Everyone has a favorite quest from Final Fantasy XIV. Endwalker gave us some of the best storytelling we’ve ever had from the game. I explain why the story in Garlemald is so good and resonates with the expansion’s central themes. Here’s why “In From The Cold” is so special.
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The entire time I was playing that quest I was thinking "holy shit this sucks! This SUCKS." and I LOVED it because it was supposed to suck. I really felt the hopelessness and desperation that the gameplay was trying to convey, realizing for the first time what it must be like for anyone who isn't the Warrior of Light. It was brilliant storytelling and game design.
I loved how difficult the mission was with our false body. People complained it was too difficult but honestly? It was perfect. It showed just how fucking hard everyone else has it and we're just "hey Im here lemme just nuke it all and leave 😀 " and now you get to have a taste of just what everyone else is. Normal. You've always been the outlier and always on top but being crushed down to a simple, nameless garlean soldier was a heavy, HEAVY story note to drive home to the player. LOVED IT
What's the name of this quest I want to re do it again lol
A Sentimental Gift is my fave EW quest
Endwalker did a fantastic job of demonstrating of just how powerful our WoL has become. This quest was a great showing of that, as well as the duty that takes place as you escort refugees to the tower of babil nd you play as some of the other Scions. Playing as your Allies you’ll notice that while they’re stronger than a nameless grunt, they’re still only dealing a fraction of the damage you do. The encounters feel like they take longer and when your WoL shows up and regain control you have your numerous ability’s and dealing monstrous damage to the boss.
It really lets you appreciate your character that much more.
Hella late here, I know, but isn't the body you inhabit the same one Zenos used to get his body back from Elidibus?
This whole expansion really strips you of all your safety. It digs in to your raw emotions and makes you question it all. Also I see what you did with that line using all the tank stances. 😆
Doing the quest pre-patch made me feel a touch of pride. It was BRUTAL.
This quest spoke to me more of the true character of the Wol, was s/he a hero because of their ability? Was being strong and able to protect what drove them to action?. In another body in a dire situation and with little time and basically powerless, they stoped and helped the untempered garleans in that last desperate struggle. Now a normal person as their once sworn enemy faction and they stop to try and save as many people in what little way they can. Even with their friends lives on the line the Wol cannot turn a blind eye to hopelesness and dispair, even bein weak and broken the Wol would still figth, would still struggle. And this for the first time in playing every expansion made me realise what's the Wol true character.
This was also my favorite quest. And it took me three times when I did it. Sonce I did it before the nerf. I remember that I had 1 hit left after that first skirmish… and was like wtf… this is crazy how strong we are compared to who we fight.
So glad the armour of the Garlean soldier is coming soon. With the gunblade. 😊
My friend (we're both rpers and are both very connected to our characters) had a mental break down over this quest so I can't say it's my favorite….
Makes me proud I did this before the quest got nerfed. If this is hard I can only fear what people will struggle with in future.
Oh yeah, the time Zenos violated me. Yeah this was a good one.
I really did like this quest but I think they should have clarified Zeno's intentions as why he's doing it. I know a lot of people who have no idea why it happened. 🤔
For me, my favorite would just have to be the entirety of Elpis.
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It's completely awesome that the story used game mechanics to portray a different perspective.
With the quest "In From the Cold", I was overwhelmed a little with the situation were placed in, but in the back of my mind, I understood that this is an opportunity like no other to experience what Zenos felt when he came back from the dead. I felt like this was a challenge issued to the WoL, to see how resourceful the hero is, and I was thrilled to prove it. The scenario was pretty intense ((I got lost in the opposite direction) and honestly at one point I thought I was going to have to restart.
We're a normal Imperial soldier, with these "basic" skills that must have been the breadwinner of the soldier you're inhabiting, scrambling to scavenge supplies for survival, struggling hard with the dangers of the capital wasteland, worrying about being surrounded, floundering around disoriented and trying to find a way out of a mess that you won't even have had to worry about as the Warrior of Light (e.g. one-shotting monsters in the cinematic). The scenario was so memorable. And then there was the last combat scene, when you thought you made a difference, only for things to go south so badly you're forced to crawl.
And when you finally made it back, that grin on your Zenos-possessed character's face was just so worth it to see. It inspires such complex emotions in the player. That feeling of a loss of control – it was a shocking betrayal! And I was thinking, maybe being a dinky little soldier isn't that bad, since you don't have to worry about saving the world, but seeing the trust your friends have in you, you know that you still have a responsibility to finish this epic tale before hanging up the sword.
Funnily enough just before I decided to start on the 6.0 story, I had finished meditating on how to not be too attached to my in-game character. I wanted to reach out with empathy to really understand the viewpoints of the different characters – a luxury that I can enjoy in FF14, where the character writing is very good. It's a nice coincidence and I'll remember this quest fondly.
Honestly this quest was my favorite too. Hands down a masterpiece.
This was also a fav of mine. Beat it on the first try, but I’ve never been so stressed 😂
I remember when I did this that my immersion was so tight that honestly I think my house could have fallen around me and I wouldn't have noticed. Zenos should have died from my cursing when I realized what he was going to do, and that damned clock in the corner had my heart going a mile a minute as I tried to desperately figure out what to do and how to get back, with the knowledge that Zenos was on his way to my friends. Honestly, the keyboard and screen vanished. There was no difference between me and my character for that mission – it was absolutely incredible.
