Thread: Revelations from Patch 4.5

Return or Ivalice, or more precisely, the Scene after it:

Was that frickin' Aulus mal Asina? Or a relative of his?He in a younger body? He did succeed in separating soul and body, after all...

And now that I've done Ivalice:

WHERE TO EVEN FRIGGING START!?!?

I see where all the real plot went this patch. Not only was it significantly longer (or was that just Thunder God prog?), we seem to have a lot of things that will almost certainly come up later, and much less ambiguously so than the last time a 24-man ended with a sequel hook. (That, y'know, still hasn't gone anywhere after four years.) The "rules" have officially been screwed.

Ultima is crystal Jenova, has now come full circle as the origin of the spell she was (out of universe) named after, and might even have something to do with the beings of Light we're slated to fight next expac. But it's hard to be sure.

I suppose Ramza (Beoulve) and co. needed to FFIII themselves because they didn't have their FFIII'd selves to block the death laser, but she still felt a little easy for an "unbeatable" enemy that had to be sealed away. All in all, that fight felt like what Cloud of Darkness would have been, if the CT series had the same level of event scripting.

Fran is our Dalmascan Yugiri. While most of her present model is recycled from Zodiac Age (like much of the raid series), her face appears to be new for XIV. They wouldn't do that for a one-off character, so I suspect we'll be meeting up with her again. Probably when it's time to meet up with...

The princess. Who leads the Dalmascan Resistance. Well, once faction, at least. Could it be? And how in the myriad hells did she pull that off after dying in Ba'Gamnan's arms? (Non-FFXII-ers: Princess Ashe was the leader of the Dalmascan Resistance.) As long as she still manages to sport a hot-pink pleather miniskirt in our early-industrial fantasy setting, she'll do just fine, whatever happens.

Noah van Gabranth. Oh just shoot me. With a Tartarus laser, at that. Okay, seriously, there is no friggin' way this isn't coming back, and since Yoshida has already said they won't continue finished quest chains, there's only one real place that can happen, and we all know it.

Lastly, anyone screenshot that map of Ilsabard that Fran unrolls? Pretty good odds that that's going to be one of our new region maps for the next expac. One of those pixels is probably where we will fight Gabranth.

And all that is without going into the plot itself, which managed to have the right bitter/sweet ratio without feeling rushed or cheap. Sudden, massive, and entirely offscreen character growth for bratty short dudes with ponytails is still totally a thing though.

Originally Posted by Fenral

And now that I've done Ivalice:

WHERE TO EVEN FRIGGING START!?!?

I see where all the real plot went this patch. Not only was it significantly longer (or was that just Thunder God prog?), we seem to have a lot of things that will almost certainly come up later, and much less ambiguously so than the last time a 24-man ended with a sequel hook. (That, y'know, still hasn't gone anywhere after four years.) The "rules" have officially been screwed.

Ultima is crystal Jenova, has now come full circle as the origin of the spell she was (out of universe) named after, and might even have something to do with the beings of Light we're slated to fight next expac. But it's hard to be sure.

I suppose Ramza (Beoulve) and co. needed to FFIII themselves because they didn't have their FFIII'd selves to block the death laser, but she still felt a little easy for an "unbeatable" enemy that had to be sealed away. All in all, that fight felt like what Cloud of Darkness would have been, if the CT series had the same level of event scripting.

Fran is our Dalmascan Yugiri. While most of her present model is recycled from Zodiac Age (like much of the raid series), her face appears to be new for XIV. They wouldn't do that for a one-off character, so I suspect we'll be meeting up with her again. Probably when it's time to meet up with...

The princess. Who leads the Dalmascan Resistance. Well, once faction, at least. Could it be? And how in the myriad hells did she pull that off after dying in Ba'Gamnan's arms? (Non-FFXII-ers: Princess Ashe was the leader of the Dalmascan Resistance.) As long as she still manages to sport a hot-pink pleather miniskirt in our early-industrial fantasy setting, she'll do just fine, whatever happens.

Noah van Gabranth. Oh just shoot me. With a Tartarus laser, at that. Okay, seriously, there is no friggin' way this isn't coming back, and since Yoshida has already said they won't continue finished quest chains, there's only one real place that can happen, and we all know it.

Lastly, anyone screenshot that map of Ilsabard that Fran unrolls? Pretty good odds that that's going to be one of our new region maps for the next expac. One of those pixels is probably where we will fight Gabranth.

And all that is without going into the plot itself, which managed to have the right bitter/sweet ratio without feeling rushed or cheap. Sudden, massive, and entirely offscreen character growth for bratty short dudes with ponytails is still totally a thing though.

here you go ^^

MSQ

Well, this was a bit short, but not meaningless. They're still building up, unfortunately.

Totally shocking reveal Gaius survived! Somehow! (Rage is a hell of an anesthetic?) Seems the mystery voice isn't location locked.

The parley scenes were interesting. While the outcome was predictable, I wish the Eorzeans had pressed Varis for more information than just cutting him off, or argued against his position at greater length. The enemy of your enemy isn't always your friend...

And now all of the major Scions are down for the count. With Zenos-Elidibus along with more troops on our doorstep and the real Zenos looming out there... somewhere... menacingly. Oh joy.

... I'll get to Ivalice and maybe Seiryu tomorrow. Jeanne makes fights in F/GO a lot easier, but also a lot longer, and I want to get caught up with the story...

MSQ

I was glad they used Matoya again, she was the first person I thought after Krile who might be able to help in some way, especially cause Y'shtola was also involved. The whole Maxima + Populares escaping the Empire felt like it happened too fast, but then I remember that we will always have that problem with the Time Bubble(TM). Nice to see that the Othardian Alliance is shaping up, with Nagxia and Dalmasca playing more into the Main Story.

