquet. The lines about the "hindmost devils" are probably the most mysterious in the song, but I think we're meant to interpret it as conveying a sense of sympathy, or even shared identity, between these demons and the singer. The insults toward Heaven are clues about how we should feel about devils in and of themselves, but there's also what the devils are doing: burning out their lives in a blaze of glory. Early to rise, singing when twilight comes, and never sleeping until they die links directly with the line about "our," souls and how their remaining moments are brief but bold. I'm not sure why they are "hindmost," devils, but I have a theory. We'll come back to that.  Meanwhile, back with Meteor, fighting Heaven isn't going so hot. Perhaps a Job change will help?  …  OOF! Two Zodiac Weapons lost in five seconds. (Also, note the Heavensward cinematic set here. More callbacks.) Kuribu's power is far beyond anything she had during our previous battle, and she is relentless to boot, harrying the Warrior of Light as he falls. However, our hero is undeterred by this unstoppable foe. The moment he hits the ground, with his enemy only a heartbeat behind, he changes to Monk (complete with the set from the Stormblood cinematic) and lashes out with his fists.  This refusal to surrender is in perfect synch with the lyrics, which again leave behind the whisper and ring out at full force: Man's Indomitable Spirit That Elidibus Couldn't Put The Lie To? posted:Authors of our fates Now, call me crazy, but I don't think the use of "paradise lost" here is a coincidence. I think it's an intentional allusion to Milton's epic. For those who slept through High School English, Paradise Lost is one of the most important English literary works ever put to print. It is a dramatized recounting of the biblical fall from grace of Mankind and, in parallel, the tale of Lucifer Morningstar, a.k.a. The Devil.  Without getting too deep into the weeds of these stories in the Abrahamic religions and various literary traditions, Paradise Lost stood out from the crowd and is still studied 350 years after the fact because of how the character of Lucifer resonated with audiences. He is unmistakably the source of all evil in the story and utterly irredeemable, but he is also tragic, noble, charismatic, and even heroic when viewed from a certain perspective. While his grievances against God and reasons for rebellion are petty, his unyielding pride and refusal to be broken and kowtow to the authority he challenged almost can't help but make him admirable. John Milton's Satan posted:
Authors of historical significance, from Lord Byron to C.S. Lewis, have spent centuries debating the proper way to interpret this character. Personally, I've always been a fan of the view espoused by literary critic John Carey, who said to take the fallen angel as a full hero or villain is to leave out half the evidence. But we're not here for my dissertation, so maybe I should make a point here. In the general sense, Paradise Lost's biggest contribution to the global zeitgeist is the idea that the ultimate evil can be a story's hero. The normalization of anti-authoritarian thinking in the modern world has only given this concept more purchase. Thousands of famous and beloved stories, often directly inspired by Milton, have taught audiences to question the pronouncements of outwardly good authority figures. A character is not always "evil," just because they're in rebellion, and sometimes their sort of "evil," is what the world requires to hold back tyranny or stand against injustice. In our cutscene, the pieces are all there, sung by a representation of the collective will of mortals, perfectly aligned with our protagonist's fight against a symbol of Capital-G-God's Authority. We have fallen from grace. Our defiance is driving us to the edge. Our memories are dark, and our existence is beyond the dream of paradise. With this in mind, we can draw more from the last stanza. Remember that bit about "hindmost," devils? In Paradise Lost, God creates Man to replace the fallen angels. We are his "hindmost," creation, built as a message to those that rebelled that they will not be missed. But in this song, we are not obedient, as Adam and Eve were until they were tempted. We have recognized that our grim future is being written by "the poorest players on the stage." We have seen through the "lies," of Heaven's banquet and discovered that we share common cause with those who dwell in darkness and sin. We are Satan.  Delicious pancakes… NOW, SING ALONG IF YOU KNOW THE WORDS! Badass Men's Choir posted:Hoooooooooooooooome God drat, what a drop. I still get chills every time I hear it. Even if it hadn't been the hook on the intro screen that people heard every time they logged in for years, it still would have been instantly iconic. Back in the forest, one of the burning trees collapses, and a gust of wind from the impact blows the hood off "Master Matoya," revealing her identity.  I feel like there are many possible reasons Y'Shtola would use her mentor's name, but I also feel like speculating on them would be the kind of thing she'd punch me for, so it's probably best not to. I will speculate that the staff and dark cloak might imply a Job change. She's only ever used wands before. If Urianger could become an Astrologian, could she have embraced the power of the Black Mages? Y'Shtola posted:
