I almost want to make a compilation of Garrett going from that clip, to his early takes of like "okay I see it" takes, to the classic "oh my god that's cool as shit" moments like Susano'o, and just ending with him going "Oh, fuck yeah" when the main theme kicks in during the end of 5.0 and crying over the Dhulia scene in 5.3.
I love that Asahi reveal, it was like "We've made players have sympathy with Ascian, how can we make them want to punch Ascian's face?" and someone said "Put Ascian inside Asahi's body"
@@KMCA779 after 5.0 and 5.3 we don't really hate ascians anymore, it's just that our goals are coliding and there is no way to end it peacefully so that both sides would be content.
@@84elmerirreconcilable goals and the conflicts created by them is a running theme through all of FF14. Gaius and The Emperor both have monologues of their ideals and ideas for peace, no peace with Dragons till Nidhogg is dead, and then the Emet and Elid in Shadowbringers.
Me and a lot of my XIV friends went "Oh how we are blessed, that out of all the bodies on the Source Fandaniel chooses the one with the most punchable face" after patch day.
I can't remember which streamer said it, but I recall someone saying "why can't I ever feel good about defeating someone". It's a testament to great writing.
I remember after 5.0 I was like well there’s no way I’ll care about elidibus like I did emet. And then they did. Then at end of 5.3 I’m like well I’m glad we finally have a pure evil crazy ascian fandaniel that I don’t have to worry about connecting with
Fun fact: the sandals are baked into the base models for every race ... except for Y'shtola, because they had to give her a model without sandals for when she emerged nude from the Lifestream.
FUN FACT: The cutscene in Mor Dhonna, looks to be really high quality because it was at that moment that the devs switched to a new (or upgraded) animation engine, giving them the ability to easily create custom animations, collision interactions with items etc etc. A lot of these things were initially tested out in the Hildibrand questline, and a couple moments here and there in the MSQ, but the end of 5.3 is when they started implementing it in earnest for most cutscenes. That's why they are showing it off with Y'shtola running her hands down the staff, Urianger picking up a card from a table and then reshuffling them, Thancred grabbing the bag of bullets and the entirety of the Alisaie and Alphinaud interaction, and Krile taking a bite out of the bread! They are showing off their new tech! Same with Fandaniel grabbing the coin from the air and zenos slicing the coin in half! It only get better from here!!!!
My exposure to Hildibrand nearly backfired for me, because of the overexaggerated facial animations. My thought process during the "Welcome to Shadowbringers" scene was... > "You know, I know they're trying to go for dramatic effect, but the whole G-Mod Idiot Box facial animations really takes me out of-Oh! OH GODS! THAT WAS INTENTIONAL! AHH!"
I recall someone saying "Hildebrand walked so 5.0 could run." They really start using unique animations more often, small facial queues and little eye motions. A bundle of little details that combines to make the whole greater.
Soken creating "To the Edge" (the seat of sacrifice song) while in the hospital with cancer, which he didn't tell ANYONE about so they would continue working like normal and not worry about him just makes the ticking clock hurt every time I hear it.
The Virtual Fanfest reveal of that was so shocking and emotional for that. It also got compounded with how all the other devs reacted and Yoshi-P's emotional breakdown. REALLY Makes you feel the humanity of the devs and how much they care about each other.
Elidibus' warrior of light was the title art from the first game. While it was technically not a model in the game, it was the very first image of FF you got before putting that NES cartridge in your machine. As someone who got the original FF on my 10th birthday back in 1988, this moment didn't just bring FFXIV full circle, but my entire life.
While the Amano WoL was kind of retconned as the FF1 mascot long after the fact, I think there's also something to be said about the implication the First could've been the FF1 world and that the majority of it had been swallowed up by the light. Think it was something like 300 years after the warrior king did his thing, which could've culminated in the WoL marrying the princess of Cornelia.
As someone who has lost both family and friends to alzheimers and dementia let me tell you the Elidibus story hit me hard. That moment of lucidity at the end... I only hope my love ones got that as well. I was an absolute mess in 5.3.
yep, had one as well, Elidibus perfectly captures it, his drive and desires, his motivation and promises he made all shine through, despite having no idea who those people are, or even what he said, and the confusion and despair he expresses when realizing it.
My favorite thing about Elidibus' plan with the black masked ascians is that he literally did the same thing to you in a realm reborn. He low-key admits this before you fight him, that he was grooming you to become a warrior of light
My favorite part of the stream was chat realizing the mods were in party and everyone started screaming fake spoilers about Endwalker. That and the gifted membership bomb. It was wholesome.
I spent the entire stream trying to catch up. I was at work and every time I'd make up time I'd have to pause to deal with something. But the moment they realized that the entire party was mods and they wouldn't be able to "cheat" their answers? Oh yeah, I was laughing my ass off. I hope we get more mod only content, I thought it was priceless. I can't wait for them to do the first trial in Endwalker, they're going to lose their minds over it.
@@KMCA779 As the OT in that situation, it was a blast having Garrett learn the struggle of forced tank lb. That moment from Kyle in the fight going, "oh, we all died. WE ALL DIED!" was such a hilarious and great moment
I speculate that they picked Asahi's body for Fandaniel because we'd already have some preloaded emotions about Asahi that would transfer to Fandaniel by association. An emotional shortcut.
the weird thing about the writing of FFXIV is just how bloody shameless it is with the emotional manipulation, but in a way that makes you feel good. Like, they use every dirty literary trick imaginable to wring an emotional reaction out of you, but it's not just for cheap payoffs or story shortcuts, they do it to get you extra invested in what's going on
Designing the Archon Loaf to look amazingly tasty, and then having it turn out to be absolutely disgusting, was top tier low-key comedy, and I appreciated it. Also Y'shtola wasn't "throwing Runar a bone" - her reaction to him picking her up and spinning her around was embarassed laughter, rather than reducing him to an emasculated paste. That speaks volumes about how she feels.
We have seen that woman commit guiltless murder. Effortless evisceration. Casual massacre. Runar is left smiling and happy. Y'shtola was definitely being super gentle.
She called him a kid. She called Magnai a kid, but far meaner, because he was an ass. That is not romantic in any aspect except your mind and I have no idea why people latch onto this idea when she has more flirtation with Urianger out of everyone in the game or even the WoL. I'm so tired of the fandom trying to reduce Y'shtola to a love interest for a side character when she has her own shit going on.
@@SetsunaMayura I don't think "reduce" is the right word, nothing is being "reduced". It's just shipping, which happens in any fandom. It's simple wish fulfillment. I doubt FF14 would make canon romances with any major characters, let alone the scions, tease as they might. Gets in the way of people shipping their own WoL with the characters.
33:13 *raises hand* Hi, yeah. That's me. I had absolutely no clue who G'raha Tia was when i finished 5.0. I started around 5.15's release, on console. No keyboard, so I didn't chat with anyone, and people in the Novice Network would say to just wait on the blue quests. So that's what I did. Oopsy.
When 5.3 came out I had recently lost my dog. Seto's moment with Ardbert just absolutely _wrecked_ me. Like, full on ugly tears to the point I couldn't see. And I had _already_ cried a lot up to that point because of the Chai's and G'raha's fate being somewhat up in the air still. 5.3 is the moment I always look forward to new people experiencing. I have played XIV tour-guide for two different irl friends and each time we've gotten to 5.3 it was worth all the effort I put into getting those friends excited about the game. Much like Jesse I will watch streamers play 5.3 just to vicariously live through it again. It's embarrassing.