I don't usually hate fictional characters, but the feelings of violation and fear actually made me hate Zenos. I found him just an obnoxious, cruel stalker before but this pushed it over the edge, and made it all the more satisfying when I finally killed him in the final fight.
I loved this quest. I did it before it was nerfed and honestly wish they wouldn't have. It did a good job showing the difference between a normal person and the WOL.
Zenos became a thing for me after this, but it went downhill all the way until the ending where it was basically mid-school level anime stuff…
Hooo boy I remember this quest from release, the panic I felt was so real XD Didn't know they nerfed it by now. My biggest problem was honestly my bad sense of direction here XD
Waaaay late to this party; this was one of my favorites as well. I was thinking to myself that if the had the balls to actually kill off one of their characters, this is where they would do it. I was simultaneously disappointed and relieved that they didn't do it though I wondered if they had planned it but changed their mind like they did with Tesslene.
Story standpoint: great
Gameplay: not great. It's too long and honestly, its boring.
Tho some of the things it did, it did so well
This. Damn. Quest. I almost ran out of time cause I had no dang clue what to do. And i was nearly killed by the roaming robots. I was so tense. Still, I can't wait to reach this quest with my second character cause now I know what to do.
Garlamald was my favorite arc out of the whole expansion
this made me feel violated, i had to turn off game. this was not a good feeling
underrated channel
The one when I fist fight Zenos is pure gold
I hated this quest. I don't like it when you grow in your chosen class and roll, when you give your best to understand the mechanics and the game just smashes all of it and forces you back into a forein class on a very low powerlevel. I highly disliked this and was blown out of all immersion.
I agree, it really depends on a point in time that you measure them.
Nah this mission pissed me off. Dragged and I just couldn't wait for it to be over – felt no sentimental kind of attachment to it.
not gonna lie, this quest horrified me. like. the last time i felt horror was during shadowbringers when it showed the sin eater transformation in full detail. This was horrifying. Though I admit, I was hoping for a 1v1 duel against Zenos in the WoL's body with the scions having to join the fray to stop Zenos.
I hate the quest and because I know what's coming – I immediately fail on purpose and pick very easy. They wanted me to hate it on purpose and have achieved their goal and so I don't do it properly as I have had the choice taken from me.
I was extremely traumatized. All I could do was imagine my friends being murdered with skills I've spent years honing and they wouldn't even know to defend themselves because they'd be looking at my sweet, kind cat girl face as I bashed their skulls in with my moogle axe. It really made me understand how all those nameless faceless NPCs must have felt as I bashed their skull in with my moogle axe…
"In From The Cold" is the most fantastic rejection of WoL hubris ever and I love it very much for that. Also the music accompanying this humbling is fire of the highest order.
i honestly didnt like the quest because it didn't fit Zenos's character at all.
It was one of my favourites too, truly unique and creative. And so bloody hard. Put a timer on my screen and my stress levels go up exponentially. But that moment when my wol threw the sword to save graha (who I would die for, another story) made the struggle and the triumph thoroughly worth it. The sense of accomplishment had me on a game high for days lol
Imagine doing this while extremely drunk. I hated it. I had to have someone tell me exactly where to go and how to get there. Tho the story aspect of it was good.
this is the best quest of all the MSQ.
it just so amazing, see your body taken away by the enemy, and then just throw away in a body who is not yours is so amazing. now you are in the flesh of a Garleand, you can feel the despair in this body, you can feel the hopelessness of the situation and worst, you can 100% feel being powerless… as Stout Helm said, you don't self recover, you need to fin med-kits, you need to be absolutly carefull of the fight you take, the game goes 180° on the others side and that is so amazing, so well execute that when i did the quest i really feel i couldn't make it and that ending crawling to save your friends, its just reflects so well on WoL, this borrow body can go much longer but the will of pushing forward its there and its figthing with everything you have.
i really think those Rol-Play quest in the body of another character give a lot of deepness to the world, putting in the shoes of others really reflect how powerfull they are and in the end, how powerfull its the WoL.
this type of quest really push forward the feel this is not an MMORPG, its an RPGMMO, and i really love it.
Definitely an interesting perspective, and when you try to take it from purely a narrative perspective, it isn't too bad, but the gameplay overall ruined the entire experience.
I played this duty for the first time a few months ago, and was promoted by it to find a way back to camp broken glass. Fandaniel even tells me to hide between buildings like a rat. And especially coming off of the previous Thancred mission, it felt like I would be doing a stealth mission.
So i tried doing that, headed straight south and was greeted by the red barrier. I know there are larger monsters just out of range, but i still had in between paths to take.
I just said "okay, I'll find where your want me to go." But because of the path i took, i completely missed the Magitek walker, and ran around the city two times, before i went the opposite direction which led me to the walker. Which then we had to find the previous driver, then go get the ceruleum (which i passed twice already) and walk all the way back with it. All of this with the timer ticking, and at this point, my immersion was completely lost to the dread of having to do all this again.
I think a lot of this could have benefit by dumping you straight into the broken reaper, or at least directing you to it better. Because by the end of it, i was just left with the feeling of "what was even the point?"
I definitely respect your opinion, but i could never give this duty the title of best. Interesting idea, but completely miserable execution.