Ivalice Raids. I still don't get it

[Nightsword]

I think the question of how, if at all, Ultima (being) is related to Ultima (spell) has a real chance of being answered soon.

Since this image from the trailer never showed up in any of the 5.2 quests so far:

Then unless it's in Ishgard Restoration for some reason we can safely assume it's from the relic quests and therefore depicting her, since the relic quest will require completing the Ivalice raids.

That may be an image of the first Hrothgar Queen given the coloring and crown are completely different from Ultima's.

[MikkoAkure]

That may be an image of the first Hrothgar Queen given the coloring and crown are completely different from Ultima's.

That looks like a stylized version of FFXII’s Ultima to me. In that game, she had blue skin, a white dress, horned crown, and a bunch of wings.

[PoLaD]

Speaking of dropped plot points, was there actually anything significant to Ramza Lexentale's change of attitude at the end of the Ridorana tier? Because even the NPCs commented that Ramza is acting completely different, but when the Orbonne tier was released, it turned out that Alma (who was acting pretty normally) was the one under the influence of the auracite, and Ramza explained his change in behaviour as "I was just really stressed", and everyone just dropped the issue. Was it another altered plot point?

It really was just stress, and culture shock, according to the Company Assistant. Pretty much Ramza's jerk persona was him acting abnormally, while he was typically much kinder. His dialogue about it is from The City of Lost Angels quest, after you unlock Orbonne, but you haven't actually gone in yet. As far as I know, no has commented on it when talking about his change (unless that what you meant by Ramza himself acknowledging it)?

And just when the boy had begun to return to his normal, caring self... Oh, Ramza. I do hope you are unhurt! When we were in Garlemald, the young Lexentale never spoke ill of others- and most certainly not his sister. It wasn't until arriving in Kugane that his temperament began to change...and not for the better. He began lashing out at anyone and anything that was different. His life in the Empire had not prepared him for what awaited on the outside, and the exile left him stripped of an identity in which he still held much pride. He allowed his frustration to consume him, but such is to be expected from someone so young. [NAME]. I ask you to look past Ramza's transgressions, for they are but a product of his youth. He is a good child, and does not deserve the fate he has been dealt. Please, you must find him.

Which, makes a sense to me. He doesn't fully drop it after the Lighthouse. He still snips at Montblanc enough. Although, it does still seem like a dropped plot point due to him having his attitude shift after touching auracite.

[LineageRazor]

Although, it does still seem like a dropped plot point due to him having his attitude shift after touching auracite.

Honestly, it felt to me like they had a plotline planned for this, but changed their minds and decided to downplay it instead. I was fully expecting him to be channeling the soul of the original Ramza, or something - the fact that his one-eighty happened right after touching the MacGuffin is a bit too unfair a red herring, if it was planned this way from the start.

[YianKutku]

It really was just stress, and culture shock, according to the Company Assistant. Pretty much Ramza's jerk persona was him acting abnormally, while he was typically much kinder. His dialogue about it is from The City of Lost Angels quest, after you unlock Orbonne, but you haven't actually gone in yet. As far as I know, no has commented on it when talking about his change (unless that what you meant by Ramza himself acknowledging it)?



Which, makes a sense to me. He doesn't fully drop it after the Lighthouse. He still snips at Montblanc enough. Although, it does still seem like a dropped plot point due to him having his attitude shift after touching auracite.

The change was definitely commented on by Lina, who was wondering why Ramza suddenly became nice and polite after touching the auracite right after Ridorana. I need to check my screenshots, but I believe the other NPCs were at least taken aback by Ramza's sudden politeness.

And the comment by the Company Assistant was during the 4.5 Orbonne unlock quest, ie during the patch when we learned that it was Alma under the influence of the auracite, when there was no sign of that in the 4.3 Ridorana quests (unless we go into deep conspiracy theorizing for post-hoc justification). Hence why it feels intensely like it was a dropped plot point that was retconned when it actually became time to deal with it, rather than something planned out beforehand.

(Also, given Ramza Lexentale's sudden personality change into harshness and bitter snark due to stress, does that mean Ramza can theoretically summon his own Esteem?)

[JeanneOrnitier]

Alma was saying earlier than 4.5 that she heard a voice coming from the Auracite, so her getting taken by Ultima wasn't completely out of nowhere. Ramza's shift still seems to have been a change in direction though.