I'm going to be completely honest. For a long time, I've held a bit of a grudge against Y'Shtola. When Zenos struck her down, I was horrified to the point that I called out her name in despair. I'm attached to her as a character. Still, at the narrative level I've always felt a distance between her and Kheris. Of all the Scions, going back to ARR, she was always the least honest and the most manipulative, discounting the outlier of Urianger's dalliance with the Ascians. She never apologized for lying about what she was doing in Titan's Lair; I doubt she even saw a need to do so. She felt she had the right to speak for the Warrior of Light's feelings when chastising Unukalhai. She's never had those moments where she made an effort to become closer to Kheris or the other Scions, not even after we saved her life. I see her as a warped mirror to Thancred. She has that same Hero Complex, that need to take the burdens of the world onto her shoulders and live up to (or prove herself to) her mentor. The difference is that Thancred has a bit of perspective on his limitations. He thinks he should be stronger and could have done more at those critical moments. He carries a needless burden over his perceived failures. Still, he doesn't allow his ego to lead him into even bigger disasters. He's willing to get help when he needs it, which is why he and Kheris are as close as they are. A lesser man would have been swallowed up by jealousy, seeing her become everything he wanted to be. Instead, he's treated her as a reliable comrade and shown her respect the others didn't always offer. By comparison, Y'Shtola keeps her walls up every minute of every day. She never even told us about burning her aether to restore her eyesight; we had to deduce it ourselves. She doesn't want to depend on anyone, or confide in anyone. If we let her, she'd fight the whole war against the Ascians alone. It's noble but frustrating and makes it hard to like her. Sometimes, it seems like she believes we're all idiots who are just slowing her down. That's why I felt my heart skip a beat when she said she would hold the line until the Warrior of Light returned. Part of that was her voice actor's incredible delivery of the line, but just as much were the words themselves. In all my time in this game, Y'Shtola has never expressed that kind of trust in anyone, let alone Kheris. If I remove my feelings from the equation, I have to acknowledge that she sacrificed herself to save Kheris during the banquet, but part of me wonders if she really expected to have to do that when she volunteered to buy us time. At best, my instinct would have been that was sacrificing herself for Minfilia, the one person in ARR she was ever willing to defer to. But in this trailer, there's no ambiguity. She is waiting for me. She is fighting a battle she can't win and needs "her friend," to help. I never saw that coming. Maybe I've judged her too harshly. Badass Men's Choir posted:Hoooooooooooooooome  …  They're fat cats. GET IT?! One can't look at this white castle without thinking of Limsa Lominsa, but unlike when I saw that village in the woods, I can tell that's not where we are. For one thing, the banners are violet, and the sigil is wrong. The stonework is more detailed, and a darker grey, with the pattern of the bricks plainly visible. Lominsan architecture tends to flow with the natural white rock around it, blurring the line between what nature and man created. This is a more artificial design, reminiscent of Ishgard. Then there's all that gaudy gold at the tops of the towers. Regardless of similarities, this isn't the Limsa we know. And yet… that shanty town surrounding the castle is made from the broken pieces of sailing ships. You can even see a few masts on the horizon. Again, are we somehow looking at the future? Or is this what the First Shard has been all along? Ardbert and friends all wore equipment and wielded abilities that appeared identical to our world. Could the places be as similar as the people? As the words "Finding Hope" finish up, the camera zips down into the catacombs, where we find a heavily armed warrior rushing up a flight of stairs, dragging a hooded figure who is struggling to keep up. The thing they're running from appears in dramatic fashion, crashing through the ceiling.  We're playing all of Amdapor's hits.  Thancred posted:
THERE'S MY BOY! AND HE'S SQUALL NOW!!!   He nails the mid-air reload, too. These trailers have a history of acting as advertisements for the more prominent Expansion Jobs, and this set piece definitely sells Gunbreaker in less than a few seconds. Who wouldn't want to be this cool? Of course, much like Thancred himself, a scene can do two things. That's a sex joke.  "Thancred" posted:
 quote:…I promise you, Minfilia. The first time I watched the trailer, I was a bit overwhelmed by all the EVERYTHING, so this didn't hit as hard as I expected it to. After all, I had already assumed we'd be seeing her again the moment Dumbass said we were going to the First Shard. Then I watched it a second time, and my stomach clenched when I heard her name and saw that smile. Even with those blue eyes, the Mother Crystal's stigmata, that's my girl right there. But… is it? It's easy to miss, but when Thancred drags Minfilia up the stairs, she's more than a full head shorter than him. They were the same height before. Even in the close-up, she looks… young. Has she somehow become a child? We keep getting bizarre implications that we're somehow seeing both the past and future. This must be happening on the First Shard; all the Scions and Minfilia's presence make that much evident, but time is a clear subtextual motif. We get more lyrics during Thancred's fight, which are whispered again: "Everyone, Everywhere, All At Once," posted:One brings shadow, one brings light "You are the light," drops the second Minfilia smiles, which is fitting but also provocative considering how hard the prior stanza pushed the idea that the light is bad. Curious. The gist of this section is to emphasize that this battle is the end of the line. Whatever rebellion we're engaged in is going to be our last stand. If we fail, there is nothing else beyond. An appropriate sentiment for Thancred's attempt to protect someone he's been grieving over for years. A white glow dissolves us into a new setting: a busy village of adventurers at the base of the Crystal Tower.  …  Here we get a gorgeous violin solo, which Friend of the LP Morwyn Galaga informed me is a riff on  "Eternal Wind," one of their favorite pieces from the FF franchise. Originally from Final Fantasy III, the song was used in the final cutscene of the Crystal Tower raid series when we sealed G'Raha Tia away. If the Tower truly is the path to the First Shard, could my lost friend emerge again, far sooner than either of us could have hoped?This time, we get a second 'advertisement' for Dancer and the Viera, which became a playable race (female only) with this expansion. It's not quite as blood-pumping as Thancred's battle... or rather, the blood's not pumping to the same place.  After this, the camera carries us inside the Tower to a room I never saw during my battle to reach Xande's Throne.  Oh, good. When I cleared it out, the tower was all out of jerks. I'm glad someone called the Jerk Store and had one delivered.  ”Wingus the Dingus” posted:
Again, he invokes this notion of changing history. Is he speaking literally? Can he see through time? Is he planning to use Alexander, or some power like it, to alter the past? But what does the First Shard have to do with that? Maybe he doesn't mean it literally. Perhaps he simply saw what was happening on the Source through his magic mirror and noticed a parallel to events in his world. But if that's the case, why will helping the First Shard save our side of the dimensional gap? The Warrior of Light Job swaps back to Samurai, and he unleashes his iajustu against Kuribu.  She doesn't even flinch.   Oh no, what a terrible fate this is…An Idiot posted:
 What?  Oh… OHHHHHHH!!!! "No time for insults now!" posted:
 …  "The Chorus Of Man's Defiance Against The Will Of The Gods Or Something" posted:We fall  …  Most people probably would have noticed the billowing yellow clouds interspersed with God Rays everywhere the trailer took us. They were there throughout the battle with Kuribu, at that castle with the Fat Cats, above the Crystal Tower, and they were probably there in the forest, though all the fire and smoke made it hard to tell. I was so focused on everything else I managed not to notice them… until that slash parted them and revealed the glittering night sky. They're responsible for all that sickly lighting that made everything around Meteor look rotten and dying. They also look suspiciously similar to the sky in Mullonde, where Ultima was imprisoned. Maybe we're going to get some answers about her after all!  quote:One world's end Our refusal to lay down and die by holy writ has now reached its peak. The hero has struck down an angel. Night is ascendant, Heaven in retreat.  "The Mysterious Voice" posted:
 "Last Words" posted:I am the Shadow. I am the Light  IT'S ME! I'M THE SHADOWBRINGER! I need a cigarette. ~*~*~ Compared to previous logos, this one couldn't be simpler. There is no huge cast of characters, no grand symbol of the story to come or the places we'll go. Just a Dark Knight, clad in armor, his sword at the ready… and from the peak of his helm, almost like a crown, rises the curved horns of a devil. All the better to reign in Hell rather than serve in Heaven. I'm in awe of this cinematic. The bar was set so high during their previous entries. Even though Stormblood's movie was an Apples-to-Oranges situation, where I felt I couldn't compare its effectiveness to the first two movies, I still thought it was an equal achievement to those that came before it. This one leaves all its predecessors, except arguably ARR, in the dust. It combines all the strengths of those first 'short film' style cinematics with the 'world tour' style they tried last time. It leans heavily into narrative storytelling, creating multiple plots that convey an ocean of information in a handful of moments while also providing clues about the places we might be traveling and the people we might see in the game. The emotional resonance they achieved using the Scion characters was a triumph, as was how they mingled the music with the animation to convey meaning on multiple levels. Their previous efforts almost seem primitive by comparison. The biggest impression this left with me was the sense that everything we've done in prior expansions has been building toward this moment. Taking us all the way back to 1.0, showcasing every phase of the Meteor Survivor's journey, making it clear that none of it will be enough to meet the challenge that's coming, and the implications behind the phrase "Become the Warrior of Darkness…" If I didn't know there was an entire expansion after this, I would assume that this is the grand finale of the "Ascian Saga," they began in 2.0. I already don't envy Endwalker having to follow this, and I haven't even logged in yet! After seeing this loading screen so many times, with no clue what I was looking at, the idea that it's a night sky revealed by a sword carving open heavenly clouds is kind of crazy to process. Thankfully, the excellent background theme "Four-Fold Knowing." gives me a song that's excellent for pondering… at least once you get past the insane bombast of that intro. It's an interesting name. Those words were a line in the cinematic song, and I can't say I have any idea what they mean. Maybe it will become clear by the time I reach the expansion's end. Side note: the melody here reuses a common leitmotif from Heavensward, the Ishgard city theme "Solid." I wonder if that's meant to be irony. It seems like we're hellbound rather than the other thing. Well, wherever we're going, we'd best start the trip. Otherwise, we'll never be able to Ride Hooooooooooome!
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 06:29
|
|
: How many years have come and gone since that day? How many years have I waited for this moment? For the one who stood alone against the storm?
: What sayest thou, Master Matoya? We may accept this fate or defy it, but we cannot deny it.
: Deny? I am not wont to run from my troubles.
: All is not lost; the unconquerable will,
: Until our friend returns… I will hold the line.
: This town certainly has changed! And not at all for the better…
|
*slapping table* let's loving gooooooo
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 06:30
|
|
|
IT IS TIME.  Edit: Also: fun fact, the male singer in the opening, Jason Charles Miller, voiced Rauhban in ARR! Melomane Mallet fucked around with this message at 07:01 on Mar 23, 2024 |
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 06:43
|
|
|
The Also
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 06:51
|
|
|
Very excited to see your reactions to this one! Here's to a great LP so far ascending to even greater heights!
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 06:54
|
|
|
This trailer is still probably my favorite of them all and all the discussion around it in the goon discord was just as fun also. We're finally at the fireworks factory everyone.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 06:54
|
|
|
Blueberry Pancakes posted:The Nice unplayable hand Urianger. Anyway Shadowbringers rules and the start is very cool.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 06:56
|
|
|
Let's loving goooooooooo!
