Dawntrail's MSQ story is a disaster and waste of potential. [full spoilers]

[Lady_Silvermoon]

So we're just ignoring the remaining, actual living Alexandrians?

No. We killed their Godqueen, destroyed their afterlife and took over their government. We didn't forget them.

[Rotpecra]

after seeing the reception i didn't preorder, and im glad i didnt

pray return to wuk lamat!

[All_Nonsense]

I can agree that the story leaves you to fill in the blanks on Zoraal Ja's motivations. Hmm, I definitely see where you're coming from and you've given me food for thought.

I like filling in the pieces myself because it makes me feel engaged with the story. I very, very much dislike the MSQ forcefeeding the explanations a million times because they're too worried that the player doesn't get it.

What would the balance be in this case would be something that I need to think about. I wouldn't want the story to just explain Zoraal Ja's motivations outright but I can also see why a lot of people think his transformation is too bizarre.

There's a lot of ways these themes can be explored. Wuk going to seek counsel from her adoptive father and accidentally overhearing Zoraal arguing with him. Maybe the argument stemming from Zoraal Ja trying to persuade his father to call off the rite since he's his father's only natural born son. Showing a disregard for the diverse cultures in Tural and trying to assert some of his own philosophies before his father scolds him and shoots down his idea. Something that sows the discontent between the characters that can eventually bridge to Zoraal's motivation for murdering his father. And something that clearly but not obviously dictates to the audience what Zoraal Ja's feelings are. That's just one initial scene that would do wonders to add depth to the character.

You can add other instances where the side characters and audience both interact with Zoraal Ja and see him progress towards a path of "might is right, I will bypass the right of succession and just take Tural for myself." You can have him at some point begin acquiring the stones illegitimately. At first with a "crime of opportunity" that then progresses to non-violent but reprehensible means such as coercion or blackmail, but further down the line progressing once again to outright violence like he did at the end before he opened the gate to the golden city. It would flow more naturally too since it was at this point he finally tossed out the idea of obeying the rite and came to the conclusion that killing his father and just taking the throne is the logical solution to achieve his goals.

Also why does he have a kid again? That was just weird and out of nowhere and made no sense. They didn't even try to make sense of that bit, yet it played a critical part in his final transformation into "mr bad man" in the trial.

[Remiferia]

Not fun or interactive enough to be considered the 'summer vacation expansion', not serious or well-told enough to hold the weight of its more serious themes. I find it quite impressive how there's a writing team in Square Enix that managed to find the perfect middle ground to create the least interesting story possible.

All of the whimsical moments in the trailer either didn't happen at all or were crammed into the final credits. The entire first half could have been a series of Ninja Warrior courses and tasks and duties but instead we were teaching tribes about cold food and bartering with Pelupelu in a way where none of our decisions affected anything at all.

All of the serious moments were bogged down by contrivances, bad voice acting, moral inconsistencies not only within the game as a whole but also within its own core message of cultural understanding, acceptance and celebrating our diversity. The script is awful, the important moments aren't given enough time to breathe, and overall I responded to nearly everything by saying 'Oh they're just doing this again'.

Sphene is another Emet. Alexandria another Amaurot. Her goals are Ascian. They wanted an 'everyone comes together!' moment like the Golem in ShB, they wanted a 'remember these characters from the last expansion?' moment with Vrtra agreeing to put his life on the line for Tuliyollal from a single phone call. We are just bridging gaps between us and beast tribes again. Trying to force a tear out of me by giving me THREE scenarios where I had to say goodbye to a parental figure in the space of an hour was intolerable. How about you actually write a story that makes me emotional on its own merits instead. Desperate.

I would be embarrassed to have written this, tbh. It's just a rehash of all the moral dilemmas we've already experiences and grown from. The story didn't actually say anything at all, nor did any character arcs except perhaps Zoraal Ja. It felt emotionally manipulative in parts and other moments that tried to be emotional on its own were hilariously bad (I'll never get over that train sequence so long as I live).

Just give up on MSQ if this is how it's going to be moving forward. I've never been so bored and frustrated in my life. The raid tier shows more promise in narrative and characterisation in one hour than the entire main story did.

[Bellybell]

So we're just ignoring the remaining, actual living Alexandrians?

their neighborhood's leader already installed a child(whom related to them) to be their king. I'm sure they will enjoy being satellite nation from now on

[Syln]

No. We killed their Godqueen, destroyed their afterlife and took over their government. We didn't forget them.

You forgot the "deny their way of life" part too, when you think about it, the Alexandria arc is a literal advocacy for colonialism

[Jeeqbit]

Good review. I think they could do all sorts of things better, but I just try to enjoy it personally since they put a lot of work into it. If I can find it enjoyable then it works for me.

[Teraluna]

(I'll never get over that train sequence so long as I live)

An advanced civilisation wants to prevent the train from getting to the tunnel.....simply destroy the tracks?

[TheJamJam]

I was reading through an interview when I came across this part:



It's interesting that when you read their responses, there's something absent. Both of them didn't praise Hiroi's writing and focussed on entirely other aspects.

[Papayatar]

An advanced civilisation wants to prevent the train from getting to the tunnel.....simply destroy the tracks?

They did get taken down by rubber bullets (and one Estinien), toss in their Queen, for unknown reasons, gave Zoraal Ja so much power that even she couldn’t override his authority in an emergency, and LM for whatever reason had like 0 safeguards as we casually strolled around to each terminal with not even as little as a warning sound.

So I don’t think them being an advanced civilisation was doing them any favours tbh.