Revelations from Patch 5.3

[Aeliott]

MSQ 10 char

I'm satisfied. I know that there's so much hype in the moment, and then you can look back afterwards and it can feel hollow. But I'm not disappointed, just because there were no controversial deaths or whatever. Getting that confirmation that we were the 14th was really satisfying. It was great seeing Hythlodaeus again. I guess having the mystery stripped from Elidibus down to "he's basically a single-minded primal" may feel a let down. But if the real Elidibus was projecting, as the heart, what would that mean for Zodiark if slain? Dunno if original Elidibus is just dead now after their sacrifice to become the heart though....curiously in 5.2 Venat did mention being able to keep a form of her choosing after her sacrifice.

G'raha Tia joining the gang permanently is VERY exciting. I loved being able to support the Exarch in his final stand. When I realised the ancient that appeared in the trial was Emet Selch....wow, that was a shock to say the least. The dungeon was great too. Mechanically a bit meh (trash packs are trash packs), but it felt like a dungeon worthy of the culmination it is, with so many of our friends showing up along the way such as the cardinal virtue guys (did anyone else spot the Hildibrand easter egg? )

Zenos is still Zenos...I am curious about Fandaniel though. Supposedly the unsundered Ascians were no more. Is he then not whole? Or did he just escape the others' notice? Why did he suggest Zenos's prey was Zodiark when he first appeared to him? And why is he so happy that the other Ascians are no more? Is he connected to the Final Days, despite claiming only second-hand knowledge of the event? Does he just want to watch the world burn? They make an unlikely duo...Zenos really doesn't seem to care what the ascian posing as his biggest fanboy does as long as he fights us again.

Still no particular hints about the next expansion, though Sharlayan was prominent in some ways.

[HamiltonCalder]

Main Scenario Quests reactions...

As Elidibus might say, "Correct on all counts." They definitely stuck the landing here.

Mystel girl is Chemist hint, almost for sure. I kinda wonder if they'll use time desync shenanigans between Source and First to bring her back all grown up as the actual job teaser in a future patch. That would probably be a nightmare for the other First NPCs though.

The cutscene in Dawn's Respite with the comatose Scions and Krile was excellently creepy. The low lighting really made the mood somber, which is something that we haven't been able to pull off in a while.

I love that they finally canonically gave the WoL an answer to the "Where did these seven other adventurers come from?" question. Have we always subconsciously been using Azem's power to conjure our friends forth from nothing for things like Susano or the Final Steps where they have no conceivable business being there?

That mothercrystal-flipping trial.

The post-trial scenes almost felt like a similar kind of victory lap as the post-Heavensward world tour quests, which are maybe my favorite line in the game. Great chance for the party members to get some development. Y'shtola winking at Runar gave me a good stroke, for example, and the bit with Seto made me go pet my dog.

Ryne hugging Thancred's gunblade before they left was low-key spectacular. Going back to the time-skip possibility, I wonder if we'll get like a teenage Ryne as a Gunbreaker at some point?

HW-outfit Alisae best Alisae. She's gonna get a dope outfit change in 6.0 and it's going to be fantastic.
I did kinda like how new G'raha is a combination of old boyish insecure G'raha and the Crystal Exarch.

Important and easy-to-miss post-MSQ lore tidbit that I enjoyed...

If you head into Dawn's Respite after everything, Urianger's dialogue features him speculating that the legends of Azem of the Convocation have been passed down and evolved into both Azeyma the Warden and Azim the Xaela Dawnfather, both of whom are representations of the Sun, like our soul crystal.

I would very much like a scene where we drop that lorebomb on Magnai, just to see.

The Sorrow of Werlyt...

So the new Legatus makes his appearance. Dope armor, and they definitely modeled that torso sweat with remarkably high fidelity.

Little switcheroo with the hair color, but that's fine. Rex was more interesting anyway. I'm also curious how Oversoul is intended to function given that the pilot's death is unavoidable by intention. Are we just not supposed to get big slime monsters?

So now we've been in four separate regions of Othard, by my count - the Burn, Dalmasca, Werlyt, and Gangos/Bozja. Feels like a new world map update with less cloudcover is due, right?

YoRHa...

Yoko Taro needs help, man. The bullet hell trash pulls were incredible.

[MikkoAkure]

The Sorrow of Werlyt...

So the new Legatus makes his appearance. Dope armor, and they definitely modeled that torso sweat with remarkably high fidelity.

Little switcheroo with the hair color, but that's fine. Rex was more interesting anyway. I'm also curious how Oversoul is intended to function given that the pilot's death is unavoidable by intention. Are we just not supposed to get big slime monsters?

So now we've been in four separate regions of Othard, by my count - the Burn, Dalmasca, Werlyt, and Gangos/Bozja. Feels like a new world map update with less cloudcover is due, right?

The legatus is... a lot that I did not expect to see this overt in a FF game. I feel like they went a little overboard on trying to make him be villainous and it's a problem the writing staff have had with the Garleans since the beginning.

As far as locations, two of those are not in Othard. Werlyt and Terncliff are in Ilsabard on the far western side, bordering Eorzea. Gangos and Bozja are on the far eastern side of Ilsabard, bordering Othard.

