What Forge Ahead Actually Means

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Originally Posted by Avoidy

It's just not a very interesting setup to me. Imagine watching a long sequel film where everyone's resolved their conflicts already. Sure it's not a standalone story. But if the characters are mostly staying the same, did it really need to be told? To me, Endwalker just felt like the writers wrapping up plot objectives so they could call it a day. From a storytelling standpoint, it simply wasn't memorable to me the way HW or even ShB was. EW felt like a really plot driven story, while everything before it felt more character driven AND plot driven.

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This is one of the downsides to very long drawn out sagas. Times and ideas change , plots alter , and the reveals/truths/reasons for are less impactful because it took far too long to get there.

It reminds me of the amazing tv show L.O.S.T

When they realised that they actually needed to start making sense of the bizarre place the survivors ended up being and what was actually happening their reality was was just an "oh that was what it was all along" moment.

Anti climatic

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Originally Posted by VictorSpoils

I was pretty bored of the Scions by ShB. Now, not only are they outright unkillable and wearing the exact same outfits in EW, they're also voicing trial/raid bosses. The developers know what they're doing and are enjoying every bit of it.

Oh, and you WILL take your 1000th eScape remix and enjoy it. No exceptions.

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I thought their excuse for perfectly replicating those outfits in the Source was a bit silly. I laughed the first time I saw that cutscene, especially when it was forgotten about in the next line. Not like the WoL ever cares.

I understand why the Scions have to be around: they're the face of XIV. Too bad they don't do anything interesting with them. At this point, I'd rather travel with Gaius and his crew. Or, find a cure for Arenvald's legs and hang out with him and Fordola. Maybe cross paths with Gosetsu and hang out with him for a bit. (Estinien can join up, too.)

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Originally Posted by SassyAssassin

She looks ethereal even in the small icon so you definitely succeeded! I love it! :3 <3 Show us a bigger picture whenever you can if you want! <3

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Thank you! I'll make sure to post a pic of her in the near future. :)

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Originally Posted by Kazhar

I think the Scions have been shells of their former selves since 6.0 (Maybe a bit earlier). In a way, they seem to have regressed back to their pre-ShB characterization of just being there to say whatever is needed to make the plot move forward and overexplain the themes of the story in case anybody missed it (there are some exceptions, like Urianger. But it also feels like a rehash of previous patterns). Krile is especially guilty of this. She's an almost literal deus ex machina during the entirety of EW.

I definitely wouldn't mind an entirely new cast.

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Yeah, I think that's why I feel so indifferent towards them now! They're essentially exposition machines. Oh, Krile...I completely forgot about her presence in the game. I was super disappointed by her role in EW. I guess they needed someone to fit a Minfilia-esque role, now that she is gone.

Yes, I would love a fresh, new cast right now. That, or fleshing out the interesting characters we've met already. Maybe ones we still have tension with (*ahem*Gaius*ahem*). The Scions have become background characters, despite being in the forefront of every MSQ cutscene.

During HW I was genuinely worried for all the characters.
In EW I knew everyone would make it and there was literally never a moment of doubt.

Same in ShB, except the Thancred scene, that had me for a bit.

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Originally Posted by Kansene

During HW I was genuinely worried for all the characters.
In EW I knew everyone would make it and there was literally never a moment of doubt.

Same in ShB, except the Thancred scene, that had me for a bit.

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Thancred should have died there. Any other FF character in any other FF would have died there.

@Avoidy Why expect the Scions to react that way after defeating Hydelean if they didn't react that way after learning she and Zodiark were primals? Or have a bigger reaction after learning the WoL failed to stop the unsealing of Zodiark and that offing them was probably the same result that Fandaniel was going for. Just it now involved the WoL.

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Originally Posted by EgilTheStressedMage

Thancred should have died there. Any other FF character in any other FF would have died there.

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Would've been a better story element imo.
Not because "death = good" but because it had a very solid build-up, it made sense for him to get merced in that situation, it would solidify Ran'Jit as a seriously dangerous villain (how did we go from him soloing wol + all of wol's friends to us soloing him like it's no biggie? Did I miss a story power up?) and it would be a big moment for Ryne to have the kinder of her father figures torn away.
Simply put, Thancred's death would be good drama.
I appreciate that he's still around, I like him, but him dying would be the better story.

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Originally Posted by EgilTheStressedMage

Thancred should have died there. Any other FF character in any other FF would have died there.

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Cid from IV would beg to differ. Guy survived a bomb he was carrying and setting off mid fall and said fall. Celes survives a jump off a cliff if you don't feed that game's Cid enough healthy fish in time. Going back to IV Yang survives being thrown off a boat by Leviathan and being at the top of an exploding tower. Along with a frying pan the the head. If you don't believe in the Squall is dead theory he survived falling from Eda's parade float after having an icicle flung into his chest. Cloud survives yet another fall, I swear Square loves the X survives from a fall trope, when Aerith finds him crushing some of the flowers inside her church. Not a main character, but also from VII Dyne is thought to have died after falling from a cliff until they start shooting up the Gold Saucer and Barret gets blamed for it.

What “forge ahead” means is that it’s time to abandon this cringe game for good, it won’t get better and the devs don’t care about learning from their mistakes.

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Originally Posted by Thenightvortex

What “forge ahead” means is that it’s time to abandon this cringe game for good, it won’t get better and the devs don’t care about learning from their mistakes.

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*gasp

did you just tell us to Unsub?

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Originally Posted by Thenightvortex

What “forge ahead” means is that it’s time to abandon this cringe game for good, it won’t get better and the devs don’t care about learning from their mistakes.

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https://i.makeagif.com/media/3-28-2016/WdBKpH.gif

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Originally Posted by Thenightvortex

What “forge ahead” means is that it’s time to abandon this cringe game for good, it won’t get better and the devs don’t care about learning from their mistakes.

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It's not as if we haven't been crystal clear when it comes to the feedback we've given, it's that it either a) never made it to them or b) it was deliberately ignored. Then they proceed to double down on things like Hermes and Hydaelyn's twisted logic without ever throwing a bone to those of us who saw through the logic that propped both of them up.

In any case I know that despite my handful of critiques of Heavensward, that Maehiro is more than capable of delivering a palatable story and perhaps FFXVI will do just that. Most notably, voice actor Ben Starr for Clive Rosfield made a comment that stood out to me in his recent interview:

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I decided to not make him perfect, I decided to not make his sadness beautiful. It's quite ugly, and Clive's sorrow, depression, Clive's PTSD, all other things they are real and even though he presents himself as this hero, there is this intense vulnerability. He is seconds away from oblivion at all points, just throwing it all away because of everything that's happened.

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A massive improvement when compared to Endwalker's glorification of suffering.