To be honest, Alex Savage is a failure.

[NaesakiAshwell]

While true, Ceasaria points towards where one of Alexander's major problems lies: lack of an effective lead up.

Alexander itself had little actual threat build up. Our first interaction with it is as an "empty" magic barrier that few (if any) npcs comment on before a scene that occurs after the HW Main Story is completed. Players new to Final Fantasy have little reason to fear Alexander, while only fans that have played FFIV, FFIX and FFXI have an idea of why Alexander activating might be a bad idea.

Granted in IX Alexander was a benevolent force summoned to try and stop Bahamut laying waste to Alexandria, but then it got wrecked by the Invincible :< That whole scene of Alexandria getting torn apart hits the feels every time, though Cleyra..... *takes off hat and lowers head*

[Welsper59]

Granted in IX Alexander was a benevolent force summoned to try and stop Bahamut laying waste to Alexandria, but then it got wrecked by the Invincible :< That whole scene of Alexandria getting torn apart hits the feels every time, though Cleyra..... *takes off hat and lowers head*

That scene was beautiful and really cemented the power of Alexander (at least in the face of equal threat). I think that's really the main thing about Alexander. It's a neutral force of power that does what it wants or is controlled to do. It's not necessarily "good" but it's not "bad" neither. If it's sentient in the game, then it simply does what it believes is right. The XI storyline sort of played on that aspect the most with its rivalry with <spoilers maybe>. Alexander there has some restraint, but will absolutely not turn down a good fight that will end up in the destruction of everyone lol.

In regards to this game, people really have to realize that Alexander is hardly a hyped up summon in any FF game. It's often looked at as a cool summon, but we're much more attached to the others, ESPECIALLY Bahamut. Short of it being some recognizably sinister name like Hades or Doom Train, there really wouldn't be much hype to it after having dealt with one of the most well-accepted and dangerous summon in FF history. Add to that the fact that the story to BCoB was built up since the badass ending to 1.0 (and intro to 2.0). We have an attachment to the Primal in this game without even playing it, and with that cinematic, we didn't need anything more to establish its terror within the game. That's how potent the name "Bahamut" is within the FF universe.

[Kaze3434]

OPs post

[FoxyAreku]

I agree, but I also don't agree.

Alexander accomplishes what they set out to do, and the fights (in midas at least) are a lot of fun.

Nothing can top Coil for me, or the day I beat T13 and the satisfaction I felt, so I will say that Alexander leaves a bit to be desired in comparison, but as a standalone raid alexander savage is fine.

It is sad though, I could care less about the plot of alexander, when I was always on the edge of my seat in coil. It's a true 180.

OPs post

People don't usually type up several paragraphs for a bait, I think.

[Kaze3434]

I agree, but I also don't agree.

Alexander accomplishes what they set out to do, and the fights (in midas at least) are a lot of fun.

Nothing can top Coil for me, or the day I beat T13 and the satisfaction I felt, so I will say that Alexander leaves a bit to be desired in comparison, but as a standalone raid alexander savage is fine.

It is sad though, I could care less about the plot of alexander, when I was always on the edge of my seat in coil. It's a true 180.



People don't usually type up several paragraphs for a bait, I think.

normally i would agree, but seeing as how he made the post and has yet to reply to anything, and looks to not even be touching midas savage, one can only wonder. its either bait or a slowpoke post, because of all the references to gordias.

[Titor]

I was really into coil because the fights felt epic and the theme was something 'threatening'. While they tried to add story to alex, it is mostly fluff/silliness. I know it has a bit of serious undertones in the outside quests, but the boss fights themselves are silly and lighthearted. I want to fight something that makes you feel like the world is going to end (bahamut) not something that is going to make me laugh with silliness (like turning into gorillas)

[Judge_Xero]

I was really into coil because the fights felt epic and the theme was something 'threatening'. While they tried to add story to alex, it is mostly fluff/silliness. I know it has a bit of serious undertones in the outside quests, but the boss fights themselves are silly and lighthearted. I want to fight something that makes you feel like the world is going to end (bahamut) not something that is going to make me laugh with silliness (like turning into gorillas)

This is what I thought at the start of Alex but then I remembered that FF has always had a tone of sillyness. I run the Apes in my group and it makes me chuckle still. I wish there was more back story to this set of raids, but it is possible that players of FFXI would have more references to relate to?

