Ardbert's Party vs the Scions Analysis

[Illmaeran]

Those little Slice of Life cutscenes help to increase the impact of other story elements. It's the calm before the storm, etc..

[aveyond-dreams]

Those little Slice of Life cutscenes help to increase the impact of other story elements. It's the calm before the storm, etc..

If only the storm in question involved lasting consequences for the main cast perhaps such scenes would feel more relieving and not so much as out of place distractions.

[LianaThorne]

If only the storm in question involved lasting consequences for the main cast perhaps such scenes would feel more relieving and not so much as out of place distractions.

Ngl, kinda wish the Scions were all killed off at the end of EW so we could spend post-EW recovering and moving forward with the not-so main characters still around.

Imo, if were getting a brand new story and stuff in 7.0, should be a fresh slate with new companions.

[Carin-Eri]

Ngl, kinda wish the Scions were all killed off at the end of EW so we could spend post-EW recovering and moving forward with the not-so main characters still around.

Imo, if were getting a brand new story and stuff in 7.0, should be a fresh slate with new companions.

Don't know about having them killed off, but I would enjoy the story having us accompany some of characters we've met on the journey but haven't really seen since we moved away from the areas that were relevant to them. Jullus for example, or Fordola.

[LianaThorne]

Don't know about having them killed off, but I would enjoy the story having us accompany some of characters we've met on the journey but haven't really seen since we moved away from the areas that were relevant to them. Jullus for example, or Fordola.

Nope, kill em off and make it dramatic like the Red Wedding. I'd rather be shocked to my core than be able to predict what's going to happen because people choose to play it safe.

Otherwise I agree. Definitely should spend more time with the non-major characters and develop them.

[Avidria]

Ngl, kinda wish the Scions were all killed off at the end of EW so we could spend post-EW recovering and moving forward with the not-so main characters still around.

Imo, if were getting a brand new story and stuff in 7.0, should be a fresh slate with new companions.

I mean, I'm gonna be real here and say I don't think I'd trust that just killing them off and starting over would actually be well handled and compelling enough for me to be on board with it, and that's not just because I actually like most of the Scions. I've dropped shows and books for doing such a major cast change because at that point it's almost like picking up an entirely new show or book. And in my experience the handling of that transition makes or breaks the rest of the story.

Frankly I think SE has kind of shot themselves in the foot in a few days, mostly by just... Not developing many of the side characters we do have. Like, there are a bunch of Scions that kind of just vibe around the Waking Sands that imo are fun characters in their own right, but a huge chunk of their personality and presence only exists if you go out of your way to talk to them in between every MSQ quest. Like, the cast of characters we've interacted with is massive, and imo you kind of see the pros and cons of that in that big "everyone gather resources" cutscene in Endwalker. It was cool to see all the friends/allies/assorted acquaintances working together like that, and callback to past quests, but there were so many people that none of them got all that much time to do much of anything or stand out at all.

[Carin-Eri]

I mean, I'm gonna be real here and say I don't think I'd trust that just killing them off and starting over would actually be well handled and compelling enough for me to be on board with it, and that's not just because I actually like most of the Scions. I've dropped shows and books for doing such a major cast change because at that point it's almost like picking up an entirely new show or book.

Frankly I think SE has kind of shot themselves in the foot in a few days, mostly by just... Not developing many of the side characters we do have. Like, there are a bunch of Scions that kind of just vibe around the Waking Sands that imo are fun characters in their own right, but a huge chunk of their personality and presence only exists if you go out of your way to talk to them in between every MSQ quest. Like, the cast of characters we've interacted with is massive, and imo you kind of see the pros and cons of that in that big "everyone gather resources" cutscene in Endwalker. It was cool to see all the friends/allies/assorted acquaintances working together like that, and callback to past quests, but there were so many people that none of them got all that much time to do much of anything or stand out at all.

I'm of the opinion that they wouldn't anyway. I mean, the only actual Scion who died was Papalymo (and the cynic in me wonders if that wasn't due, in part, to the fact that Krile filled the same role).

And I can't see any scenario where they'd kill Y'shtola anyway - she's too popular.

[Illmaeran]

involved lasting consequences for the main cast

If only the entire game had those....

[Jaquan]

If only the entire game had those....

If only the franchise was known for those. Because admittedly while I didn't play X, XIII and XV that much the lasting consequences for main cast of other games were... Muted? Non existent? 4 still takes the cake for that btw with numerous sacrifices written as impactful being absolutely reversed very fast.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

If only the franchise was known for those. Because admittedly while I didn't play X, XIII and XV that much the lasting consequences for main cast of other games were... Muted? Non existent? 4 still takes the cake for that btw with numerous sacrifices written as impactful being absolutely reversed very fast.

XV did, but it was a rather depressing game to behind with. 13 had some, but no deaths. 12 didn't have any deaths outside the intro.

7 only had the 1.

10 didn't really have any. Everything ends happily ever after (at the end of x-2)