Revelations from Patch 5.3

[Lium]

YoRHa fights against 10 characters in an effort to post this.

Did the raid earlier today. The fight itself wasn't really anything new. I did die a few times but that's because it was my first time in there. Future runs shouldn't be a problem. A couple people were creeped out by the last fight against 2P. I just typed in alliance chat, "This cannot continue," because the fight reminded me of the fight against Adam in Nier: Automata. I'm guessing that was intentional.

Was happy to see 9S! And also seeing 2B step up to defend the dwarves from the elders was a nice bit of character development on her part. When I was asked who was to blame for the incident, I chose "It's complicated." That's when 2B showed up. The whole thing ended on a downer with Konagg being alone. It was all very abrupt and gave the story a sad feel. I'm guessing this is the same ending for everyone? I can't imagine the Nier team writing multiple outcomes to the story.

And speaking of story, this is actually where I have a bit of a problem. I know this is a crossover event, but past raids in FFXIV are still considered part of the lore, even though they are optional content. As evidenced by the fact that Crystal Tower is now mandatory, Alexander was used to send Graha to the past and the Ivalice raids being required for Bozja. I can't for the life of me imagine how the Nier raids will be considered canon in this game. The leap in technology and the world-hopping implications are just too far out there (no pun intended) even for a Final Fantasy game.

Did you see those flight units attacking the dwarf village? Are you kidding me? Those things could wipe out the entirety of the First in the blink of an eye. Forget Ascians, Zenos, Fandaniel, Zodiark, Hydaelyn, Rejoinings...none of that would matter in the face of virtually anything from the YoRHa universe. The technology is quite literally light years ahead of ANYTHING in FFXIV. The Source would be utterly destroyed. In short order. It would be like Blade Runner showing up in Game of Thrones.

Is this just all for fun and not considered canon? Because otherwise this makes no sense.

[YianKutku]

The technology is quite literally light years ahead of ANYTHING in FFXIV.

I did make a point earlier in this thread that it's actually not, and that's an even bigger problem: the Yorha raid treats it as some brand new out-of-context problem, while our character should probably just go "yeah, this sort of thing happens surprisingly often".

Specifically I'm thinking of Omega.

[Lium]

I did make a point earlier in this thread that it's actually not, and that's an even bigger problem: the Yorha raid treats it as some brand new out-of-context problem, while our character should probably just go "yeah, this sort of thing happens surprisingly often".

Specifically I'm thinking of Omega.

I guess you can make an argument that the Allagans had advanced technology not too dissimilar from what you'd see in a sci-fi setting. That's in fact why the Garleans are so obsessed with Allagan artifacts, and how magitek was born. Then there's the Werlyt storyline where we are seeing organic and synthetic organisms merging. So, it may not be as far out there as I initially thought.

Still, though, the whole thing just seems jarring to me. And the implications if all this proves to be canon are just...odd. Putting it kindly.

[PoLaD]

I figure that sequence was meant to illustrate (with the subtlety of an anvil, but that's standard for FFXIV) that even if the desire to become Warriors of Light to help people was initially prompted by someone with ulterior nefarious motives, it is still a good and noble desire to want to help people. Alphinaud mentions as much after the grape-picking.

While I'm positive that is the case, I think the other reason for it was to compare them to the more extreme case that is Elidibus. The kids look up to you for all the things you've done and wish to emulate you by becoming Warrior's of Light as well. Elidibus admired the First WoL enough, stating that even though they where sundered, they had fought for the world's salvation, for hope. He then proceeded to become like him by literally becoming him via possession.

This comparison makes sense to me with the reveal that Elidibus was a child when he became Zodiark's heart, as I took his appearance at the end of the MSQ to be literal instead of symbolic as it fit with the fact that Zodiark was kept as a child in FFXII, so why not his heart actually be one in XIV (he also looked shorter then the other Ancients in the Echo from his perspective).

Speaking of those kids, if you talk them after the MSQ, specifically Arkil, you find out they have the Echo too. They heard Hydaelyn, but they couldn't understand what she was saying, just that she sounded nice.

I'm not the best at articulating my thoughts, so I hope that made sense?

Someone elsewhere pointed out that the two stones he's holding at the end are Lahabrea and Emet-Selch's. I haven't double-checked that for myself, but it's a nice detail.

While one of them is Lahabrea's, the other one is actually Igeyorhm's (the green one). Makes some sense to me as it wasn't till after their deaths in ARF that Elidibus actually started seeing us as a problem. And I've seen elsewhere that someone checked the files, and that the two ancients talking to him in the Echo where labeled as them. So he was quoting them as he died.

[Iscah]

[correction]

Thanks for that - I updated my original post.

[Cilia]

I did make a point earlier in this thread that it's actually not, and that's an even bigger problem: the Yorha raid treats it as some brand new out-of-context problem, while our character should probably just go "yeah, this sort of thing happens surprisingly often".

Specifically I'm thinking of Omega.

I'd actually argue that some Garlean and all of Allag's tech rivals if not exceeds that of YoRHa, and while the Eorzeans and such do not have the same level of technology they're still capable of doing things on par with or exceeding YoRHa's capabilities thanks to magic. (Well, other than space travel, and Allag could probably have done that too... which makes the idea they were wiped out by a cataclysmic earthquake somewhat strange.) Omega clearly exceeded YoRHa though.

What bothers me about it is how absolutely nonchalant the characters are about it all, despite all of said tech being utterly (and literally) alien. In-universe there's been no explanation or context given for anything, other than a few lines from 2B about the P-units (and presumably their Bunker) being YoRHa knockoffs made by the Machines. There are strange little machines, giant killer machines, realistic, self-willed androids and gynoids, a mysteriously appearing factory, and a crashed space station that were all hiding in the mountains of Kholusia... and nobody seems to question where it all came from or what it's there for.

You can get a little background and context if you play or read up on Automata, but you shouldn't need to do that and it's not adequate to explain what it's all doing on Norvrandt.

And the angle it appears to be going for - the relationship between mechanical lifeforms and souls - was thoroughly explored in Automata itself and done pretty recently with Omega in this game as well, so I'm rather apathetic to where the story seems to be headed.