Revelations from Patch 5.2

[Fenral]

First! (below spoiler tag is real, please don't click it Moose)

MSQ

"Echoes of a Fallen Star," or, "Falling Stars Cause the Echo." Wait, huh?

Last patch was a little slow, but this one properly feels like it's setting up an endgame, either for Shadowbringers or Final Fantasy XIV itself. We still got the requisite victory lap through previous MSQ locales, but also, so much cleanup.

The Echo is a power ultimately stemming from the originals, and Hydaelyn merely grants it by awakening a soul's memory of The End, strictly for the sake of granting Hy-Fi access. Hythlodaeus is not Hydaelyn, similar names notwithstanding, but is probably the defector from the 14, and the actual core is the newly-introduced Venat. Weird time to throw a new name on the pile, but also what a name to pick, considering she was the primary antagonist and final boss of FFXII (albeit somewhat indirectly, thanks to the fusion dance).

Also, Elidibus was (probably) sacrificed body and soul to become the core of Zodiark. This is in line with their FFT connection, but also: WHAT? More questions than answers here. And who's this other white Ascian(?) then?

It took 4 hours of questing, but I was relieved to see that Exarch's character development isn't being completely disregarded. His "stake in the outcome" is worded more literally in the Japanese dialogue as pertaining to "his wish," which last we checked was to be able to go on adventures with his hero. Still no idea how he plans to pull that off, and I still think there's room for one last wrench in that plan, but it sounds like he's actually including himself in the big picture, for once. As long as the writers don't have some last-minute hookup with his granddaughter planned for the next patch, anyway...

Lastly, huge shout out to the cutscene team for that last scene at the Pendants. Water that pours, actors playing with little loose bits of the set. And that apple! It was directed like a live-action piece, even though the amount of work required would be exponential for an in-engine game cutscene. I'll need to go back and see the other variants as well, once I've finished the other Role quests.

More in later posts probably. Now I have to go to work.