Thread: 8.0 speculation

The current trend seems to be blending the protagonists and antagonists of previous titles and having them play antagonistic roles in the plotline, which is likely why people are reading the leaves and coming up with that. I would prefer an original plotline instead of a loose adaptation of a previous entry, but that does seem to be the direction things are headed if post-Endwalker's Void Arc and Dawntrail are accurate bellwethers.

Were I a betting man (and I assure you, I am not) my money would be on X.

Originally Posted by Cilia

The current trend seems to be blending the protagonists and antagonists of previous titles and having them play antagonistic roles in the plotline, which is likely why people are reading the leaves and coming up with that. I would prefer an original plotline instead of a loose adaptation of a previous entry, but that does seem to be the direction things are headed if post-Endwalker's Void Arc and Dawntrail are accurate bellwethers.

Were I a betting man (and I assure you, I am not) my money would be on X.

Gaius is just Vayne in Gabranth's armor. HW ends with a fight against Knights of the Round, Zenos is the Sephiroth expy (every trait except personality), Emet-Selch is just Zemus with better PR. There is nothing truly original in this game, the only difference is between references to more popular games which you might know and the less popular games which you wouldn't.

ETA: Anyway I've been obsessively combing over the trailer and I've noticed a couple things, what happened to the fourth feels like a second retread of the background of FFIII (specifically the DS version) whereas the Void got the 2D version of events where the land was simply flooded by darkness it seems the fourth has the freezing aspect introduced in the DS version. In both cases we see the inhabitants have taken to the skies. Also the mentions of the promised land do give me VII vibes. Also the portal Meteor and the HW boys falls out of is most definitely the opposite side of the portal we're entering in the 7.5 trailer. Finally, assuming the old lady is one too, this might be the only monoracial shard given every other shown character is an Au Ra. With that said in that way its kinda like Au Ra HW (fitting to have the crew minus Ysayle (she deserved better) there).

Originally Posted by LyrisAdamanteia

Gaius is just Vayne in Gabranth's armor. HW ends with a fight against Knights of the Round, Zenos is the Sephiroth expy (every trait except personality), Emet-Selch is just Zemus with better PR. There is nothing truly original in this game, the only difference is between references to more popular games which you might know and the less popular games which you wouldn't.

ETA: Anyway I've been obsessively combing over the trailer and I've noticed a couple things, what happened to the fourth feels like a second retread of the background of FFIII (specifically the DS version) whereas the Void got the 2D version of events where the land was simply flooded by darkness it seems the fourth has the freezing aspect introduced in the DS version. In both cases we see the inhabitants have taken to the skies. Also the mentions of the promised land do give me VII vibes. Also the portal Meteor and the HW boys falls out of is most definitely the opposite side of the portal we're entering in the 7.5 trailer. Finally, assuming the old lady is one too, this might be the only monoracial shard given every other shown character is an Au Ra. With that said in that way its kinda like Au Ra HW (fitting to have the crew minus Ysayle (she deserved better) there).

Respectfully, there's referencing something (Knights of the Round, not named as such, as the Act 2 climax boss in a plotline otherwise divorced from VII references) and then there's taking whole settings and plotlines for a remix (6.X's Void Arc, Dawntrail's second and third acts). Disregarding side content the game generally did not do as such prior to the Void Arc, and I am hoping they get back to more original plotlines. (Or at least as original as a franchise that's been around for nearly 40 years can be; we've got serious "Simpsons Did It" issues.)

Regarding the Legates specifically, up until the IVth Legion's Noah van Gabranth in Shadowbringers they all referenced an antagonist from the title corresponding to their numbered legion (Nael = Sephiroth; Gaius more or less original, visually borrows from Gabranth; Regula = General Leo Cristophe; Zenos = Vayne; Valens = Hojo). One could argue that Gabranth references Cecil insofar as he worked for a corrupt kingdom / empire he rebels against, but that's about it; and neither Vergilia nor Quintus reference their respective titles in any meaningful way (III and I, respectively).

Regarding what's been presented so far, it's very difficult to get a read on what we have; we don't have a name for anything, which would give away what they're basing things on (if heavily referencing a previous title, or just heavy Nordic influence). The sky islands with a dangerous surface world could be referencing III or perhaps XIII; there's clear Nordic influence, which brings to mind VII in addition to the mention of the "Promised Land" and the praying Auri girl (Aerith?); and the giant crystal brings to mind XVI. That said there's also quite a lot of Nordic myth at play - the "eternal winter" is likely referencing Fimbulvetr, there are giants roaming the land below that were quickly nicknamed "Jotunns" by the fanbase, the architecture is heavily Gothic, there's a serpent (likely Jormungandr) that features heavily in said architecture, and most notably (while it takes some careful pausing) the Auri man appears to have one glowing eye and the other missing, which is a likely nod to the mythological Odin (not the sword-wielding black knight he's known as in this franchise). So all in all there's a lot of different directions things are being pulled, but without the name of a single location we can't make a fair guess what the Fourth is based on (if anything more than clear Nordic myth, which is far from unreasonable given most cultures in the game world are heavily inspired by ones from the real world).

Regardless, it's not monoracial; even disregarding the storytelling woman being a Miqo'te, concept art shows a race of small anthropomorphic cats (likely using the Lalafell rigging).

So, yeah, based on what's been shown and announced I'm leaning towards "VII with more Nordic influence."

Originally Posted by LyrisAdamanteia

Except that's not what 6.X did at all, unless I'm misremembering the part in FFIV where Golbez kidnaps a dragon in order to use it to open a portal to another world so that he and his people can die. Literally all 6.X does is take names, but the characters and motivations are remixed into something completely new. Likewise in 7.X and there outside of Necron they don't even really take the names either (Necron is also not the same as in FFIX). Every time this comes up I beg XIV players to actually play other FF games and am always disappointed. I mention the III influence specifically because in the DS/3D versions Xande explicitly freezes the surface world (though here its frozen in time), and not just covers it in darkness like in the 2D versions.

If we're checking gamer cred, I have played I, III (DS remake), parts of IV (the DS remake was too hard), parts of VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, half of XII, and half of XIII.

I specifically said "remix," because the Void Arc remixes IV; it uses the designs of Golbez, the Four Fiends, and Zeromus, but employs them in a way that's adapted to XIV's world and plotline while still heavily referencing the original IV (Azdaja is cast as Golbez's Shadow Dragon, f'ex). Likewise Dawntrail goes hard with references to IX, especially in the second and third acts. It starts with Apollyon (the first dungeon end boss; references Abaddon from IX) but after the rite of succession is over it hammers IX time and again, starting with the Interdimensional Fusion that brings Alexanadria to the Source. Respectfully, if the only thing you picked up on was Necron you have either not played IX or had blinders on.

The potential III influence on Evercold is noted, but they've thrown a lot of III at us since ARR, so I'm not betting on it being a primary influence. Even so, there's heavy Nordic influence and Viking is a job that appears (almost) exclusively in III, so maybe I'm not quite on the mark. Regardless, there's not enough information or content to arrive at a definitive conclusion other than "Nordic" right now.