I did this for a month straight after I finished Shadowbringers last month. And I still can't seem to stop watching reactions and reviews for it even though I'm already in the middle of Endwalker now. It's like a shared empathy with all of us. We understand the pain and the beauty of ShB. I'm so sorry for the loss of your dog, by the way. It's so hard losing a beloved pet. I lost my dog 7 years ago and that Seto and Ardbert scene had me ugly crying too. Especially hearing Seto telling Ardbert how if only he had learn to speak sooner, he would have told him how much he meant to him... How much he cared." Ardbert saying," I knew. I always knew." 🥺 It was a beautiful moment and one I could see going down if I ever reunited with my pets that have passed (and if magically learned how to talk)
To The Edge is, in my opinion, the most powerful song Soken's ever composed. It's truly mind boggling the amount of construction/care put into the song, how it pulls so many motifs together, how it represents the Ascians/Elidibus through all those motifs...it's astonishing. And he put this together while going through the nightmare that is chemotherapy.
A fun thing to do is to check the weather on the compass whenever you're in an unusual skybox, area, or trial. You get weather conditions like Brilliance (The Crown of the Immaculate), Termination (Amarout) or Oppression (The Singularity Reactor) and they even get their own icons. Absolutely pointless attention to detail and I love it.
I played ARR to Endwalker over the course of 9 months and that was BY FAR the best gaming experience I have EVER had in my 30+ years gaming. I have an emotional attachment to these characters, this story, and this franchise that will never be rivaled.
When Elidibus as the WoL does his big... *_"As the avatar of those mortal heroes who fought unfalteringly, in all their imperfection. As the Warrior of Light incarnate. Come, Warrior of Darkness! Let us finish this!"_* ...speech. It truly made me feel like now I was a proper badass warrior of darkness, almost a villain through and through even though obviously our motives are the good ones. Like, for most of the ShB story is like you were actually always the Warrior of Light but used the title of Warrior of Darkness for convenience, because the locals put it on you. But here, no, you are THE warrior of darkness. Also the pose Elidibus does with the phantom Warriors of Light is the most badass shit.
Something about Elidibus broke my heart, perhaps it's the fact that his Ascian model at the end made him look like a child, and it's like a child who was a duty bound and desperate to get his world back. I know he's descended into madness just like Emet and co-- but I didn't feel like a winner after felling him at the end. Especially since we now know that we're the 14th seat, and we possibly, in the long past, knew these characters canonically. It's just heartbreaking, as if seeing two old friends or at the very least, acquaintances, who aren't aware of each other anymore.
It gets even worse when you realize he was basically the Alphinaud of the Convocation, including Azem. And for folks that have lived through seeing loved ones experience cognitive decline...honestly, Elidibus hit me harder than Emet emotionally.
@@keithfilibeck2390 He was a young adult ,not a child ,a bit of a translation mistake regarding the short story as the japanese version refers to him as "seinen" ,so he would be the equivalent to early 20s likely. Though still,he was decidedly younger than everyone else in the convocation.
@@zecendia Indeed. The idea that the rule-loving Emet Selch and Lahabrea would allow an actual child to make decisions like that is mind-boggling. Anyone doing P raids knows now that Elidibus was a young man before the Final Days hit. Otherwise they'd have pulled a child actor in for the voicing. The specific Japanese term for Elidibus was "short young man." Meaning, like Graha Tia short. No one mistakes GT for a child tho he looks like one beside larger WoL avatars. Child!Elidibus narrative also obscures the hidden parallel of ShB. I did a video essay looking at the parallelism between Graha Tia and Elidibus. Both 2 short young men who looked up to WoL. But one lacked support and true friends and a functioning memory. The other was able to find hope and saved 2 worlds. Both are connected through musical themes as well. It was no narrative accident that GT and E have that last scene together.
So glad you guys decided to jump straight into the 5.3 video. I know it must've been killer to meet the deadline but you're here! You finished 5.3! Enjoy retirement. And Bozja. And Werlyt trials. And Eden. And Nier. And 5.4-5.5. And Endwalker. and EW trials and raids...
My reaction to Hyth showing up again was, verbatim to a friend who was playing alongside me, "HYTHLODAEUS! BLESS!!! SOME ANSWERS! ... maybe." He *is* the Peddler of Nonsense. But it's the Il Mheg entry in the dungeon that always makes me tear up a bit, because as Feo Ul said, "Should those pesky heroes come calling with steel and magic, all Il Mheg will rise up in your defense," and that is LITERALLY WHAT HAPPENS in the dungeon.
Re: SoS and the tank LB, people were pretty good about not spoiling that, but even if people knew it, people were screaming in delight over Emet-Selch coming back, so ... there were a lot of wipes. :D And nobody really minded because, well.
All the crazy facial expressions, you can thank the Hildy quests for that. As tongue in cheek comedy quests, they used the Hildy quests to experiment and really push facial expressions to the absolute limits. It paid off 😊
FF14 made G'raha mean so much to me, that between the goodbye and the return in this sequence... his theme song, Eternal Wind, broke me. Who knew that it would not be the last time FF14 delivered the goods.
If i remember the interview between soken and uematsu from last year, Eternal wind(originally from FF3) was one of sokens favorite tracks, so he did his best to treat it with utmost respect
As someone who had to put down their dog right before playing 5.3, Seto's scene DESTROYED me. Though, I love his Bilbo giving Frodo the ring vibe of wanting to go on a journey
What they did with Eledibus was amazing. When he took over Ardbert I was legitimately pissed, I couldn't wait for him to become a boss and end him... and all it took was one patch to slowly see his humanity. I still didn't like what he did with Ardbert, but I still cried rivers with his last moments and I still get teary eyed when I watch it again. They made me care, they made me see why he went as far as he did, and he turned out to be so tragic... and all of that in a single patch.
One thing I love about 5.3 is just how much everything is in the perspective of children. From the Children of the First, to the echo cutscene with Elidibus being at a child height camera angle to Elidibus himself being so small like a child after Seat of Sacrifice. So much faith placed upon the young, idealizing different ways to being a warrior of light, much like children today have that innocent view of hope that they can save the world in their way - "I wanna be a doctor/firefighter/scientist/police officer etc. when I grow up so I can save people"
The "epilogue" scene at the end of the patch with the Scions was so perfect it could have been the end of the entire story and I'd be satisfied. But then enter the BOIS.
Man, Shadowbringers was a trip. And all of us get to relive it through you guys. You are our "years after". Welcome and goodbye to 5.3. The absolute peak of MMO gaming story. What a wild ride it was.
Seto hit me way too hard for like a few reasons. So when I was like 10 I had an audiobook of the hobbit and for a while I couldn’t fall asleep without it. So his bilbo voice saying he’s going to go on one last adventure hit me on that angle. And I’m very lucky to never have had a pet die however my dog is getting older and that is something I’m scared of. So I think this allowed me to accept that that’s coming and to just love him with as much as I can and to not regret not spending more time with him when it eventually happens
G'raha's speech was fucking fantastic "My friend. With you, my mind and memories shall travel to the ends of the world and beyond. But in this place shall my body stand immovable. May it serve as an undying promise, not only to those who looked to me for leadership, but to any soul who has known despair, that hope is everlasting."
