Revelations from Patch 5.4

Prophecy, much like time-travel, is one of those writing no-nos that's very hard to use correctly. An infallible prophecy (which is what Mikoto's gift is) will try to be averted only for it to happen anyway by trying to avert it.

What's USUALLY done there is what's been shown from Mikoto's gift. She gets flashes from the future with no context whatsoever. While yes, we could have found out that

Misija was going to The Last Trace in another way, this sets up that Mikoto only sees a small part of the future.

From a story-telling perspective, it's reminding the audience that while the future that she sees can't be changed, there's a lot besides those flashes that's up in the air. In-story, it's probably a set-up for

"Mikoto realizes that since her Misija vision had more to it, X, Y, Z is going to happen and so she leaps off the airship herself, because she will be caught by someone-thing/turn into a Primal-Auracite-creature to save Bozja"

I like the Bozja story so far, and I like the treatment of Misija's character, while painting her as wrong for her vindictive outlook and her treason (which her updated field guide has her claim she never betrayed anyone because she was never on their side), still puts her in a more sympathetic light. After all, the Hroth we see her temper outright called her lowborn scum; she doesn't believe that the Bozjas' ideas of equality will translate in practice, and it'll just reinstate the government that screwed her family over. Given how diverse the IVth legion is, she may have good reasons (good in like, good FOR HER, not, overall).

It was rather easy to guess what was going to happen before/after the first two visions, so hopefully the context behind the most recent one ends up being a bit more surprising instead of taking the obvious route because it's thus far just felt like fluff to me and had little bearing on the flow of the story that couldn't have easily been accomplished otherwise.

On a different subject though, I find it rather strange how...glossed over the whole matter with

the IVth legion having access to the Resonant technology was.

I was expecting at least a passing mention in optional dialogue, but nope. Considering it's literally the first time it's come up since SB, I find it strange that it wasn't considered a bigger concern.

I am a touch curious as to what their endgame actually is now considering that despite all the effort they put into allowing Misija to enact her little scheme, it was ultimately just a diversion.

On Bozja:

I was pleasantly surprised by the fate of the Tempered soldiers. As soon as the MSQ touched on the subject of a cure for the condition I immediately groaned because I figured it'd be used as a convenient way to lessen the threat of Misija in Bozja. My worries were, however, unfounded which made the story much more engaging to me overall.

As for the pacing of the story, I don't mind a slow burn so long as the next portion is not exceptionally rushed. It's partly why I'm tentatively assuming that it'll continue into the next expansion in some form. It'd be quite fun to see more of Rabanastre and the surrounding nations.

On a note related to Lyon:

I can't get a read on this guy. He doesn't strike me as particularly loyal to the cause so much as someone who loves what he does (fighting/training beasts). And between his barbed humor post-Castrum and his seemingly treasonous behavior in this patch, I was wondering if he might actually defect at some point. But knowing that Misija was fully aware of our ambush due to future sight, I can't help but think Lyon's leaking of intel was itself a gambit to bait us into ambushing her—and knowing full well that we would take the bait, she used the opportunity to plan an ambush of her own.

And at the current end of the story he seems pretty happy to have the reinforcements the IVth Legion was expecting. So I don't think he'll be defecting anymore, but I'm still not sure.

I think what puts me off Bozja is, honestly, the story and not the grinding.

I can do a good grind when I want to but having found out the fates of the other Blades just... makes me not want to continue. The other Blades weren't flawless but they get reprimanded for their treatment of Misija. Them getting tempered was a nice way to raise the stakes and make the way Save the Queen was presented as the focal point of controlling them an out to at least getting them back and dealing with the consequences of them being tempered later. Then the MSQ certainly raised the prospect of saving them entirely but this turn of events in the latest addition just felt so incredibly wrong to me, tempering them to the point where they no longer resemble themselves and fusing them into aberrations just... Misija may not be repentant in the broad sense for what she did but what she had to endure doesn't justify such... just wrong things to do to someone... The lore pages for the Blades and the things they turn into just really hits me hard, it's tragic in so many ways.

I know this is a war we're fighting and the old saying of 'war is hell' certainly rings true here with this story but we're the WoL! We're supposed to save people and yes we can't save everyone from everything but we, with the latest addition to Bozja, saved absolutely no one. I hope in some way this gets better because I honestly don't want to keep subjecting myself to such a depressing story.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ronald_Bloodwings

I think what puts me off Bozja is, honestly, the story and not the grinding.

I can do a good grind when I want to but having found out the fates of the other Blades just... makes me not want to continue. The other Blades weren't flawless but they get reprimanded for their treatment of Misija. Them getting tempered was a nice way to raise the stakes and make the way Save the Queen was presented as the focal point of controlling them an out to at least getting them back and dealing with the consequences of them being tempered later. Then the MSQ certainly raised the prospect of saving them entirely but this turn of events in the latest addition just felt so incredibly wrong to me, tempering them to the point where they no longer resemble themselves and fusing them into aberrations just... Misija may not be repentant in the broad sense for what she did but what she had to endure doesn't justify such... just wrong things to do to someone... The lore pages for the Blades and the things they turn into just really hits me hard, it's tragic in so many ways.

I know this is a war we're fighting and the old saying of 'war is hell' certainly rings true here with this story but we're the WoL! We're supposed to save people and yes we can't save everyone from everything but we, with the latest addition to Bozja, saved absolutely no one. I hope in some way this gets better because I honestly don't want to keep subjecting myself to such a depressing story.

---

Welcome to Matsuno's rollercoaster of emotional writing. The man tends to write realistic type deals where not everybody gets a happy ending, not everybody can be saved, where things are often out of your control ingame.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

Welcome to Matsuno's rollercoaster of emotional writing. The man tends to write realistic type deals where not everybody gets a happy ending, not everybody can be saved, where things are often out of your control ingame.

---

I can get behind that but it feels like no one is getting a happy ending right at this moment... The WoL is going to need a lot of therapy... to say nothing of Mikoto...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RyuDragnier

Welcome to Matsuno's rollercoaster of emotional writing. The man tends to write realistic type deals where not everybody gets a happy ending, not everybody can be saved, where things are often out of your control ingame.

---

If nothing else, it makes for a refreshing change.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lauront

If nothing else, it makes for a refreshing change.

---

I can't disagree it's just such a jarring shift in tone... it makes the SHB MSQ seem much more light hearted in comparison...

Whatever comes next, I hope they keep Matsuno on to continue this story. So far I am not a fan of the "field system" of Eureka and Bozja, but I might change my tune if the next one is the XIV version of Lea Monde (a deep dungeon would also be good).