7.2 MSQ opinions (spoiler obviously)

[Regis_Paran]

I got only to the trial, because RL struck. I was mostly bored. And I had to roll by eyes at Solution 9 citizens already loving Wuk Lamat so much, they accost her at pretty much every step. Because of course they do...

Real Sphene is an improvement over any other DT character, but honestly it's not saying much. She's so sickenigly and predictably sweet and good and caring that it only added to my boredom.
Dungeon was boring.

Still, so far it is better than 7.1.

[Zackneifein]

I got only to the trial, because RL struck. I was mostly bored. And I had to roll by eyes at Solution 9 citizens already loving Wuk Lamat so much, they accost her at pretty much every step. Because of course they do...

Real Sphene is an improvement over any other DT character, but honestly it's not saying much. She's so sickenigly and predictably sweet and good and caring that it only added to my boredom.
Dungeon was boring.

Still, so far it is better than 7.1.

All those who accost her are people with family in Tullyolal or wanting to go to Tullyolal, so it's quite logical, for once, for her to be accosted.

And Sphene is still supposed to be Grenat from FFIX, who was mostly a sweet, good and caring character, who had a "depression" phase before getting up. I think we are at this last point at the end of 7.2.

[Regis_Paran]

And Sphene is still supposed to be Grenat from FFIX

I never played any other FF games. So that connection is completely lost on me. Memberberries are good as long as they don't muddle the context for those who are not familiar with them.

[Khryseis_Astra]

Thank you for the multiple choice at the cafe with real sphene.
Always looking forward to those kinds of choices. Since this is spoiler tagged.. the one where we get to choose what we want to drink.
Dunno how it is written in english or other languages but

"The same" - coffee
A healthy veggie juice
creamy chocolate
(translated from german)

3 very different answers, so thank you for that!

Which reminds me… drink coffee emote when? lol we see people all over S9 with their cups! (Although I think a big mug from The Last Stand with an Old Sharlayan logo would be great too!)

I definitely think the story is going in a better direction, but if they really are going to try and put a bow on it with 7.3, I’m hoping it doesn’t feel too rushed. They just introduced a new antagonist, so unless he’s being carried over into the next story somehow, defeating him and/or Preservation next patch seems a little fast. Especially since you’d expect the raid storyline to at least have some overlap at this point, and that won’t wrap up til 7.4. I’m sure Calyx is aware of what the Arcadion President is up to, if not instigating it himself and supporting it for his experiments.

[Zackneifein]

I never played any other FF games. So that connection is completely lost on me. Memberberries are good as long as they don't muddle the context for those who are not familiar with them.

It... doesn't ?

Being a "sweet, good and caring" character isn't a problem if it's well portrayed and it's how it is; there's no need for every character to be cynical or shady. There isn't any "secret" about Grenat unexplained that would make it a bad "memberberrie". We always knew, since the last dungeon of the 7.0 that "real" Sphene was a caring princess who fought until the very end for her people.

While being inspired by Grenat, Sphene works as an independant character, and displays her weakness, her doubt, and even her depression during the MSQ, and we are shown why she wants to change and act (not with big monologue like Wuk Lamat did, but by showing us how she react to Calyx using Zelenia image or how the Neo-Alexandrian are drowning in despair).

[DarkMasamune]

I enjoyed most of it. I'm actually quite happy Wuk got benched a little bit. Not enough, thought.

Special mention to the trial. The Roses of May remix and seeing Beatrix like that really made me fangirl. The dungeon's music was stunning, big throwbacks to FFIX.

Loved the real Sphene too. I thought the first version we got was a little too Goody two-shoes and the other fake one is annoying as all hells, but the real one is cute and I think her character is quite endearing.

I don't have a real opinion on Calyx. I'm not a huge fan of the clichéd super dark wizz kid that knows more than you do for whatevs reason. Guess we'll see!

[MicahZerrshia]

It was much better than anything else we have gotten so far, even outside of the msq. Sphene was much better and (I can't believe I am saying this) but after the disaster that was almost all of DT characters, I was actually happy to see the scions having even a slightly bigger role again.

But I still skipped absolutely everything Wuk said so if any important info was put into her dialog I just did not read it. The more they put her in my face, the more try to make me like her, the less willing I am to even give her a chance. We need a complete vacation from that character if they ever wamnt to have some of us even willing to give her another chance.

[OlafQuintessa]

I thought it was okay - a better effort than what preceded it. The new villain is just a trope but the real Sphene was briefly interesting. Dungeon and trial were okay. Not worth the 4 month wait though. Including the dungeon and the trial I was done in under 3 hours and no I didn't skip any cutscenes. Dawntrail completely nuked my interest in the game sadly, so its not enough to keep me subbed. Previous expansions had a much more engaging world, characters and story. I'm sorta hoping the key mcguffin will be our exit to a brand new ff mmo the a team are working on behind the scenes. Probably not happening of course, but I'm at a loss to explain such a massive dip in quality and the lack of innovation.

[Akamadoshi]

A lot of Bg3 comes into story.
The role quest Dark Urge - In the final battle (no spoilers but you know exactly when you've done it)
There is a lot of hints and since I recently did BG3 twice I was confused "This is very BG3" but for the moment I cannot recall exactly.
BTW the dark urge reference was blatant. Not a "reminder".
Then we got this weird Grand design - I dont remember who, but someone pointed out in 7.0 there was some weird BG3 references.
Now that I played the game to the end more than thrice I am confused why they use the same terms in their plot designs. It's kind of funny to me!I like 7.1 and 7.2 so far but the BG3 stuff kind of puts me aback a little (Just hoping for a collab now)
Now that I think of it, Eternal Sphene is so Orin.

[Manamaru]

You can definitely tell in this patch there were some direct answers from very glaring points that were glossed over in 7.0. For one, was the mention of Alisae giving porxie treatment to the lightning afflicted. It's done in such a manner that it almost seems like they included that acknowledgement or bit right at the start but here we are. Real Spene is alright. She's dressed pretty cute. It's almost comedic them finding ways of keep Wuk Lamat busy elsewhere. I hope they can find a middle ground especially for future expansions going forward, for introducing characters that aren't personality sucking primal-likes. I'll share the rest of my thoughts as I go through this patch.