New story writer for 7.0

[RyuDragnier]

Daichi Hiroi is his name, and has worked on the following questlines. Thoughts on what possibilities we could see for story based on his work?

[RukoBoshi]

He gave us Guydelot, he's already a champion in my book.

But more seriously, Daichi Hiroi seems to gives a lot of lore and expositions in his quests which i appreciate.
I liked the adventure feel of the bard quests in Heavensward and it's focus on our two companions.

Overall i like his characters and the way he presents the lore in his work, and i always want to see more of them after i finish these quests.

[RyuDragnier]

That's definitely something I enjoyed about his quests, the proper combinations of lore and characterization. His stuff also seems to capture that thirst for the unknown and adventurous feel well enough to where his work is never forgettable. With him writing, for some reason I feel like a possible FF5 themed expansion is possible, complete with a FFXIV style version of Ahead On Our Way.

[KageTokage]

I also enjoyed the amount of world-building and character growth in his storylines, so I feel more confident about 7.x's direction now.

[AudieMurphy135]

for some reason I feel like a possible FF5 themed expansion is possible, complete with a FFXIV style version of Ahead On Our Way.

They actually already have a version of that song in the game for the Baldesion Annex in Endwalker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpyxDQv5mNE

Although it would be neat to hear a more adventury-sounding one like the original.

[RyuDragnier]

They actually already have a version of that song in the game for the Baldesion Annex in Endwalker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpyxDQv5mNE

Although it would be neat to hear a more adventury-sounding one like the original.

Or maybe one similar to the Distant Worlds version of FF5's main theme.

[Cleretic]

A lot of the content he's penned tend to be parts of the game disliked for pretty much every reason BUT the story, so that's a weirdly good sign; even at his worst, he's basically the best part of a bad stretch.

I like to get a bead on more than just the quality of writing, though, see if we can figure out any common themes besides 'it's good' (like, for example, Ishikawa's predilection for Sad Edgy War Criminals). And it's actually a little difficult with him, because most of his writing thus far has been in service to someone else's, either in using characters others created in the patches, or aiding Matsuno's writing in Ivalice and Bozja (and weirdly, both of those two things simultaneously in PotD). It's hard to tell what he specifically either likes to write or excels at writing, save that he seems to have written basically every single piece of side content that features voidsent since 3.0. Maybe he's why we're off dealing with them right now!

[aveyond-dreams]

After looking over the image posted in the OP, I can say with confidence that I am looking forward to what this writer has in store for us. In an expansion marked by a fundamental lack of a realistic perspective when it comes to dealing with grief and despair, his work shines in Pandaemonium wherein I found the few characters who act and behave in ways that make sense. Of all the questlines going on this expansion, Pandaemonium is my favorite especially with his fleshing out and handling of Lahabrea’s character. A father who did what he had to do in order to protect his child, even if it came at a bitter cost. That’s the sort of more mature storytelling I want to see in this game, not nonsense with anime girls of despair.

I also quite enjoyed The Shadow of Mhach raid questlines at the time, with his handling of the Sky Pirates and Cait Sith standing out starkly against how other familiars and their masters were treated in other parts of the story. They were decent characters that did not grate on the player’s nerves, and he seems to show a greater level of respect for the world that we desperately need along with something to make the Source more interesting again –

Which brings me to the surprise that he was involved as an assistant writer in Return to Ivalice and Save the Queen, both storylines which I greatly enjoyed. Well-handled political intrigue, betrayals, coups, that sort of thing would add the sort of spice the Source now lacks in absence of any supernatural or geopolitical threats with the fall of both the Ascians and Garlemald. I hope that combined with his background writing things related to the Void and his work in Ivalice/Bozja that he will deliver on what this game needs moving forward.

As for his other work, I do recall patch 5.5 as being one of the patches that served to greatly ramp up the stakes and action for a brief period before Endwalker’s main story writing dashed it all, subverting it in the worst ways possible. I have not played through Tataru’s quests nor do I plan to, but I recall enjoying my interactions with the characters in both the BLM and BRD job quests. Like with the other Shadowbringers role quests, the caster one was well done, but I do feel the Dancer quests didn’t resonate with me as much nor do some of the more recent truncated job quests due to how short the time we spend with those characters is.

