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Oh my god, is that why he's still there? I just assumed he was there due to Ex Fights and such.
Is it possible to Unync and Solo the Coil of Bahamut these days?
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Oh my god, is that why he's still there? I just assumed he was there due to Ex Fights and such.
Is it possible to Unync and Solo the Coil of Bahamut these days?
I felt bad defeating Emet-Selch. His methods were horribly flawed but his cause was a noble one.
He went a bit off the deep end in the final moments, but that felt like him being written to be a more evil so that killing him felt justified.
He went a bit off the deep end in the final moments, but that felt like him being written to be a more evil so that killing him felt justified.
Where is Urianger after you finish the MSQ, by the way? I made my rounds to say hello again to all the Scions, and found all of them save Thancred, Ryne, and Urianger. Looked for him in his house, wasn't there, and I don't know where to look for Thancred and Ryne.
Eat the rich is a truism in every universe!
Thank you! Going by what we've been told in the MSQ, I'm inclined to believe our Ascian origin character was Source-based, and perhaps this core survives in our Source character as a reflection.
Moren (Cabinet of Curiosities) lets drop that sometimes he swears he catches the hint of a tail on the Exarch.
His evil was in service to his own practiced inflexibility, that unwillingness to let the dead rest and the living live. He could have conceivably changed course before his end, that change was certainly within his own power, but he chose the alternative. That's quite relateable, and quite human (his protestations of being more than human notwithstanding).
Was it, though? He outright admits to basically being tempered, so I have to wonder how much his desire to be different was met with a complete inability to due to loyalty.
Well, the rub is being tempered is now a lot more complicated on its face than we knew possible. Ascians and the Warrior of Light have a surprising degree of freedom of action despite being tempered, sometimes working together where the followers of lesser primals can but zealously fight the followers of others to the extent that they're put down because they can't function even after the death of the god. Open question of whether or not Emet-Selch could have given in (to say nothing of actively raising a hand against Zodiark), but I think it's possible given what we (currently) know.
I really enjoyed the expansion, but there were elements of the end that were kinda disappointing. I liked this feeling of dread going into the final zone; there wasn't really a plan to get rid of the light killing the Warrior of Darkness, just to confront Emet-Selch and get back the Exarch, presumably so he could carry out the original plan of absorbing the light and teleporting off into the void. Yet somehow rejoining with the First's Warrior of Darkness and slapping around Emet was good enough to get rid of the primordial Light?
Don't get me wrong, the ending was enthralling and hype as all hell, but it seemed like such an easy way out.
Also thought it was weird to have the moment of the Exarch trying to paint himself as a selfish, bad guy as he's taking in the light only to have Urianger less than a minute later say, "Nah, he's lying, he's a good guy." Probably because the Scions would try to stop the sacrifice play, but still a quick reveal-fake out turnaround.
Still loved Shadowbringers front to end. Never thought I'd enjoy the story of an MMO so much.
Don't get me wrong, the ending was enthralling and hype as all hell, but it seemed like such an easy way out.
Also thought it was weird to have the moment of the Exarch trying to paint himself as a selfish, bad guy as he's taking in the light only to have Urianger less than a minute later say, "Nah, he's lying, he's a good guy." Probably because the Scions would try to stop the sacrifice play, but still a quick reveal-fake out turnaround.
Still loved Shadowbringers front to end. Never thought I'd enjoy the story of an MMO so much.
Remember how much aether was required to kill the white auracite-imprisoned Ascian at the end of ARR? That's where all the shards of the same stuff came in after the Hades fight. It seemed obvious to me that the most direct way of ridding yourself of your surfeit of light would be to unleash it and null it out on a dark-aspected target that would take a lot to down.
As to the fake-out, it also was intended to stifle action from Emet-Selch by masking the Exarch's own intentions until the very end. It worked, up until the point of the last minute.
After joining with Ardbert, the WoL has enough of their original soul to contain the light and then weaponise it, in so doing expending it. It's a bit tropey but it makes sense.
And I actually loved the Exarch's 'betrayal'. It was so unconvincing that it's like good bad acting lol
And I actually loved the Exarch's 'betrayal'. It was so unconvincing that it's like good bad acting lol
Real close to the end now and i gotta say tho, that its not as good as i had hoped it would be. Guess I expected a bit too much after all the hype. After all is said and done, Stormblood was more fun and compelling for me personally.
