Revelations from NA Fan Fest (July 2023)

[Cleretic]

A neat idea I've heard for where the conflict could go is, rather than Scions picking sides of a conflict, instead picking interference vs. non-intervention. Basically run with the actual conflict one might have about a psuedo-colonialist narrative, and have the party split based on 'is it right to take part in deciding who leads'.

I can immediately think where some would fall on that conflict (G'raha's clearly shown no issue with this and Estinien probably doesn't see a problem with it, while Urianger and Thancred would probably prefer to go hands-off), and a few characters that would probably take it more subjectively based on what's going on (Alisaie would absolutely base it on who's contending, Krile would likely defer to Galuf's previous journey). It'd be a fun way to explore the characters, to have the divide not based on which external forces are more compelling, but on how they personally feel about a thorny issue.

[KageTokage]

That's kind of the direction I was expecting things to go in, as well...though I'm also half-expecting there's going to be some foul play involved on the part of one of the political parties that ends up forcing them to get involved once it's exposed.

[Cleretic]

That's kind of the direction I was expecting things to go in, as well...though I'm also half-expecting there's going to be some foul play involved on the part of one of the political parties that ends up forcing them to get involved once it's exposed.

Yeah, I think a struggle with that idea on reflection is that while non-intervention is a perfectly justifiable stance on a moral perspective, from a player perspective it basically plays out as 'willingly not doing the fun thing', so they'd be forced into intervening anyway just so they don't sit out an entire expansion... which then feels like it abandons or insults the concept of non-intervention in the first place, so why bother giving it lip service?

[Enkidoh]

Not convinced he is PLD. No shield for starters, and I'm not convinced his sword is Lightbringer:
Sword from Trailer:


Lightbringer:

Yeah that was pointed out to me by a friend after I wrote that, so I happily concede on that point!

Not having a shield though isn't contraindicative of PLD though, as GLA doesn't even start with a shield, only a sword as the shield is technically optional equipment (and only like three abilities for GLA/PLD specifically require a shield to function).

Of course he could be using one of the two new Jobs that will use a special type of sword unrelated to GLA/PLD, but I'm pretty certain in that scene he's still PLD - he probably neglected the shield due to wanting to be 'edgy' and moving on from EW's "knight in shining armour" look, hence his rugged Errol Flynn-like piratey getup more befitting the 'wandering free adventurer' idea EW's post patch story has been pushing (and thus the 'Job change' is still to come with the full trailer proper once the Jobs are announced).

We'll have to wait and see though sadly! (Yoshi why must you torture us so?)

[Cilia]

OK but will there be queens for us Hrothgar?!

(Hyped either way, eager to see what they do with the northern part of the continent whenever we get to it.)

[Tehmon]

Concerning the job, the footage shows a flame dropping from the burning clothes, that then transitions into Alisaie catching a fruit. It's probably just for a transition shot, but I was thinking oh, he is going to ignite his blade with that flame and be a Mystic Knight! Probably not though hah.

[Fenral]

3) I believe they mentioned it is a Scouting Armor Job

While I would like to believe this, I didn't catch it in the presentation, and it would break the team's insistence on demanding NIN be really difficult to gear alongside other jobs. EW got us a second maiming, so maybe?

Corsair/Pirate would fit the expansion's theme, possibly, and Yoshida's t-shirt. It's a shame they've mostly avoided the sub-weapon slot for classes besides PLD and crafters, as having sword and gun as separate equips would make for neat flavor.

I think Beastmaster could work as a stretch, since we don't have a whip class yet and it would be a properly different weapon. The AF gear would be goofy as hell if they copied FF5, though.

[Seraphor]

OK but will there be queens for us Hrothgar?!

(Hyped either way, eager to see what they do with the northern part of the continent whenever we get to it.)

The fact they mentioned Hrothgar as being native to one of the regions leads weight to female Hrothgar though. I'm not sure they would be mentioned specifically if not to expand the lore, and provides the narrative reason to include them (they're not rare in the new world like they are in Bozja)

[SannaR]

OK but will there be queens for us Hrothgar?!

(Hyped either way, eager to see what they do with the northern part of the continent whenever we get to it.)

I was a bit surprised and sad that they didn't give us a teaser with the higher res progress race head shots. I know that it was an unrealistic expectation, but it would have been one heck of a reveal.

[Iscah]

I was a bit surprised and sad that they didn't give us a teaser with the higher res progress race head shots. I know that it was an unrealistic expectation, but it would have been one heck of a reveal.

I wouldn't have expected a reveal, but I feel like they should have maintained the half-and-half screen layout with a "coming soon(TM)" sort of thing on the other half of the screen, as an acknowledgement that they're working on it and they know people are eager to see the gap filled.