[Kaurie]

My opinion may be biased, as I am growing very tired and bored with the game as a whole, but I agree largely with you.

Raiding in coil felt much more fun and rewarding. As we progressed through fights, it felt amazing. In Alexander, so far, progression feels like a nuisance. I really enjoy my static, but the actual encounters are dreadful. I found the first floor of Midas Savage to be pretty fun, it really improved on the boring Midas Normal first floor. We are now on the second midas floor, and I really really dislike this fight. I find that you have to restart from the very beginning if you wipe to be a huge annoyance, for example.

I am raiding in WoW and wow it is amazing, by comparison. I love that they have 4 difficulties there too, LFR (DF void ark/midas normal level), normal (FFXIV absent), heroic (FFXIV absent), mythic (FFXIV savage). I find the environments are more engaging as you are running from boss to boss and not just queuing to an arena. I find the boss mechanics are more interesting and less frustrating. Granted, I have not got to mythic level (savage here), and perhaps I wouldn't like that as much. Perhaps, what I like, is that there is middle-level difficulty appropriate for my skill level.

In terms of raids in FFXIV, here is my order:

1. T9
2. T11
3. T5
4. T1
... (severe drop between 4 and 5) ...
5. T2
6. T13
7. T4
8. T3! \o/ (how do you hate this!?)
9. T12
... (severe drop between 9 and 10) ...
10. T10
11. T12
12. A5S
13. A1S
14. A2S
15. T7
16. T6
17. A6S

I never really got to do T8, A3S, A4S, A7S, A8S

For 24..

1. LOTA
... (severe drop between 1 and 2) ...
2. ST
... (severe drop between 2 and 3) ...
3. WOD
... (severe drop between 3 and 4) ...
... (severe drop between 3 and 4) ...
... (severe drop between 3 and 4) ...
4. VA

For Extreme Trials:
1. Thornmarch EX
2. Leviathan EX
3. Ramuh EX
4. Bismark EX
... (severe drop between 4 and 5) ...
5. Ifrit EX
6. Garuda EX
7. Shiva EX
8. Thordan EX
... (severe drop between 8 and 9) ...
9. Titan EX
10. Ravana EX
11. Sephirot EX

(sorry if I forgot any?)


Anyway, to each their own.
For Trials, I dislike the 'dances' (titan, rav, seph most notably). I really like the DPS coordination required in Thornmarch EX, where it is less about pushing DPS, but more about evenly distributing and holding back.
For Raids, there is too much to explain, but basically i like to move around - and I like to have mechanics outside of DPS/heal checks.

[LadyVal]

It is sad though, I could care less about the plot of alexander, when I was always on the edge of my seat in coil. It's a true 180.

I think Coil had a stronger storyline because we already knew what happened prior. Bahamut changed the entirety of Eorzea, he created a catastrophic disaster. And in Coil, we get to dive back into that story and figure out what really happened. We start our quest knowing what Bahamut did, and Coil is the time when we finally get to figure out all of the secrets.

And then we have Alexander. It's not entirely funny, nor is it entirely serious, it's just... a story plopped into our laps. Coil is very much like "And now is the time you learn about the secrets of the world you've spent all of your time exploring (through the 2.0 MSQ at least)" whereas Alexander is like "Hey that big thing in the lake that has vaguely been mentioned once ever is waking up now so do something about it. Oh look a new NPC."

[Yasuhiro]

And then we have Alexander. It's not entirely funny, nor is it entirely serious, it's just... a story plopped into our laps. Coil is very much like "And now is the time you learn about the secrets of the world you've spent all of your time exploring (through the 2.0 MSQ at least)" whereas Alexander is like "Hey that big thing in the lake that has vaguely been mentioned once ever is waking up now so do something about it. Oh look a new NPC."

How the rest of the world reacts to Alexander is pretty lame too
"He's gonna wake up soon gaiz, he's scary honestly, when he wakes he's gonna mess you up, look he's sucking all the life out of the land" (very slowly if I do say so myself, the grass surrounding Alexander's feet is greener than my lawns and the water is probably pure enough to drink from)