If FFXIV was a TV show then 5.3 would be an amazing season finale before the show takes a long break. A huge chapter has ended, and yet there's still plenty more to look forward to. It's so satisfying seeing every one of your companions be given a chance to say their goodbyes one last time. The Seat of Sacrifice is such an amazing trial. Seeing you guys try to figure out why the party kept wiping after Elidibus' LB4 reminds me of the times when this patch first launched. Kudos to the mod team letting you figure it out by yourselves. Elidibus shift during the second phase is such an amazing storytelling device: as the last of the Unsundered, everything that him and the Ascians have been working for literally rests on his shoulders, so there really is no point in holding back anymore. The guy was being driven purely on emotions he can't but help spam those LBs again and again. Good luck on the Extreme! It's tough, but so much fun!
its honestly heartbreaking, sure his goals are horrific, but only because of time, his intent and drive and honor are unparalleled, beyond memories or any sanity, he still pushes towards his impossible goal of bringing back the world he had, not for the reasons like Emet, who does so out of loss and despair, but out of sheer honor, he SWORE he would do it, and he meant it.
It was awesome watching y'all go through this live when you streamed last week. Fun fact too; That Theme "To the Edge" was composed by Soken while he was still in the hospital fighting cancer. He only told the fans that after he announced he was cancer free! Goes to show you that the devs care about what they give to the players for this game.
Patch 5.3 really made me feel for Elidibus. Never thought a ton of him before, but they way they explained his character, how broken he was, how he couldn't remember anything except for his duty.... and then after you beat him when he repeats the words that Lahabrea and Igyeorm said to him about the rains ceasing... but with the final "But you are not here to see it." It msde me realize that Ishikawa knows how to properly develop a character in a short time frame and make you feel for them.
Its been a joke or a meme that the FFXIV community is cultish or is really hellbent on trying to get people into the game as if to evangelize them and bring them into the ranks but the truth is something more grounded and genuine and that is that we in the FFXIV community have stumbled across a treasure in this game. The story being told here is truly a wonderful experience that asks you for your time and patience but promises it will be worth your commitment and we've known it for almost a decade. This is a story thats NEEDS TO BE KNOWN AND SHARED not just the story of the warrior of light doing all he can to save his world from near apocalypse but the story of the FFXIV developers who also saved this world from being cast into oblivion, the sacrifices yoshida and the ff crew made the commitment to the player that we would be treated with respect while they did the best they could to salvage the game from the wreck it was made into due to arrogance and greed and turn it into a diamond that glints and sparkles like a star in the night sky, not only did they do everything rhey could to save the game and honor the players they also consistently surpassed themselves with each patch in either story, gameplay, or both and the gamera and personally speaking the people of the world should know the hard work they put into this masterpiece
The 5.3 ending prior to the Meanwhile in...etc, really felt like it could have been a perfect game ending. I love the little moments with all the scions, they all feel like family at this point. They are parts of the game i cherish the most.
You: Here's all these tropes I HATE and I'm feeling so nervous. Going into Shadowbringers, finishing 5.0, going into 5.3 which is supposed to be better. How can I possibly like all this stuff I don't usually like? Us: /eating popcorn this whole expansion while laughing cause you don't Know And now you know ❤
I've ever been in agreement with Jesse Cox that 5.3 is a fantastic ending to a great story. Also, there's 2 previous FF series references in the Elidibus fight. His Warrior of Light form is a reference to FF1, but specifically the Dissidia game franchise version; I believe he also appears in Stranger of Paradise as well. The summoned Warriors, meanwhile, are a reference to the FF4 cast.
I love how Emet made a little remembrance crystal, a small token for each of his friends. Something to remember them all, so that he'd never wind up hollow and empty like Elidibus. Inscribing the signature spell of Azem into their token, so we can just do that now, was a masterstroke as well. Duty finder is canon, and nobody can complain!
I think what hit me the hardest was when you realize that Elidibus was originally just a CHILD. Makes the concept and execution of him being so so lost in his own memories and objective a bit more heart breaking.
5.3 hits so many people so hard because it's like a harem anime of tearjerkers. The protagonist is surrounded by them, and every viewer will find the cryfu that they feel is the real one.
Speaking of the clinic room in the Rising Stones, it's open now! And you should go in and talk with Urianger inside before doing 5.4. Great background lore hypothesizing
If we were to consider 5.3's denouement as the ending of a video game, it'd easily be the most satisfying one I've experienced, and I've been playing games since '87.
Hi Garrett! One of the phrases you’re looking for to describe things that are cool for cool’s sake is usually called “Rule of Cool” Typically, it’s the idea that you let something you’d normally find odd or ridiculous or ‘extra’ slide because it was cool enough. The ‘extended suspension of disbelief’ so to speak
Fun little fact: That cutscene where you walk into the crystal tower, past the gate and sort of glance back towards the doors as they close - it's an exact mirror of what G'raha did as he was being sealed away in the tower at the end of the ARR raid series. They really leaned into everything coming full circle this patch.
One of my favorite things about Phase 3 of the Seat of Sacrifice (which we got to see several times) is that they synced up the timing of Elidibus saying "Salvation" with the lyrics, so it magnifies it when it's said. Additionally, as a tank main, I will say that I haven't missed a tank LB3 ... since the last time it was required in MSQ ...
Hey Kyle, i come from being a fan of your hots interviews, and I gotta say, it’s so good to see how far you’ve come. You two are legit making the best ffxiv content on the site at the moment and I will make sure to spread the word, keep it up! 💕
My favorite part of the Zenos scene was him saying something like who are you again? Asahi was a huge Zenos fanboy and he remembers clearly the first day he met him. Zenos not remembering him at all is such a good slap, I'm disapointed that Asahi was not there to receive it!
It's so perfect in which all the moments where sempai noticed him was Elidabus and all the moments that real sempai vaguely notice his existence it isn't even him 😂😂
Seto was basically taking Fry back to see his dog outside the pizza shop one last time. I would really like to see a character analysis of how Hythlodaeus, an unvoiced character in the expansion for all of 5 minutes, ends up being one of the most endearing and memorable from the experience. They worked some magic with that dialogue.
Oh gosh, Fry and his dog made me feel a lot back when that show was on. I also remember that scene when Fry tries to clone him, but decides against it, thinking he probably had a long, happy life. Then they show us a montage of his dog's past where he waits for Fry outside the pizza shop for years, until he got old and passed away. 🥺 I remember holding my dog and just sobbing.
Sort of fun fact about the trial music when fighting elidibus…Soken wrote it while in the hospital with cancer and going through treatment. None of his staff new, he only told Yoshi P.
39:15 The fact that the scene went unvoiced is criminal, but it's understandable considering the world was still scrambling to shift to remote work while 5.3 was being developed. It's astounding that the patch turned out so well despite the pandemic throwing such spanners in the works.
It's even better than that. First, as you point out, it's a very long payoff to the first thing that happens to you at the start of the expansion before you know you are Azem, shepherd to the stars in the dark. It's a brilliant piece of very subtle foreshadowing, because you are in a very real sense lost, both in a strange new land AND with regards to your long-lost Amaurotine identity. But it's also where we find the Crystal Exarch after he's been forced to flee the tower. G'raha has been the shepherd of the people of the Crystarium for a century, and in this moment he is very lost.
