Revelations from Patch 3.56

[Theodric]

I have to say that I feel like it was a disappointing end to the expansion. Where are the nuances? Eorzea has shifted into the role of the aggressor against Garlemald and I don't feel as though there's a good enough reason to take the fight to them at the moment. Nero having turned his back upon Garlemald completely leaves him as little more than a smarmier version of Cid. I just don't understand why characters on the 'other side' of conflicts but with legitimate, sympathetic reasons to oppose the Warrior of Light and Scions are killed off. The Warriors of Darkness, Regula Van Hydrus...the list goes on.

No attempt at diplomacy was made. Nobody brought up Regula's sacrifice even though his storyline really should be considered to be an extension of the MSQ's given how relevant it is to the game's story moving forward. I just don't get it - the lore book took the time to flesh out Garlemald as more than just a generic 'evil empire' and one can even argue that the Garleans were dealt a very poor hand, being unable to wield aether in most cases and being driven out of fertile lands in favour of living in a dangerous wasteland. They sought to survive, eventually becoming defiant and embracing magitek and military might out of necessity.

That doesn't excuse all of their actions, of course. Yet Ala Mhigo picked fights to prove it was stronger and because it wanted to conquer for the sake of conquering. As misguided as Garlemald's intentions may be at least they try and bring forth order and stability. The fight scene between Shinryu and Omega was pretty neat - we already know that Omega is going to be fight in the expansion and I have a feeling that Shinryu will be as well. The lack of a 'Steps of Faith' or 'Nabriales' for the patch was disappointing, though - we did get a duty but it was pretty lacking. Blowing up a goofy looking Roegadyn that felt like he should have been part of a Hildibrand quest didn't appeal to me. Nor did cutting through swathes of Garlean soldiers as if they were nothing. Can we least try to present Garlemald as a legitimate threat?

It's clear that stuff was cut. The Warring Triad storyline was going to be part of the MSQ's originally and as such would likely have been fully voice acted and referenced in future MSQ's. We were told that we'd learn more things from Midgardsormr about Silvertear but that hasn't been the case at all. I assume it has either been abandoned as a plot point or has been pushed into a future content patch. Zenos only showing up for a brief moment was a disappointment as well. In all fairness, he's the main antagonist of the upcoming expansion so he'll inevitably get his fair share of screentime.

Still, for me it all comes back to nuances. I really, really hope the Scions, Eorzean Alliance and Warrior of Light screw up badly by going to war with Garlemald since they'll be getting a lot of people killed and are, now, the aggressors. I hope this is highlighted and that Regula's sacrifice - or the existence of moral complexities within Garlemald isn't going to be ignored. Eorzea has a troubled history and a track record of treating its own inhabitants like dirt. Even after Ishgard's and Ul'dah's 'change' there's still people starving in the streets, inequality and xenophobia. It's understandable - that sort of thing isn't going away and sometimes isn't completely without justifications.

I guess I'll reserve my full judgement for the expansion itself. I just hope they truly do make an improvement over 3.0 for 4.0 just like 3.0 was a major step up from 2.0.