Revelations from Patch 6.5: "Growing Light", Part 1

[dragonflie]

I wasn't expecting much in the first place, so MSQ and Myth are heh I guess.

Myth

I did enjoy Deryk's quote on who the Twelve originally were. His quote on Byregot throws shades on Hythlodeaus lol. I'm confuse though as to why they would return to the Lifestream, they are constructs right? Wouldn't returning to the Lifestream imply they have souls? Or is the Lifestream simply the currents of aether of the planet? I guess the Aetherial Sea is technically where souls go to, just too used to the FF7 meaning.

MSQ

I wasn't expecting much, so no surprises. They are really trying hard to have no consequences heh. The real Golbez being voiceless and not even a shown face makes me think he was WoL's shard, guess we're not getting another fusion. Was nice to see Gaia again, and fully voiced! No Unukalhai or Cylva in the MSQ though, but we did get more then enough dialogues about them, so that's nice.

[GrizzlyTank]

I wasn't expecting much in the first place, so MSQ and Myth are heh I guess.
Myth

I did enjoy Deryk's quote on who the Twelve originally were. His quote on Byregot throws shades on Hythlodeaus lol. I'm confuse though as to why they would return to the Lifestream, they are constructs right? Wouldn't returning to the Lifestream imply they have souls? Or is the Lifestream simply the currents of aether of the planet? I guess the Aetherial Sea is technically where souls go to, just too used to the

Think they said that they were construct made from parts of the ancients souls. Not enough to preserve their past selves but to maintain what was suppose to be magical robots keeping things running.

It just happened that they didn't take dynamis into equation, other than the central tower keeping their goals fixed.

10charmander

[Cassar]

MSQ

Was I the only one who thought that the roar we heard in the distance was a tease to Meracydia? You know, when Vrtra and baby Azdaja roar and then we hear a third roar coming from far away? Probably some dragon in Meracydia responding. I had a feeling that Azdaja would be our hook into Meracydia, and the reason why they haven't revealed it in the previous fan fest is because they didn't want to spoil that Azaja lives in the end. Of course this is all speculation but to me it was clearly a hint.

Out of the contents of the letter that Krile received, what intrigued me most was the fact that it was a "secret" commission, that no one else knew about. Why would this mission be so secretive? As for the clover earring, I have no idea what it could mean, and I don't think we're supposed to have an idea either, I think it's just something entirely new.

Also no idea who the mysterious person with Erenvile could be, but it seems they're looking for us specifically? And if the letter Krile was reading is so old, is it just a huge coincidence that someone from Tural came to visit around the same time that she decided to read the letter? I think something is going on...

I was also surprised that we never got to go back to the place we went in 6.2, Zero's home, where we found the statue. If I'm not mistaken the text said something like "You won't be able to come back for a long time, are you sure you want to leave?", but it never said we wouldn't be back there ever. Unless we go there to check up on Zero and Golbez in 6.55.

Very surprised to see Gaia voice acted, did she appear for everyone or only people who completed Eden? Either way, if she is indeed going to have a more important role in the story as she suggests, maybe Eden will become mandatory in the future?

Myths

Extremely interesting to hear the original roles of the Twelve back during their times as ancients. Also interesting that some of them could almost have become Ascians, had they achieved a seat at the convocation. A little disappointed that they never revealed the Watcher's real name (or none of the Twelve's real names, for that matter) but it's all good. And I'm also interested in the decision of keeping Deryk around, although I couldn't even begin to imagine a reason to have him be a part of MSQ again.

[Cleretic]

[B]MSQ[/B

[HB]Actually pretty rare that we're left without any kind of dour cliffhanger before the expansion hand-off patch. Forget rare, this is basically the first time, isn't it?

This isn't super integral, but you gave me a nerd question that needs a bit of research, and I'm curious, so thought I'd fulfill it.

ARR's 2.5 capped off with Moenbryda's death.
HW's 3.5 led with Papalymo's death, and also Shinryu's prison clearly not holding.
SB's 4.5 ended with the Empire successfully being fought off at the Ghimlyt Dark, and also Alisaie getting Exarch'd.
ShB's 5.5 ended with Lunar Bahamut's death, and also learning Arenvald can't walk.

I wouldn't call them ending on 'dour cliffhangers' a rule--I'm actually not sure I'd call ARR and SB's endings cliffhangers, nor would I say SB's was 'dour' (although it certainly wasn't an unmitigated feeling of positivity). I definitely think they tended to end on down-beats and a lead-in to the next story, but 6.x's MSQ was always structured different; I think this is just a symptom of that.

