Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LIII Update Thread

[Bayohne]

Q10:
I thought there were lots of cool things that combined the system and lore, such as how the Crystal Exarch calls forth the heroes before fighting the last boss, Feo Ul taking on the role of retainers, etc. How did these ideas come to life?

A10:
World Lore Creator/Main Scenario Writer Banri Oda will be coming to gamescom, and Main Scenario Writer Natsuko Ishikawa and Lead Artist Takeo Suzuki will be visiting PAX West. We might touch upon those types of topics at those events, so we’ll only touch upon it lightly for today.

Regarding the lore of the First, Oda and I discussed what the Warrior of Light would be able to carry with them when crossing over to the First, and decided that the WoL could bring over items that they considered personal belongings (think "carry on luggage"). This would not include retainers, and so Feo Ul was born in their place. Oda will probably talk about the finer details at gamescom.

[Bayohne]

Q11:
I was amazed by the detailed expressions in the 5.0 cutscenes, such as eye movements. I'd like to hear what kind of challenges and improvements were made to the cutscenes this time.

A11:
We increased the quality of cutscenes starting from the 4.x series. New staff joined the team for the development of 5.0, and they told the story in an FFXIV-esque sort of way, and I think that influenced it. Ishikawa will probably talk about the finer details!

[Bayohne]

Q12:
In the future, will we be able to to take our Trusts into 5.1 and later main scenario quest dungeons? I really liked Crystal Exarch, so I'd like to fight alongside him once again. Also, I would like to see new NPCs, such as Estinien and Hien added too!

A12:
Regarding Trusts, we had many ideas such as fighting primals together, or changing Castrum Meridianum and Praetorium into a 4-player instance and battling alongside Raubahn. However we cannot possibly implement all of them, so in patch 5.1 we made it so you can go to the new MSQ dungeons with Trusts. We also plan on making MSQ dungeons work with Trusts in future patches as well. As a side note, while progressing the MSQ in 5.1, they will come with you as part of the story mode, and so you won’t have to worry about having to level them up through the Trust leveling system.

[Bayohne]

Q13:
Were the sandwiches from the MSQ quests handmade by the Exarch himself? If it's hand-made I'll store it safely, but if not, I'll just eat 'em up, so let me know!

A13:
I don't know lol. I think it’s okay to just eat them...

[Bayohne]

Q14:
I loved Emet Selch! Are there any plans to further dive into his past?

A14:
I think we'll see more of the situation of what befell them. It's a story we've only seen from one perspective so far, so please think of it as a surprise for later.

[Bayohne]

Q15:
Yoshi-P, which of the main protagonists in Shadowbringers is your favorite?

A15:
I really liked Runar. The way that he cares deeply for Y'shtola really moved me, and through him, we can see another side to Y'shtola's personality. His voice actor was amazing.

I also liked Thancred’s comments when he was battling against Ran'jit. We wanted to make the nature of his emotional attachment much clearer. And we were very particular about how he collapsed after the battle. The animator first came up with something where he fell down naturally, but it looked uncool and I felt he wouldn’t fall down like that even if no one was looking at the time, so we adjusted it.

I also liked Urianger. There's a scene where he comforts another character where we get to show his gentler side, as well as touch on the burdens he's carried up until now. Remembering that scene still moves me. Again, I felt the voice acting was amazing.

[Bayohne]

Q16:
As before, all the new music tracks were amazing. I would like to know if there were any songs that were challenging to compose or left some memories.

A16:
* Sound Director Soken answered

Of course, it was Shadowbringers! It was originally released for the first time in the teaser trailer in last October’s Las Vegas Fan Festival. This February we released a different version in Paris, and finally we had the current version, for a total of 3 different versions, so I have many memories surrounding it.

[Bayohne]

Q17:
In the Eorzea Encyclopedia II it mentions that the statues found within Amdapor were made in the image of transcendent beings from yet another plane. Was this referring to the Sin Eaters from the First?

A17:
In the sense of "if you look back at the Lore book, you notice certain things," we did this intentionally.

[Bayohne]

Q18:
When are you planning to release the next Beast Tribe quests?

A18:
It will be added in patch 5.1. Please look forward to it!

[Bayohne]

Q19:
After trying out Eden, I was shocked by the Warriors of Light's imagination. How on earth did they come up with that version of Leviathan and Titan!?

A19:
Maybe it was something like... "Leviathan was Patch 2.1? 2.2? He was attacking from two locations...was that a head? Tail?” and I think it mixed with the Shinryu mechanic and became something like that... Perhaps the Wandering Minstrel was also influenced by how the WoL described them, and that’s why things turned out to be so difficult. Titan is likely due to Thancred bringing up the topic of falling, which probably got mixed in with explosions and the Goblin Tanks.