Your favorite cutscenes? (SPOILERS)

[Super_Bee_Brian]

Mine are the following...

The ending of A Realm Reborn when Merlwyb, Kan-E-Senna, and Raubahn shouted in synchrony "A REALM REBORN!"

Any and every encounter with the Warriors of Darkness, including the very first one where they showed the leader of them on the moon.

Ending of Stormblood when you defeat Shinryu. And then Lyse and the others began singing the Ala Mhigo anthem. I adore the part where Lyse slowly raised her hand when the song went "Raise up your hands and voices".

What about you?

[Heliantheae]

The scene leading up to Final Steps. That slow walk up to Nidhogg was top.

Every scene of the last Hildebrand storyline in HW. With the old heroes and Gigi. It was very heartwarming. And one of the scenes in the ARR storyline where he made the mother and daughter laugh together. And the beach episode with the bombs. It was the most slapsticky of all the scenes.

[HyoMinPark]

The DRK Level 50 cutscenes and the level 70 cutscenes. Both are amazing, and I love the personal connection and touch they give to our player character.

Patch 3.3 cutscenes leading up to and directly after the trial Final Steps Of Faith. Nothing is more epic than walking up to Nidhogg, and the scene after with the ghostly images of two friends we’ve lost gets me every time.

The scene in the Axim Steppe where Gosetsu talks about death and the soul.
The scene with Hien and Gosetsu before you storm Doma Castle the next day.
The scene directly after Doma Castle.

Those are my favorite scenes in the MSQ, I think.

[Pastel_Orchid]

Ending of Stormblood when you defeat Shinryu. And then Lyse and the others began singing the Ala Mhigo anthem. I adore the part where Lyse slowly raised her hand when the song went "Raise up your hands and voices".

Same, I really enjoyed this scene. Got me all up in my feelings.

[ChaoticCrimson]

The DRK Level 50 cutscenes and the level 70 cutscenes. Both are amazing, and I love the personal connection and touch they give to our player character.

Patch 3.3 cutscenes leading up to and directly after the trial Final Steps Of Faith. Nothing is more epic than walking up to Nidhogg, and the scene after with the ghostly images of two friends we’ve lost gets me every time.

The scene in the Axim Steppe where Gosetsu talks about death and the soul.
The scene with Hien and Gosetsu before you storm Doma Castle the next day.
The scene directly after Doma Castle.

Those are my favorite scenes in the MSQ, I think.

I think you've listed most of my faves here. I'll also add in the camping scene in the Churning Mists to my list.

[MisterSpamtastic]

i tend to appreciate the more comedic ones. most hildibrand, the last kobold beast tribe one, i think it was the level 50 goldsmith one that had me giggling, level 70 ninja, the warrior job quest "curious gorge meets his match", anything that involves tataru's carby and quite a few others. wish i could think of more off the top of my head.

[Bonbori]

I could say "every single Hildibrand cutscene" but that would be cheating XD

As far as the sub-god-league cutscenes go, I think a lot of my favourites are from DoH questlines, just because the stories are always so fun yet so down-to-earth compared to the rest of the game. "You're competing in a gourmet contest", "you're helping a debutante geiko market international fashions in Hingashi", "you're making weapons for a child competing in tourneys to become a knight", and so on. Starting mostly from HW, many of those stories feel very personal and I've gotten a lot more attached to their characters than in any other arks. Probably owing to how mundane and relatable those characters and their problems are, and on top that, the way that hand-made products are woven (sometimes in amusingly contrived ways) into the narrative makes it so personal and romantic!
Thanks to all of that, the conclusions of DoH questlines usually end up feeling very emotional and satisfying, with all the pieces falling into place and the feeling that... hey! I made all those things and they improved someone's life! And now I get to see them realising their dreams and/or realising something about themselves that they were oblivious to. AND I DIDN'T HAVE TO KILL ANYONE TO DO IT! What a revolutionary idea in an RPG!

Anyways, I think the ones that stood out to me specifically were...

The conclusion of the lvl 60 Culinarian questline.

That whole story, from start to finish, was like something straight out of Shokugeki no Souma XD From being pulled into the whole gourmet contest thing, to then escalating into a personal rivalry and raising the stakes, learning things about the opponent, affirming that food is wonderful, and eventually arriving here...

...followed by reconciling with the knocked-down-a-peg and newly-reformed rival and ending on a note celebrating good food made with care and passion.

Yep, someone at SE was a huge fan of Shokugeki XD They got everything right, down to every single conversation making me hungry.

The conclusion of the lvl 70 Blacksmith questline.

A Hingan girl comes out of nowhere and demands to become apprentice at the guild, and the guildmaster has no idea how to deal with that. She's a tsundere, he's... an even bigger tsundere and relationship slowly progress throughout the questline, with family drama entering the mix halfway through, as you try to teach and learn new smithing techniques while secretly shipping the lovebirds.

It comes to a close with this...

...and cue the dad...

...and cue me...


