Predictions for 5.3?

[Riastrad]

More likely it will be a reference to the parasite come to be known as Jenova in Final Fantasy VII. If you did the side content involving Aeris's mom in the original game, you know that this parasite was referred to by the Cetra as, "The Calamity from the Sky."

What this parasite did was take over life on the planet, eventually consuming and mutating a Cetra known as Jenova, giving her the will to dominate the planet.

Which I mean, in itself was a call back to Chrono Trigger with Lavos dominating Queen Zeal's will, but even with the advent of the Black Omen, she did not take over the planet or even adjust history really.

We gotta consider that when Zodiark went up against Hydaelyn, the planet got fractured on the space/time level, splitting into 14 separate instances of the same reality. No idea how a Lavos-like/Jenova-like would really play into that, beyond the initial calamity, given there's been no real sign of them this whole time.

Easy, Chrono Cross deals almost exclusively with alternate realities. Considering we supposedly (I almost doubt it) just altered our own timeline, and it was hand waived that the old timeline in which we died was simply cut off and set adrift, an entity like Lavos being the reason the fracture happened (which let us directly affect time) kind of fits a little too well. The best ending in Trigger leads directly into Cross. Lavos itself latched onto Schala in the Darkness beyond Time and began creating split realities to keep itself alive. Becoming the Dream/Time Devourer, a crystalline monster that had a young blonde woman in a white dress bound to it no less. Big hmm moment for me there when I saw the 3.2 patch art.



I don't trust Hydaelyn or the narrative that the Ascians are pushing. I think a parasite has literally wrapped its claws around the very weapons used to stop it. It's just a matter of time till we need to address that issue.





Forgive me the pictures. I don't like having to add so many, but I really needed the visual aids.

[Nestama]

With Crystal Tower being made to be required to do ShB's and the Trial being something we won't predict... I have a hunch it's gonna be Cloud of Darkness (assuming we're gonna be going through the World of Darkness to get the Scions back to the Source).

[Vyrerus]

snip

It's not that I don't like it. I just don't think that's the direction things are going to head. Though I've been wrong before.

Also though, the thing about Schala and Lavos and Chrono Cross and the reason I say that I don't know how Lavos would fit in with the world split is because the world was physically and aetherially split. If something like Lavos is in on this, it was Hydaelyn who caused the split, and therefore Lavos-like entity is also split and unable to enact its will. I guess that might cover why it hasn't reared its ugly head, but I still think they'll keep it to Final Fantasy references when it comes to MSQ.

I appreciate at the art, but while they seem similar on a visual level, Minfilia's predicament was quite different from Schala's. For one, she was absorbed by Hydaelyn, the supposed good in the story, not the bad. Second, she didn't really have amazing magical ability or anything special about her beyond diplomatic leverage enhanced by The Echo. Schala was taken in by Lavos due to her amazing magical potential, as she was the only one who could summon him to the surface using the Mammon Machine. Queen Zeal was unable to do that. Minfilia was taken by Hydaelyn as an act of desperation, and received her powers after the fact.

I do really like the comparisons you made, it is food for thought.

[Fenral]

With Crystal Tower being made to be required to do ShB's and the Trial being something we won't predict... I have a hunch it's gonna be Cloud of Darkness (assuming we're gonna be going through the World of Darkness to get the Scions back to the Source).

It's worth noting that Doga and Unei had monster forms in FF3 that we didn't get to fight (in FFXIV), but they would make perfect voidsent considering where we saw them last. That would allow us to physically fight some of the Exarch's baggage (justifying his place on the patch art) without, you know, having to physically fight the Exarch, who could easily pull the stunt that FF3!Doga and FF3!Unei pulled.

[Lauront]

It's not that I don't like it. I just don't think that's the direction things are going to head. Though I've been wrong before.

Also though, the thing about Schala and Lavos and Chrono Cross and the reason I say that I don't know how Lavos would fit in with the world split is because the world was physically and aetherially split. If something like Lavos is in on this, it was Hydaelyn who caused the split, and therefore Lavos-like entity is also split and unable to enact its will. I guess that might cover why it hasn't reared its ugly head, but I still think they'll keep it to Final Fantasy references when it comes to MSQ.

Bear in mind there is another precedent in the story, of an alien interloper, i.e. the High Seraph, and she was imprisoned in a pocket plane. Something similar could have happened to entity causing the whole situation, particularly if e.g. the 14th used their power to seal it away for that to be possible. That would explain it being missing in action and thus not sundered.

Although it's not yet clear if they're going to take the two primals in that direction, I think the parallels Riastrad noted are pretty intriguing and would be a cool reference to run with... and if it co-opted Hydaelyn somehow, it wouldn't even need to be sealed away for that to work.

oh, speaking of the patch art...

