Patch 7.1 Discussions

[EdwinLi]

Remember there will be spoilers past this point like all patch discussions.

You have been warned!

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patch 7.1 MSQ

This patch is interesting. It did not start out great in my opinion since the first parts are focusing on character development that felt should have been in 7.0 MSQ but the ending and dungeon though..

Well it gives a unconfortable feeling to it like a horror series. It starts out slow and we only get subtle amount of it from the new MSQ Dungeon from the notes and atmosphere in the lab which felt like something out of a horror game with so many places blocked off and what looks like the people in the lab did their best to survive from the "zombies" they created but failed. However, when Sphene suddenly returned and the people around her started acting up, it gets kind of creepy. The way they act and looked with stuff around them getting static effects feels they maybe going into small of horror for this 7.X MSQ series involving people's obsession with avoiding death and how disturbingly far they may go to avoid experiencing it.

As for the ending itself, it looks like we may meet the real Sphene in 7.2. Not the Sphene we know in 7.0 who was a AI copy but the actual Sphene herself since she does not know what the Living Memory is.

[Cleretic]

For the 7.1 MSQ: A .1 patch is always gonna be a bit of a downbeat one, as they spin up without really introducing anything new, and it's hard to really make that particular phase pack a punch. ...but apparently I thought that because every other .1 patch was SLACKING, because goddamn, it turns out you can just hit bullseyes right out the gate and nobody can stop you!

The funeral scene was everything I was hoping for; Alexandria forgetting its past is something really interesting that I was hoping they'd explore more, and this hits the ground running; I do love that it starts with just one kid voicing what everyone around him was thinking, and Wuk Lamat giving advice that would probably hit well to any other audience but this one. (I was suspicious of the black regulators form the jump, though.) It all leads to a really good Gulool Ja story, too, which is great.

Absolutely love the dungeon and its setup, picking up on a plot point that I genuinely just thought until now was background coloring to answer an unspoken question; the tural vidraal that kicked off the entire thing in Yuweyawata was brought up back at the start of the expansion, it's the tural vidraal that Zoraal Ja was fighting that meant he couldn't attend the tournament Bakool won in Mamook. The dungeon itself and its surroundings dip hard into the part of Resident Evil that I really like, so I was very happy. I love learning that Teeshal Ja was definitely not a good person, having some very specific self-interests and clearly not much compunctions about what she's willing to do to get it. (And I respect that the main thing there is 'get with Zoraal Ja', that's a fantastic level of up-front.)

And then the final bit with Fake Sphene happens and we delve into an entirely different type of horror, one that XIV's never really done before! I alsways love seeing the game try something new, and this one's immediately got me wanting to see where this goes, and suitably creeped out by how disquietingly 'off' it was presented. I've heard a couple ideas as to who that fake Sphene could be, all of them with pretty solid grounding to the point where I can't confidently decide I believe any of them, but none of the ideas sound boring, which is a great place to start!

The stuff in Shaaloani between those was welcome, albeit a bit of a pacebreaker; it kinda felt like it was there to break up Alexandria Time more than anything. But I did want to see more of the hhetsaro, and now I have! A solid bit of Koana development, well-done and a long time coming.

The only two extra bits to cover here:
Shale's one joke got a REAL good laugh out of me.
And in terms of English voice acting, both Koana and Wuk Lamat's voice actors got a real good showing here; Koana's stuff in Shaaloani lets him do some real nice emotional acting, while the scene with Fake Sphene lets Wuk Lamat go for some REALLY good angry growl-shouting. (Which is also showcased in the re-recorded Interphos lines! I always thought that performance was fine, far from the worst trial voice acting, but now she's knocking it out of the goddamn park there.)

And as for the alliance raid... well, I can't speak for the FFXI references because I don't personally know them super well, but everything surrounding that--and the XI bits I got--were really fun!

Gotta say, the last thing I expected the core story of these raids to be was Sareel Ja's Revenge, I'd written that guy off as being as dead as the Eulmoran Adjutant! It seems like he saw and recreated Actual-Factual Vana'Diel; the Ark Angels are apparently accurate, and they tie into an entirely different creation myth.

