Thanks for sticking with me on this lengthy adventure!
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_______▼ PLAYLISTS ▼_______
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_______▼ CREDITS ▼________
Edited by Daniel Floyd
Thumbnail art by Dan Jones
________▼ MUSIC ▼_________
♫ “Pray Return” by Chris Logsdon
https://lnkfi.re/pray-return
________▼ CHAPTERS ▼_________
0:00 – Introduction
1:25 – QUEST: “Shadowbringers”
17:59 – DUNGEON: Amaurot
37:03 – QUEST: “Shadowbringers” (continued)
48:39 – To explain…
50:31 – TRIAL: The Dying Gasp
1:07:28 – QUEST: “Shadowbringers” (continued)
1:22:57 – Credits
1:37:37 – QUEST: “Shadowbringers” (continued)
#PlayFrame #FFXIV #FinalFantasyXIV #Shadowbringers
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Hoo hoo hoo hooooo!!! You know an episode is gonna be real good when you see that it's 2 hours long! Good thing I got my ramen ready!
I've tried numerous MMOs,and I slid off of each and every one of them. I've since come to accept that I'm incompatible with MMOs. But it's been a blast watching.
I started playing this game because of you, I'm currently halfway trough Dawntrail, and it is my favorite PIECE OF MEDIA. Yep, including any books, or movies or series or whatever.
And so one of the best expansions comes to a close with one of the best one two punches of final dungeon and final boss. The first time I ran either of them I was blown away by the visual story telling and the music…was just fantastic. I'm not sure I agree that ShadowBringers is better than EndWalker in terms of story beats. The two generally go back and forth on my own list of best expansions. DawnTrial has released, and while there are some points that keep it from the top of my personal list, I feel it is a solid 8/10 after two 10/10 expansions.
Sorry to hear that Dan has been affected by the layoffs permeating the economy right now. The 5.x patch series is one of the best in the game, with my favorite exploration zone, raid series, and trial series. Looking forward to Dan being able to continue this series in the future.
The moment "Who Brings Shadow" starts playing is one of the most hype musical moments I any game I have ever played.
The only other game I can think of that touches it is Celeste – albeit at multiple points because that game's soundtrack also does not miss.
I'm a handful ^^
I do find it amusing in my own playthrough that Emet-Selch, as Emperor Solus, ordered the destruction of the Reaper order in fear that they would assassinate him. In the end, it was someone trained in the Reaper arts who eventually wound up killing him.
I'm don't even play Final Fantasy Anything. I'm just here for the Dananigans.
Emet-Selch is so weird, the concept of this villain is both bautiful and unsetling, I could make a whole essay about him, but in this comment I'll focus on the fact that he was expecting a monster to use in the calamity, but even then, he prepared a scenery that served as a test for the warrior of darkness, he is an artist at heart, a creator, he couldn't stop himself from showing what his aching heart looks like, even if no one was watching.
Ohhhhhh when the anime OP hits for the final boss fight ╰(*°▽°*)╯
1:22:57 – I know there are other, and perhaps more correct interpretations, but I always imagined my Warrior of Darkness grinning, putting his finger to his lips, and saying to the boy, "Can you keep a secret?"
I like how the ai in the dungeon for your party is like here's a mechanic I'm just going to stand here an not dps or buff/heal lol
BLU's Clues: Doom came for Amaurot, the vast powers of its people run amok, bringing their worst nightmares to life. What does a Blue Mage think when gazing upon this apocalyptic scene?
"Ooh, pretty lights!"
Even the grimmest situation presents a chance to learn a flashy new spell, and Therion, the Third Doom of Amaurot, is no slacker on that front. At 32:35, a beam of pure, searing light bursts forth from its four faces, lashing the arena before it. This is Apokalypsis, and BLUs can learn to do it, too.
Apokalypsis is a channeled spell, which means that it continues to go off as long as you stand still, up to a maximum of 10 seconds. For those 10 seconds, four faces conjured forth above the BLU's head emit a beam of light, blasting all foes in a line in front of the caster. The downside is that 10 seconds is an extremely long time to stand still in active combat, and if you're forced to move–or even turn aside–you lose what's left of the spell. Additionally, it shares a recast timer with Being Mortal, which we learned from Titania, so you can only use one or the other; Being Mortal is less damaging, but it's an instant cast, making it much easier to use.
Still, Apokalypsis finds a home as a finisher in Moon Flute combos. Moon Flute applies a major damage buff to a BLU's spells for 15 seconds, at the cost of not being able to cast at all for 15 seconds after the buff ends. Firing Apokalypsis right at the end of the buff means that it gets the 50% damage boost and continues dealing damage through most of the post-buff downtime. It's a pretty sweet deal for DPS-focused BLUs.
Dan I've been sold on this series since Heavensward. Really enjoying it all and Shadowbringers was very good. I'm glad we got to see the ascians having more complex motivation behind their actions.
Something else that's stood out to me in the last few episodes is how much Alphinaud and Alisaie have developed as characters over time, I really love those two.