Yeah, it was also covered in some interviews (translations sourced from here):

Famitsu: The patch artwork has a man in a white robe and a man who looks like a warrior. Are they the key characters of the story?

Yoshida: Just like the patch artwork suggests, they express light, darkness and the arbitrator. Maybe the crystal in the background will be important later.

... and

Dengeki: Is that so. How was the order placed for patch 5.2's artwork? Elidibus in the middle draws my attention.

Yoshida: To be honest,it's particularly hard to discuss that question right now, because we asked for this artwork with the plot of 5.3 in mind (bitter smile).

If you experience all the way up to the end of patch 5.3's story and look back at this artwork, you would probably think "Oh, i see now" and be satisfied.(edited)

If i explain what's going on right now, Elidibus calls himself the arbitrator right? If you look at the artwork, he is standing between the warrior of light and the warrior of darkness, with his Ascian emblem showing in front of his mask. Which allows you to assume he is trying, at least now, to play his role as the arbitrator. Why is it written on top of the crystal is a question that won't be truly answered until you reach patch 5.3 and i would be happy if players imagined the meaning after 5.2.

During all of what's going on in 5.2, you will be approaching Elidibus as a person and i'm presuming players will be quite shocked after finding out about what he has to say. We went into detail to connect the dots in the story, so the MSQ will be very long.

I was just re-doing Amaurot and what Emet said earlier made me think:
"Do you honestly believe that half your number would sacrifice themselves to save the other? No, of course they wouldn't!"

But would they if they thought it was heroic? Isn't that what heroes do?

It's what the WoL's did - we just told them as much. They sacrificed themselves, and then again in order to save their star. I'm not sure how a fight might go down between us and the WoLs, but Elidibus might not need to convince them to fight against us directly, just using them indirectly as fuel for whatever cause he tricks them into believing.

It probably hasn't sunk into their minds yet that adventuring can be quite dangerous business. In fact, I bet that could be something the dungeon may touch upon.

[Iscah]

With Crystal Tower being made to be required to do ShB's and the Trial being something we won't predict... I have a hunch it's gonna be Cloud of Darkness (assuming we're gonna be going through the World of Darkness to get the Scions back to the Source).

Oh, that's a cool thought! I was trying to think through what else relies on completion of the Crystal Tower, besides G'raha's current state, and yeah. Simply having access to the World of Darkess is a big thing, assuming we can still get there. It looked like the gate closed off when we escaped, but maybe the Exarch can get it open again. Or young G'raha for that matter...

It's worth noting that Doga and Unei had monster forms in FF3 that we didn't get to fight (in FFXIV), but they would make perfect voidsent considering where we saw them last. That would allow us to physically fight some of the Exarch's baggage (justifying his place on the patch art) without, you know, having to physically fight the Exarch, who could easily pull the stunt that FF3!Doga and FF3!Unei pulled.

I really need to play FF3 for context at this point. I had the DS version at one point but I never got far with it, and then I decided to have a clearout of games I wasn't playing...

And yeah, even only being familiar with the FFXIV take on it, Unei and Doga stand out as fairly likely to show up if we're actually building on the CT plot now. There's one variable line in Shadowbringers where the Exarch talks about "sacrifices yet unmade" in the default script but drops the "unmade" bit if you've completed CT, so he must be specifically referring to them.

[LalafellDown]

The rejoining will never happen because all our quests/dailies are on the first.

[Vyrerus]

It's worth noting that Doga and Unei had monster forms in FF3 that we didn't get to fight (in FFXIV), but they would make perfect voidsent considering where we saw them last. That would allow us to physically fight some of the Exarch's baggage (justifying his place on the patch art) without, you know, having to physically fight the Exarch, who could easily pull the stunt that FF3!Doga and FF3!Unei pulled.

They didn't just have monster forms, they were monsters. Part of Xande's motivation for becoming villainous was that their mentor gave him the "gift" of turning him human/mortal. This resulted in him wanting to siphon the Crystals' energy so that time would freeze for most all of the world, allowing him to technically never die. When they assume those forms to fight you, those are their true forms.

[Riastrad]

It's not that I don't like it. I just don't think that's the direction things are going to head. Though I've been wrong before.

It is a bit out there I know. I just find it odd to see FF8 references and not also look at the other RPG that came out earlier the same year by the same publisher. Cross was not well received by some but the previous title Trigger was much beloved. Throw in the reality hopping story with a bit of time travel and I just can't help myself.

It most likely is just coincidence, but I would truely lose my mind if it were correct.

[Fenral]

Technically a day late thanks to time zones, but I just realized what day it is. Happy 30th birthday, FFIII.