/ten char . . .

[HamiltonCalder]

The legatus is... a lot that I did not expect to see this overt in a FF game. I feel like they went a little overboard on trying to make him be villainous and it's a problem the writing staff have had with the Garleans since the beginning.

As far as locations, two of those are not in Othard. Werlyt and Terncliff are in Ilsabard on the far western side, bordering Eorzea. Gangos and Bozja are on the far eastern side of Ilsabard, bordering Othard.

/ten char . . .

Thanks, I meant

Islabard, not Othard

. Brain's a mess from content overload.

In my head Dalmasca and the Burn form the eastern border of Ilsabard, are they actually part of Othard?

[MikkoAkure]

Thanks, I meant

Islabard, not Othard

. Brain's a mess from content overload.

In my head Dalmasca and the Burn form the eastern border of Ilsabard, are they actually part of Othard?

Dalmasca is in Othard, but is probably culturally more tied to the rest of the western world due to the Golmore jungle, the Burn (also in Othard), and Nagxia being in between it and eastern Othard. The map that Fran uses in the Ivalice quests makes it much more clear.

[Lium]

MSQ. Haven't done Copied Factory or Werlyt yet.

I'm still processing everything, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were some moments where I legitimately got choked up. I did think they overdid the goodbyes a bit too much. Especially since the WoL can go to the First whenever he/she pleases. So, this isn't the last we'll be seeing of Ryne and Co. by a long shot. Hell, I'll be going there to do pixie dailies.

Loved Graha joining the Scions. Eager to see the role he plays.

I was a bit confused on the confirmation of us being the 14th, even after we got that crystal. Hythlodaeus made it sound like it was just something we could use, but after reading some of the posts in this thread, I can see now it was pretty obvious he was calling us Azem. (As an aside, if you talk to Urianger after the MSQ, he wonders if the name Azim from the Far East and other similar names in Eorzea all come from the name of the 14th member. Interesting!)

I like what they did with Elidibus. He was just a primal. Although that opens up many more questions. We know Zodiark is a primal. So primals can beget primals? Odd. I disagree with some of the people here wishing we had gotten more out of Elidibus and that his story was over too quickly. Many of you said yourselves after the defeat of Emet-Selch in the main MSQ, that Elidibus stood no chance in defeating a WoL who was now 8 times rejoined (after Ardbert). And that his plan to use other WoLs was destined to fail. You know who agreed with you? Emet-Selch. That's why he appeared during the trial. He helped us so we could put Elidibus out of his misery, that he wouldn't have to face this impossible task alone. There was precisely NO CHANCE Elidibus was EVER going to even come close to defeating Azem (us). I mean, zero percent chance. So, I don't get where everyone is coming from who wanted to see more from Elidibus. The guy was overmatched, and he even said so himself during the solo duty when he is taking our measure. "If I were to fight now, I'd struggle to beat you." That's what he said. Or something like that. So yeah, no chance.

As for Zenos and his companion, I'm not gonna lie. Facing them after this amazing journey on the First is a letdown. It could still be a great story but fighting Zenos again after wiping out three unsundered Ascians seems underwhelming, but we'll have to see what happens.

[Rosenstrauch]

The Shoebill

Found this guy just staring at me on my windowsill after 5.3. I wonder if this is the last we'll see of him.

[Fenral]

Caffeine is magic! I now feel like my thoughts are a little more organized than before.

MSQ, cont'd

So much of this patch felt like the writers were finally done with misdirection and know where they want to take the story.

We made you think the PC is the lost 14th? Well, that's because they are.

We made you think the Exarch wants to go back to the Source? Well, obviously he does, and we're not only going to tell you his plan right now, but also throw in some extra conflict for good measure.

Ultimately, it's that little bit of predictability that makes the unpredictable moments land. As the audience, being able to predict everything is no fun, but if you can't predict anything then it just starts to feel like they're making it up as they go. (Which they were before now, I guess...)

Speaking of unpredictable: Elidibus is a primal. Still feels like that word doesn't really mean what it used to, especially since the Japanese term still means "barbarian god" and he's anything but. That said, everything about his plan still clicks with what we know in the broader sense, so it works.

As Moose brought up in his post, having the Exarch finish Elidibus off with the Crystal Tower does, finally, put its "near-limitless energy" to that most obvious use that's been bugging people (me) ever since G'raha sealed the Tower away in the same patch that Moenbryda gave her life to kill Nabriales. It was apparently never the writers' original intention, but it's a hell of a saving throw.

I think this expansion is also our first net-positive as far as core Scions. ARR (2.0-2.5) burnt the organization to the ground, Heavensward (3.0-3.3) reunited most of the team and gave us Krile, but "killed" Minfilia (net 0). Stormblood (3.4-4.3) killed Papalymo and had Lyse resign (-2). Shadowbringers killed Minfilia again to give us Ryne temporarily, but G'raha joined permanently (+1). Estinien won't count until he can make it to corporate outings. Neither will Unukalhai, for that matter.