Goodness. I knew this video wouldn't disappoint but I'm always pleasantly surprised with what I experience through you fine gents. From your observations on who/what Elidibus is, all the callbacks to previous content and connecting the dots, your open sharing about how the content/story impacted you, the "look at this photograph" gig, to even Garrett joking with his past self about not playing FF14, it's all gold. Even the way you both phrase your observations (I really liked Kyle's comparison about how rigid the WoL's position is against Elidibus as the latter realizes how crumbling his memory/essence is) brings a smile to my face. For things that are purposely left open to interpretation, I love your guys' take on it as it gives me more to think about myself. Thanks for enhancing my play of an already great game.
For me the biggest deal with the worldbuilding and writing of Shadowbringers was that i didn't want it to end. I remember standing in lakeland looking around the night before Endwalker and part of me feeling like david tennant in doctor who going "i dont want to go!". Moving on from those places and those characters really felt like leaving something behind in a way the other expansions -or expansions back in other mmos i tried- didn't. Which is a credit to the writers but i still a year on have beaten Endwalker and still hope we go back to The First someday to see those characters again. -also the music for the trial. finding out later that soken wrote that alone on a cancer ward during lockdown, having told yoshi to not tell the rest of the team to not effect moral makes that ticking clock and those lyrics hit so damn hard.
So something else that helps with the confusion on Elidibus' action/allegiances that I'm sad neither of you two touched upon was when you get to the top of CT he recalls his first meeting with you and explains he thought you'd be useful in ensuring the Source doesn't lean heavily towards a calamity quite yet, but when you defeated Lahabrea for good he started to realize you were a problem, which is why he started being more active, sending Ardbert and Illberd with the Eyes at you, posing as Zenos, and 5.3. He genuinely did not think you would get that strong.
Something I found out from an interview about "To the Edge" is that Soken Wrote it in hospital while battling Cancer. Adds a real extra dimension to it.
32:40 Crystal Tower actually is mandatory to complete post ARR now! The game won't let you into Heavensward without completing it, which is the best move they could've made
So glad you guys enjoyed the wild ride of 5.3! I would state that you two have some semi-required reading at this point, if you haven't been sitting down and reading the side stories on the Lodestone already. But if you haven't, I would highly...*HIGHLY* recommend "Ere Our Curtain Falls" under Tales from the Shadows. Gives you a *great* idea of the relationship between a few of the characters you interact with in 5.3.
i always verbalized it as "If the game ended right there in 5.3 with the pan over to the Crystal Tower one last time, i'dve been completely satisfied with that."
The voiceacting of elidibus after the trial is just top tier, a critical hit. I would highly advise you and anyone who doesnt know, to read the lyrics for the trial song, "To the edge", so much symbolism and parallels are crammed into it, that you're shocked they fit in there. From you(light) and emet(darkness) , shifting to the opposite with you and elidibus, To how the song is as much about a desperate last stand from elidibus, as it is like Soken was writing the song to reflect his own situation at the time, absolutely incredible. 5.3 is like a huge dps check against you(the player) and its hitting you with critical hits back to back to back, it is no wonder it is renowned for making people cry!
I ran ARR way back before Crystal Tower was required. My main at the time was a Red-Headed Miquo'te and I thought that the Crystal Exarch was a First Version of ME.
Important trivia! The song in the Seat of Sacrifice, "To The Edge," is the song Soken wrote while in the hospital fighting cancer, without telling anyone else he was there but Yoshi P. You can almost feel some of that in the song.
LOL THE ZOOM IN ON PAPALYMO xD I knew it was coming because you mentioned it on stream today but it still got me. [edit] I can usually hold myself together during all the good bye cutscenes, but then the final one with Lyna where she says "and that if he should ever find himself reminiscing on the past with a smile, we shall be smiling with him" i just break down. Gets me every time.
As the channel's (self-proclaimed, self-appointed) resident Stormblood fanatic, 5.3 is the exception for me. The Story is beautiful, and heart-wrenching, and badass, and crunchy, and the non-MSQ side content is (imo) JUST as solid. Thoroughly enjoyed your marathon last week, and supremely excited for Nier 5.3 tomorrow night.
Okay! I can dish now! The Echo flashback you got from Elidibus showed you the *back* of the Warrior of Light that he embodied for the purposes of the trial. He was reaching out to that figure and said "even sundered, you never stopped" or something to that effect. The Warrior of Light who inspired all the others was one of *our* past selves, one of the fragments of Azem. It makes the Seat of Sacrifice even more pointed in that Elidibus is imitating his fractured memory of *us*, and yet here we stand, 8 (9?) parts of 14 of the original. And he can't see it. Also, the music from that trial... Soken wrote that while in a *hospital* being treated for life-threatening *cancer*. You wanna talk about music that comes from a place of courage and strength in the face of destruction? That song has ALL OF IT. And Seto Extreme... I will NEVER stop sobbing at that scene when I watch it.
I forget where I read it but someone said that the dark scene when you check on the scions is supposed to symbolize the dying hope. There is only a tiny light barely holding on. Compared to the next time you are in that room, it is fully illuminated with the WoL triumphant in his return. It then further is compared to the last scene with Zenos. No lights. Only dead bodies.
_Herein I commit the chronicle of the traveler. Shepherd to the stars in the dark. Though the world be sundered and our souls set adrift, where you walk, my dearest friend, fate shall surely follow. For yours is the Fourteenth seat-the seat of Azem._
Regarding the improved graphics: The graphics team from FFXVI (who were kidnapped after HW) started returning sometime after 5.0 was released to begin teaching their old comrades on the XIV team all the tricks they'd learned to do with the Luminous engine while developing XVI. They are the ones spearheading the 7.0 graphics overhaul, but some of the stuff they brought back really starts to come through in the middle of 5.x as you can see. Edit: Also, the Seat of Sacrifice music was one that Souken composed while he was undergoing chemotherapy in the hospital. That awesome hair had been a wig for a while...
I don't think XVI utilizes Luminous? I'm fairly sure it's on an adaptation of the same engine XIV is on, which might be exactly why it's so portable. Which is also why I hope some of that great graphical and technical stuff in XVI will find its way to XIV as well. (not the high-res meshes and 4k textures or what have you; that doesn't work in an MMO like it does a single player, but the ideas and the technical foundations, the lighting, the way armor and skin and eyes are rendered, the weather, the fog, etc.)
@@katarh Yes XIV is stripped down luminous. But you said XVI (16) and luminous in your original comment. Everything I find says XVI is Unreal 4. XV (15) was full luminous.
Hey, don't forget that a lot of Seto's anguish is that he watched Ardbert and team 404 themselves. "If only I could have learned to speak sooner, so that I could have told you how much I loved you, how much I cared." It's a close-cutting representation of survivors of people who prematurely ended compounded with the idea it's from perspective of a pet. I'm of the opinion that Ishikawa really understands depression and Seto was just the beginning of her using depression as a key theme in her storytelling. I recommend keeping that idea in your head as you make your way deeper into Endwalker.
A personal take I had regarding 5.3 that I don't see a lot of folks considering, the kids at the start are a parallel to Elidibus. Elidibus being a kid thrust into the fray of things but unable to get guidance/rely on the Warrior of Light, whereas these kids had the opportunity to let the Warrior of Light help kind of thing.
Elidibus had a truly sad end as his memories had degraded to the point where he was little more than a robot with a few emotions - nothing but drive and duty and no actual reasons for any of it other than it was his purpose. He had to be put down and I think Y''shtola was right in her summation - Emet knew and decided to intervene. What makes the whole thing tragic is that Elidibus may have been the Emissary of the Convocation, but he was still little more than a child who once had his own dreams, goals, ambitions, and people he idolised and worshipped. People like Azem.
