3.5/4.0 Speculation & Discussion (Spoilers)

[Theodric]

-snip-

I'm a huge fan of FFXII (tied with IX as being my favourite out of the main titles and Vagrant Story/FF Tactics for the sake of more wonderful Ivalice intrigue). I'm reluctant to consider Lucia or Cid as anything near to Larsa in terms of attitude or depth. A lot of Larsa's charm, in my opinion, was down to him not defecting and turning against his homeland or his people. He merely turned against the bad apples (which happened to be his own brother along with the more ruthless Judges/soldiers).

He worked alongside the game's protagonists but he also worked alongside the game's antagonists (some of whom were actually protagonists as well - such as Drace and Gabranth) for the betterment of not only Archades but Dalmasca and the surrounding regions too.

Neither Cid or Lucia boast any of that depth as far as I'm concerned. They no longer have any stakes in Garlemald - they've turned their backs upon it and their people.

In addition to the Garlean stuff, though, let's not forget that 3.5 will be the closing chapter in the Mhach storyline. I've loved the first two raids in the series so I'm looking forward to the finale which should be equally as eerily beautiful. I think it's a fair bet to suggest that Ferdiad and Diabolos are going to be dealt with there. I do wonder where the next chapter will be set though.

On Estinien...I like that they recognise his need for further development before he can join the Scions. At the same time I think a lot of his core charm is in his current attitude. Some characters are just loners - and a diverse, varied cast that may cause conflict for one another when certain combinations of characters are around strikes me as more fun than them all getting along happily and adoring each other's presence.