The parting glass was one of the most impactful scenes I had ever seen in a video game. I was torn by what I saw and it was the first time I actually cried at a video game cutscene. FFXIV does an incredible job of setting up dynamic and lovable characters in their world and putting them through hell to come out on the other end of the tunnel as better heroes. In this short essay I talk about how the FF14 story team began to lean into personal stakes and how they have impacted the game’s story emotionally than any big action climax ever could.
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Don't forget Moenbryda… While Parting Glass hits deeper, Moen was the first time the game built a character and then kills them off.
For such a long-running series, they never betray you. Characters never backtrack on their development or forget lessons learned in earlier stories. It has an incredible level of Verisimilitude – even some abstract menu mechanics have lore explanations – so it's easier to get invested. Continuity is very good, and as the expansions roll on, ARR goes from a simple adventure to your hero's origin story.
It definitely wasn't the power of friendship you used to defeat Lahabrea at the end of 2.0 But currently I cannot say more. A smile better suits a spoiler!
BTW. 100% agree about 2.55. Amazingly done video Chad. Love this kind of content.
The character development is so good and consistent it makes us care about them. That's why we cry over Moenbryda, Nanamo, Hauchefant, Ysayle et al. It's because we've come to love them. No other game has ever achieved this. A shame Minfilia was a little weak imo.
I love these little discussion videos and taking time to talk a out the humanity and reason that goes into not just ff14 but the series as a whole. It’s always had this theme of “weird crazy stuff is going down, the world is ending, what do you do when the things you love are in danger?” I think people need to broach that more on a less technical level and speak more on the personal stakes as you said. The game carries us along through a book where the pages change and we are in the book, being written and writing ourselves but also it guides us to he better and makes it a point to ask us “think about others, you don’t do all of this alone. Others are strong and strength is measured in different ways” and gosh it is such a wild, round about way to just say love, friendship, family, chosen or not, compassion for strangers, all of that is what makes our life have value. Featuring giant horse chickens and salad monsters lol
Chad check the news, microsoft did a pro gamer move
That scene actually soured Heavensward for me. I loved the scene so much that I still feel bitter that Heavensward kind of rolled back the bold moves heralded by that scene in the Ul'dah plot.
Stories can be simple, uncomplicated, but still wonderful because it's just solidly written and gets all the story beats right. That's what xiv does. And does really, really well.
Might want to add spoiler warnings since you talk about and show scenes from after 2.55. Wouldn't want someone who just finished 2.55 to get spoiled on upcoming stuff.
I watched your vod of the end of ARR. Your reaction to Nanamo's "death" is an echo of how we all felt when this patch first dropped. So many people were "on copium," saying she was just napping and wasn't dead and we had to wait MONTHS before we found out the copium was true.
The writers of XIV do a great job of presenting characters in a way that you can't help but get attached to and love – or hate, as some go. But, this is a FF game and a good rule of thumb is that no one is safe from death or real death. And I'll gladly keep letting Ishikawa and other MSQ writers destroy my tear ducts if they keep giving us characters like Nanamo and <redacted>.
I don’t see 2.0 as you saving the whole world. If anything I think they build things up. Arr is about stopping an invasion and uniting nations into a loose union. HW is about ending a war, SB is about liberating multiple nations, and then ShB goes the full ‘saving the world’ level stakes
Ok what did i miss yesterday ^^ Seto is just the best <3
Titania was a blast, when I did it we died a few times before she fell, but the song is fun and gets stuck in your head
and Emet-Selch? He is just great, and he never lied to you once, if you can trust an Ascian, than it would be him
Love the video, incredibly well done! (As always.
) Hope to see more of that kind of content. Also think your chocobo is a lot happier now, Chad.