Revelations from Patch 5.3

[Lauront]

I’ve had some time to clear up my thoughts on the patch. Quite a bit of ground to cover, though TLDR is mixed views, mostly leaning to disappointed.

The highlights

Elidibus was, without a doubt, one of my favourite characters since ARR, even amongst the other Ascians. Whilst I found his portrayal jarring in this patch, I am glad that at the least, he was not reduced to a cartoonish villain and was given a rather poignant send off. I’m not the emotional sort, but the scene was moving, especially when he said:

“Stay strong. Keep the faith. At duty’s end, we will meet again. We will. We will.

The rains have ceased, and we have been graced with another beautiful day. But you are not here to see it.”

I take it the childish form he assumed was the last time he recalled truly being himself, what with the effect being the saviour of his people in the form of Zodiark had on him. They pushed the parallels between him and G’raha – and their mutual zeal (some of this shows through when G’raha mentions claiming his soul) – in the strongest terms. There were also some parallels with the WoL in their outlook. Ironically, the words G’raha exhorts the WoL to bear in mind at the end, in the epilogue, seem to describe a very similar situation to that which Elidibus, bereft of memory of his purpose, found himself in.

Next, I enjoyed the trail of Convocation stones (presumably left by Elidibus, barring Azem’s?), detailing some of the thoughts of the Convocation, some of which surrounding Zodiark, as well as Elidibus’s earlier memories, suggesting he bore a close relationship (mentorship, perhaps) with the Speaker (Lahabrea as we know him, I assume.) The reveal of who the main character was in the Convocation (“Azem”) was nice, too, and this further cements the idea in my mind that the Twelve are a distant memory of the Convocation.

By all appearances, Zodiark and his heart were both noble in intent, with Elidibus even withdrawing from Zodiark to fulfil his office’s function (Reconciliation, by the sounds of it), as the disagreement raged beyond what was usual for the ancients. It also underscores that the ancients were not necessarily a hivemind, as when inducted Elidibus was informed they would sometimes disagree on the best course on steering the star and mankind. It was more that their proposed resolution would usually be dialogue and debate. He also made a point of how he could not fathom Zenos at all when possessing his form, referring to him as a "beast" (which comes up again in the Zenos epilogue.)

I very much see these stones playing a future part in the story and predict a scene where the Convocation is summoned (in spirit, as with Emet) to put down an abuse of Zodiark through Fandaniel and Zenos. I also liked that the WoL heeded Y’shtola’s exhortation to better understand the ancients, and how he leaned in towards Elidibus at the end, something that left the character a bit conflicted. Earlier on he recalled flashbacks of Emet-Selch and Lahabrea. The whole story seems to have left the main character a bit addled too about his identity as a WoL and its meaning. At least the commitment to remember them is genuine.

Lastly, this was by far the most tolerable Alisaie has been.

The rest

With the above said, I was not that impressed by them writing Elidibus to be forgetful. I suspected they would have trouble giving him a compelling role to fit, following Emet-Selch, as the exposition of the ancient world was something I could easily see him slotting into, as was negotiating some third way forward, even if the concept was never realised – instead, Elidibus was put forward as uncompromising in spite of his office’s role. On the whole, I did not find his portrayal convincing at all – I know they have in-story justifications for it, but they wore thin and did not satisfy me. Plus, the trial was only a “surprise” in the form he took.

I also was left unsatisfied with how they covered off the concept of “equilibrium”, making little reference to how the sundered state of the world had affected it (referring back to the comments Lahabrea makes in the Praetorium) and the Aetherial Sea, and little comment on how a light-aspected Primal in the centre of it would impact its balance. I suspect these plot points were seen as too esoteric to explore in the time which 5.3 had afforded to it and so perhaps were dropped in favour of a simpler/faster explanation. Perhaps they were not even considered. It matters not. I am left feeling unimpressed by this.

Elidibus’s simple acquiescence to the protagonist’s assertions that he could not reach his goals also wore thin. Emet-Selch recalled his people, his world and his goals very clearly. I am not convinced Elidibus would be unable to and it comes across as yet another story contrivance. In retrospect, it doesn’t even seem convincing that Emet-Selch and Lahabrea would take direction from him if they had a clearer concept of their goal than he, which Emet-Selch absolutely did, even if he sought to compromise at various points.

I was dissatisfied with how Regula and Varis were ended (and yet again with how little love Regula was given with Sapphire weapon), and feel much the same with Elidibus. I think they struggle somewhat with more serious, to the point personas and thus resort to plot gimmicks like madness or dementia to try force some empathy for or amusement out of them, where necessary. Likewise, Unukalhai seems to have been reduced to having a few words to say about how it saddened him, but no more than that.

I think the setting has a lot of potential plot points and nuance, that are unfortunately left in the dust all too quickly. Perhaps the patch release pace makes it inevitable, to some extent, but it is a pity all the same.

