Long live Princess Sphene
Full Dawntrail playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9JKBGWkVcPGQQxi73vB8tE9sQ69cbfzu
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Amaurot. The Dead Ends. Baron. Another world that we are too late to save.
Ah, so this is where the music from the trailer came from where we heard VI's Opera theme! 1:55
A Disney Princess story…
…that went horribly wrong
After hearing this in the job trailer and launch trailer, I was wondering when this would appear. Was not expecting it here. I had to do a double take. Wonderful track.
When they advertised Eliminator in the live letters, I had no idea it would show up here of all places
bro the transition between alexandria pre and post first boss is actually sad…
Also, we got jebaited so hard on eliminator lmao…I was expecting it to be a trial
id been waiting to hear where this song would play in the msq from the very start, when i heard bits of it in the theme of the final zone i knew i was in for it
I will not deny that I was in shambles when the "dungeon unlocked" message appeared on my screen, FF9 was the first game I ever played and seeing it now in XIV fills me with joy.
Really love the motifs. This should be Daiki Ishikawa. He already did such a good job arranging "Of Countless Stars" in The Dead Ends and I think he's the perfect guy to make final dungeon themes since Endwalker. It's just a shame that Ken Ito disappeared after Shadowbringers considering he also did a good job arranging "Mortal Instants" in Amaurot among many other tracks.
Tanking through tears is hard đ
1:43 is an irl tankbuster
Soken cooked again. Outdid himself again.
Nice little nod to FF13 with the lâcie creature design 3:58
"Thanks Meteion…"
For those who've played FF9 and remembered enough, did anyone else felt like Sphene was effectively like a really tragic what-if Garnet/Dagger? A version of Garnet who never met Zidane until it was too late (if at all), and was left with a terrible fate?
"Sphene" also being named after a gemstone laid the base, but this thought first took root for me between the lonesome queen's envy of Wuk Lamat and the WoL's party of companions and how she voiced many times if only she met Lamat sooner. It's like the opposite of one of Garnet's final conversations with Zidane, about how she was glad to have met him and gone on the journey she did.
Then we have the similar characters who don't always come across as such: for Steiner, we obviously have Otis who is another loyal rusty knight; for Vivi, young Gulool Ja with his "let me come too" feelings echo similar lines from the young mage; and for Zidane, I think the part is in fact played by Wuk Lamat herself – she's got the tail, is adopted, is cheerful, and even has a sibling as the villain. All of whom encountered her too late.
In FF9, Garnet was likewise a kind royal who struggled to do right by her people, and could've died either during the Eidolon extraction ritual or Kuja's attack on Alexandria. The big difference is, she had Zidane and the party to save her, a party who helped her to grieve the losses she faced and to mature as someone more than just a queen, and ultimately came out of it stronger.
In FF14, wildly different magic-scape notwithstanding, the living Sphene had only Otis and her knights, but they weren't enough. While the AI Sphene is chained down by the system to ever only be a queen of a confined world for an unsustainable process, more lonesome than ever. She could only regress.
As a fan of FF9, seeing what became of Sphene, while fascinating in terms of literature, stings my heart. Dawntrail's scenario isn't perfect, but the writers this time still did pretty good.
This sounds somewhat similar to Fodlan Winds from FE Three Houses and I love it
I loved this song since they used it for the job trailer and I waited through the whole expansion to hear it. And when I got to this dungeon I literally gasped when it started to play. This may be my new fave OST from the game overall. It is so good!
IMO this was my favorite of the âend of the alt worldâ dungeons
One of my favorite dungeons, amazing how the scenery and music complement each other so well.
1:41 Had me floating out of my fucking chair during the dungeon, if one thing is always quality between every expansion it's the OST
Able to post the Living Memory theme?
This song got me in the feels, crazy how part of it makes me feel so nostalgic yet there is no reason why. One of the best tracks. Itâs so amazing!
A perfect recreation of Alexandria⊠and we have to witness the end of it. Well done at stabbing me in the heart CBU3.
Sphene, to me at least, feels like the epitome of the phrase, 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions.'
This whole dungeon cemented to me how much she loved her citizens, sacrificing her own life if it meant saving even a few of them. And makes it all the more of a gut punch how far in extreme lengths the 'memory' version of her is willing to go for her people. Leaves me with the perfect feeling of 'if only there was another way'.
"How far would you go to protect someone you love?" This question played in my head throughout my time with Sphene