...also, really, you feel like Baron was a 16 reference? You... know where Baron and Damcyan are from, right? I admit I didn't play 16, but I thought this was a pretty clear one.

EDIT:

MSQ

Was I the only one who thought that the roar we heard in the distance was a tease to Meracydia? You know, when Vrtra and baby Azdaja roar and then we hear a third roar coming from far away? Probably some dragon in Meracydia responding. I had a feeling that Azdaja would be our hook into Meracydia, and the reason why they haven't revealed it in the previous fan fest is because they didn't want to spoil that Azaja lives in the end. Of course this is all speculation but to me it was clearly a hint.

On your first point I don't think you're right, but that might be because I'm very attached to my reading.

If you listen carefully, you can tell that after Vrtra and Azdaja roar, the response is also two roars, albeit muffled by distance. It's Hraesvelgr and Tiamat!

...now, where Tiamat is, I don't know. I believe she's currently roaming.

[Raiya]

Honestly I would say the whole post endwalker quest chain is reasonable enough, it wasn't bad at least and it does seem to have played it safe somewhat. The plot is believable and at least consistent with past lore so I don't see anything wrong with it. At the very least it DOES make for a good groundwork chapter for that Void Expansion that people probably would love to see at some point expecially as well as it would potentially tie in with a future role for the First if they so wish to go down that path (though we still have Hinigashi and Meracydia as well as the remainder of Islabard to explore as well). Lest we forget there's also 3 other shards that are complete unknowns if they wanted to throw a curveball with should the time come.

[Fenral]

MSQ

*snip*

One: Exaggerations are a thing. Please at least try to learn to recognize them. I've been around for many more X.50 patches than you have. All of them, actually. This is the first one that hasn't been some kind of bummer and/or left some serious threat unresolved. I'm not apologizing for word choice.

Two: Yes, obviously, Baron is from FF4 (well, technically it was the Japanese localized name of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen first, but...). The actual visuals and structure of that portion of the dungeon is a whole lot of FF16 deja vu, because FF4 certainly never looked like that.

Me replying to you after you've taken throwaway comments out of context and decided to deride my intelligence over them is also a bit of deja vu. Nice to see you, too?

[EdwinLi]

I wasn't expecting much in the first place, so MSQ and Myth are heh I guess.



MSQ

I wasn't expecting much, so no surprises. They are really trying hard to have no consequences heh. The real Golbez being voiceless and not even a shown face makes me think he was WoL's shard, guess we're not getting another fusion. Was nice to see Gaia again, and fully voiced! No Unukalhai or Cylva in the MSQ though, but we did get more then enough dialogues about them, so that's nice.

about Unukalhai and Cylva

It is sad we did not get Unukalhai and Cylva to appear in the MSQ but atleast they are mentioned and we are given a special dialogue to mention them to Zero if we done their story quest. However, when we go back to talk to them, Cylva does mention they are preparing to return to the 13th Shard now so it is possible we maybe getting a new side quest later to continue their story.

MSQ

I was not expecting much from this MSQ series anyways. It was obviously going to end up rushed from the start since the focus was to finish off one of the remaining Ascian related plots with this MSQ being the 13th shard and the amount of time given is not enough to properly make this story into something dramatic due to how short it will be.

[Denishia]

Myths first and there's a special fun of playing a FemRoe that mains FSH and BRD to enjoy the vibes of the 2nd and 3rd boss

Final boss, however, was Eden's Promise Redux and an incredibly busy design. Was half expecting to be the FanFest Poster mysterious golden figure.

Before the raid even started in 6.1 we knew that the plot would be the gods relinquishing their godhood to bequeath the fate of man into mankind's hands. That's the type of story Final Fantasy IS in virtually all permutations, it's been XIV's foundation with the primals long before Endwalker, which only re-enforced it, and that a game where you play as a mortal protagonist doesn't work with the gods hanging around to gum up the plot anyway- Feo Ul brings enough deus ex headaches on their own. Still, the goodbyes did seem a bit sudden though emotionally and for the story it makes sense not to drag that part of the cut scene on. Deryk and the Opo opo get to stay and will probably become like Alpha and Omega wandering the overworld map if they so choose.