With how poorly Elidibus was written at the end of Stormblood, it seems like they forced their own hand and were left with very few ideas on how to differentiate him from Emet-Selch, whom they were able to imbue with a more theatrical persona and a much greater degree of clarity of purpose and self-assurance.

Onto more specifics, from the get-go I did not like them shoving some miqo’te mystel girl with wide eyes in front of me from early on. So, too, did I find Alisaie and Alphinaud’s comments in regards to themselves a bit too “meta” and forced.

The events in Amaurot, where Elidibus seeks to get you to understand his pain for his brethren’s fall (in part because he felt culpable for these deaths) fell flat and were simply a redux of the DRK quests. I would much rather have seen the perspective of the unsundered, which Emet gave (and is explored in Tales from the Shadow) expanded, perhaps in visual form, to drive home how these higher life forms related to the sundered and the sense of loss and pain they feel in seeing the souls of their people reduced thus, and the loneliness they experience.

I found the dungeon very forgettable, and the trial felt very jarring/disjointed as an Elidibus fight. Whilst I like it aesthetically, it’s something that could just as easily have been placed in Omega, from where some of the mechanics stem. At least it was a good enough challenge for a normal mode. The music was the highlight (though there could have been more of it), as was Emet’s appearance, with his signature finger snap and wave, but at this point Emet-Selch’s fight and persona have just overtaken Elidibus’s completely, for me. With Emet, it felt like a true fight between a Warrior of Light and a Warrior of Darkness, of two old friends put on opposite sides, and if not equals in power (given how much it took to even the odds with Emet), at least in mindset. With Elidibus it felt like a mercy kill, no doubt intentionally. A funny thought that occurred is that Elidibus is a parallel to the game itself, what with all the references it draws on from other FFs, sometimes leaving its own sense of identity a little muddled.

Fandaniel and Zenos do not interest me in the slightest. The former rejoices in the death of characters who were either far more interesting or had far more potential. He is, by contrast, just a jester to make the very dull Zenos engaging. Zenos? What to say of him. With all the references by Elidibus, to Zenos, as the “beast”, it’s clear he is being portrayed as someone who poses a grave threat to the world – one which they seem to have been at a loss to introduce without Zenos, within the confines of the unsundered Ascians’ plot, while he prattles on each time about the hunt. Perhaps Fandaniel’s persona will tie to him being some troublemaker even in ancient times. Just seems like a reset of the Ascians back to business as before, and going back to light (good) vs dark (evil) as they put two outright psychopaths in the latter position. Even Lahabrea, the most aggressive of the elder Ascians, still had a sense of mystery and a bigger picture view he was privy to, whereas with Fandaniel all such promise seems absent. I will review their progress at later patches to see if anything changes, but eh...not getting my hopes up. Meanwhile, Garlemald is in Zenos's hands, even as he forsook it just 2 patches ago, though I suppose this ties in the conclusion of the H/Z arc with going there. Let's just see if it survives it.

I also note they’ve introduced plenty of plot points now which seem to go in the direction of transitioning Hydaelyn into obsolescence. We’ll see how that goes, and how her summoners’ motives shape up, because at the moment I get a sense they were driven by paranoia. We will also see if further exploration of the sound precipitating Amaurot’s fall comes into focus, or whether this is of little significance. The way the words over Zenos sound, it looks like the game itself is being taken to its end, but Yoshi is insistent it is just the H/Z arc, so for now I am not reading too much into that.

Whilst Yoshi was giving interviews, claiming no one is safe, it was only the antagonist who was not the least bit surprising (but for the form he took) which was not. Everyone else, the Exarch included, was fine. Much as with the assumption of the title of WoD, I think a lot was played very safe.

I get the sense that the lore is of secondary importance to writing an emotionally engaging story to them, and perhaps that is why a lot of this felt rushed and incoherent (even if attempted justifications were made within the story) to me. There also seems to be a greater focus on a power of god and anime style of writing, and fan service (e.g. Ryne/Gaia and their interactions, G’raha/Zenos drooling over the main character, etc.), and ultimately this is simply not to my tastes. It follows from how Yoshi often describes the game as seasons in a TV show, as the mindset in that case is similar, i.e. focusing on emotional engagement and cliffhangers to build hype. It almost seems as though certain plot details are added in last minute after gauging fan feedback via social media on various plot elements. Likewise, I found the First just too similar to the Source in spite of many things that logically should have left it a very different state. Not something I liked from a world-building perspective.

Coupled with the following:

• Limited character customisation options and dissatisfaction with the level of attention paid to male playable characters
• Unclear whether they will address the low res textures
• The limited races
• Excessive coddling of elements of the playerbase
• Very limited risk appetite plotwise

I am considering just taking a break story wise and reviewing where the game goes in future patches/expansions, as at the moment it’s not holding my interest. Very much a subjective thing and I am glad to see a lot of people enjoyed it nonetheless.