3.5/4.0 Speculation & Discussion (Spoilers)

[Anonymoose]

I don't necessarily mind the Zeno villain thing but I am a bit bummed Regula sounds like he is going to go out in a relatively minor role.

Ever since we saw VIth Legion and some subtle Kefka homages, I've been prepping myself for him to get offed in 3.5. The FFVI stuff is all very tied to the floating continent, and Kefka references tend to have a certain ... directionality. It wouldn't surprise me at all of he gets a dramatic exit soon.

I still hope we will see more moderate Garleans.

One day we'll get our Larsa, I'm sure. At this point, wishing ill for the entire Empire is wishing for two continents to be thrown into upheaval. We and the Garleans share a common goal: the salvation of the world. It's everything about how to achieve that goal that we disagree on. But the Empire has been heading down the same path as Allag, and are making some of the same mistakes. We need only purge certain factions and points of view to make peace with the Garleans ... after a satisfying conflict, I hope. I mean, I'm lukewarm excited for our "Larsa", and all, but what about our "Vayne"? I've been so focused on my high hopes for Elidibus as one of the apex antagonists that I've barely considered it!

What Yoshi-P said about Zenos being a completely unsympathetic character seems to contradict what was said at Fanfest, that we'd see a much more nuanced side to Garlean occupation once we see it for ourselves, instead of through the biased filter of the Resistance. Personally I hope it's going to be both and also directly tied to the fallout of that vicious civil war Garlemald just had.

I get the feeling that it's going to be both. The Griffin has already been establishing that Ala Mhigo's new viceroy is a brute compared even to Gaius van Baelsar, but at the same government views tend to vary much more than populous views. Most people just want stability and opportunities to thrive, and some people will surely be afraid that handing control of the nation over to a resistance that's done nothing but fight and run for two decades (and ousted the King of Ruin at that) is a horrible idea, no matter how bad Zenos is. Sometimes the regime is all that needs to change. Sometimes attempting regime change does more harm that good. I can think of some real-world relevance...

Regarding the teaser trailer, Yoshi-P said "Players who have been following the scenario from 1.0 will notice that something is 'off'". My favourite theory on this one comes from Reddit, which is that because the Derplander seems to have aged again we're about to see another time-skip

Sounds like seven hells of risk! I mean, having a concrete definition of "Okay, this story is in THIS year, this story is in THIS year" will be a huge boon to certain aspects of the game experience (like not being asked what year it is every three to twelve days). And there are a ton of ways to do some really fun stuff with it.

On the other hand, the bubble was put in place for reasons. We can't just go back in time when we teleport west of Ala Mhigo, so I assume time would move everywhere. That means we'll have to maintain the timeline archives much better than we have been to ensure things don't get crazy. Imagine if 4.0 starts and the Battle of Silvertear Skies was now 16 years ago? Eep!

And that's not to mention all of the RP timelines it's going to uproot ... and just after they got hit with the Encyclopædia meteor! LOL

But aside from some issues with flow and trope, they've done great with such decisions in the past. I'm sure it'll (mostly) work out fine, either way.