Sorrow of Werlyt

Given the mecha genre references, I'm still expecting full-on Tomino Dominoes with Gaius's Orphans, but it was at least interesting to see Rex survive after the focus he got last time, especially with the deceptive color-coding placing him next on the list.

Not sure what's up with the VIIth Legatus, but the cutscene team was sure showing off again. This entire quest seemed to exist just for screenshots.

(On that note, I highly recommend doing this quest in Lost Allagan gear, if you're willing to do PvP for it.)

THAT (also MSQ)

And yeah, never really put down my thoughts on G'raha's situation, because I'm still kind of in shock. I guess this was the outcome most people expected, but I mean, he's the guy who frigging codified the FFXIV mean-spirited finale twist.

So we beat Elidibus, and at that point I was expecting the Exarch's vessel to have been destroyed in the battle so he could nobly refuse to take someone else's place. Nope, still intact, and he had time to update his backup.

Then there's the "death" of the Exarch. It wasn't what I wanted, sure, but if he at least went out taking down Elidibus... If they kill G'raha later without allowing him many significant plot contributions I will probably be mad that he was robbed of this particular finale.

The victory lap was cute. Alisaie seems to be in that weird teenage place where she recognizes her love-rival, but also can't hate him either. Seems like we'll be getting more of this dynamic going forward, though "Alisaie getting attached" is its own kind of death flag.

(Also, I laughed for a good five minutes reading the description for the Wind-up Mystel. That's one way to handle UI spoilers, I guess. My throat still kinda hurts.)

All that ends and we get back to the Rising Stones, our companions awaken, and I kept waiting for the end-of-story achievement, but then Urianger was like "go" and I still couldn't believe we were going to do that now.

And then, in the hallway, when the crystal drops, and it finally seemed like the time for us to find out what was going to go wrong and why we should accept it, but really it was just our zodiac crystal(?) telling us that no, this is exactly how the seat of the fourteenth should operate. Go you.

And then the doors actually opened and we actually went inside. If you happen to be playing a short-s[kupo]t male Miqo'te, the shot framing is basically identical to when G'raha sealed the tower to begin with. Just to lay it on thick.

Knowing that he's still a pretty polarizing character, I think they made the right call in not having a "canon" depiction of the reunion itself. Everyone has their own idea of how it would play out (many of which will end up on pixiv), so now they can all be true. I figure my WoL and Raha would have needed to take at least two days just to go through baggage.

"Two days later" and I was still expecting the other shoe to drop, but actually it's just a cute epilogue scene and one more chance to joke about how, against all odds, yes we are actually getting a new member to the Scions. "G'raha, really." The entire scene was pretty much my ideal "the adventure continues" ending, so hopefully they don't start bringing back the body count.

And now G'raha is a Trust character, so he's probably safe until the revamp, and I have a new reason to actually level with Trusts.

[Crushnight]

MSQ

Well that escalated quickly, too quickly, but I still enjoyed it all apart from the kids at the beginning felt drawn out despite knowing why it was being shown that way.

Elidibus as we knew him is gone, shame, but Zodiark is still a thing trapped on the Moon he just lost his mouthpiece so interested how that'll play out going forward.

Elidibus being OG WoL (both series and game lore) is a take I didn't think was going to happen until the book showed off the image. Emet-Selch get the jump on Elidibus was hilarious certainly felt like a You woke me up sod off will ya moment

G'raha is husbando and glad he is here with us on the source though like others I feel like if it was young G'raha with Exarch memories it would've been more impactful of the full crystallization that Exarch.

The little twerp who I cannot wait to murder 100 times is back but with an even more demented personality yay >_> Zenos is Zenos, unless he has eaten plenty of ham and cheese let us permanently kill him already.

Yorha

So ended abruptly but a nice few twists with 2P being a machine lifeform, 21O having backed up her data that can be abused by anyone capable, we had a mini Rhythm with 1st boss so Yoko Taro tradition fulfilled.

All in all I'm interested how it continues but not much to go on except 2B seemingly came here like Lightning and Iroha did which feels off if meant to be a canonical in some way to Automata.

New job teases

Yes this gets its own section because I truly believe they were just that teases
Chemist/potion healer - heavily requested by community
Necromancer - heavily requested by community
Thief- requested by community for full job
Rune Knight/Fencer(secret trial boss) - requested by the community
Beserker - staple job in series


I think each and every one of them was a red herring and the true job/s for 6.0 have yet to have any appearance, these jobs were a nod to what we would want and nothing more.

[Lord_Umbra]

Well for the MSQ . . . .

So lil mentions, did we give no f's about what Source Tia wanted?? like we get no scene of waking him did we just force Exarch into him & erase Source Tia.

Also Y'sthola Runar scene felt sooo.. out of place & unearned they had done zero building to that & Sthola not once seemed to ever rescind Runar feelings in all the scenes we had of them so that ended felt off. Is she losing her mind per ominous sound followed by random out of personality expressiveness.

I might be one few on english side happy about Zenos it's nice have a antagonist that doesn't have dumb goals "I wish to just make us one by killing/conquering you all" none of that excuses BS with Zenos at least for now just pure I want to fight & not I'm bad but actually kinderish good guy motives likes Gaius/Emet/Eli/Varis.