—————————————————————————
Catch us on the links below!
Website and Merch Store:
www.preachgaming.com
Preach
Main Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/Preachgaming
VODs Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuu85IEUFI8nnJPOtUyczsQ
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/preachlfw
Twitter: @Preachgaming
Emma:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Misspreach
ChunkeyNinja
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheChunkeyNinja
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/chunkeyninja
Nupss:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Nupss_
Methuzahla:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Methuzahla
source
Not sure if this is a spoiler, but they set up these themes into your head like this so it endures for the later part of the story
I liked the cultural showcase of the whole trial, even if it did feel pretty slow at times.
I think the story had to be overt and obvious here because, even from some of the comments here, the connections to the themes in the first half to the second are STILL lost of people.
Overall I think this expansion is one of my favorites, story and all, just in different ways and for different reasons than previous expansions
I think you might be giving the player base a bit too much credit for getting that understanding does not mean agreement. Yes, we can understand someone's motives and still disagree vehemently with them. The "Emet-Selch Did Nothing Wrong" and the "I can fix him" crowds are VERY loud out there, so they might feel that they have to go a bit more on the nose with things or players can, will, and HAVE missed the point.
Something struck me when you were talking about the lack of maturity in the storytelling: For about a month, there has been an animated FFXIV ad that pops up in my youtube videos occasionally that is very childish. It feels like it is aimed at a junior high school or younger audience, not unlike your MSQ observations. I wonder if there has been some change in the staffing that is causing Square to pursue a much younger audience for the game. Seems like really weird choice, but it's an interesting congruence between the story and the advertising.
Even the most complex of cultures and characters can be turned into caricatures and parodies on a dime, and a lot of chatters and commenters are doing exactly that, even Preach here in this video. The whole point of the red-armored faction of giants acting like stubborn gatekeepers and us needing to practically force to help them is BECAUSE PEOPLE ACT LIKE THIS, especially people in highly isolated communities that had once been mighty conquerors. It is a documented antrophological fact shared across many, many mountain tribal cultures that they are very honor-bound and distrustful, and quick to offend and hold grudges. It looks silly but only because we do not live under the same paradigm where scarcity of resources make honor and holding grudges something commonplace. In such communities the only way to even try and win them on your side is to sacrifice for them, something they still might reject.
These giants literally ruled the entire continent in the past, but are now reduced to hiding on the hillside of their ancestral graves, are lorded over by some outsider lizard king that now sends random tourists into their sacred places for a rite that chooses who is their next ruler. They might as well spit in their faces far as they're concerned, and the fact that they still go back and forth on accepting their aid after Wuk Lamat and Scions helping shows just how distrustful they are. Even then, after this scene is over, they scurry off and warn not to go into their lands, because this DOESN'T make them friends, contrary to what Mike is saying – and the red-armored giants are enemies that will attack you on SIGHT.
I swear, content creators sometimes just make a mockery out of the things they talk about, because they're paying more attention to entertaining the stream audience than actually paying attention to what is going on in whatever it is they're playing. Anything feels worse to experience when you have an audience jeering at every turn, and some of these streams are extremely grating to sit through.
In a game that had Heavensward with us traveling to the dragon's lands and teaming up with the "enemy" of Iceheart to learn about them and empathize with their plight or Lyse learning the horrors of a post war subjugated nations first hand to redetermine their resolve, the storytelling has felt like children's history lessons that has been wielded very bluntly.
Tbf game is rated T. But I do agree after finishing the MSQ its the Disney expansion. Thats why its so divisive to people who became fans because of the more dark adultish fantasy of past expansions. And what i find depressing people are becoming overly critical or omitting important context in their “criticism” to single out this expansion. It reminded me of the transition between FF7/8 to FF9 and how much backlash there was because of the tonal shift
Finally some takes I agree with. Some of my expectations were upended and its a good thing but certainly not up to the quality ShB ones. Which is what I expected when they announced who was writing DT's story. Their previous work was on the job role quest which we all know were some low and high tier ones.
Wuk Lamat is literally just a more annoying child Naruto. "I'm going to be Hokage, BELIEVE IT."
It's worse in the second half. Yells in lower case "SpHeEeEeEeEeeeeEeEeeeEEEEEn!"
Preach is sure in for some…..dialog and….cutscenes when he gets to the desert area.
On the war of the worlds point. I'm pretty sure the reference is more towards the real life history of South America where the Spanish conquerors brought a plague that killed 90% the population
I think you expressed something that I had not quite put my finger on. The writing was very juvenile. It's probably why I couldn't get invested, there is a lot of redundant moments, a lot of explicit blatant declarations, it's almost like they are scared that people won't comprehend the story otherwise, so they dumb it down like an LFR raid.
Having heard what Preach says at around the 12 minute mark, about how this feels like how you would write a story for younger people…
Now that i think about it, as someone who watches a lot of anime and manga. This section of the game is pretty much a Shonen type story, and considering that a big percentage of players are – probably – working adults in their mid twienties or upwards, a shonen type story will not resonate at all.
I got the same impression from the story. I think they're aiming at a younger crowd. The old arc is done – the WoW refugees have stayed or gone – and the bosses want to bring in new blood. Get those subs lined up for the next saga. What better time than the start of the new adventure? It feels a lot more like a mainline FF story here to me, and those are notorious for being meddled with so they can appeal to teens.
The real problem with the msq is how terrible Wuk Lamat is as a character. She is worse than Lyse, and her VA is awful.
The Yok Huy literally have the Roman understanding of peace. Peace in Roman times meant, there was peace because the enemy was defeated.
Funny you mention the story feels like for teens. In germany the Age recommendation is 12 😉