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 06:56
|
|
|
So you did watch the 1.0 trailer, was wondering about that since it does add to the ShB trailer experience. I love the jank like the original focal point being on levequests of all things, or how the og primals were trapped under the lake apparently. Neither of which is retconed really, but it's still just been dropped. Also loved how the cross class stuff in the 1.0 trailer even survived into 2.0 with cat bard casing protect on the WAR of light. Algid fucked around with this message at 07:03 on Mar 23, 2024 |
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 06:56
|
|
|
Yes, haha, yes!
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 06:56
|
|
|
Back when this trailer came out and AST had not yet been reworked, a popular joke for Urianger's "We may accept this fate or defy it, but we cannot deny it" was that he got three Spires in his Sleeve Draw. Because that was the most awful result you could possibly get most of the time. A lot of your ideas from this trailer are certainly interesting. And it's a wild goddamn experience for sure.The action shots in this are just gorgeous too. And if you look at the WoL's archer outfit, he's clearly outgrown it from how his muscles strain it. Yapping Eevee fucked around with this message at 07:00 on Mar 23, 2024 |
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 06:57
|
|
|
Oh, I also forgot to mention: Warrior is from the A Realm Reborn (2.0) trailer. So Meteor Survivor is going through all of his old outfits.Lord_Magmar posted:Nice unplayable hand Urianger. Maybe he has Mausoleum of the Emperor up!
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 06:57
|
|
|
genuinely impressive to see this lp finally riding home and your commentary has been excellent to date. can't wait to see what you make of shadowbringers
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 06:59
|
|
|
Welcome to the first expansion Soken composed the theme for. He really takes the gloves off for this one, it's up there with the Nier games as far as soundtracks go. Also really enjoyed the paradise lost portion of your analysis. Just really solid stuff.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 06:59
|
|
|
Also just something to point out but you HAVE seen that weird gremlin thing before, or at least it's species, in one of the Ampador dungeons as well as showing up as a hunt apparently. They also outright insult you as an attack/debuff.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:02
|
|
|
How many years have we waited for this thread? For the one who posted through Stormblood. For the one they call... Kheris Kilrau.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:03
|
|
|
If you do this good of a job on the cinematic, I can't wait for the rest of the LP! Happy to be in Shadowbringers at last, may you bring blessed Darkness to the land.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:08
|
|
|
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:09
|
|
|
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME RIDING HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME Blueberry Pancakes posted:Oh, I also forgot to mention: Warrior is from the A Realm Reborn (2.0) trailer. So Meteor Survivor is going through all of his old outfits. but he never finished leveling them up! his Archer is still level 10... warrior level 50... dragoon level 60.... monk and samurai level 70.... that's why the kuribu kicked his rear end!! until this dummy finally remembered he had a job at level 80!!
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:10
|
|
|
Seeing this trailer at E3 2019 intrigued me so much ("Who are these people? What are they doing? Why is finding this Warrior of Light so important?" Though, at the time, I thought that it was Derplander/Meteor doing the narration and not mister crystal tower jerk.) that I actually went and bought the game. Or at least, I did once Shadowbringers came out and I, a huge FF Tactics Advance mark in my childhood, could play a Viera. But yeah, I have quite the fondness for the Shadowbringers cinematic, since it's the sole reason why I've spent the last five years playing FF14 in the first place!
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:14
|
|
|
Hell yes, hell loving yes.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:14
|
|
|
I can only confirm that Gunbreaker is just as cool as Thancred makes it out to be. Ground floor, let's go.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:17
|
|
|
RIDING HOOOOOOOOME
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:20
|
|
|
 HOOOOOOME A Sometimes Food posted:RIDING HOOOOOOOOME
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:25
|
|
|
Heck yeah. Looking forward to Kheris's further adventures!
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:25
|
|
|
The Shadowbringers trailer is probably the one I most anticipate new sprouts seeing because it has more dramatic reveals than the other three trailers they are likely to have seen thus far. Between 'Master Matoya' and 'Minfilia' there is a lot to react to, and those are just the cutaways!