Speaking of putting all the elements into one song, and I'm sure your server side community has pointed this out already: The music in the Heroes' Gauntlet is a medley of all the Shadowbringers zone themes (except for the Tempest, which of course is covered in To The Edge)
i need to say this again that the edits, the pacing, the stuffs you said, the inserted little jokes, everything is amazing and very fun to watch. i enjoyed every second of this almost an hour long video.
From a tank player, I was so happy to see the mods force you to learn how to use LB3. It's the single coolest thing you can do as a tank and it made me sad that you hadn't had the opportunity yet. Thanks for the great content!
It's worth mentioning that Fandaniel is Sundered. So he's not on the level of Emet, Elidibus and Lahabrea when to comes to strenght. And Lahabrea was also weakened because he changed his bodies way too much.
Nothing quite compares to the raw, vibrating energy of satisfied nerd exhaustion🖤🥳💪 BIG THANK YOU for pushing to record so quickly after a 9 hour live stream!! It was a blast and this video wrap up is just splendid. Favorite Bites Y'shtola drinking tea meme Look at this photograph Pick your emotional poison If you don't know how to say goodbye after this.... Zenos and Jessie The realization you are both making memories that will last a lifetime
Those "nerd chills" and "adrenaline rushes in your spine" actually has a term: frisson - it's a physiological response to audio and visual stimuli, and it's a huge reason why Japanese story tellers tell stories the way that they do - they have worked to get as many people as they can to all feel frisson. There's a video on here called "Why Anime Makes You Emotional" by Kinda Neet that talks about this in greater detail.
I'm commenting only to express my displeasure at the Photograph joke. How dare you make such a spot on hilarious joke that will live on as a 5-second repeating clip in my head ALL. MORNING. *proceeds to watch video again because I can*
![FFXIV Housing：森の奥の家 [M]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ypg8w7Dmq9o/mqdefault.jpg)
Garrett remembering his "I will not play FFXIV" speech will never get old.
...and we will never let him forget it. LOL 😈
For posterity: ua-cam.com/users/clipUgkxctjv5QsyKmvA1OrAItBl0jYhmx07K4kU
I almost want to make a compilation of Garrett going from that clip, to his early takes of like "okay I see it" takes, to the classic "oh my god that's cool as shit" moments like Susano'o, and just ending with him going "Oh, fuck yeah" when the main theme kicks in during the end of 5.0 and crying over the Dhulia scene in 5.3.
@@ChrisMorray YES YES YES 😈😈😈 DO IT!!!
@@ChrisMorraydo it!
@@ChrisMorray somebody, anybody!!
I love that Asahi reveal, it was like "We've made players have sympathy with Ascian, how can we make them want to punch Ascian's face?" and someone said "Put Ascian inside Asahi's body"
Hot damn this is a glorious take.
@@KMCA779 after 5.0 and 5.3 we don't really hate ascians anymore, it's just that our goals are coliding and there is no way to end it peacefully so that both sides would be content.
@@84elmerirreconcilable goals and the conflicts created by them is a running theme through all of FF14. Gaius and The Emperor both have monologues of their ideals and ideas for peace, no peace with Dragons till Nidhogg is dead, and then the Emet and Elid in Shadowbringers.
Winner of Hydaelyn's Most Punchable Face 3 years in a row!
Me and a lot of my XIV friends went "Oh how we are blessed, that out of all the bodies on the Source Fandaniel chooses the one with the most punchable face" after patch day.
Elidibus got hit by the ishikawa beam and became a sympathetic character
I can honestly say I didn't care for Elidibus until the end of 5.3. The payoff made it all worth it.
I can't remember which streamer said it, but I recall someone saying "why can't I ever feel good about defeating someone". It's a testament to great writing.
Ishikawa and Elidabus' VA sends their regards
@@XtrmPlays That was Terrabellum's reaction to 5.3 ua-cam.com/video/r-NWo7C_TXs/v-deo.html#t=37m0s
I remember after 5.0 I was like well there’s no way I’ll care about elidibus like I did emet. And then they did. Then at end of 5.3 I’m like well I’m glad we finally have a pure evil crazy ascian fandaniel that I don’t have to worry about connecting with
Hythlodaeus became this expasion's Moenbryda. Someone we wish we could have spent more time with.
I wanna buy Hythbro a beer real bad.
...I'd have to buy him a Landshark Lager...
@@Amovetv Is it wise to mix beers and spirits?
@@HealingBlight You owe me a drink, mines all over the floor from reading that comment.
Fun fact: the sandals are baked into the base models for every race ... except for Y'shtola, because they had to give her a model without sandals for when she emerged nude from the Lifestream.
Garrett: We didn't have to kill our dead friends.
Papalymo: *dies inside (if he wasn't already dead)*
Love that the editing zooms in on papalymo as he says that.
Sacrificing himself to hold Shinryu at bay was a bro move, but Papalymo was a jerk. He was so mean to Lyse!
he said what he said
I can’t deny I love that Garret constantly pokes fun at himself with saying that he wasn’t gonna play Final Fantasy 14, and yet here we are now haha.
FUN FACT: The cutscene in Mor Dhonna, looks to be really high quality because it was at that moment that the devs switched to a new (or upgraded) animation engine, giving them the ability to easily create custom animations, collision interactions with items etc etc. A lot of these things were initially tested out in the Hildibrand questline, and a couple moments here and there in the MSQ, but the end of 5.3 is when they started implementing it in earnest for most cutscenes.
That's why they are showing it off with Y'shtola running her hands down the staff, Urianger picking up a card from a table and then reshuffling them, Thancred grabbing the bag of bullets and the entirety of the Alisaie and Alphinaud interaction, and Krile taking a bite out of the bread! They are showing off their new tech! Same with Fandaniel grabbing the coin from the air and zenos slicing the coin in half!
It only get better from here!!!!
How did you know about this :0
That's why after this scene I made a habit of telling people in awe at the animations "Thank Hildibrand for this"
I KNEW that Hildebrande was an animation testbed!
@@PedroSteckeciloAlways was, since the very beginning :) All those crazy facial expressions? Tested on Hildibrand :)
My exposure to Hildibrand nearly backfired for me, because of the overexaggerated facial animations. My thought process during the "Welcome to Shadowbringers" scene was...
> "You know, I know they're trying to go for dramatic effect, but the whole G-Mod Idiot Box facial animations really takes me out of-Oh! OH GODS! THAT WAS INTENTIONAL! AHH!"
I recall someone saying "Hildebrand walked so 5.0 could run." They really start using unique animations more often, small facial queues and little eye motions. A bundle of little details that combines to make the whole greater.
Oh that's a fantastic way to say it.
Yeah, like Urianger here too, even tho he's in BG 45:17
Man i cant wait for what crazyness 7.0 will bring, if EW hildibrand animations are any indication
Soken creating "To the Edge" (the seat of sacrifice song) while in the hospital with cancer, which he didn't tell ANYONE about so they would continue working like normal and not worry about him just makes the ticking clock hurt every time I hear it.
so true
The Virtual Fanfest reveal of that was so shocking and emotional for that. It also got compounded with how all the other devs reacted and Yoshi-P's emotional breakdown.
REALLY Makes you feel the humanity of the devs and how much they care about each other.
Elidibus' warrior of light was the title art from the first game. While it was technically not a model in the game, it was the very first image of FF you got before putting that NES cartridge in your machine.