Sorry you've been caught up in the mayhem and uncertainty going on in the games industry. Wishing you and Carrie the best as always.
– Emet is such a Theatre kid, he might be trying to undo all new life, but i can't be mad at his love for expectacle
– it's ok Ryne, this is your first adventure
– oh yeah, unleashing a horde of Nightmares on a city of reality benders would be pretty self-sustaining
– so you & Ardbert ARE that Ascian friend
– Arbert truly is the GOAT
– the DTC cosplaying as other Square heroes is such an amazing move, i hope Yoshi-P actually steals that idea
– G'raha we're so taking you to Mexico!
– sorry to hear you were also a victim of the Vauthrys running the Game Industry
– oh yeah, never thought about what would be underneath the layer of Light Aether…
We walk indeed.
It's all been worth it to hear your excited talking during the credits. I imagine when you started this quest, you had the final moment after the fight in mind, knowing you wanted to share that emotion with as many people as possible. It's why I'm so excited to watch you work on this all.
The ending of Shadowbringers! The ending of Shadowbringers is what can safely be called A Lot, so much so it's hard to even know where to begin when talking about it.
For me at least, I really love how great a character payoff Ardbert has. Just like… those first few guitar riffs off the Shadowbringers theme are enough to reduce more than a few people I know to emotional wrecks, it's just that good.
But also there's Emet-Selch, whose charisma and motives make him, for me at least, possibly the most engaging video game villain of the 2010s.
BUT ALSO there's G'raha with the last minute save, making my big gay crush on the guy and his smoochable, teary-eyed face entirely justified.
Last and very much least, but it must be said: RIP Varis, he died as he lived; a jobber for his more interesting relatives.
There's so much I love about this whole sequence, from starting Amaurot to when you get back to the Crystarium. My favorites are definitely that moment when you've Rejoined with Ardbert and the guitar comes jamming in as G'raha comes in clutch to summon in the rest of the raid party, the beach bit with Alphinaud passed out and Urianger maybe drowning off-screen, and – the one that got me tearing up – Ardbert arriving at the Crystarium, greeted by his friends.
Such an excellent finale to ShB. Though, other important things left to do of course.
I’ve said it before but it bears repeating. Thank you Dan, I’m glad you were compelled to do this whole thing, I love this story and characters and I’d never have played this game because it’s a mmo.
Thank you Dan again, this has been awesome and I can’t wait for the Durmin adventures in the next expansions.
As amazing as this story is, I promise all of you who haven't seen it that Shadowbringers is not, by any means, done. There are many more stories to tell. Why, we still have to figure out how we're getting everybody else back to the Source, of course.
Congratulations on another completion, Dan!
Amaurot is easily my favorite dungeon of what we got at launch, and might be my favorite of the whole expansion. It really only has one rival. This isn't quite Emet-Selch's memories, but it might as well be. In particular, you can see the last boss all throughout the thing- it is VERY well established as a threat if you're able to pay attention to the backgrounds away from the actual dungeon path.
Of a note, the Terminus Roilers that you can just barely start seeing at 25:07– the little dark sprites- go for the healers and stack a channeled debuff on them that decreases the amount of healing they do. They actually show up earlier in the dungeon, but that's the first time I was able to see one on screen, so…
44:08 It's hard to understate just how important this moment is. Reincarnation is very much a thing in FFXIV. You go from a soul, seven times Rejoined, to a soul Rejoined eightfold. It goes a long way to explain your, the Scions', and especially the Exarch's, power given you're in a world that has never experienced a Rejoining. Even Ryne is at most a twofold soul, and that's assuming it's anything close to a linear progression or an even split.
47:46 It's also hard to explain how significant this "true faces" comment is at this point. Remember how the shades in the city talked about individuality, though, and that'll give you a starting point.
1:07:38 This is where my fury at Emet-Selch, or rather Hades, flipped over to pity and maybe even a bit of admiration. It's hard not to admire someone who's this committed to their duty, their friends, their family.
1:10:07 Fortunately, or unfortunately, the weapon you throw is ALWAYS an axe. It doesn't matter which job you entered the trials and cutscenes with, it's an axe.
… Oh, crud, you're doing Bozja, aren't you.
The final dungeon of Shadowbringers is legitimately a religious experience. Every single facet of it, from the monsters, to the bosses, to the beautifully haunting music, to Emet-Selch's active narration (the first dungeon we've ever had with this level of serious voicework), to the background details and characters, to the actual names of the locations you're walking through all layer and layer into a dungeon that is more story than fight, and create an incredible capstone for an incredible expansion.