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:25
|
|
|
Gunbreaker is not my favorite tank (drk all the way babyyyyy) but it is definitely extremely cool. Delivers the class fantasy of the concept really well. e: also I'm restricting myself to hype noises because I need, in my bones, to keep my drat mouth shut about sprout theorycrafting. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:26
|
|
|
Hype level: infinite I feel like Shadowbringers steps up the music game. Stormblood is good but I kind of got a bit sick of the leitmotif, a little "storm of blood, born from blood, of our fallen brothers" goes a long way.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:27
|
|
|
To repeat what I said post shb msq in the at-pace xiv thread; Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy 
ConanThe3rd fucked around with this message at 09:13 on Mar 23, 2024 |
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:28
|
|
|
Qwertycoatl posted:Hype level: infinite Yeah, StB's motifs definitely wore out their welcome pretty quick. They're not bad tunes by any means, but in the context of gameplay it can get grating/repetitive.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:29
|
|
|
One brings reactions, one brings insight Twofold joy as we read tonight Three games finished, yet more in sight For the fourth time, Sang starts to write The threads that we five’d Have led to this one Though storms Kheris weathered, Her true test’s yet to come At this, the ground floor do we crave the next update~
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:30
|
|
|
Sanguinia posted:I see her as a warped mirror to Thancred. She has that same Hero Complex, that need to take the burdens of the world onto her shoulders and live up to (or prove herself to) her mentor. The difference is that Thancred has a bit of perspective on his limitations. He thinks he should be stronger and could have done more at those critical moments. He carries a needless burden over his perceived failures. Still, he doesn't allow his ego to lead him into even bigger disasters. He's willing to get help when he needs it, which is why he and Kheris are as close as they are. A lesser man would have been swallowed up by jealousy, seeing her become everything he wanted to be. Instead, he's treated her as a reliable comrade and shown her respect the others didn't always offer. For my WoL, who tried to carry the world on her shoulders mostly out of an ever-growing sense of survivor guilt, Y'shtola was one of the few people who would never ask her to carry even more. She wasn't close with Y'shtola, but she respected her as someone who wanted to fight her own battles. (And as a player, I liked her alright but didn't understand her wild popularity.) Contrariwise, Thancred made a terrible first impression on me as just "lovely Locke", and he never really did much to dispel that as his own guilt became more and more of his personality. Which my WoL found distasteful as an uncomfortable reminder of what was haunting her, and I as a player found boring and one-note. This trailer was the first time I actually felt excited and intrigued by Thancred literally ever. It did a marvelous job of getting me on-board with a character I previously had negative interest in.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:33
|
|
|
Like Clockwork posted:Yeah, StB's motifs definitely wore out their welcome pretty quick. They're not bad tunes by any means, but in the context of gameplay it can get grating/repetitive. I continue to hear the jingle from folger coffee commercials whenever I do a SB quest.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:34
|
|
|
Let’s loving gooooo! Also, for those who don’t know, the male singer for the main theme is Jason Charles Miller, who has another notable contribution to video game music in doing the vocals for a number of the songs on the Metal Gear Rising OST. A true legend.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:35
|
|
|
DrakePegasus posted:One brings reactions, one brings insight I want you all to know I went to the trouble of contacting the mods and going to the admins to get that Bad Kitty thread tag added to this forum. I HAD to have it once I discovered it.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:35
|
|
|
This expansion trailer has my favourite music I think, and it introduces many fragments of leitmotifs that we will return to. I think my favourite part is that rockin' to Eternal Wind, though. Great song!
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:36
|
|
|
lines posted:This expansion trailer has my favourite music I think, and it introduces many fragments of leitmotifs that we will return to. I think my favourite part is that rockin' to Eternal Wind, though. Great song! I remain deeply annoyed that Eternal Wind Violin bit doesn’t have it’s own standalone song version.
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:39
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 7, 2024 23:49 |
|
|
i never noticed the rider is holding a girl....
|
|
#
?
Mar 23, 2024 07:40
|
|