Shadowbringers starts out so so strong. Everything up to and including the first dungeon is absolute top notch. Seeing Eulmore, Tesleen etc.. just great all around. But then it kinda fell into a lull for me that lasted until about LvL 77 when things with Eulmore started to pick up again.
Its such a shame that the majority of Lightwardens have a total non presence that starts and ends with the dungeon they get killed in. Their light plays a role later on, but I wished they would have been more of a character themselves. I guess Titania had that creepy horror short cutscene that played ... same for the Sin Eaters as a whole imo. They feel heavily underutilized save for the beginning and I never felt like they were really that much of a threat, more like a minor hassle. The discrepancie between how the story talks about them and how they appear ingame is just too much for me. Even the lakeland invasion fell kinda flat for me as everyone survives anyways. there was this cut away in a cutscene that almost made it seem like (was it thancred or minfilia) got really hurt, but afterwards its just : "yeah that sin eater got me good but i am fine anyways lolz"
I dunno.. I am a sucker for eastern themed areas and shit, so Stormblood was probably always gonna be my favourite :P. The themes and character interactions in shadowbringers are hands down better than stormblood tho, but its the larger story here that leaves me unsatisfied in comparison. I thought the liberation of doma and ala mhigo was just more compelling.
Btw, Kugane > Crystarium, and its not even close. Eulmore is awesome tho, and shits all over Rhalgrs Reach. Its gonna be my main town for sure.
Lets see how the Endfight measures up to Shinryu!
Shadowbringers starts out so so strong. Everything up to and including the first dungeon is absolute top notch. Seeing Eulmore, Tesleen etc.. just great all around. But then it kinda fell into a lull for me that lasted until about LvL 77 when things with Eulmore started to pick up again.
Its such a shame that the majority of Lightwardens have a total non presence that starts and ends with the dungeon they get killed in. Their light plays a role later on, but I wished they would have been more of a character themselves. I guess Titania had that creepy horror short cutscene that played ... same for the Sin Eaters as a whole imo. They feel heavily underutilized save for the beginning and I never felt like they were really that much of a threat, more like a minor hassle. The discrepancie between how the story talks about them and how they appear ingame is just too much for me. Even the lakeland invasion fell kinda flat for me as everyone survives anyways. there was this cut away in a cutscene that almost made it seem like (was it thancred or minfilia) got really hurt, but afterwards its just : "yeah that sin eater got me good but i am fine anyways lolz"
I dunno.. I am a sucker for eastern themed areas and shit, so Stormblood was probably always gonna be my favourite :P. The themes and character interactions in shadowbringers are hands down better than stormblood tho, but its the larger story here that leaves me unsatisfied in comparison. I thought the liberation of doma and ala mhigo was just more compelling.
Btw, Kugane > Crystarium, and its not even close. Eulmore is awesome tho, and shits all over Rhalgrs Reach. Its gonna be my main town for sure.
Lets see how the Endfight measures up to Shinryu!
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Ohh yeah, clearly I forgot about certain bits of ARR that pertain to this expansion. I even missed out on the G'Raha Tia reveal at first, as I never got around to the Crystal Tower raid when I came back for Stormblood (playing as a Miqo'te, I was thinking, "oh is he a descendant of mine?" hahaha) Thematically though, I kinda wanted to wallow in that futility a little longer, maybe have it resolve in a patch. Tough to do considering how severe the affliction was and how close we were to being a fully fledged sin eater.
I went back and rewatched the scene. Y'shtola realizes the ruse and announces it, not knowing that Emet, who's constantly lurking around, was still trying to piece together who the Exarch is and what his plan was.
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Can we give a props to Joe Dempsie for his Ardbert performance? She he isn't told to range as much as others but his performance for me which makes Ardbert whole story so tragic. Makes you feel for him.
It's interesting how it's a celebrity voice cast but they never advertised it and the dude is good.
Same with Gaius. I was afraid for the recast but Michael McElhatton did great.
It's interesting how it's a celebrity voice cast but they never advertised it and the dude is good.
Same with Gaius. I was afraid for the recast but Michael McElhatton did great.
Not at all, he's a narrative tool imo, could be wrong though.
While he will be a big player in the since of wanting to fight us, but in that instance its less about him and more about what he's doing. If he just leaves the empire, that is more of the story than him. That's the big player, the war of successsion , zenos is just a tool for them to get rid of plot elements they don't like after the fact.