As someone who got the original FF on my 10th birthday back in 1988, this moment didn't just bring FFXIV full circle, but my entire life.
While the Amano WoL was kind of retconned as the FF1 mascot long after the fact, I think there's also something to be said about the implication the First could've been the FF1 world and that the majority of it had been swallowed up by the light. Think it was something like 300 years after the warrior king did his thing, which could've culminated in the WoL marrying the princess of Cornelia.
As someone who has lost both family and friends to alzheimers and dementia let me tell you the Elidibus story hit me hard. That moment of lucidity at the end... I only hope my love ones got that as well. I was an absolute mess in 5.3.
3 of 4 grandparents and now my mom. Yeah, it was a moment in game.
yep, had one as well, Elidibus perfectly captures it, his drive and desires, his motivation and promises he made all shine through, despite having no idea who those people are, or even what he said, and the confusion and despair he expresses when realizing it.
Im so sorry for your loss :( ♥️
My favorite thing about Elidibus' plan with the black masked ascians is that he literally did the same thing to you in a realm reborn. He low-key admits this before you fight him, that he was grooming you to become a warrior of light
I still can't get over how Soken composed To The Edge from the hospital dealing with cancer.
You always hear how the game is going to make you cry. But, people rarely seem to mention how often they're happy tears.
My favorite part of the stream was chat realizing the mods were in party and everyone started screaming fake spoilers about Endwalker. That and the gifted membership bomb. It was wholesome.
I spent the entire stream trying to catch up. I was at work and every time I'd make up time I'd have to pause to deal with something. But the moment they realized that the entire party was mods and they wouldn't be able to "cheat" their answers? Oh yeah, I was laughing my ass off. I hope we get more mod only content, I thought it was priceless.
I can't wait for them to do the first trial in Endwalker, they're going to lose their minds over it.
@@KMCA779 Oh yeah, I've been looking forward to that trial for months.
@@KMCA779 As the OT in that situation, it was a blast having Garrett learn the struggle of forced tank lb. That moment from Kyle in the fight going, "oh, we all died. WE ALL DIED!" was such a hilarious and great moment
So many gifted sub bombs
@@KMCA779 I agree, but also who didn't?
There is a reason it is known as the collective FFXIV-fanbase "Huh?!" moment x3
I speculate that they picked Asahi's body for Fandaniel because we'd already have some preloaded emotions about Asahi that would transfer to Fandaniel by association. An emotional shortcut.
"I dont know you but I already wanna shank you."
And then both give off that "evil psycho" vibe hard enough just to make sure the connection sticks.
/wiping away tears Oh gosh I can't possibly fight an Ascian after all tha- oh wait nevermind going punch this one in the face
the weird thing about the writing of FFXIV is just how bloody shameless it is with the emotional manipulation, but in a way that makes you feel good. Like, they use every dirty literary trick imaginable to wring an emotional reaction out of you, but it's not just for cheap payoffs or story shortcuts, they do it to get you extra invested in what's going on
Designing the Archon Loaf to look amazingly tasty, and then having it turn out to be absolutely disgusting, was top tier low-key comedy, and I appreciated it.
Also Y'shtola wasn't "throwing Runar a bone" - her reaction to him picking her up and spinning her around was embarassed laughter, rather than reducing him to an emasculated paste. That speaks volumes about how she feels.
We have seen that woman commit guiltless murder. Effortless evisceration. Casual massacre. Runar is left smiling and happy. Y'shtola was definitely being super gentle.
Nothing says love like a black mage that doesn't roast you alive
She called him a kid. She called Magnai a kid, but far meaner, because he was an ass. That is not romantic in any aspect except your mind and I have no idea why people latch onto this idea when she has more flirtation with Urianger out of everyone in the game or even the WoL. I'm so tired of the fandom trying to reduce Y'shtola to a love interest for a side character when she has her own shit going on.
@@SetsunaMayura I don't think "reduce" is the right word, nothing is being "reduced". It's just shipping, which happens in any fandom. It's simple wish fulfillment. I doubt FF14 would make canon romances with any major characters, let alone the scions, tease as they might. Gets in the way of people shipping their own WoL with the characters.
How do you know you've written a good villain? When after his exit, he shows up again for 5 seconds and the half the fandom breaks down into tears.
I know it gets said a lot, but the editing of these discussion videos is always so darn good.
33:13 *raises hand* Hi, yeah. That's me. I had absolutely no clue who G'raha Tia was when i finished 5.0. I started around 5.15's release, on console. No keyboard, so I didn't chat with anyone, and people in the Novice Network would say to just wait on the blue quests. So that's what I did. Oopsy.
When 5.3 came out I had recently lost my dog. Seto's moment with Ardbert just absolutely _wrecked_ me. Like, full on ugly tears to the point I couldn't see. And I had _already_ cried a lot up to that point because of the Chai's and G'raha's fate being somewhat up in the air still.
5.3 is the moment I always look forward to new people experiencing. I have played XIV tour-guide for two different irl friends and each time we've gotten to 5.3 it was worth all the effort I put into getting those friends excited about the game.
Much like Jesse I will watch streamers play 5.3 just to vicariously live through it again. It's embarrassing.
I did this for a month straight after I finished Shadowbringers
last month. And I still can't seem to stop watching reactions and reviews for it even though I'm already in the middle of Endwalker now. It's like a shared empathy with all of us. We understand the pain and the beauty of ShB.
I'm so sorry for the loss of your dog, by the way. It's so hard losing a beloved pet. I lost my dog 7 years ago and that Seto and Ardbert scene had me ugly crying too. Especially hearing Seto telling Ardbert how if only he had learn to speak sooner, he would have told him how much he meant to him... How much he cared." Ardbert saying," I knew. I always knew." 🥺 It was a beautiful moment and one I could see going down if I ever reunited with my pets that have passed (and if magically learned how to talk)
To The Edge is, in my opinion, the most powerful song Soken's ever composed. It's truly mind boggling the amount of construction/care put into the song, how it pulls so many motifs together, how it represents the Ascians/Elidibus through all those motifs...it's astonishing.
And he put this together while going through the nightmare that is chemotherapy.
A fun thing to do is to check the weather on the compass whenever you're in an unusual skybox, area, or trial. You get weather conditions like Brilliance (The Crown of the Immaculate), Termination (Amarout) or Oppression (The Singularity Reactor) and they even get their own icons. Absolutely pointless attention to detail and I love it.
I played ARR to Endwalker over the course of 9 months and that was BY FAR the best gaming experience I have EVER had in my 30+ years gaming. I have an emotional attachment to these characters, this story, and this franchise that will never be rivaled.
When Elidibus as the WoL does his big...
*_"As the avatar of those mortal heroes who fought unfalteringly, in all their imperfection. As the Warrior of Light incarnate. Come, Warrior of Darkness! Let us finish this!"_*
...speech.
It truly made me feel like now I was a proper badass warrior of darkness, almost a villain through and through even though obviously our motives are the good ones.
Like, for most of the ShB story is like you were actually always the Warrior of Light but used the title of Warrior of Darkness for convenience, because the locals put it on you. But here, no, you are THE warrior of darkness.
Also the pose Elidibus does with the phantom Warriors of Light is the most badass shit.