I appreciate the NPC that's there solely to explain the lore of the bosses we fought, but I can also tell that the lore isn't the whole story behind why these figures are such big deals; a few of them more have notoriety because of the play experience than the actual story impact, and that can't really be conveyed.

You can find Prishe and Alxaal around Dawntrail zones after the story wraps, doing the exploring they said they'd do. I just found them in Earthenshire.

Liking the Pelupelu society questline so far, but there's not much to say abut it yet!

The Pandaemonium wrapup quest made me swear. Several times. I suppose it's nice for people who wanted that one specific minion, but really it just cements for me that the 'Ancient fans' this is clearly written for just want fundamentally entirely different things than I do from their story.

[Fenral]

I'll get around to the MSQ eventually. Maybe today. My expectations were in line with Cleretic's so I threw it on the back burner. Apparently I shouldn't have?

Echoes of Vana'diel:

It all began with a stone, or so the legends say.

Except the stone is Electrope and oh, by the way, Sareel Ja apparently made a saving throw against death and is now very much back for revenge.

Crystal Tower 2: Electrope Boogaloo

Prishe flipping out about a male Mithra was pretty on-brand, though she still seems a bit... sanded down from her FFXI incarnation? Glad they got Aya Hirano into the studio for her battle lines, though.

The zones look great in the small slices that we get. It's kind of a shame how hectic the combat is these days because there was almost no time to just stop and soak in the view like there was in Myths. The encounters just being out and about and using appropriate battle music was a nice touch, though.

The he/she Prishe mentions casually is clearly meant to be the FFXI player character, so probably not getting an appearance. The same trick was used in the Granblue Fantasy crossover event a couple years back (which was itself a follow-up to FFXIV's Shantotto event for some really crazy continuity). I'm relieved we can rule out Abyssea spillover this time around, at least.

I'm a 20th anniversary fake fan (and only played up through Aht Urgan so far), so I can't really weigh in on the player culture references. There's not much connecting the bosses we got to each other in the story or lore for me to comment on. It seems more like a Greatest Hits album at the moment, so the Shadow Lord fight set to "Awakening" was pretty much the perfect opening act on that front.

[SannaR]

Msq

Not much plot happened but a lot of character development happened. I love that we finally went back to the hhetsarro as during 7.0 they make mention they would love to speak with Koana about the train and then it felt like it got dropped there to never be mentioned again. I had a feeling to not trust those black regulators just not in the way it ended up. I'm also glad we had the option to say that it would feel inappropriate for us to attend the funeral. I thought the black regulators were going to be used by the advisor who I swear started out as a highlander hyur to do a mass killing after we leave the funeral. Not to still manipulate memories or that definitely not an actual person Sphene would decide to use them to make them Endless. When I saw AI Sphene I went "oh geeze are we doing another Elidibus is posing as someone else bit?" Only to later be givena PoV of what seems to be the OG Sphen? I loved that in the dungeon the note you read while looking for the administration key was a nod to Itchy... Scratchy... note from Resident Evil. Learning how Guloo Ja's mother got to have him made me feel a little icky. I also can't believe Gulool Ja verbs Cahciua. If you talk to him in the backroom after returning with Wuk Lamat and Erenville he says that he's happy that Erenville is using/wearing his Cahciua.

Society Quest

I like the premise of what it is set out to do. Also I see you devs. Putting in some X music. If we don't get a man named Rin, Wantz, or O'aka XXIII showing up at the travel agency I'll be a bit disappointed.

Pandeamonium

Not what I was expecting, but I could have done without. Don't get me wrong I wanted a Themis minion and love having one now. I also think it's funny they fed the Themis x Erichtonios shippers. I'm just not sure we needed to get one or the music this way. I did like being able to try and hint at that the Ancients were going to have a rough time soon. Not that Hegemone picks up on it.

Exteme unlock

I know the fight wouldn't have any lore, but I liked that you could express what you felt about Sphene and the Endless.