Zenos is the Joker of FFXIV, he exists to upset the well-laid plans of the Ascians, Empire, and basically everyone else at his manic pleasure. If the fight with Gaius and Estinien doesn't end with him captured, dead, or incapacitated, I can see him bouncing and traveling to Eorzea to try to find us (and mucking up the war for both sides as he goes).
Yes, I was getting teary everytime he showed up and talked, it was depressing.
Dempsie was great when Ardbert first appeared in the post-Heavensward patches as well, I remember being surprised it was him when I looked up his VA afterwards.
He seems the least willing of any Ascians we've encountered to risk his existence, and he was extending olive branches before Emet-Selch even thought to out of exasperation. He'll be tricksy.
i know ardbert is gendry, but gaius is fucking roose bolton?
hooooooooooly shit
any other notable celebrities as VAs for english voice acting in ffxiv?
No idea if they were directly inspired or not, but I actually noticed quite a few parallels between the late parts of the MSQ and Persona 5. Hard to talk about without spoiling P5, so
edit: actually, now that i think about it,
bringing together all the people you helped along the way to help you stand against the boss, taking down the selfish greedy leader of a nation only for it not to fix the problem, the shady guy accompanying you ultimately stabbing you in the back for not living up to their expectations and failing their "game", the big bad looking down on people and trying to create a perfect world of peace and order only for the heroes to argue that they love their world for all its flaws, having to talk to all of your "party members" to reaffirm their determination before the final fight. a lot of this is JRPG tropes of course so i don't want to say it was all directly P5 inspired, but the big one that really made me wonder if they took a little inspiration is when you punch a hole in emet-selch. the shot of ardbert's axe that zooms out through the hole in emet-selch is extremely similar to the shot of the bullet hole through yaldabaoth's head in p5.
edit: actually, now that i think about it,
eulmore being a rich nation towering above a bunch of slums draws a lot of parallels to the shido palace in p5, where he and his rich acquaintances party over the sunken ruins of the rest of japan
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I wonder how it works, with the Warrior of Light being an Ascian.
Do they die and are constantly reincarnated?
Are they immortal, but have a mind wipe every now and then?
Were we the one who summoned Hydaelyn and does it keep the Warrior of Light in stasis until they're needed?
Do they die and are constantly reincarnated?
Are they immortal, but have a mind wipe every now and then?
Were we the one who summoned Hydaelyn and does it keep the Warrior of Light in stasis until they're needed?
We've known since ARR at least that the Echo and the Ascians are eerily similar, and I'd speculate natural Ascian immortality plays into that capability. There are theoretically countless people out there who are unknowingly a reflected Ascian soul, some of that number potent enough to be reborn after death.
It is indeed heavily implied that we are the 14th missing council Ascian that broke free and instigated the faction that summoned Hydaelyn. AFAIK our reflected selves aren't so much in stasis as they are active on their own individual shards, ignorant that they're a fragment of our own soul. Ardbert and we ourselves didn't know we were slivers of the same soul until we spoke to the shade of the Ascian.
I don't know about notable: I identified 2 more Game of Thrones actors in Shadowbringers, but perhaps not surprising considering the amount of UK actors who have been on GoT :P
Vauthry is "Rattleshirt" / "Lord of Bones", and Ran'Jit is "The Mad King Aerys".
Overall some great VA in this expansion, though the audio levels were a bit uneven. The Exarch's voice in particular seemed to be a bit quieter than the others.
So The Warrior of Light is an Ascian outright?? I know Emet asked if you "remember" or whatever but I wasn't entirely sure. And Ardbert and 12 others are parts of them? Why are they broken into 14 beings and not other Ascians, and would that mean the WoL and the other 13 reincarnate to fight Emet? Also Emet mentioned becoming allies. For what exactly? He seems to have told the truth all throughout, and if the WoL had contained the Sin Eaters what was Emet going to do? He was upset that they couldn't live up to his standards but what if they did?
Only three Ascians survived the split with their souls and memories intact (each a title-bearer: Elidibus, Emet-Selch, and Lahabrea).
And he was open to working together if we agreed to his aims. As he was asked, if we were unwilling and the WoL able to contain the light, he would shrug and attempt to kill us all.