Then we meet Gaius (and unconscious Alphy). I am glad they IMMEDIATELY let us know it is him, but I also kinda laughed at how he just 'climbed out of the rubble' of the Praetorium and that is how he survived. Yes, him choosing not to die and avenge his underlings that perished due to the Ascian's schemes is in line with what impressions i had of him, but I preferred the alternative of Nero saving him tbh. A bit miffed that Black Rose didn't really seem to go anywhere at first (and seemingly resolved offscreen), but then its just that they delayed it's usage rather than destroying the data about its components. The whole 'Solus clone' project is a bit out of left field as well, but at least explains how he gets real bodies so quickly.
Also still find it hard to believe that the world is getting an excess of Light because of us doing what we do. On the other hand, Gaius seems to be actually pretty well-informed about the whole Light vs Dark thing, granted he might have taken this information from the Ascians he has killed (still unexplained).
I was surprised about Emet-Selch being an Overlord of the Source, but then again we were never told that Lahabrea and Elidibus were the ONLY ones to exist here right? I immediately attatched Solus to being Emmet-Selch, but that is not necessarily true.

Then comes the scene in the same factory Gaius just told us about (I think) with Varis and Solus. Solus really loves pulling Varis' strings here, but I was surprised when the line from the trailer stinger was used here instead instead of say, pt 2. Solus also seems to be very interested with Black Rose and how it might interact with the current conditions of the world, also curious how he says 'You and I may not meet again in this lifetime', is he gonna do his own thing then?

The parley meeting between the Alliance leaders and the Emperor was good imo. I think the Emperor made good points against both Merlwyb's and Aymeric's arguments, though at the same time find it a bit frustrating that Kann-E-Senna didnt respond to the whole 'summoning the Twelve and almost dooming creation' thing. I'm somewhat glad that we could be (not certain what the other responses might have evoked) the ones to point their questions in the right directions, though Varis' end goal seems somewhat... flawed. 5 more calamities (remember there are only 5 shards intact, the 13th is the void now) to rejoin the entire world, so that man can return to being a single race, and then using that 'unity' to overthrow the Ascians. Even if we disregard the mass casualties on both sides not to mention the destruction of entire worlds ... did he forget entirely about Zodiark? (Forgetting about theories that he needs only 1 more rejoining to break free and return from wherever he is) he'd DEFINITELY be out if all the remaining shards were destroyed. And his information about the '1 world 1 race' thing comes from the Ascians themselves AFAIK, so it isn't entirely trustworthy in the first place. I'm glad the Alliance (and Nanamo in particular) completely rejected his ideals (Yes he's probably extremely frustrated that his entire life has been somewhat of a lie, but genocide is still a big NO).

In regards to Ghimlyt; I loved the dungeon, for me it definitely gave off the war atmosphere that Ala Mhigo only glanced upon, and the way that the alliance npcs fought alongside us was a nice touch (Where the heck was Merlwyb tho?). I had a hunch the guard twins would indeed be the final boss, since they had an intro cutscene in the patch trailer, but i was expecting a solo trial against 'Zenos' immediately after.
And then of course we lose Alisaie, cause flags, and we need to be completely and utterly alone for Shadowbringers. Patch ends on a somewhat flat note with Elidenos arriving at the battlefield.

Return to Ivalice

I am glad we got to see the map of southern Othard, and Fran as well. I'm curious to see how a super-long-lived Viera ups and decides to be an adventurer, but I guess that is for the role-players to decide. The Dramaturge also gives us our 2 Viera races (that I cant recall the names of at this time). OG Ramza being a Warrior of Light was kinda unexpected, but also welcome. Did anyone else have somewhat mixed emotions about OG Alma having Orran's kid? Yeah sure, she probably is older than she looks, but still. Orbonne was a nice place, but the Thunder God was really kind of annoying to explain the mechanics to the alliance. I felt a wave of emotion I can't describe with both the final battle and that final scene, so I'll just say it tickled my fancy. The stinger of the 4th legion finding the clockwork machina of Goug HAS to lead into the Main Story right? The Ivalice series is over after all. Also there is Fran promising to meet again, as well as the 'princess' (Ashe somehow surviving?) that leads the resistance cell she is apart of. (Unless they decide to make a sequel 24-man raid series for 5.0, unlikely I know)

The Four Lords

A nice conclusion overall. Seiryu seemed like the misguided rival type from what i heard from his voice, and was glad he met expectations. However Soroban becoming the new Genbu means we wont get to hear is calm and relaxing voice in the MSQ anymore. I was slightly disappointed that we didnt even have a solo duty against Koryu. And with Tenzen, we now have 2 stories in which past Warriors of Light have come to our aid. I'm also glad (and surprised) we got paid like we were meant to, but Tataru already mentions my sentiments.

What is Left

So, from the trailer; we need to hear that comment about Hien and Lyse leading reinforcements into battle; we need to see Elezenos fight in Ghimlyt and meet with Elidenos (the elezen body is on the floor when Hien gets bodied); we need to see Hien, Yugiri and Lyse lose against 'Zenos' (does Zenos take his body back? does Elidbus prove to be the stronger threat?); then we have our final battle against him (it's probably a solo duty due to Yojimbo, but I hope it is a story trial); we need to stand on that 'gate' structure in the aetherial sea, hear the comment "We will throw wide the gates", as well as see Hydaelyn alongside our transition to Warrior of Darkness.