The Dragonsong war rages on as we continue to fight on against Nidhogg!
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It was a fun watch. What a ride this was. Heavensward is an absolute masterpiece and the fact that SE makes all of this free is a testament of their confidence in their game.
As a popular saying goes, you either quit before completing ARR, or you play long enough to see yourself become a walking FFXIV advertisement.
P.S.: Hope you find some good headphones!
Let this be known. Shadowbringers will destroy Chad. It has been foretold here.
Chad, honestly, the tears you shed, and the things you’ve said about how amazing the story is; trust all of us when we say, as beautiful as all of this is and as unbeatable as this feels, shadowbringers is an entirely different animal.
Chad, if your chat didn't tell you, make sure to do "The Paths We Walk" questline from inside the Manor. It's the epilogue to the HW story.
So I’ve been sort of waiting for you to hit this point and have loved a lot of the points you’ve raised with vulnerability but wanted to just proffer my pyschology major perspective/rant on just how fantastic final fantasy was at delving into a universal thing in heavensward, grief. And now that you are done I really encourage you to read dragon song lyrics to just appreciate the genius that was Soken in wrapping all the MSQ message into it. And I do think you taking your time with the MSQ also helped appreciate it more, because as someone here for it at the beginning it really hit hard when this all played out over a year. But here are a few things I loved:
Haurchefant and the Fortemps: familial grief born of an indiscretion and how it impacted dynamics. But also the grief of injustice when the innocent dies and wrongs can no longer be atoned for.
Ysayle: loss of family and home, that manifested in purpose and certainty that blinded her to how she was in sense doing to others what had been done to her.
Estinian: Same loss as Ysayle, but blinded him with rage and desire for vengeance until it quite literally consumed him and turned him into the thing he hated.
With the dragons you had these amazing counters, creatures who experience time and memory differently but somehow relatable. Hraesvelgr who was so despondent he just sort of lost himself in grief and spent so much time with his memories reliving things. Nidhogg who became consumed by grief and viewed every moment moving forward through its unending lense.
And of course the Scions journey from the end of ARR and the loss there to finding a new home, and navigating grief through the WoL story.
But the entire journey is all about working through it. People dying to literally remind people of the value of life. Ysayle who made peace with her grief and with her last act truly overcame it and lived. 3.1 and 3.2 largely dealing with societal grief, realizing the grief of both victim and wrongdoer and the complexities involved with people usually being both at different times. Loss of tradition, certainty, etc. 3.3 where you quite literally confront someone who’s grief threatens to overwhelm them and everyone else, and learning to also use grief to help strengthen you and carry you forward, literally working alongside their memories instead of being held back by fear of loss. Grief ultimately being the true final enemy of the expansion as it literally possessed someone with it after death. And honestly so much more but don’t want to drone on forever.
But it’s because how universal grief is, felt the same across cultures (though expressed differently) that I think explains why people resonate so much with Heavensward. It quite literally teaches people the right ways to grieve, and risks in losing yourself in it. I also think it’s why people maybe don’t click with stormblood as much because it’s message is way less universal and honestly most western audiences aren’t going to relate to it as well, but it’s still brilliantly told (albeit with some big pacing issues at the start after the banger of HW ending). But that’s it, rant over. It’s just so amazingly well done in telling a tale on a basic human condition I can’t help but marvel at it, and how honestly it can impact and change players in subtle ways going through it if they are open to it. So yeah, love the tears.
Now you understand the half of it. Congratulations Chad. 🙂
P.S. Your doggo is a good doggo like mine, he also comes to comfort me when I’m upset.
I didn't cry when our friend fell. I teared up when we were strong for him in his last moment, to give him one last smile. I cried when the cane fell.
This scene… I literally stood up and walked around the house while I waited for the queue to pop. It was amazing. I felt overwhelmed. I knew how much trust that Hraesvalgr just put in us. I knew how important that action was.
And the last moment, I felt that emotional release. The triumph, the gratefulness, and the relief.
Beautiful storytelling.
Just gotta second-comment here, but rewatching the conclusion of the Nidhogg battle, when the two appears and the full vocal Dragonsong plays. It always destroys me. Your reaction to that scene was priceless and I'm glad I was there live! Your doggo is a good doggo, coming in to emotionally support you. Same for you kitty
Anybody remember the quest to get a gift from/of Haurchefant?..
In regards to the reactions thing, as an Olde Guarde, you’re 100% right, but that’s exactly why I love watching reactions, because I can relive those first time experiences through others, it’s great.
As far as why I follow you, well, to be blunt I think you’re cute lol. You have this bro-ey, enthusiastic golden retriever energy that I’m attracted to. And your healthy relationship with your emotions is what makes some of your jokey-jokes or bad takes more tolerable. It’s a really fine balance you somehow stumble through and it’s pretty adorable to watch lol.
4:36:50 the dog is like, "dude are you ok?" they are the best <3