WAY late to the party, but I wanted to present my thoughts on the latest patch stuff:
MSQ:
Lots of plusses and minuses on the climax of the Ascian conflict (excluding stray Ascians like not!Asahi, who undoubtedly will continue to be a problem). I'm glad that they finally addressed Elidibus's odd shift in focus toward trying to assassinate the Warrior of Light. Basically, he came to the gradual realization that we were a problem he couldn't ignore, rather than a tool he could safely use. His shift from "must maintain the balance" to "must kill the WoL at all costs" was jarring to me, and it's good to have that closure.
His methods for doing so were really puzzling, though, until he revealed that he was a Primal that was "powered" by a desire for salvation. That explains why he supercharged the First with a overdose of Warriors of Light - they essentially acted unknowingly as priests, guiding the people in prayers to sustain and empower him. It was also cool how he co-opted the Exarch's memory core to supercharge that effort with partial summonings from other shards, stripping the desire to vanquish the darkness from innumerable other Warriors of Light. (It does make me wonder whether that partial summoning will have consequences - have those unfortunate WoL's been partially desouled, and are no longer driven to save others? Or did the removed portion return after the battle was over?)
The "teasers" for jobs was a cool touch (Chemist for the Mystel girl, and Thief, Necromancer, and Berserker for the dungeon bosses). I don't know if this means that there's any hope we'll get them (still no Geomancer, after all), but if it does, I really want to see Thief. It's one of the most classic of classic FF jobs - the only one of the originals that didn't get a proper treatment in this game. (No, Rogue doesn't count. Even if it powers up to Ninja, just like the original Thief did.)
Elidibus's incarnation as the Warrior of Light was a neat touch, and nicely foreshadowed by the image in the book we looked at earlier in the story. While I don't think it was directly stated, I sort of got the impression that Elidibus actually WAS the original Warrior of Light depicted - he didn't just take his form for the final conflict. He mentioned that he sometimes worked toward the Ascians' goals, and sometimes against, and propping up a beacon of hope like the Warrior of Light would be a good way to fuel both himself and Zodiark, as the world slowly forgot about them.
G'raha's sacrifice was dampened a bit by the fact that we knew he had already backed himself up in the crystal - but, at the same time, knowledge of it was necessary to properly explain how Elidibus was summoning all those soul fragments, so hiding the fact that he'd done so would have been awkward.
Also, on the topic of G'raha's resurrection. I was at first skeeved by the fact they were planning on merging him with G'raha on the Source without consulting that G'raha first. This was mollified a bit when I realized that the Exarch would have had the ENTIRETY of G'raha's emotions, experiences, and memories up through Source-G'raha's current state. If anyone would know how Source-G'raha would feel about the merger, it was the Exarch, and he's not the sort to impose his will on the unwiling. So, if the Exarch feels G'raha would be cool with it, then he's likely right.
However, they weren't just discussing a merger. They mentioned that the merger could potentially fail, which would lead to the deaths of BOTH G'rahas. So, they were playing with the LIFE of a person who had no opportunity to object. Again, Exarch would know best whether G'raha would be willing to take that risk, I suppose.
Anyway, cute scene at the end with G'raha officially joinning the Scions. And Alisae totes jelly.
As far as Zodiark and Hydaelyn go, there's still clearly more to the story. We still know nothing about the origin of the Sound that destroyed the Ancients. We also don't know why Elidibus split off from Zodiark (Y'shtola specifically voices this puzzle, but Elidibus doesn't explain himself to her). I'm guessing that there's still more to learn, and that these things will be revealed as Zenos and not!Asahi continue their shenanigans.
And, speaking of Zenos, he's back in charge of Garlemald? For some reason? And once again, slaughters countless hapless Garleans in order to reach the throne. (Did he really need to? I mean, he's the crown prince! Can't he just ask to come in?) And not!Asahi performed a flippant monologue which reminded me very much of Emet Selch's flippant monologue at the end of Stormblood (thank goodness he turned out to be more of an interesting character than I expected from that little scene).
I wonder if anyone will piece together the scene of carnage and notice how similar it is to the scene of carnage that happened when Varis was assassinated, and maybe put two and two together. Just maybe, it was Zenos, and not Gaius/Estinien who did the deed?
