Thread: Revelations from Patch 7.3: The Promise of Tomorrow

Originally Posted by Iscah

Only had time for the first bit of MSQ...

Also it really bugged me that the other Oblivion guy who died wasn't referred to by his name. They're a small organisation; surely everyone knows everyone.

That bugged me, too.

Hells, we know the name of the freaking Backrooms' doorman! It's not one of those cases where the by-name introduction was dropped in the English script either.

Rest of the MSQ

The new antagonists arrive! Well, the old antagonists with a new name. Name in Japanese is just "Winterers," so at most we know there's a group of them. My current guess is just leftover overlords from the list (or possibly lesser ascended as last seen in *checks notes* Heavensward).

I seem to recall someone in a tinfoil hat flailing wildly at the Regulators and screaming that they looked like Necron. Whoever you are, wherever you are, you deserve a cookie. Not the weirdest summoning we've seen, and it answers the big question of "what's the point in sowing fear just to get people to use the new Regulators?" that's been around for a while.

I was wondering what was up with all the bloody violence suddenly, but it was to get people in the mindset to recognize it when Wuk Lamat started bleeding from her hands trying to bust down the first wall she couldn't take on her own. Better late than never. That entire cutscene was pure cinema. I swear I heard a quiet "We're sorry" at the end, too. May this upswing in quality continue for at least a few more patches.

Also glad that Calyx was deemed interesting enough to keep around. He was a bit too much for a one-off villain, even for post-Endsinger power scaling.

Power washed the driveway or I'd have been done a little sooner.

MSQ

Nothing super shocking. Geode dies, lots of putzing around a Preservation lab for padding, and then the showdown with Calyx who predictably summoned a Necron primal. Dude's not been keeping up with recent events. 5,000 people? Maybe if he brought a planet or two's worth of peoples' fear of death, he might have had a slight advantage. But 5,000 people's? I don't even feel it!

Ahem. Yes, very predictable, but that's what happens when you ape a previous entry in the series! Mildly disappointed Sphene won't become a travelling companion but it was a long shot anyway. Go, ah, stuff about the future and legacy or whatever. Quality's been on the upswing since 7.2 but still very obvious how things were going to end. What an obvious conclusion to a disappointing (overall) plotline...

Originally Posted by Fenral

Rest of the MSQ

The new antagonists arrive! Well, the old antagonists with a new name. Name in Japanese is just "Winterers," so at most we know there's a group of them. My current guess is just leftover overlords from the list (or possibly lesser ascended as last seen in *checks notes* Heavensward).

"Winterers" is the same term they use in the EN script as well. I'm not sure what it means, other than they've "been away." It would certainly explain Calyx's supergenius, him being in cahoots with the Ascians (or being one himself).

Just finished the MSQ - pretty good! Some scattered thoughts:

• Investigating the lab was a really nice change of pace from the usual questing - I hope they do more stuff like that in the future.
• The director's locker is the hardest this game has made me laugh in a very long time.
• The key being the crystal rather than the sippy cup enclosure seems obvious in retrospect, but I hadn't thought about it until now.
• The post-trial cutscene was extremely cool - have they ever done class-specific animations like that before (aside from the 'healer WoL helps other healers' ones)?
• It's not massively surprising given the amount of hate she's gotten, but the goodbyes from Wuk (and to a lesser extent Koana and Erenville) felt pretty final to me. I suspect she's going to get Lyse-ed and only show up at political meetings from here on, which makes me a little sad
• I've found Calyx a little sauceless as a villain so far, but I absolutely loved his "oh fuck I nearly died" crashout in the final cutscene - having his smugness/composure be a facade on top of an absolutely crippling fear of death is a good angle for him, I think.
• Speaking of which, I'm glad we're back to traumatizing the villains like we did with Thordan.
• Not sure how I feel about yet another Ascian showing up - but then again, I had the same thoughts about Fandaniel, and he turned out to be one of my favourite villains so far. Willing to let them cook on that.

For Main Story quest.

In the end....

it always goes back to Ascians.

Considering what was said, the one he was talking to was just a messenger. I am curious who is the Winterer and what position was he or she among the Ascian society. Not to mention their goal since it seem these are just the left over members who refused to accept the end result that happened in Endwalker. I am guessing they may be seeking a separate method to bring back their people since the Zodiark plan failed or they always had this second plan developed just incase the Zodiark plan did fail.

I found it strange since Shadowbringer, that they did not have a backup plan incase Zodiark plan failed but guess we are now dealing with their backup plan with the surviving members of the Ascians.

Not to mention Calyx being a low ranking Ascian is a bit unsurprising. Certain things pointed to this but mostly how he knew far too much about things only Ascian can do.

Originally Posted by EdwinLi

For Main Story quest.

In the end....

it always goes back to Ascians.

Considering what was said, the one he was talking to was just a messenger. I am curious who is the Winterer and what position was he or she among the Ascian society. Not to mention their goal since it seem these are just the left over members who refused to accept the end result that happened in Endwalker. I am guessing they may be seeking a separate method to bring back their people since the Zodiark plan failed or they always had this second plan developed just incase the Zodiark plan did fail.

I found it strange since Shadowbringer, that they did not have a backup plan incase Zodiark plan failed but guess we are now dealing with their backup plan with the surviving members of the Ascians.

Not to mention Calyx being a low ranking Ascian is a bit unsurprising. Certain things pointed to this but mostly how he knew far too much about things only Ascian can do.

Agreed - that element felt a bit predictable to be honest.

And where the Ascians are concerned, I feel it's a pity that they're still set on using the whole 'lurking in the shadows, manipulating people/events' routine with them. I mean, it was interesting and mysterious in 2.0. Not so much now we know so much about them and their history.

Globally liked it, especially how the WoL was treated in and out of cutscenes.

I'm quite convinced that the Ascians aren't the new/old big bad returning again. I think they are some (all ?) of the remaining Ascians who, now that the Unsundered are gone, joined the Winterers that was an older organisation, maybe / probably from multiple shards peoples.

And I'm also convinced that if there is a "big bad", a leader for the Winterer, it won't be an Ascian, mostly because the Winterer seemed to be older that our defeat of Elidibus, and before that Elidibus was monitoring the Ascian and definitely wouldn't have let them join another organisation or plot against them somehow (like why Fandaniel waited for Elidibus to die to act truely with his grand plan).

So I think the Ascian appearance is just a way to make us think that the Ascian are back again with the same old methods, just to suprise us when we understand that it isn't that at all and while there is some Ascians, the threat is entirely new.

Except for Primals, they are definitely back (and honestly, in Final Fantasy, it was near impossible to not have Primals, it worked a little in Dawntrail but Primals are too much of importance like Eikons in Final Fantasy).