Results 1 to 10 of 54

Hybrid View

  1. #1
    Player
    Lyth's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    Meracydia
    Posts
    3,883
    Character
    Lythia Norvaine
    World
    Gilgamesh
    Main Class
    Viper Lv 100
    Quote Originally Posted by Veloran View Post
    ...
    Dynamis doesn't get introduced in the eleventh hour, in this story, however. The Elpis flower and its associated musical motif shows up in the Level 80 quest 'The Medial Circuit', which is the fifth quest in. The term Akasha shows up for the first time in the Level 81 quest 'The Color of Joy'. You're given plenty of foreshadowing well in advance of any of these things becoming plot relevant. The story also very deliberately makes a point of feeding you lines such as Hermes' "A flower" and Hyth's "Perhaps when our time comes to return to the star, we shall remember the days we had lost,' which are very deliberately delivered in a throwaway fashion initially only for them to come back with a vengeance at the climax (they do cheat a bit by changing the delivery each time). It's amazing how even lyrically that bit of refrain that we've heard in the trailer for months, 'Our song of hope she dances on the wind, higher, oh higher/On wings of hope you rise up in the night' carries a whole other emotional impact when it contextually slams into you during your fight with the Endsinger.

    I don't think that a formal discussion of Dynamis was at all necessary for resolution of this story. Even if you willfully ignore the running theme of the indomitable spirit triumphing against all odds that comes up in FFXIV time and again (didn't they literally spell this out for us with Alpha and Omega), this is a recurring theme in the wider Final Fantasy series as well. Many long term fans would have been more surprised if the montage of our friends praying for us didn't show up in the final fight, as part of the obligatory homage to FFIV. (Again, can I reiterate how much powerful storytelling in this game gets conveyed simply through sound? The simple inclusion of the sound of the Scions' gloves tightening makes the moment feel even more clutch.)

    If you want to talk about hard vs. soft magic systems, it's worth looking at Amaurot's Creation magic first as an example of soft magic. This is actually the sort of thing that runs the risk of Deus Ex Machina, much more than Dynamis. But much like the Gandalf example included in your link, it really exists just to highlight a difference in power between the Ancients and ourselves. And we'll probably see the counterpoint/flaw to its use get demonstrated in the current raid series, given the identity of the one who was historically in charge of Creation Magic.

    It's also worth remembering the zeroth rule: 'Always err on the side of awesome.' It's perfectly fine to have an epiphany at the climax. The highlight of Shadowbringers' climax was the Revan reveal moment: Emet's stunned look just after you rejoin with Arbert and Emet realizes that he's up against Azem. Despite having a predilection for hard magic systems, Sanderson does this all the time with plot twists in his work as well. Characters always break their limitations in the climax. Not because it was preordained in dialogue box 23 from ARR or in book one of the EE vol. 1, but because it's hella cool.
    (11)
    Last edited by Lyth; 01-02-2022 at 08:41 PM.