Ishgard the most messed up area?

[Edax]

I mean, the Garlean Empire has pretty clear historical roots as well. It's a reference to the Roman Empire, specifically: republic turned empire under one man's rise to prominence, tendency to subjugate large swaths of territory and a generally condescending attitude to their populaces, even as they recruit large numbers of them to serve their military, and so on. Heck, the more recent patch's revelations hint at the idea that there is a cultic view of the Emperor, driving near outright worship. Not to mention the other similarities to other tyrannical regimes in the past.

And yes, the armor is ornate and over the top and doesn't make a lick of sense in terms of real world armor, but the same can be said about pretty much every major group in the game. Aymeric wouldn't have any easier of a time relieving himself in that outfit he always seems to be wearing.

Note that this doesn't mean I don't appreciate the historical roots of Ishgard's portrayal; I think they did an excellent job with that. But the Garlean Empire has similar historical roots; their questionable portrayal at times lies more with how they're presented at certain points than their historicity or lack thereof.

The Garlean Empire has their founding origin from being outcasts. Carthage has such an origin since they were founded by the survivors of Troy, but Rome has no such origins. The Roman Empire (the first one) weren't really revanchists either. And given how we learn that the Garlemald was founded by a cultist Ascian who abandoned it to cause chaos for the "evilz", they seem more like fantasy bad guys then having any historical inspiration. I guess the United States has some origins with outcasts given the Puritans were escaping persecution and founded Boston, but their story pretty much disappears before the Revolution. How many cults have formed Empires in history? I can't think of any.

Yeah, I don't like Aymeric's armor either, it's so bulky and large and he still got taken out by a kitchen knife. Right through where the thickest part of the armor should be. I was laughing so hard when that happened.

[Seraph522]

The Garlean Empire has their founding origin from being outcasts. Carthage has such an origin since they were founded by the survivors of Troy, but Rome has no such origins. The Roman Empire (the first one) weren't really revanchists either. And given how we learn that the Garlemald was founded by a cultist Ascian who abandoned it to cause chaos for the "evilz", they seem more like fantasy bad guys then having any historical inspiration. How many cults have formed Empires in history? I can't think of any.

Didn't stop the Romans from trying to present themselves as descended from outcasts - that's the point of The Aeneid. And mostly the developers are probably cherry-picking elements of the Augustan era, which did have the Imperial cult, though that was not anything new by any means. Of course, the Ascians as a whole are Nebulous Evil Cult Organization #2,798; I care less about them as characters (aside from maybe Elidibus and Solus) and more about their lore implications.

Yeah, I don't like Aymeric's armor either, it's so bulky and large and he still got taken out by a kitchen knife. I was laughing so hard when that happened.

That kitchen knife was totally armor-piercing, there was nothing that could stop that. /s

[kikix12]

Yeah, I don't like Aymeric's armor either, it's so bulky and large and he still got taken out by a kitchen knife. Right through where the thickest part of the armor should be.

Stomach is not where the thickest part of armor should be and kitchen knife is better against armored opponents than a sword is. In real life there is no such thing as damage numbers so a kitchen knife is as much a one-hit-kill of a weapon as a sword, gun or cannon. If it hits the vitals, that is.

And stomach not only is not one of the critical vitals (you can die rather easily from being pierced in certain depth and parts of it, but not all), but it also requires more mobility than the rest of the body. A thick armor on the stomach means you cannot move. Like, literally. Heavy jousting armors were stiff on the stomach, and the knights couldn't even get up on their own once they fell off the horse (onto which they couldn't get without help either).
If you'll look at this armor, you'll notice that around the area that Aymeric was pierced the armor is actually divided into the top and bottom, with the bottom being a sort of plate skirt. If you have the opportunity to stick something between the bottom and top, you can very much hurt the person.
Of course...if your weapon can pierce the chain mail that is traditionally worn under plate armor, but we don't know whether Aymeric wears it too.

Ultimately a kitchen knife is better to deal with a heavily armored enemy than a sword...but in reality...you're not likely to kill anyone with either. Attacking around the neck where it's easiest to slide past the multiple layers of armor is your best bet...or just use blunt weapon. So if we accept suspension of belief as for why arrows can kill heavily armored enemies...a dagger is the least problem here.