Revelations from Patch 6.4: The Dark Throne

[SannaR]

I think my biggest disappointment with the middle part of the MSQ in Garlemald was the lack of any mention of what happened in the 6.0 combined role quests.

It's even relevant, because the same lessons are taught there as with what happened in the 6.4 MSQ. Garlemald needs to figure out what they want to do from now on, as a sovereign nation, whatever it may be. Nero even gave a whole speech about how "Garlemald did not rise to grandeur from complacency in the present or rumination in the past. We live for the future. It is in our blood." Whether or not this is actually true or part of Nero's personal delusions, it's still a view expressed in the game dialogue in the usual philosophizing cutscene tone, so it's something that we're supposed to at least consider. And seeing the same sentiments repeated here means either players will feel that this is a retreading of old ground in 6.4, or the combined role quests are retreading old ground after 6.4.

There's also no dialogue that I can find regarding the "former senators" of Garlemald who went to the Moon. They're even still there (in the Carrotorium, going through Loporrit shock), but their existence has been forgotten by the senators still in Garlemald?

Unrelated to everything else, but for the 6.x MSQ in general, I've been replaying the FFVI Pixel Remaster, and I'm finding it amusing how the description "half-human woman tries to understand emotions and social interaction, by asking everyone she meets what is love, regardless of appropriate context" matches both stories.

EDIT: (forgot to mention, but just reminded of it)

Pandemonium:

When we learned that Athena allegedly used a part of Azys Lla to rebuild Pandemonium in the present day, did anyone else port into Azys Lla to check which portion it was?

I did look around, especially in the Flagship area around the Aetherochemical Research Facility dungeon entrance, but I admit I'd never really looked at the place before, so I honestly have no idea if anything was missing. Or if anything was put back when we finish the raid series.

Not from the outside and we'd never see what went missing on the inside of ARF.

[Wyssahtyn]

There's also no dialogue that I can find regarding the "former senators" of Garlemald who went to the Moon. They're even still there (in the Carrotorium, going through Loporrit shock), but their existence has been forgotten by the senators still in Garlemald?

where are the deported garleans? i flew through some of it but didn't see any. also it makes it even more egregious considering how the premise of the loporrit tribal quest is them complaining that no one came to the moon.

[Iscah]

Island Sanctuary rank 15 quest

Just give us a Volleyball or Blitzball mini game already dang it. I want that not feeling great ice bomb ball. Also what the heck is up with Ishgardian fashions? Why is it always steampunk?

About that...

I'll gladly take steampunk over the excess of modern casual they were stuck with for the Firmament quests. We could have had fantastic steampunk to match the Neo-Ishgardian sets and instead we got casual gear and shopkeeper aprons.

But yeah, that volleyball animation seemed all too conspicuous. Either they've got a reason to be making those animations or they're being massive trolls. Either is likely.

[SannaR]

About that...

I'll gladly take steampunk over the excess of modern casual they were stuck with for the Firmament quests. We could have had fantastic steampunk to match the Neo-Ishgardian sets and instead we got casual gear and shopkeeper aprons.

But yeah, that volleyball animation seemed all too conspicuous. Either they've got a reason to be making those animations or they're being massive trolls. Either is likely.

For me it doesn't scream Ishgard? At least not the set we get from the quest or the female version of the Neo Ishgard or the set that's a recolor of it. At least not in its current climate. The Baronial outfits at least match the grade IV look of the granaries and worskshops. I wish you could upgrade the look of the older landmarks so if you wanted them to be in the same style as the newer versions of the "house", granaries and workshops you could. And yes they're either trolling or we'll get something during Moonfire fare with the animation, maybe? Not that I don't enjoy them cause I do. I just want to spike or look like I'm going to spike a dang ball outside of a CS.

[SannaR]

where are the deported garleans? i flew through some of it but didn't see any. also it makes it even more egregious considering how the premise of the loporrit tribal quest is them complaining that no one came to the moon.

The only Garleans I've found on the moon are at 13.5Y, 14.6X and look exactly like the regular Garleans that are also shown in the capstone of the role quests. I don't think we saw any of the high ranking Garleans until this patch tbh.

[Fenral]

I had my thoughts written up patch day, but life intervened and kept me off the forums for a bit. (Also Tears of the Kingdom and an inexplicable urge to play FFVI PR.) Has it really been two weeks already? I can drop the play-by-play and limit myself to things I haven't seen pointed out yet.

MSQ

Zero - Zeromus link confirmed! Just, not something anyone had any reason to expect. There's an ancient hero of the Thirteenth named Zeromus, and Golbez just gave the name to his new toy to be ironic. Said hero is also the source of our Zero's name, and she's not thrilled about it.

Zero's 6.5 arc is looking to be a "real heroes don't exist" stock shonen manga crisis. A bit cheesy but, I mean, have you played Final Fantasy IV?

Pandaemonium

I spent most of the cutscenes hissing at Athena and don't really have much to add on the subject.

The incantation Athena uses for Ultima after the add phase is word-for-word the same one Lahabrea uses in the Praetorium Porta Decumana phase transition (in JP, anyway), which always stuck out at me because the EN script is trying really hard to pretend it's not a Slayers-style spell incantation for some reason, and just Lahabrea boasting like a maniac. Anyway, the callback was nice, even though it's (another) one of those points where the localization sabotages its own continuity.

[Cleretic]

MSQ

Zero - Zeromus link confirmed! Just, not something anyone had any reason to expect. There's an ancient hero of the Thirteenth named Zeromus, and Golbez just gave the name to his new toy to be ironic. Said hero is also the source of our Zero's name, and she's not thrilled about it.

Uhhh... no? I get that just a flat 'no' isn't a great thing to be responded with, but... no.

Zero's name came from Y'shtola. ANd they both agreed they were basically talking about the mathematical concept, although they disagreed on its connotation. Zero reads it as 'nothing', Y'shtola as 'a beginning.

[Fenral]

Uhhh... no? I get that just a flat 'no' isn't a great thing to be responded with, but... no.

The four-month patch cycle is really killing my ability to hold onto minor details.

Nonetheless, she does visibly react to it, so I think there's something there. Never mind how Y'shtola magically pulling "Zero" out of a bag of names in an FFIV homage storyline is as on-the-nose as randomly nicknaming your newly-resurrected uncle "Judas" with absolutely no knowledge of his true identity or how he died. (That's Tales of Destiny 2, FYI)

[Cleretic]

I just realized something about 6.4. Or rather, what's not in 6.4.

Did anyone see a mention of the voidsent-enamored Gridanian goldsmith!?

[SannaR]

If there was a mention of said goldsmith everyone missed it.