FFXIV Players: Did you enjoy the 5.0 or 5.3 ending more? (Spoilers up to Shadowbringers)
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Yeah, it's a VERY hard pick. Between this, and Ardbert's "If you had the strength to take another step, could you do it?" line. I ultimately selected 5.0 due to the extreme feels with Emet and stuff. But both were some of the best writing Final Fantasy has ever had.
Definitely a hard choice, but there is something about that line at the end of 5.3 and seeing him in his OG form and the sadness in his voice that just absolutely wrecks me (even more than the Seto scene). Just typing up the line caused me to tear up a bit.
My people.
My brothers.
My friends...
Stay strong. Keep the faith.
At duty's end, we will meet again. We will. We will...
The rains have ceased, and we have been blessed with another beautiful day.
But you are not here to see it...
One of the best moments in any game, ever. Not even exaggerating. This was so unbelievably hype.
They were both great, and it still amazes me how CBU3 managed to simultaneously extract the full emotional response out of both G'raha dying and G'raha living. They had their cake and ate it too.
However, the 5.0 ending (and the 6.0 ending) still have it beat.
However, the 5.0 ending (and the 6.0 ending) still have it beat.
It's this. I actually teared up a little bit for that bastard when the rest of his party welcomed him home.
I didn't like Elidibus being defeated in patch content personally - I enjoyed the scenes because they were good but I also felt like he deserved...more? Idk, I grew to like him and wished he had been expanded more before then. Plus I thought the ending of 5.0 overall was more hype so it gets my vote.
OP
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Ah, maybe that's it. As soon as Elidibus showed up puppeteering Ardbert's corpse, that was it, I hated him.
I totally I missed when that happened, because it occurs right after the instant kill QTE, and when I finally beat it, my hands hurt and I was mad about that whole sequence and not really paying attention
It was only when my friend (who came in to do the fight with me) said something about it that I was like "oh yeah, I guess a random ascian did show up to do something... OH YEAH, he totally did Emet's little goodbye wave! That was Emet??"
5.3 is amazing. It doesn't work without 5.0. Therefore 5.0 takes the cake.
All of Shadowbringers is just *chefskiss
All of Shadowbringers is just *chefskiss
The first one by far. Everything with the Exarch was just annoying in a game full of death fake outs.
That and Elidibus kinda sucks.
That and Elidibus kinda sucks.
While I do agree fake out deaths can be annoying... The only way the Exarch scene can be considered one is if you were literally looking away while the scene was playing and also ignore the dialogue lol
That's one of the biggest problems with the game's writing. They want all the melodrama caused by a character's death, but they don't want to follow through with actually killing someone off. It's been a problem since Heavensward.
5.0 is an epic ending, and would be TOTALLY FINE on its own, and Ardbert steps up in an amazing way.
I just love how in 5.3, after everything you've done, they twist the idea of Warrior of Darkness, duping heroes from other universes to rain down on you, culminating in the visage of the very first hero in FF history being your final battle.
I just love how in 5.3, after everything you've done, they twist the idea of Warrior of Darkness, duping heroes from other universes to rain down on you, culminating in the visage of the very first hero in FF history being your final battle.
My people.
My brothers.
My friends...
Stay strong. Keep the faith.
At duty's end, we will meet again. We will. We will...
The rains have ceased, and we have been blessed with another beautiful day.
But you are not here to see it...
As much as I love 5.0's end, *this* is why I voted 5.3. I still cannot get through that part without at least tearing up.
But again... This situation wasn't a fake out death... Did you just ignore literally all the dialogue?
The characters of the Crystarium were literally even sad... because they knew they couldn't see him again, not that he was dead, this isn't even just implied and left to the imagination, they outright state this.
I don't mean it just about the Exarch, I mean as a whole. They're constantly doing death fake outs.
On the one hand, love me some ancients shit. On the other hand, I don't like G'raha Tia...
I've never tried to compare 5.0 and 5.3 like that. x.0 msq is always going to have more room to breathe compared to the patches, so I'm usually pretty generous to patches having to keep things short and sweet and keep things moving. But 5.3 did have me liking Elidibus more overall compared to Emet-Selch.
Yeah, I think I just take them both separately, for the most part.
Yeah, but if Y'shtola doesn't pretend to die in every expansion, they might actually have to do something of substance with her.
I've never tried to compare 5.0 and 5.3 like that. x.0 msq is always going to have more room to breathe compared to the patches, so I'm usually pretty generous to patches having to keep things short and sweet and keep things moving. But 5.3 did have me liking Elidibus more overall compared to Emet-Selch.
Yeah, I think I just take them both separately, for the most part.