Alliance Raid

Oh man so many memories and XI memes. Had a person leave during my 1st time blind run. Most in mine seemed to also be blind. Though I'm just glad we had the guy rping as a corn cob to be our dorrito during Shadow Lord cause we were starting to run out of time. Welcome back Ivalice raid difficulty. Or at least for now. Having prior knowledge of Fafnir and the AAs helped out at spots.

It is interesting that Prishe has a gender identifier when she muses about how maybe non of this would be happening if X was around. I'm now thinking Zoraal Ja was bad at killing people? Cause how did that guy survive not only a slash from behind but also falling down a chasm? I feel Alxaal does have an actual XI npc name just that he will remember it later. Wicked Thunder was really correct about how electrope has endless possibilities.

[linesthatinterlace]

Really enjoyed the MSQ. Did not expect that ending at all, very interested to see where it goes.

[fulminating]

msq 7.1

On the one hand I find it slightly baffling that we haven't (?) met or actively sought out any of the science lalas in solution 9 - there must be some kicking around, and it wouldn't have been that insensible to go round their lab and make sure they don't have a floppy with a sphene backup/soul nonsense etc. On the other, this venture into the secret science lab could be setting us on a course to deal with them properly. If we're going to use meta knowledge, the 7.3 trial is shaping up to be neo-sphene, likely referred to as necron because it's ff9, there's someone pulling strings and the black regulators have to have some kind of ulterior motive beyond mind wiping the funeral away.
The random death guy and discussion around that seemed interesting, it's only natural it would be a mostly novel concept to the alexandrians, even if there were those that didn't wear regulators.
I also liked the father/son discussion at the start, but think it would have worked better as a more environmental piece than being directly interacted with - I'd be interested to see more of the impact the dome's had on normal npcs as the patches progress, but felt the "here's our learn to do things without electrope school" line kind of cheapened the effect.

Alliance raid

I know this is the ffxi raid, but it will be interesting to see how much electrope and its abilities are explored. This does seem to be more evidence that the shards and extrashard interdimensional travel are not the same, which could tie back into that cup being a travel within the universe device.
Nice to see aquarius and the adventurers just before fafnir. Kind of suspected that zoraal ja's buddy was still alive, but never expected he'd show up here - really interested to see where it's going to go now. With the comments about the shadowlord being a johnny come lately, perhaps we'll see prometheia? We already have a fafnir in anemos, so this also allows us to unrule out absolute virtue/panda warden, even if they'd be harder to tie in. Lilith is also a possibility. Can't help but feel the echoes are going to be destroyed at the end of the raid, but it'd be nice to have a little pocket of vana'diel in game forever if they don't seal it all off. I'm also curious if we'll end up "developing" lower jeuno - extending to upper or the ru'lude gardens, acquiring more npcs/shades or getting to visit a similar snapshot of windy/sandy/bastok/wherever they feel like highlighting.

Pandaemonium

Cute story, didn't have that much meat to it. As a vehicle to get the orchestron roll it was nice - interesting to see that the door to the past is permanent in story though. I had hoped for a bit more - some groundwork to allow a split timeline as with the world of the 8th calamity if you looked at it right, but alas not. It would have been a nice continuation of the crystal time machine, you know like people working to make a better future for those they'll never meet.

[SannaR]

I'll get around to the MSQ eventually. Maybe today. My expectations were in line with Cleretic's so I threw it on the back burner. Apparently I shouldn't have?

Echoes of Vana'diel:

It all began with a stone, or so the legends say.

Except the stone is Electrope and oh, by the way, Sareel Ja apparently made a saving throw against death and is now very much back for revenge.

Crystal Tower 2: Electrope Boogaloo

Prishe flipping out about a male Mithra was pretty on-brand, though she still seems a bit... sanded down from her FFXI incarnation? Glad they got Aya Hirano into the studio for her battle lines, though.

The zones look great in the small slices that we get. It's kind of a shame how hectic the combat is these days because there was almost no time to just stop and soak in the view like there was in Myths. The encounters just being out and about and using appropriate battle music was a nice touch, though.

