Patch 3.4 - Soul Surrender

[Cilia]

So, I've been reading this forum for ages, but I finally decided to enable my account on here so I could post this. Watching the 3.4 trailer, I managed to pause and catch a glimpse at who it is Darklander has chained up. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the implications. It's Derplander.

I took a screencap. Look at his hair. And think about the outline of the armor. It's very much the set Derplander wears post change to DRG, just sans the helmet.

I noticed (and welcome to the board!). Disappointed we won't get to beat in Darklander's smug prick face yet, but it'll make it feel that much better when we finally do.

The Warrior of Light - slayer of false gods and demon dragons, regularly reduced to a chump in cutscenes. Our hero, folks!

Well, given that he's generally the stand-in for Players, then that would mean that the one the Darklander chains up in the story is...us?
Hooray for the mighty Warrior of Light, Slayer of Gods and Finder of Truths, being reduced to a helpless damsel in story cutscenes once again!

Dammit, is it really that hard to animate us doing anything really cool in these cutscenes? Must we always sit back and have everyone else do stuff for us?

Every class fights very differently, so... kinda? They'd have to animate a different scene for every class, unless they just had us jumping backward after a gameplay fight against Darklander... that would be just as disappointing, in my opinion. (And don't forget you can rewatch cutscenes at the Inn on any class - even Crafting and Gathering ones.)

... I mean, we did fight a sky whale by harpooning and chaining it to a floating island we were riding on and then jumping on his back and beating the shit outta him... that's cool enough for me...

[DarthSanguine]

Okay, Nybeth Obdilord being the Floor 100 boss of Palace of the Dead just seems more likely now... unless the colour of the robe is all a coincidence.

No. It's a Final Fantasy game, so more likely it's Scarmiglione from FF4. Especially with the cloak being in tatters like it is.

[Alberel]

No. It's a Final Fantasy game, so more likely it's Scarmiglione from FF4. Especially with the cloak being in tatters like it is.

The Palace of the Dead is a direct reference to the same place with the same mechanical concept in Tactics Ogre though, of which Nybeth is the final boss. We've already had a number of Tactics Ogre crossovers in various forms so this would be no different really.

[WhiteArchmage]

It may be a Final Fantasy game but The Palace of the Dead IS the name of the Deep Dungeon in Tactics Ogre, and Nybeth is a figure especially tied to the PotD, it's not such a large leap to imagine a character inspired by him to show up, especially when it screams "Necromancer!"

As for Alexander, it seems we're actually going to fight THE ROBOT HIMSELF?!?! That's equal parts awesome and terrifying...

[Moomba33]

Looks like Garuda is an add instead of a dungeon boss....I guess that's a bit better than her being the focus of another fight.

I'm not fond of the Warriors of Darkness as a plot point and I've been hoping they would fall before 4.0. Looks like we won't be taking them out in this patch sadly.

[PArcher]

Garuda appears to have the same role she did in Ultima; a psuedo-summon just to use a wind-based attack. Doubt she's an actual add.


As for that one specific line...I don't know if it is Uriengeir (butchered spelling!) saying it; it sounds like someone else (who I can't put my finger on right now), unless they changed his VA again. Time to go cutscene-diving.

[Mieck]

So, now we have the trailer and a bit of dialogue, I suppose it will go something like this;

Darklander and co have their own crystals to capture the aether released when a primal dies. Instead of it going back to Hydaelyn, they're intercepting it for Zodiark. Hence the Ravana fight in 2.1. Hence Ifrit, Titan, and Garuda (briefly) showing up in Xelphatol.

Or... they're using it to power up the Heart of Sabik

[myahele]

Sudden thought: maybe Sophia is the result of the Meracydians trying to summon Hydaelin...

Maybe not Hydaelyn, but what about Meracydia's interpretation of Azeyma at the time, instead? A bit of a stretch, but here goes:
1.Azeyma temple of Qarn had Scale and in Sophia's battle she has a scale and talks her lyrics mention balance and equilibrium

2. Speaking of balance, the AST balance card is that of Azeyma:

which looks very similar to Sophias artwork

and the "wings" that the head has.
Additionally, real-life depiction of Goddess sophia depicts her as having a scepter or fan? (similar to The Warden boss of Qarn) and a Rose (of which Azeyma hasa rose named after her)

3. The Orb Sophia has can double as Azeyma's sun symbol as well as her "Halo"

So those adds we see could very well be Meracydians that once worshiped her. Even the sun deity in Au Ra (Azim) mythology is hinted by Oda-san to be Azeyma. Lastly even Azeyma is based on the arabic(?) word of Azim

I doubt we'll get any info until the Lore book is out though.

[Dualblade]

So...are the Warriors of Darkness the same as people as in the trailer, or is it just a coincidence they look the same?

Its been pointed out that a VERY short cut is show of a shadow'd character in Dragoon armor is caught be Edgelander's chains. This is all but certainly Derplander, with the briefness being so they don't have to deal with Derp and Edge being the same person...for now. Personally I'm still all on the "alternate dimension" explanation.

On PotD and Tactics Ogre in general. I haven't played the game, but there are quite a few references to it now here in this game, with atleast one back in 2.x series as well. PotD IS a dungeon in that game, and Nybeth looks very similar to the person they showed here. He apparently also turns into a Lich for the 100 floor boss fight, from what I read. As well, there are apparently 150 floors in the Ogre version...so look forward to that in the future!

[Fenral]

As for that one specific line...I don't know if it is Uriengeir (butchered spelling!) saying it; it sounds like someone else (who I can't put my finger on right now), unless they changed his VA again. Time to go cutscene-diving.

Which line? "He who holds fast to his convictions..."? His Japanese VA is still very distinctly KENN, so I can say that's Urianger saying it. Mini transcript time!

貴方も闇の戦士の仲間なのか
You, too, are an ally of the Warriors of Darkness?

そもそも裏切りとは、信じたものを破ればこそ
It is only called betrayal if you destroy something you believed in to begin with.

OUCH BURN. Someone didn't take Moenbryda's death too well. On the bright side, it leaves open the possibility that there is something he believes in (as in the English), but we don't actually have any real proof that these lines are from the same scene. He could be addressing someone else (Eldibus?) in a completely different context.