3.4 speculation

[Tracewood]

Well, seeing Darklander in the East Shroud was a bit of a dead giveaway, looks like they were standing near that spot where the fallen garlean ship things were. So perhaps my Sylphlands dungeon theory might hold up if Thancred and the girl run in that direction only to get cornered by the Twelveswoods and abducted or something.

Also, since I got around to finishing Midas over the weekend (first saw the fight and said "nope" but realized that I might want a second job and would rather not do a second anima) and now we see the Illuminati gained control of Alex and reversing time around it... so could it mean the barrier might eventually fade and Alex will crawl up and start walking? Or maybe float in mid air like the fortress from Chrono Trigger. Hopefully the final boss of Alexander would be some form of himself, where we take on the larger left arm, right arm, then it's face all outdoors but in some instance. That would be a nice change of scenery.

[Alberel]

Well, seeing Darklander in the East Shroud was a bit of a dead giveaway, looks like they were standing near that spot where the fallen garlean ship things were. So perhaps my Sylphlands dungeon theory might hold up if Thancred and the girl run in that direction only to get cornered by the Twelveswoods and abducted or something.

Also, since I got around to finishing Midas over the weekend (first saw the fight and said "nope" but realized that I might want a second job and would rather not do a second anima) and now we see the Illuminati gained control of Alex and reversing time around it... so could it mean the barrier might eventually fade and Alex will crawl up and start walking? Or maybe float in mid air like the fortress from Chrono Trigger. Hopefully the final boss of Alexander would be some form of himself, where we take on the larger left arm, right arm, then it's face all outdoors but in some instance. That would be a nice change of scenery.

Based on the rocks hovering above the dome that conveniently resemble the shape of Alexander's head I think it's a safe bet that he'll merely rear up to full height but the dome will remain. The rock formations around that entire area are being used as placeholder colliders. They can change his pose based on story progression so it will look different but the actual traversable area is identical no matter which stage you're on. This ensures that players don't see each other flying through things if they aren't on the same stage of the story.

As for the fight itself, I'm expecting an Alexander-Prime battle along the lines of Bahamut-Prime when we breach the final core. The time magic concept creates the opportunity for some really creative mechanics though and I'm hoping SE fully capitalises on that. I'd really like to see party members getting sent forward and backward in time to fight in parallel with the different time periods affecting each other. So much potential.

[Nalien]

As for the fight itself, I'm expecting an Alexander-Prime battle along the lines of Bahamut-Prime when we breach the final core. The time magic concept creates the opportunity for some really creative mechanics though and I'm hoping SE fully capitalises on that. I'd really like to see party members getting sent forward and backward in time to fight in parallel with the different time periods affecting each other. So much potential.

I hope they do a lot with the time concept... I see no reason we should be stuck with a final mini Alexander Prime boss the same as Bahamut, why not have him go "Nope, I'm done fighting like this, you're going to the future where I've won", then dump us out in an Illuminati-controlled Idyllshire to fight the actual full-sized Alexander... That would make up for the complete lack of threat Alexander has posed thus far, if we actually got sent to the ruins of future-Idyllshire... Then we just beat him in the future (mechanic idea: We knock the Cenotaph over to KO him), climb back in and beat him in the present... Ozma gives me a lot of hope for such mechanics, hurry up and disappoint me, SE...

[Alberel]

I hope they do a lot with the time concept... I see no reason we should be stuck with a final mini Alexander Prime boss the same as Bahamut, why not have him go "Nope, I'm done fighting like this, you're going to the future where I've won", then dump us out in an Illuminati-controlled Idyllshire to fight the actual full-sized Alexander... That would make up for the complete lack of threat Alexander has posed thus far, if we actually got sent to the ruins of future-Idyllshire... Then we just beat him in the future (mechanic idea: We knock the Cenotaph over to KO him), climb back in and beat him in the present... Ozma gives me a lot of hope for such mechanics, hurry up and disappoint me, SE...

We can hope, but we both know how much SE likes their regular arenas... The battles in Midas and Mhach do suggest they've finally started thinking outside the box a bit though. Will have to wait and see.

I do agree that the Cenotaph is likely to have a role in the final battle though. Something about it just feels like a dramatic set-piece to come crashing down. Its positioning directly opposite Alexander down the river is also very suspect.