what came first..

[Anonymoose]

Only because Enkidoh appears to be stuck in traffic, I'll take this one.

To be absolutely clear, there is no connection between FFXIV’s Hydaelyn and FFXII’s Ivalice. Likewise there is no connection with FFXI’s Vana’diel. Each are their own individual world. Based on this, there are connections between the things that appear in the world, and we’ll be revealing more in the future.

The "Pulse" enemies are simply re-used assets; nothing more, nothing less. XIV needed all the help it could get to turn around and re-release as fast as possible, and thus it was given the go-ahead to start using... uhh... homages... to past creature designs. While generally not a thing that happens, it gave XIV a much-needed reprieve, allowing them to fall into a pattern of actually cranking out a fairly impressive amount of new, original designs for Hydaelyn.

Sometimes, that re-used asset feels like it's celebrating a great creature design from the past. Who didn't have a soul-crushing moment of panic when the stoneshell crabs showed up? You said you never wanted to see another one after the thousands upon thousands you killed in Vana'diel - level after level after level. But you know you love your smallshell minion. Crawlers, damselflies, magic dolls and pots... They all invoke and celebrate the past. It was at least well-enough received that SE will now make entirely new enemies that are 3D versions of classic sprite designs. Rehashing isn't always bad.

But, sometimes, yes, it did feel like a tacked-on, shoe-horned bid for time. We can call a fig a fig; it is what it is. It may be a comparatively shorter list, but the "Pulse" enemies are arguably pretty high up on it, aren't they? Pretty low-tech for almighty Allag, right? The Ragnarok starships seem generations ahead of their own defenses. What can you do? Make up some headcanon excuses and hold 'em close!

Those are just the ... uh ... internal mechanisms! 5,000 years in space have not been kind! You should have seen them when they rolled off the assembly line; they could've taken down a Phantom Ray!

Thoes are... uh... early generation models! Sure, they got fancier in later years, but if it ain't broke don't fix it. You should see this refrigerator my grandad has - from the '50s. Does it have an ice dispenser in the door? No. Does it use more electricity than the entire neighborhood's yearly Christmas Village light show? Sure. But it still works like the day it was made!

Those were... uh... built by owlbears! ...