Worth mentioning is that because there have been other rejoinings in the past, our soul reflection has been reunited with others (7 times through the course of past calamities, and the 8th rejoined reflection was Ardbert). If we discount the 13th shard (for all we know that sliver could still be there just spirit-surfing aether without a body or something), that leaves four reflections running around on different shards doing gods know what. After how excellent Shadowbringers has been, I'd love more trips to meet them.
honestly the sequence where the excarch put down the 7 philer of light, gave me more neir feels than persona. I feel like a bit of yoko taro is rubbing off on yoshi-p's writing team.
I'm lowkey interested in how they're gonna spin the Savage Eden. Alexander was the WM again, Omega was a machine that relaxes your mind but makes you a little trippy so I'm gonna guess that there's gonna be fairy involved probably wanting to play a game.
I mean they are putting in a neir raid toom at some point they stopped trying and just went full fan service with it.
My [adorable sapling] didn't call upon her [beautiful branch] for Eden? So cold and cruel and heartless! So anyway enjoy this nightmare of Eden that is 10x worse than your actual memories.
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They were a narrative tool to make that areas conflict a bit different than others. Instead of eulmore waltzing in declaring themselves the ruler or at least the master of ceremonies. They would install a government that would allow them to just roam.
And when the narrative was over, they went poof.
If they wanted to be funny they could have them still trying to make their religion work. Or seeing them trying to adapt in future patches. But I fet the feelings most patches will focus on the empire
Just finished. Absolutely fucking top tier. Best FF story maybe ever. At least for a long ass time.
One question though, what caused the calamity on Emet's world? Cause obviously the calamities that happen during the time of 14 are caused by the Ascians and the rejoining. But what caused that first one?
Also, I didn't quite get the connection with Emet becoming Hades. Like was there anything that would've pointed to him transforming into that for our fight beforehand that I missed?
One question though, what caused the calamity on Emet's world? Cause obviously the calamities that happen during the time of 14 are caused by the Ascians and the rejoining. But what caused that first one?
Also, I didn't quite get the connection with Emet becoming Hades. Like was there anything that would've pointed to him transforming into that for our fight beforehand that I missed?
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They never specified. I'm not sure they knew. It might have something to do with their creation magic but that's pure speculation. We do know it made things way worse cause everyone started to freak out and create horrors from mere thoughts.
Ah ok, cool. So I didn't miss something. I guess we might find out.
Not directly specificed
Two working theories
They kept creating messed up weird shit into reality and things went wrong, and emet is desperately trying to regain the paradise him and his peers fucked up so badly
Theory 2 is that there seems to be some " horrible noise " that may have caused everything to go wrong, I think even y'stola things the ascians didn't bring it upon themselves. There might be a third elder god party that really wanted to fuck hings up.
I wonder if the Warrior of Light still has the power from their fusion with Ardbert or if it was lost after the fight with Emet-Selch. We see him reuniting with his former adventurers in the ending, so he's apparently not part of the Warrior of Light anymore.
I've not seen that reunion ending (I presume it's for when you complete all four role questlines?), but I do tend to think he is joined to us now (like all of the past seven reflections). Which isn't to rule out that we won't see him again.
No. It's right in the ending. The Warrior of Light and everyone else are returning to the Crystarium and then you see Ardbert meeting his friends there at the entrance.
Nah its part of the normal Credits stuff when they get back to Crystarium. They Show Ghost Ardbert reuinited with his other 4 Friends.
I know its hard to remember as it was a while ago and some people haven't done this story so just in case
Unukalhai is probably our shard reflection from the voided 13th. He is gifted with the echo and was able to move between realms in the flesh and was a child when the void destroyed the world and thus wasn't likely old enough to help save anything, his story ended shortly after ardberts group left making a nice parralell where one group couldn't save the world from darkness, and one did only to lose to the light. Another story facet is he was personally saved and brought to our world by elidibus, just like what happened to Ardbert and his group.
If that theory works out technically it might be possible by stories end for our character make a complete rejoining.
Oh, derp, forgot that quick cut. Speculate that we're still one and the same now, with the intriguing possibility that we may wake up reflections of previously rejoined warriors of light in the future.
Ooh, I like this theory! It has been awhile, but it totally tracks and would be a golden opportunity to pick up another past story thread and character.
Someone should make an animation of Ardbert and the Warrior of Light doing the Fusion Dance.