I laughed at how Bryegot's seed/inspiration was the long-suffering and hyper-competent second of useless boss Hythlodaeus and it was nice to get details on others besides Althyk, Nymeia, and the Watcher. Though yet again the most interesting element was the strong hint that Oschon was a true outsider to Amaurot - sadly this goes nowhere because the UnSundered World isn't a fully-realized location setting like the rest of Etheirys but a limited backstory origins answer for a few large concepts and most overworld trash mobs and by virtue of its purpose as that set origins point and the thematic parallel and foil to the main setting and plots. Adding more to the UnSundered World dilutes its purpose.

The mechanical prayer wheel that replaces the Twelve - I wonder if it will me more interventionist or not - what watches it and keeps it running. It'll never come up again but it functions to say that the only element of the religion that changed was that the familiars get to return to the Lifestream.

Started Margrat - won't say much except I LOVE her, I enjoy the clever writing in the questline, very relatable. And that it does cater well to someone who plays DoH/L because they want that wish-fulfillment of helping quest NPCs without need for combat. They needed a third dialogue option of extreme eagerness to help these overworked employees (and their cats!) to offset the begrudging choices.

[Cleretic]

MSQ

One: Exaggerations are a thing. Please at least try to learn to recognize them. I've been around for many more X.50 patches than you have. All of them, actually. This is the first one that hasn't been some kind of bummer and/or left some serious threat unresolved. I'm not apologizing for word choice.

Two: Yes, obviously, Baron is from FF4 (well, technically it was the Japanese localized name of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen first, but...). The actual visuals and structure of that portion of the dungeon is a whole lot of FF16 deja vu, because FF4 certainly never looked like that.

Me replying to you after you've taken throwaway comments out of context and decided to deride my intelligence over them is also a bit of deja vu. Nice to see you, too?

Oh, to clarify I wasn't trying to insult your intelligence or anything like that! (And I'm sorry this is apparently a repeat situation; I'm not great at recognizing posters outside of a handful with very consistent, distinct avatars, so I can't recall any history there.) I just ran those numbers because I was curious myself; you mentioned a trend I'd never thought about but was checkable with some effort, so I wanted to see how things fell. And then you made a joke that evidently I only recognized half of; sorry it came off that way.

[Denishia]

And for the main MSQ - I was constantly interrupted and had to pause during so many cutscenes so my thoughts are scattered

Wasn't until the end we got Igeyorhm named-dropped as the root cause of the 13th's woes. And the parallels to Ardbert and his party and how they were manipulated, their misguided attempt to save the world damned it, then allying with the Ascian turning out to be a betrayal that would not have saved their world- the only difference being that Ardbert gets stopped just in time thanks to Urianger, us, and Minfilia as Word of the Mother to kickstart the reversal of the damage before the point of seeming no return. But Zero lives - and joins Lyse in the shunted off of main party cast to hang on the shelf as faction leadership of a place the plot won't involve but for a callback or two. Which is the best female characters can expect most of the time. And like the Warriors of Darkness, it'll be returned to once gears needs to shift.
(Though when her battle dialogue was copying Estinien's line I knew she wasn't coming in DT - though it was a cute character development. And that her PLD gear was not a new gear model).

The constant hiding of Golbez's appearance was amusing in the not-so-subtle Probable Azem Shard. But like Ardbert, another canon male and a likely Hyur/Elezen/Roe (or maybe, what with the armor, a hint that Garleans existed on the Shard). Next Azem Shard better be female and preferably a Lalafell or Hrothgar, will also accept catgirl. Bad enough the Ancients and therefore original Azem was just Hyur face on Elezen body, to shake up what an Azem shard can be.

Speaking of hiding faces/models - Erenville's companion is our Tural equivalent of Yugiri. The legs looked too dainty, small, and unfurred to be a Hrothgal. Probably Hyur. Doesn't recognize earring but let job speculation run wild - and agree that the most interesting revelation is the letter was old and to Galuf. Krile's finding a message from her grandfather inside the Golden City.

Most important of all- Azdaja is the CUTEST minion ever- I love the minion-sized dragons and she's vulture-like and red/gray. I want her a minion to take her through Dawntrail. Second only to wanting more Cylva and Unukalhai (I was running to them after every quest waiting for the dialogue update and found much comedy in the wistful "we should meet" from both Cylva and Zero) in the MSQ was wanting Hraesvelgr to re-enter the plot to say hello to his siblings. Having the extra Gaia scene was perfect and leaves the foundation for further optional Void Arc quest continuation.

I adore that Ryne the Botanist mirrors Minfilia the Miner.

Both Eulmorean and Garlean Restorations were hinted at in this patch- I know which one the majority wants and I know which one I want first.