I just dont understand whats going on with the 24 man storyline

[ObsidianFire]

It's a very contrived, illogical, and completely stupid plot point. They strategically crippled their airborne capabilities in Othard and thus their force projection just to make a point to some rebels. Christ, it's like they went out of their way to make the Garleans as stupidly evil as they possibly could

They certainly went out of their way to make Galbranth much more stupid then his FFXII counterpart is. This is the guy who's been in charge of Dalmasca for over thirty years and he still has multiple resistance groups to worry about. And they're all down under the Garlean capital of the region to boot. And then Gaius has to send Livia and part of the XIVth Legion to help him out at the same time the XIVth Legion is occupying Gyr Abania and constructing the Eorzean castra. Firing on the city he's supposed to be ruling to get rid of various rebel factions (or because the Lucavi attacked) is just the last in one long line of... not very good decisions Galbranth has made.

unless they're just going the stereotypical Soviet route of drowning the enemy with sheer numbers.

I thought this was what the Garleans were doing ever since they were introduced. It's probably not a wrong way to look at how they fight.

All that said, the the entire point of Garlemald is to cause as much chaos as possible, I can totally see Solus letting his legatai do whatever they want because it will cause more chaos, not more stability. Nael, Galbranth and even Zenos are all good exampls of that. Gaius is an anomaly because he actually does want long-term stability and I don't think he should be treated as an example of "normal" Garlemald.

[Rosa_Frandlia]

It's a very contrived, illogical, and completely stupid plot point. They strategically crippled their airborne capabilities in Othard and thus their force projection just to make a point to some rebels. Christ, it's like they went out of their way to make the Garleans as stupidly evil as they possibly could and I find it increasingly difficult to believe that they're supposed to have an effective fighting force that the Eorzean Alliance, or really anyone, is supposed to feel existentially threatened by, unless they're just going the stereotypical Soviet route of drowning the enemy with sheer numbers.

They actually did the same thing to Doma. When Yugiri came, it was right after a failed rebellion and Garlemald razed all of Doma to the ground. The same is true of Ala Mhigo and the state of their capital city and the towns within their borders such as Bitter Mill. This seems a tactic that Garleans seem to employ on rebellions as we now have 3 cases where they use it after rebellions occur.

[Cilia]

The Garleans are supposed to be in the quality side of the quality vs. quantity equation. Their lack of magical aptitude is meant to be compensated for with their technology and enhanced constitution. That said, they do love to bolster their armies with (forced) conscripts from conquered territories.

In regards to the reckless destruction of Rabanastre... it's important to remember the Empire's become quite arrogant since becoming a (or, as far as we know, the) world superpower, though not without reason. (Remember that until Gaius went after the Eorzean heartland nobody was able to do so much as slow them down.) The weakness razing Rabanastre to the ground would create was probably not considered significant if at all - or if it was, the long-term benefits would outweigh the short-term losses.

[Daralii]

The Garleans are supposed to be in the quality side of the quality vs. quantity equation. Their lack of magical aptitude is meant to be compensated for with their technology and enhanced constitution. That said, they do love to bolster their armies with (forced) conscripts from conquered territories.

In regards to the reckless destruction of Rabanastre... it's important to remember the Empire's become quite arrogant since becoming a (or, as far as we know, the) world superpower, though not without reason. (Remember that until Gaius went after the Eorzean heartland nobody was able to do so much as slow them down.) The weakness razing Rabanastre to the ground would create was probably not considered significant if at all - or if it was, the long-term benefits would outweigh the short-term losses.

Especially since the way they destroyed it would probably be a very effective application of shock-and-awe.



It's not surprising that the resistance cells are so fractured.

[JeanneOrnitier]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the Holy Ydoran Empire is mentioned as the empire Ajora summoned/unsealed Ultima against in XIV, not Allag.

[Nuach]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the Holy Ydoran Empire is mentioned as the empire Ajora summoned/unsealed Ultima against in XIV, not Allag.

I don't remember the Holy Ydoran Empire being name dropped in the dialogue, but I don't doubt you, I probably missed it or forgot it. That just pushes me towards my thought that Ajora's life was during the 4th Umbral Era rather than Ajora's life being in the 3rd Astral Era, with the Holy Ydoran Empire as a state in the post-Allag period, at least still capable of airship technology until the destruction of Mullonde, but late enough that the religious influence (though Pharist at the time rather than the Church of Glabados) that would dominate the 4th Astral Era to be present.

Consequently this also makes me think it even more unlikely for Ajora to be a WoL, instead Ramza's statement of Ajora betraying Hydaelyn as less a personal betrayal, and instead a more "enemy of the world" phrasing.

[Rocl]

I don't remember the Holy Ydoran Empire being name dropped in the dialogue, but I don't doubt you, I probably missed it or forgot it.

I don't think it's mentioned outside of the small talks you get with the two requisite lore-dump NPCs aboard the Prima Vista (the Dramaturge and Jenomis).

[Cilia]

The Crystal Tower is very similar, but it does have some significant differences to its appearance and story in III. So, here's a Cliff's Notes version...

In III, it's just kind of there as Xande's stronghold. In III, Xande was one of the Archmagus Noah's apprentices along with Doga and Unei. When he reached the end of his life, Noah gifted his apprentices each with their own special power: Doga was given power over magic, Unei was given power over dreams, and Xande was given mortality.

Naturally, Xande wasn't very happy about that, and began scheming a way to grant himself immortality. To this end he flooded the world in a dark ocean, stopping time everywhere but on a floating continent, and holed himself up in the Crystal (Syrcus) Tower. He remains there until confronted by the party, attacking them through proxies in an attempt to stop the Warriors of Light from gaining power from the Crystals necessary to defeat him. Xande has no pact with the Cloud of Darkness in III, but his actions inadvertently end up summoning it after his death at the hands of the Warriors of Light.

That's significantly different to XIV's incarnation - notably III Xande has the exact opposite goal of XIV Xande. All the bosses are taken from III monsters, and there are a ton of references, but the Crystal Tower series isn't a carbon copy of III.

Shadow of Mhach is mostly original. Mostly. Some of the bosses are references (Cu Chulainn, Echidna, Ozma, Calofisteri, Diabolos) and the War of the Magi is used as a backdrop, but it expands the lore of XIV greatly without relying too much on previous titles and delves much further into the Celtic Ulster cycle mythos in so doing.

Return to Ivalice... is a lot like III in the sense that it takes elements from previous title(s) and rearranges them to fit XIV's world, but it feels like locations from Ivalice titles were just grafted on rather than adapted (or Hydaelyn was adapted to fit the Ivalice elements, when it should be the other way around). Leaving aside my personal distaste for Ivalice, that's my biggest gripe with it.

[Fenral]

Wiping City, er, Weeping City also uses a heavily altered version of IX's regular battle theme for background music (well, a mashup of IX's battle theme and XIV 2.0's Mor Dhona theme), as a reference to Ozma's origins as a random encounter superboss in IX.

[Remedi]

I'm afraid I disagree, the whole CT arc isn't just very similar, it's essentially the final 3 dungeons of FFIII ported to XIV, slapped some allagans shenanigans on it and called it a day. It's down to the very entrance to the tower.
Ivalice on the other hand can be actually considered a remaking of the whole ivalice alliance since it reworks most of the historical events to create what can be considered a new continuity to that setting only tied to the XIV setting and frankly it is miles better adapted than the CT storyline. Luckily we are getting new material to CT to actually rectifying those mistakes which were made simply because the game was new