Mankind’s first hero…and his final hope! For victory, I render up my all!
the pose is a call back to the ffxiv 1.0 box Amano art
Something about Elidibus broke my heart, perhaps it's the fact that his Ascian model at the end made him look like a child, and it's like a child who was a duty bound and desperate to get his world back. I know he's descended into madness just like Emet and co-- but I didn't feel like a winner after felling him at the end. Especially since we now know that we're the 14th seat, and we possibly, in the long past, knew these characters canonically. It's just heartbreaking, as if seeing two old friends or at the very least, acquaintances, who aren't aware of each other anymore.
he WAS a child.. when he became Zodiark, he hero worshiped Azem the "first" Warrior of Light.
Ya the current elidibus was a child prodigy, and the youngest person to ever join the convocation which is why his masked model was a teenager.
It gets even worse when you realize he was basically the Alphinaud of the Convocation, including Azem.
And for folks that have lived through seeing loved ones experience cognitive decline...honestly, Elidibus hit me harder than Emet emotionally.
@@keithfilibeck2390 He was a young adult ,not a child ,a bit of a translation mistake regarding the short story as the japanese version refers to him as "seinen" ,so he would be the equivalent to early 20s likely.
Though still,he was decidedly younger than everyone else in the convocation.
@@zecendia Indeed. The idea that the rule-loving Emet Selch and Lahabrea would allow an actual child to make decisions like that is mind-boggling. Anyone doing P raids knows now that Elidibus was a young man before the Final Days hit. Otherwise they'd have pulled a child actor in for the voicing. The specific Japanese term for Elidibus was "short young man." Meaning, like Graha Tia short. No one mistakes GT for a child tho he looks like one beside larger WoL avatars.
Child!Elidibus narrative also obscures the hidden parallel of ShB. I did a video essay looking at the parallelism between Graha Tia and Elidibus. Both 2 short young men who looked up to WoL. But one lacked support and true friends and a functioning memory. The other was able to find hope and saved 2 worlds. Both are connected through musical themes as well. It was no narrative accident that GT and E have that last scene together.
So glad you guys decided to jump straight into the 5.3 video. I know it must've been killer to meet the deadline but you're here! You finished 5.3! Enjoy retirement.
And Bozja. And Werlyt trials. And Eden. And Nier. And 5.4-5.5. And Endwalker. and EW trials and raids...
Don't forget the final role quest that required the rest to complete.
And post EW content, and with this pace, 7.0 form the get go as well.
at that pace, they'll finish just before the start of the next expansion.
@@CybersteelEx the current pace their at is actually really lovely and most likely they'll be good to go for 7.0 that will be a fucking ride.
I can't wait to see them go through EW. The emotional investment here is a foretelling of how they are going to cry on camera.
My reaction to Hyth showing up again was, verbatim to a friend who was playing alongside me, "HYTHLODAEUS! BLESS!!! SOME ANSWERS! ... maybe." He *is* the Peddler of Nonsense. But it's the Il Mheg entry in the dungeon that always makes me tear up a bit, because as Feo Ul said, "Should those pesky heroes come calling with steel and magic, all Il Mheg will rise up in your defense," and that is LITERALLY WHAT HAPPENS in the dungeon.
Re: SoS and the tank LB, people were pretty good about not spoiling that, but even if people knew it, people were screaming in delight over Emet-Selch coming back, so ... there were a lot of wipes. :D And nobody really minded because, well.
All the crazy facial expressions, you can thank the Hildy quests for that. As tongue in cheek comedy quests, they used the Hildy quests to experiment and really push facial expressions to the absolute limits. It paid off 😊
FF14 made G'raha mean so much to me, that between the goodbye and the return in this sequence... his theme song, Eternal Wind, broke me.
Who knew that it would not be the last time FF14 delivered the goods.
If i remember the interview between soken and uematsu from last year,
Eternal wind(originally from FF3) was one of sokens favorite tracks, so he did his best to treat it with utmost respect
As someone who had to put down their dog right before playing 5.3, Seto's scene DESTROYED me. Though, I love his Bilbo giving Frodo the ring vibe of wanting to go on a journey
What they did with Eledibus was amazing. When he took over Ardbert I was legitimately pissed, I couldn't wait for him to become a boss and end him... and all it took was one patch to slowly see his humanity. I still didn't like what he did with Ardbert, but I still cried rivers with his last moments and I still get teary eyed when I watch it again. They made me care, they made me see why he went as far as he did, and he turned out to be so tragic... and all of that in a single patch.
One thing I love about 5.3 is just how much everything is in the perspective of children. From the Children of the First, to the echo cutscene with Elidibus being at a child height camera angle to Elidibus himself being so small like a child after Seat of Sacrifice. So much faith placed upon the young, idealizing different ways to being a warrior of light, much like children today have that innocent view of hope that they can save the world in their way - "I wanna be a doctor/firefighter/scientist/police officer etc. when I grow up so I can save people"
The "epilogue" scene at the end of the patch with the Scions was so perfect it could have been the end of the entire story and I'd be satisfied.
But then enter the BOIS.
It was worth watching the stream to see Garrett cry.
Finally got him!
Man, Shadowbringers was a trip.
And all of us get to relive it through you guys. You are our "years after".
Welcome and goodbye to 5.3. The absolute peak of MMO gaming story. What a wild ride it was.
Seto hit me way too hard for like a few reasons. So when I was like 10 I had an audiobook of the hobbit and for a while I couldn’t fall asleep without it. So his bilbo voice saying he’s going to go on one last adventure hit me on that angle. And I’m very lucky to never have had a pet die however my dog is getting older and that is something I’m scared of. So I think this allowed me to accept that that’s coming and to just love him with as much as I can and to not regret not spending more time with him when it eventually happens
G'raha's speech was fucking fantastic
"My friend. With you, my mind and memories shall travel to the ends of the world and beyond. But in this place shall my body stand immovable. May it serve as an undying promise, not only to those who looked to me for leadership, but to any soul who has known despair, that hope is everlasting."
If FFXIV was a TV show then 5.3 would be an amazing season finale before the show takes a long break. A huge chapter has ended, and yet there's still plenty more to look forward to. It's so satisfying seeing every one of your companions be given a chance to say their goodbyes one last time.
The Seat of Sacrifice is such an amazing trial. Seeing you guys try to figure out why the party kept wiping after Elidibus' LB4 reminds me of the times when this patch first launched. Kudos to the mod team letting you figure it out by yourselves.
Elidibus shift during the second phase is such an amazing storytelling device: as the last of the Unsundered, everything that him and the Ascians have been working for literally rests on his shoulders, so there really is no point in holding back anymore. The guy was being driven purely on emotions he can't but help spam those LBs again and again.
Good luck on the Extreme! It's tough, but so much fun!
its honestly heartbreaking, sure his goals are horrific, but only because of time, his intent and drive and honor are unparalleled, beyond memories or any sanity, he still pushes towards his impossible goal of bringing back the world he had, not for the reasons like Emet, who does so out of loss and despair, but out of sheer honor, he SWORE he would do it, and he meant it.
It was awesome watching y'all go through this live when you streamed last week. Fun fact too; That Theme "To the Edge" was composed by Soken while he was still in the hospital fighting cancer. He only told the fans that after he announced he was cancer free! Goes to show you that the devs care about what they give to the players for this game.
Came here just to say this
A certified Soken LB4
Patch 5.3 really made me feel for Elidibus. Never thought a ton of him before, but they way they explained his character, how broken he was, how he couldn't remember anything except for his duty.... and then after you beat him when he repeats the words that Lahabrea and Igyeorm said to him about the rains ceasing... but with the final "But you are not here to see it." It msde me realize that Ishikawa knows how to properly develop a character in a short time frame and make you feel for them.