The he/she Prishe mentions casually is clearly meant to be the FFXI player character, so probably not getting an appearance. The same trick was used in the Granblue Fantasy crossover event a couple years back (which was itself a follow-up to FFXIV's Shantotto event for some really crazy continuity). I'm relieved we can rule out Abyssea spillover this time around, at least.

I'm a 20th anniversary fake fan (and only played up through Aht Urgan so far), so I can't really weigh in on the player culture references. There's not much connecting the bosses we got to each other in the story or lore for me to comment on. It seems more like a Greatest Hits album at the moment, so the Shadow Lord fight set to "Awakening" was pretty much the perfect opening act on that front.

Oh yeah I was going to mention that Prishe seems to only have a comment about male Miqo'te. I do love that she and Alxaal right now are doing the Alpha n Omega random show up thing.

Just going to tack these two forgotten thoughts onto here but if you talk to the restaurant owner before interacting with the table destination he mentions that G'raha is a regular there and is getting his fill of tacos. I love that this patch fed us tacos twice after the zero tacos during 7.0.

[Malganis_L]

patch 7.1 MSQ

Not really impressed story wise, felt like it did the same errors as base Dawntrail,
patch is seperated in 2 parts that dont really flow together and thus, both feel rushed.

wuk lamat being glued to our hips again didnt help either.

(seeing first scene of father and 30 years older son and there struggle, i suddenly felt immersed, i hadnt even thought about that scenario, of how this would screw people up.
aaaaaand than wuk apeared, spoke platitutes and my immersion was obliterated instantly)

Being at the Funeral felt so wrong, I was kinda hoping that people would show actuall hostility after we murdered there leaders... you know like actual people.

Koana throwing all traces of self preservation away for a single buffalo feels just so random, (yes i know those things are incredible important to his tribe and basicly family, but he had basicly no connection to them before, so that feels as rushed as Bakol ja jas Heel turn) I mean come one you can stretch out your arms as wide as you want, you will not stop a 5 ton beast that comes rushing at you like an isekai truck, without plotarmor one of Turiyollas Rulers AND the Buffalo would be dead now ... as a maschinist, at least be so smart and send your Automata queen forward to block that thing or aim for the eyes, so that it change course.

Golul Ja backstory was... pretty underwhelming too... with zoraal ja basicly not feeling ready to be a father and thus sending mother and child away and that was it... i would have been more entertained by the clone theory coming true... (which is stupid but at least in a somewhat interresting way)

plotwist at the end is just Fake Adbert 2.0 so back to ripping of shadowbringers in an inferior manner,
so also not really impressive

Dungeon was cool though
also that pendent on Ehrenvilles backpack

[PorxiesRCute]

7.1 thoughts

I liked it. Seeing Alexandria cope with death for the first time is excellent. When Wuk Lamat tried to comfort the sad child I just knew some people were going to be screaming and crying about her existing, but I thought it was perfect: She saw someone upset, tried to help them, but didn't actually know how so may have actually made things worse. She's not the Perfect Mary Sue people say she is, she's just a regular person trying her best.

Even as a Lamaty'i fan, I was glad to have some time away from her to hang out with Koana. Base MSQ shoved her in people's faces so much, it's no wonder some people came away hating her.

I thought the resolution of Koana's tragic past was cheesy, but it's a Final Fantasy game so I wasn't really expecting anything more. Sometimes I wish this game was sprite-based like the SNES Final Fantasies; then people might be more forgiving of silly plots like this. Also, jumping in-between a giant monster and a little baby rroneek? LOVE that for him.

One more MSQ thought, on a topic I've seen a lot of people confused by:

A lot of people are going "Why would Koana risk his life for a cow???" They're missing the whole point of the Mehwahhetsoan storyline. The Hhetsarro see the rroneek as more than beasts; they see them as family. This was explicitly said prior to the solo duty. When Koana jumped in to protect the rroneek calf, from a Hhetsarro viewpoint it was the same as if he had jumped in to protect a little Miqo'te child. The whole scene very effectively shows that he accepts and embraces the views of the people he serves as Dawnservant.

[Malganis_L]

I think people are more confused about the "how he does it" rather than "why he does it"