Yeah, but if Y'shtola doesn't pretend to die in every expansion, they might actually have to do something of substance with her.
I personally think it's 5.3, but it's damn close. That being said, when the music kicks in and you take Ardbert's axe? That moment right there makes it a tough decision. I really liked Elidibus as a villain, though, probably moreso than Emet-Selch, which is why 5.3 ultimately wins it out for me. To the Edge is also one of my favorite songs, and the Warrior of Light boss fight one of my favorite trials (the Extreme version is especially cool imo), but again, stiff competition with Who Brings Shadow. I just think it's more interesting overall than Hades, who's a lot more of a "stereotypical" final boss. I also love that Elidibus throws the heroes of FFIV at you.
God, they're both so good. I'm so excited to get to them on my replay.
God, they're both so good. I'm so excited to get to them on my replay.
I think the 5.0 ending was all in all better. The lead up from the 79 dungeon all the way to the final fight with the cutscenes in Amarot were on another level from a story and music perspective. I enjoyed the 5.3 ending for what it was but I've never been a big fan of that trial fight and the "To the Edge" music so it didn't hit me. However the cutscenes once everyone returns and is chilling in Mor Dhona were fantastic and I felt like could have honestly been the end of the entire game it was that good with its closure.
5.3. The ending sequence in Mor Dhona is beautiful. Though 5.0 is incredibly hype too.
I hate Hermes with all my heart. Hypocritical sophistry-spouting arse.
I hate Hermes with all my heart. Hypocritical sophistry-spouting arse.
He DOES NOT deserve the spot in the artwork at the final shot of Endwalker.
What... are you talking about? They've constantly killed off characters. Louisoix, Moenbryda, Minfilia, Papalymo, Haruchefant, Ardbert, Yotsuyu, Emet-Slech, Venat in Endwalker...
Yes, there have been fakeouts. Some have been for tension, and Gaius was exceptionally silly. But to say "they don't want to follow through with it" when they've killed off at least one major character every expansion is just flat out wrong.
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Like with the exile scene in Realm Reborn, it kinda feels cheap that you can teleport to almost every location in the game because its an MMO. After all this build up and G'raha giving this lengthy melodramatic speech about his "last request" as he crystalizes, then not long after he's just kinda brought back as a main character.... like they just can't commit to anything because the characters are too popular. They did it a lot with fake outs and such but this one had more buildup than usual.
Gaius and Zenos are absolutely terrible.
5.3 by far. Not that 5.0 was bad. 5.3 was just so much better and packed a bigger emotional impact.
original Hermes just happens to be an "odd" ancient, who had a much broader view on life and hated the way the ancients treated life as disposable. most of what he does in Elpis comes about because he knows that once the convocation gets their hands on Meteion, they were going to kill her. he was essentially her father, and i don't know many parents who would give their child up to die. but even saying that, he was still an ancient in the end. which is why he erased his own memory to fight against what would come.
the reincarnations of Hermes into Amon and then Fandaniel aren't the same person. Hermes was sundered, and FFXIV has shown time and time again that a person is an individual, and not their soul. that's why we are not Azem and Azem is not us. what the Ascians do with memory implants is a perversion, and not a restoration of the original self.
something subtle and interesting about the whole Elpis thing, is that when you go there, you see Hythlodaeus turn the butterfly into clothes. this is meant to show that even ancients we held to the highest standard, saw life outside of the ancients as merely tools, as the ancients were inherently flawed, and doomed.
I can't speak for Loiusoix, since I never played 1.0, but Moenbryda was a very minor character who died in the same patch she was introduced in. Ardbert was dead the whole time we knew him. Emet-Selch and Yotsuyu were villians. They always kill villians, except when they bring them back. Venat died in the expansion she was introduced in. No major, established character has died since Papalymo in Heavensward. I don't count Minfilia in Shadowbringers, because Minfilia effectively died during Heavensward when she was possessed by Hydaelyn.
i'm kinda glad they don't really kill off main characters often cause it just ends up being a waste most of the time. like Gaius coming back sucks, yes. but losing Minfilia especially sucked, and the SHB quests revolving around her just felt like... what a waste, she deserved more.
death rarely adds much in a story unless it's done right, and treated with actual weight, with characters who continue to be haunted by it. in real life it can take years, decades, a lifetime to get over a death, but charaters like Papalymo and Minfilia are just like well we moved on in a month sorry.
That just means you're establishing completely arbitrary criteria to justify your original statement. That's not how storytelling works. Just because a character is introduced and killed in the same expansion, or happens to be a villain (tragic villains, in the case of Emet and Yotsuyu), that doesn't make their death any more or less objectively impactful. Beyond that, we'd be getting into sheer subjectiveness.