Brithael's reaction of course took the cake and I died laughing XD

The conclusion of the lvl 50 Armourer questline...oh gosh...

Most of the Armourer line revolves around the conflict between stagnancy and adaptability as well as inclusivity versus exclusivity, personified by a contest of ideals between the guildmaster and a veteran guildie, and a contest of skill between you and said guildie. While I didn't find the storyline terribly touching, the ending makes it ALL worth it.

The final task involves submitting the contest entries to a field-test performed on live subjects (ie: soldiers wearing your armour). Cue Merlwyb ordering a group of soldiers to hack at said subjects with axes, much to everyone's horror... and then cue Merlwyb again:


It was then that I stopped denying my Merlwyb girl-crush.

There's a lot more like the lvl 70 Weaver conclusion, lvl 50 Culinarian, lvl 70 Alchemist (feels ,_,), lvl 60 Blacksmith, lvl 60 Leatherworker... and a lot of the SB Leatherworker ones just because the questline involved Atelloune, and more. But... I would be here all day if I tried to outline all of them. I generally love both the technical quality of DoH questline finales and the personal investment that enhances them.

My non-DoH favourites would probably be... everything involving my husbando, Nero, especially THIS gem from the beginning of Omega...

...and... the feels-bomb at the end of The Vault where you-know-what happens and puts my heart through the blender and then peels onions over it ;-;

Oh! And of course, every time Zenos kicks WoL's butt. At that point in the story I genuinely felt that the power fantasy had to come down a peg or ten, and that managed to accomplish that nicely. It showed that despite the hype people shower upon us, the WoL is still mortal, still vulnerable, still not omnipotent and that everyone should remember that fact and maybe next time should like... not rely on her to solve all the problems in the world?

On that note, an honourable mention goes to all cutscenes that give me the choice to complain about being expected to do everything, or the ones that ask me for my opinion and I actually get to answer. "Sorry Alphy, it's not my fight", "So when do I get paid?"
Although those choices are just cosmetic and they don't affect the story in any way, I definitely appreciate them becoming more prevalent and I hope that this trend continues and that characters remember my choices and at least reference them when appropriate. I love it and I hope for more of it.

[Super_Bee_Brian]

i think it was the level 50 goldsmith one that had me giggling,

Wait WHAT?? Wasn't that the quest where Gigi got damaged and you had to repair him? How's that funny?

[Enkidoh]

There's far too many to list in full, but these are probably the ones right up there top (from 1.0 onwards right through to Stormblood):

1.0
The original Gridanian starting scene with Papalymo and real!Yda's introduction
Ifrit's original summoning and the player's Path Companion trying to reason with them ("Oh, when I get a hold of those sylphs!")
Gaius's original introduction where he faces down the entire Circle of Knowing....

ARR:

Lahabrea casting Ultima and trashing the Praetorium and the scene directly after that precedes the second stage Ultima Weapon fight.
Ysyale as 'Lady Iceheart' turning herself into Shiva
Midgardsormr sealing the Crystals of Light
Moenbrdya sacrificing herself to destroy Nabrieles for good
The whole 'bloody banquet' in Ul'dah... need I say any more?

Heavensward

Ysayle and Estinien warily begining to tolerate and accept each other in the Churning Mists
Hauchefant's brave death after the Vault, and Edmont finally breaking down afterwards in grief
The Enterprise Excelsior's arrival at Azys Lla
Lahabrea realizing too late Thordan played him for a fool, and becomes a tasty aetheric snack for a Primal
The peace ceremony between Ishgard and dragonkind at Falcon's Nest, and Nidhogg wearing his new Estinien-suit throwing a spanner in the works
The battle for Ishgard on the Final Steps of Faith
Evil!Derplander and his party's showdown with the player, Alphinaud and Alisaie in Zan'rak, and Urianger revealing he played the WoD like a fiddle
The battle for Baelsar's Wall and Ilberd's last defiant act of suicide to summon Shinryu

Stormblood

Zenos's attack on Rhalgr's Reach and cutting the player down to size, and our equally misguided attempt at a rematch later in Yanxia which ended up pretty much the same result
The battle for Doma Castle, and Gosetsu showing what an utter hardass he is
The fall of Castellum Velodyna to the Resistance (the look of sheer disbelief and horror on Fordola's face when she saw the flag change was priceless!)
Everything involving the attack on Specula Impetorius and Castrum Abania, especially when the cannon fires and when Estinien takes the Garleans completely by surprise.
Hell, EVERYTHING involving the battle for Ala Mhigo, but especially the scenes where the front gates fall and the beginning of the actual dungeon, and of course, the battle against Zenos and Shinryu in the Royal Menegarie, and the ending where the Resistance sings The Measure of His Reach.

[Rowde]

I tend to remember the comical ones more clearly.

So just about anything Manderville, some standout DoH/DoL moments, and Allied Beast Tribe Quests come to mind...

Though tbh... there was only one scene that I ever felt possessed to record... which was the climax scene of the Vanu BST tribe. So I guess if I were to pick one that would be it.