In summary, I have little cause for concern when it comes to his writing or future contributions. He has not lost my trust in the same manner Ishikawa has and I would be willing to give his 7.0 a chance.

A lot of the content he's penned tend to be parts of the game disliked for pretty much every reason BUT the story, so that's a weirdly good sign; even at his worst, he's basically the best part of a bad stretch.

I like to get a bead on more than just the quality of writing, though, see if we can figure out any common themes besides 'it's good' (like, for example, Ishikawa's predilection for Sad Edgy War Criminals). And it's actually a little difficult with him, because most of his writing thus far has been in service to someone else's, either in using characters others created in the patches, or aiding Matsuno's writing in Ivalice and Bozja (and weirdly, both of those two things simultaneously in PotD). It's hard to tell what he specifically either likes to write or excels at writing, save that he seems to have written basically every single piece of side content that features voidsent since 3.0. Maybe he's why we're off dealing with them right now!

Indeed, Ishikawa’s fascination and over-servicing of both Venat and Hermes proved disastrous and tore my faith in her to tatters. I took great joy in confirming my stance aligning with Emet’s in her Omega Quest, and we know from other interview sources that the dev team greatly underestimated how badly people received the antagonistic figures that she introduced to the story at the last hour. It is unfortunate that the writer of who this topic is principally about has not had too many chances to shine on his own, but at least he hasn’t committed the same sort of grievous errors that occurred in other parts of the game’s writing.

Of course, in an ideal world I would have preferred the return of Maehiro from the now nearly finished FFXVI but since that does not appear to be in the cards, I’ll take this state of affairs instead. I can only hope that Yoshi does not tire of Hiroi’s work and throws his settings and characters away in the sort of unceremonious fashion that he did to Garlemald and the Ascians that are yet unaccounted for after their confrontation with Gaius – though a tidbit about Gaia’s role not being over gives me reason to hope that somehow we will see them again before this expansion is over.

[RyuDragnier]

A lot of the content he's penned tend to be parts of the game disliked for pretty much every reason BUT the story, so that's a weirdly good sign; even at his worst, he's basically the best part of a bad stretch.

I like to get a bead on more than just the quality of writing, though, see if we can figure out any common themes besides 'it's good' (like, for example, Ishikawa's predilection for Sad Edgy War Criminals). And it's actually a little difficult with him, because most of his writing thus far has been in service to someone else's, either in using characters others created in the patches, or aiding Matsuno's writing in Ivalice and Bozja (and weirdly, both of those two things simultaneously in PotD). It's hard to tell what he specifically either likes to write or excels at writing, save that he seems to have written basically every single piece of side content that features voidsent since 3.0. Maybe he's why we're off dealing with them right now!

If we look at everything he has worked on, almost all of them had characters that were brand new, and seem to be genuinely interesting/compelling. So at least character wise, we will not be disappointed. Story wise, most of what he has done has been small stuff over the years. But since I don't recall hearing any complaints about the BRD/BLM/DNC questlines or the range/caster role quest for ShB, I think at worst the story will be average. At best it will be incredibly refreshing compared to what we've dealt with previously. Personally I think we could go for a good adventure expansion, where we don't really have high stakes.

[RukoBoshi]

If we look at everything he has worked on, almost all of them had characters that were brand new, and seem to be genuinely interesting/compelling. So at least character wise, we will not be disappointed. Story wise, most of what he has done has been small stuff over the years. But since I don't recall hearing any complaints about the BRD/BLM/DNC questlines or the range/caster role quest for ShB, I think at worst the story will be average. At best it will be incredibly refreshing compared to what we've dealt with previously. Personally I think we could go for a good adventure expansion, where we don't really have high stakes.

My thought exactly ! He seemed to strike a nice balance between lore presentation and character interaction.
While Ishikawa was a bit more focused on characters imo (which is good too).

I think he would be good for a story that introduce new characters and story elements, instead of continuing with existing ones.
I definitely got this adventure feeling when playing through Mhach with the sky pirates, and right now a lower stakes adventure is what i want.