"They want all the melodrama caused by a character's death, but they don't want to follow through with actually killing someone off" is objectively wrong. Because they have followed through with killing someone off. Repeatedly. Every expansion.
And heck, if we're getting into subjectiveness, look at the people who are citing Elidibus's death. One of the very moments the topic is about, in fact. And he was an established character from A Realm Reborn.
Then they should probably stop treating death like a cheap trick. At this point its more like the boy who cried wolf, and im expecting everyone to either have plot armour or come back
even in Endwalker when people are disappearing and turning into magic bridges for the protagonist I kinda had to laugh at the audacity that anyone would believe they wouldn't just be back in the very next scene, which they were
This is the point. Using that villain (Yotsuyu) as an example of someone who died....when they themselves had one of the dumbest fakeouts i've ever seen.
the thing i liked about Yotsuyu is that in the end, it wasn't tragic. she was who she was and made the choices she did. she controlled her own fate, her own destiny.
the idea that Emet-Selch, who even after everything in Endwalker says "i would do this all again, btw" as tragic is... well i can't agree there lol he sure is a source of tragedy for others, though.
i always took the end of Endwalker as well the player knows they aren't really dying. the point is more you know they're coming back.
In regards to major character deaths, I think it's not so much that I want more characters to die as it is that they absolutely need to stop with the fake deaths. They add nothing of value. Quite the opposite. They are cheap and poorly written, so they detract from the overall experience.
Oh noes, Y'shtola died again. Aren't you sad, player?! Isn't this emotional? What do you mean you can tell she's not actually dead?
Oh noes, Y'shtola died again. Aren't you sad, player?! Isn't this emotional? What do you mean you can tell she's not actually dead?
5.3 for me. Lot of great story moments, but I think it's the speech from the Crystal Exarch at the end that's a bit melancholic to me. Realizing the passage of time of going through the journey of this story, and realizing one day it'll all come to an end. Perhaps this is a strange answer to give to 'which ending did you enjoy more', but just one of those moments/scenes that had a strong emotional impact on me, and just realizing the impact the game as a whole (the story and the overall experience) has had on me all these years.
i dont give a flying fuck about emet selch and 5.3 was amazing so
also it's my favorite trial in the game probably
also it's my favorite trial in the game probably
I don't want to go too further on this, as we're getting off topic (and into major Endwalker spoilers), but it's clear by the time you lose another person besides Thancred that the goal here is to make you wonder how everyone is coming back. It's obviously not intended to be a genuine fakeout. They even foreshadowed it if you were paying attention.
This is VERY tough, I would just tell someone that both of them hit like a freight train. But if I have to rank them...5.3 barely edges it out for me. I have heaps of praise for both climaxes, but 5.3 was just that little bit more emotional to me.
I loved Elidibus and his conclusion, I loved Emet's appearance, laying the path for Elidibus' defeat, so he wouldn't suffer alone. The Azem reveal, the aftermath with Elidibus and his resolution after giving him all the constellation crystals, and then the pain of G'raha's final goodbyes to the people of the First, his life as the Exarch ending. And then him becoming a scion, and his dream of finally getting to adventure with the WoL and the Scions being fulfilled...
5.3 was the peak for me. I would be satisfied if it ended there. If 5.0 was a nail to my emotions, 5.3 was the hammer driving that nail all the way through and shattering my emotions.
I loved Elidibus and his conclusion, I loved Emet's appearance, laying the path for Elidibus' defeat, so he wouldn't suffer alone. The Azem reveal, the aftermath with Elidibus and his resolution after giving him all the constellation crystals, and then the pain of G'raha's final goodbyes to the people of the First, his life as the Exarch ending. And then him becoming a scion, and his dream of finally getting to adventure with the WoL and the Scions being fulfilled...
5.3 was the peak for me. I would be satisfied if it ended there. If 5.0 was a nail to my emotions, 5.3 was the hammer driving that nail all the way through and shattering my emotions.
Omg yes. And the tease with them not showing who it was, but thru the dialogue and then the fucking hand gesture. ITS HIM!!
One of the best moments in any game, ever. Not even exaggerating. This was so unbelievably hype.
Yea, its very unfortunate that by now i expect the main crew to have plot armor and it really did hurt the finale of endwalker for me. You had this amazing song in the final area, and then these formulaic "sacrifices" along the way. It felt so scripted. I couldn't take those sacrifices seriously at all. Like yeah i know death should be well written, but fake deaths are just a lot worse. And time and time again it'll fuhrer cheapen the narrative.This is also prob why ShB > Endwalker for me.