So... I was thinking about the Echo... the story.. and the linear game path... and I think I have decided that the game has a nefarious underlying tone...

I think the Echo passes on memories of prior Warriors of Light.. and considering that you can be any job... I have the suspicion that we are not playing our own story... but that we are, in fact, reliving the story of the warriors of light. That would explain how you can experience fights from any perspective.

I think that this entire game is actually the flooding of recollection to a new Warrior of Light of times long passed. "Our Story" is actually history already lived.

No, that doesn't make it any less exciting or enjoyable... but it does kind of allay my objections of "gaming on rails"... since we are not actually living out our story..but experiencing the story of Heroes of Light Past.

(I confess that I got this idea by the narrative intros of HW when you go into a new area... it seemed like a narration of things past).

If that is the case... then who are we? Are we a new Warrior of Light ... or are we simply the audience for the "Tales that Time Tells"? =-)