My problem with solution 9 - spoiler

[Ath192]

It really makes you feel like you come from renaissance faire or something and makes a lot of the medieval fantasy concepts look silly. It's very immersion breaking. I'm glad some people like it but to me it doesn't feel like it blends with the world very well.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

Don't look at azys lla or the binding coil.

[Ath192]

Don't look at azys lla or the binding coil.

I prefer the retro futuristic/steampunk art style better to this, it has a way of blending better than a blade runner shopping mall.

[Xlantaa]

Well. This is actually common in Final Fantasy. One thing this saga has is that a considerable number of FF mixes medieval or antique stuff with moderns or futuristic stuff. This is not new. For example, Final Fantasy IV has a tower with super advanced technology inside, and a literal spaceship, and the whole world is medieval.

[CidHeiral]

Indeed, when I was dodging laser beam fire from a giant transforming robot in the Alexander raids I thought, "boy, I sure am glad this game really sticks to its medieval aesthetic."

I can't believe SE would add advanced technology like this! I've been fuming about it all day in my flying Mercedes and cyborg ninja glam. >:[

[Evergrey]

It really makes you feel like you come from renaissance faire or something and makes a lot of the medieval fantasy concepts look silly. It's very immersion breaking. I'm glad some people like it but to me it doesn't feel like it blends with the world very well.

I felt the same thing with Garleans and the high tech they used.
Never played a FF title before, Magitech just didn't fit into a Medieval Fantasy look to me.
But, I got used to it more and more.
Still not completely though, but I don't really think about it.

And FF lost the immersion long ago with all the collaborations and silly outfits, etc.
So a high tech "invasion" won't really budge my sense of immersion anymore. Because there is none.
FFXIV is to me now just a game to be played for enjoyment, not to get immersed in.

[Rithy255]

Yeah I don't really like the design either. I think they could have done better with how they design a "futuristic" place. Omega and over raids still somewhat fit what I could see in the world of ff14, this kind of just looks a bit too much in that direction to me though, very cyber punk like... I'm not the best at describing the difference really.

This is personal preference though I'm sure some people will really enjoy more future like designs. I'm likely not in the majority here.

[Mecia]

I agree and people are incapable of nuance when it comes to this versus something like the allagans.

[Doopliss]

Don't look at azys lla or the binding coil.

I'm whatever about Solution 9 so long as it's actually on the Source, but I want to reply because this is always a super disingenuous comparison.

Solution 9 looks like it'd fit right in place with games like PSO2 or Cyberpunk 2077. Binding Coil and Azys Lla do not. All of Azys Lla's technology consists of weird fleshy globular vehicles, giant sword-shaped floating devices, cryptic-looking "usbs" that display via fuzzy, person-focused holograms, and giant crystallized towers. Our mechs have fangs, teeth, and tongues, lol. Even Garlemald was more careful about its balance, given the strange, imposing aesthetics of their buildings and the fact that their automobiles are all still extremely simple looking. The Allagans' attire was also very "fantasy" or "fantasy with weird metallic bits" versus the glaring e-sports-lookin' fits we're getting lately.

I'm still giving Solution 9 a chance even though I think it looks lame, but pretending that it doesn't make sense that some people feel discomfort from this level of very modern, real-world-like technology feels like purposeful ignorance.

[Zaniel]

?? I mean Final Fantasy as a series and FF14 as an individual game are completely saturated in the melded fantasy/scifi aesthetic, it's pretty much the branding of the franchise. Endwalker is almost entirely this aethestic from end to end, we fly into the final battle in a PSO starship. Even when it's magic, like the Void Ark, it's still built in the scifi aesthetic. To not expect this is kind of disingenuous.