It doesn't much look as though Zenos and not!Asahi are working together, so much as they're working... near each other? Still, interesting to see that some soul-fragment Ascians are just plain not on board with the Ascian agenda.
Sorrow of Werlyt:
I protest the white-haired Au Ra piloting the Sapphire Weapon. But at least the blue-haired one was SUPPOSED to be the pilot, so I guess SOMEONE in the Empire has the proper knowledge of aesthetics.
I also rolled my eyes at the pilot engaging the super-suicide system pretty much the moment we appeared on the scene - but this made more sense in retrospect when he talks about being a poor pilot in the Echo flashback. In that case, it was actually a really good strategic decision; if victory was to be had, it would be due to the synchronization.
Scumbag Legatus is a scumbag. The three Au Ra children he has in his room - I wonder if they're the "insurance" he's using to ensure that the Au Ra pilots throw their lives away on schedule. The scene where he calls the green-haired Au Ra pilot girl into the room would have had really creepily suggestive vibes - if not for the fact that he'd already suited up in his Legatus armor. It'd be pretty silly to do that, if he planned on some coercive hanky-panky. So, he probably has some other plan for her, likely setting her up for Emerald Weapon to be our Trial for the next patch.
Speaking of which, I was hopeful that Sapphire was going to be another Trial battle, but alas, it was not to be. At least they did not (as one NPC suggests) blow its head of with a giant cannon. We DO get to fight it, albiet in a very unusual manner.
Given that Emerald and Ruby were the two "optional" weapons in FFVII, and we've already had Ruby for a trial battle, I think it's likely we'll get Emerald, as a trial battle, as well. We'll see.
YoRHa:
2B finally makes her appearance, and 2P turns out to be the bad guy. So, 9S's "villainy" in the first chapter is all a misunderstanding. (Still kind of a dick move to mindjack all those poor Machine Lifeforms, many of whom were begging not to be sacrificed.)
And... 2P's face-heel turn is kind of a weak twist, to be honest. Still not seeing the Yoko Taro genius we're all expecting.
Was also disappointed by few to no Machine Lifeforms this time around. A few scattered dead ones at the start. None of the bosses had the MLF aesthetic that pleased me greatly in the first raid.
The giant ball of white android women was creepy-cool, though I was a bit disappointed that it didn't "hatch" a boss (ala Adam's creation in the original game). It evolved into giant white android woman composed of white android women instead. Which was okay, I guess.
Just as in the first raid, no real questions were answered, since 2B is just as in the dark as we are. We still don't know why any of these guys are here, or why they're fighting each other, or what they plan to do if they win. It's even still possible for 2B and 9S to be the bad guys after all! They're saving an awful lot of revelations for the third segment.
All in all, disappointed with this segment. At least we got to explore the dungeon afterwards, a feature I very much appreciate!
Dwarf tribe:
Not a lot to say here; helping the dwarves to build tanks. A most laudable goal. With any luck, we'll get a nice cutscene where they send them against the Giant of Babil, but I'm not holding my breath for that.
The addition of a dwarf from the opposing villiage was great; the banter between her and the other Dwarves is great, in how she's all competative with them, but they all just love her ideas and refuse to argue or compete at all.
The many, many, many allusions to the hard-drinking habits of Dwarves is amusing, and it's pretty natural that they turned to Ethenol for a source of fuel (and also booze).
New Collectables NPC:
Considering I'm a crafter, I spend far too little time in the Firmament. As such, I was surprised to discover a bunch of sidequests there; not sure whether they're freshly added or they've been around a patch and I just haven't noticed. Anyway, interesting to see that NPCs are occupying the housing there - which makes sense (we're supposed to be repairing the homes of the poor, lost souls in the Brume), but DOES throw a bit of a wrench into the theory that this is going to be our new housing district. Maybe we'll be given other wards, while a single ward is reserved for NPCs?
Anyway, the idea of a dragonlet learning to craft and gather is a cute one, and I like the idea that stodgy older dragons are distainful of the idea. I hope that Ehil Tou is able to impress them, in due time. I'd imagine that youth of dragon society have a MUCH harder time overturning tradition than ephemerals such as humans do, and even for us it's hardly a walk in the park!
Originally Posted by Vyrerus
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