I'm also really excited to see you do a minimum ilevel (item level) run of the final trial! I always always recommend it, honestly, and the amount of difficulty reduction that ilevel can do is NO joke at all. There's a particular trial (one we haven't encountered yet so I won't name it) that was infamous because it had a very cutscene-loaded/story-important second phase and phase change, and the "depreciation" of the trial's difficulty due to ilevel improvements made it so newer players – if they were unlucky and didn't get a good party of decent people – might end up entirely unaware that any cutscenes or second phase existed, the boss was burned down so quickly. The devs eventually implemented a manual ilevel cap on that particular trial, but even so that's still a cap on maximum ilevel. Minimum ilevel is still a different beast – for example if you were just get The Dying Gasp in a normal roulette, chances are you'd never hear those final few lines, or see Hades' hard enrage attack "Black Cauldron." So yeah, that's definitely why I strongly recommend it for any newer players, especially for your first clear. It's always so much fun to play it (as I've jokingly called it) "the way god and the devs intended."
And for the finale cutscene, I legitimately believe it's one of the best scenes in the entire series, from both a narrative and cinematography standpoint. In the latter case, I always catch my breath as everything builds up to that one moment where everyone steps back, and everything fades to black and white, to two opposing forces, coming together for one single, deciding clash – one one that you can't even really see, except for the titanic forces of light and dark in that moment. And for the former… as much as all the Scions have stood by you throughout Shadowbringers, I'm so glad that even after the trial, they still get their moment. Each and every one of them contributing (even Thancred, who can't use magic and thus can't channel the aether to hold Emet-Selch), giving everything they can to support you, to give you that one clear shot. All you have to do is stick the landing.
This is another one of those cases where I could talk for AGES about this one if I let myself, so I'll leave it here but just. God what a good expansion. Thank you so much to Dan for sharing it with everyone, especially for those who can't play it themselves. It sucks to hear that you were affected by the layoffs. I hope things can regain their stability for you soon, however that stability looks. Wishing you and everyone else here the best. <3
"Could half of you sacrifice themselves to save the other half?" Why why why does NONE bring up the hundreds of people who laid down their life to liberate Doma, and Ala Mhigo and all the others who fight and resist Garlean oppression?? Come onnnn I was so sure Alphinaud was going to tear into the dude and slap him with his own hypocrisy 🙁 uff this is one of my least favourite beats in fiction : / let's see if they save it for a climactic moment down the line, that'll teach me to comment only 15 mins into the video 🙁
Part of "the handful" it's entertaining, worth keeping up with, and enjoying the lore and explaination 👌💚
I'm sorry, but the cuts from the head, to the feet, trying to make it feel weary… just do not work when it's a 6 inch change in perspective. It just looks like a bad camera move that accidently cropped a bit too much, followed by an over adjustment.
Just lala things I guess.
I personally was not a fan of Shadowbringers. ARR to HW to Stormblood and the Stormblood patches it just kept getting better. But i think Shadowbringers drops the ball. There is a part in Endwalker that is the part that i've enjoyed the least (i kinda hated it, like, no enjoyment at all) but the rest of the expac was great. ShB in general just failed for me, i think it doesn't live up to the praise and reputation or to the previous expacs. It abuses too much of the "go help this town/tribe so they do something for you" quite blatantly, and more often than any other, it's usually once per area, in Ilmheg you do it THRICE in an area, and they are the MOST inane chores ever in the whole game, in general. It also abuses of making everyone very very sad and you acting as their therapist. The whole mining town is just… worthless filler, even if they come back for the talos building. I think they failed at using Eulmore as the villain faction and not showing more of it having conflicts with the other nations within Norvrandt, which was the most interesting. And… i am not a fan of them trying to make the Ascians sad and sympathetic too, specially because i think Emet fails at that, he's entirely too annoying. I know he has a lot of fans, because put a smarmy smartass cyinical lanky tall man with bags under his eyes and people lose their minds. But i don't think it works, i do not care about anything he has to say, and the writers clearly really want you to think he's charming, and making you like him, and make the WoL behave like he's a worthy foe or even like him to some degree, and that just feels like forcing it. I think it improves a whole lot in the patches, and both the MSQ and the raids in those are great (maybe excepting one specific raid whre the yapping is out of control), but for me this was a definite step down from the more grounded and nuanced stories within Stormblood and Heavensward.
I love the contrast in complexity of the Ascians, the Emperor and all the other Big Bads, compared to Zenos. Bro is just like "I wanna kill ONE guy!!!"
1:20:19 Urianger is on the far left of the screen. He's the black shadow in the water in front of the rock. If you remember, Urianger can't swim.
This was the expansion that was current when I started play. While earlier moments definitely impressed upon me how to had to readjust my expectations of what the experience was. This one has the moments that made me a fan of this game.
I was not aware that you were between jobs, Dan, and I'm really sorry to hear that. I've been navigating a similar situation myself recently and, although there have been some positive developments, there's still a lot of uncertainty for me in the near future. I really appreciate what you do here on YouTube and I'm really glad that it's providing a safety net for you at this time.
Thanks for another great series and I wish you all the best for whatever you're pursuing in the future!
33:51 Fun fact, even if you get pushed right to the end, it is just about possible for a tank to withstand another phase or two, and solo the boss from about 12% health, dying just a split second after it does. And it feels incredible.
OH. I did NOT see that coming. Really? you're HIM? interesting choice, writers, interesting choice.
Shout out to the one Blue Mage being a real one and sticking it to the man.