It's been a joy reexperiencing this section of the game with you two. Now join us in EW :D
Its been a joke or a meme that the FFXIV community is cultish or is really hellbent on trying to get people into the game as if to evangelize them and bring them into the ranks but the truth is something more grounded and genuine and that is that we in the FFXIV community have stumbled across a treasure in this game. The story being told here is truly a wonderful experience that asks you for your time and patience but promises it will be worth your commitment and we've known it for almost a decade. This is a story thats NEEDS TO BE KNOWN AND SHARED not just the story of the warrior of light doing all he can to save his world from near apocalypse but the story of the FFXIV developers who also saved this world from being cast into oblivion, the sacrifices yoshida and the ff crew made the commitment to the player that we would be treated with respect while they did the best they could to salvage the game from the wreck it was made into due to arrogance and greed and turn it into a diamond that glints and sparkles like a star in the night sky, not only did they do everything rhey could to save the game and honor the players they also consistently surpassed themselves with each patch in either story, gameplay, or both and the gamera and personally speaking the people of the world should know the hard work they put into this masterpiece
The 5.3 ending prior to the Meanwhile in...etc, really felt like it could have been a perfect game ending. I love the little moments with all the scions, they all feel like family at this point. They are parts of the game i cherish the most.
Instantly clipped "designed in a lab to be husbando'd"
You: Here's all these tropes I HATE and I'm feeling so nervous. Going into Shadowbringers, finishing 5.0, going into 5.3 which is supposed to be better. How can I possibly like all this stuff I don't usually like?
Us: /eating popcorn this whole expansion while laughing cause you don't Know
And now you know ❤
"The rains have ceased, and we have been graced with another beautiful day. But you are not here to see it."
shit makes me *bawl* every freaking time.
Thats a voice acting critical hit right there
Meanwhile, Lahabrea just screams a cry of confusion when being absorbed into Thordan
I've ever been in agreement with Jesse Cox that 5.3 is a fantastic ending to a great story. Also, there's 2 previous FF series references in the Elidibus fight. His Warrior of Light form is a reference to FF1, but specifically the Dissidia game franchise version; I believe he also appears in Stranger of Paradise as well. The summoned Warriors, meanwhile, are a reference to the FF4 cast.
I love how Emet made a little remembrance crystal, a small token for each of his friends. Something to remember them all, so that he'd never wind up hollow and empty like Elidibus.
Inscribing the signature spell of Azem into their token, so we can just do that now, was a masterstroke as well. Duty finder is canon, and nobody can complain!
I think what hit me the hardest was when you realize that Elidibus was originally just a CHILD. Makes the concept and execution of him being so so lost in his own memories and objective a bit more heart breaking.
ARR: Elidabus, that white robe guy
5.3: A little bus, Smol
5.3 hits so many people so hard because it's like a harem anime of tearjerkers. The protagonist is surrounded by them, and every viewer will find the cryfu that they feel is the real one.
Speaking of the clinic room in the Rising Stones, it's open now! And you should go in and talk with Urianger inside before doing 5.4. Great background lore hypothesizing
If we were to consider 5.3's denouement as the ending of a video game, it'd easily be the most satisfying one I've experienced, and I've been playing games since '87.
Hi Garrett!
One of the phrases you’re looking for to describe things that are cool for cool’s sake is usually called “Rule of Cool”
Typically, it’s the idea that you let something you’d normally find odd or ridiculous or ‘extra’ slide because it was cool enough. The ‘extended suspension of disbelief’ so to speak
Fun little fact: That cutscene where you walk into the crystal tower, past the gate and sort of glance back towards the doors as they close - it's an exact mirror of what G'raha did as he was being sealed away in the tower at the end of the ARR raid series. They really leaned into everything coming full circle this patch.
One of my favorite things about Phase 3 of the Seat of Sacrifice (which we got to see several times) is that they synced up the timing of Elidibus saying "Salvation" with the lyrics, so it magnifies it when it's said.
Additionally, as a tank main, I will say that I haven't missed a tank LB3 ... since the last time it was required in MSQ ...
Hey Kyle, i come from being a fan of your hots interviews, and I gotta say, it’s so good to see how far you’ve come. You two are legit making the best ffxiv content on the site at the moment and I will make sure to spread the word, keep it up! 💕
My favorite part of the Zenos scene was him saying something like who are you again?
Asahi was a huge Zenos fanboy and he remembers clearly the first day he met him. Zenos not remembering him at all is such a good slap, I'm disapointed that Asahi was not there to receive it!
It's so perfect in which all the moments where sempai noticed him was Elidabus and all the moments that real sempai vaguely notice his existence it isn't even him 😂😂
Seto was basically taking Fry back to see his dog outside the pizza shop one last time.
I would really like to see a character analysis of how Hythlodaeus, an unvoiced character in the expansion for all of 5 minutes, ends up being one of the most endearing and memorable from the experience. They worked some magic with that dialogue.
Oh gosh, Fry and his dog made me feel a lot back when that show was on. I also remember that scene when Fry tries to clone him, but decides against it, thinking he probably had a long, happy life. Then they show us a montage of his dog's past where he waits for Fry outside the pizza shop for years, until he got old and passed away. 🥺 I remember holding my dog and just sobbing.
Sort of fun fact about the trial music when fighting elidibus…Soken wrote it while in the hospital with cancer and going through treatment. None of his staff new, he only told Yoshi P.
Teacher: "How would you describe dementia?"
FF14 player:"Elidibus"
39:15 The fact that the scene went unvoiced is criminal, but it's understandable considering the world was still scrambling to shift to remote work while 5.3 was being developed. It's astounding that the patch turned out so well despite the pandemic throwing such spanners in the works.
:> the place you wake up on the first is called "The Forest of the Lost Shepherd", a nice touch on the quest achievement title "Shepherd to the stars"
It's even better than that. First, as you point out, it's a very long payoff to the first thing that happens to you at the start of the expansion before you know you are Azem, shepherd to the stars in the dark. It's a brilliant piece of very subtle foreshadowing, because you are in a very real sense lost, both in a strange new land AND with regards to your long-lost Amaurotine identity.
But it's also where we find the Crystal Exarch after he's been forced to flee the tower. G'raha has been the shepherd of the people of the Crystarium for a century, and in this moment he is very lost.
Goodness. I knew this video wouldn't disappoint but I'm always pleasantly surprised with what I experience through you fine gents. From your observations on who/what Elidibus is, all the callbacks to previous content and connecting the dots, your open sharing about how the content/story impacted you, the "look at this photograph" gig, to even Garrett joking with his past self about not playing FF14, it's all gold. Even the way you both phrase your observations (I really liked Kyle's comparison about how rigid the WoL's position is against Elidibus as the latter realizes how crumbling his memory/essence is) brings a smile to my face. For things that are purposely left open to interpretation, I love your guys' take on it as it gives me more to think about myself. Thanks for enhancing my play of an already great game.
I still remember crying when I saw Emet wave in the trial, it was such a high of a patch.
Fun fact with Urianger Yugiohing his cards... his Japanese VA? The Japanese voice of Jaden Yuki from Yugioh GX.
For me the biggest deal with the worldbuilding and writing of Shadowbringers was that i didn't want it to end. I remember standing in lakeland looking around the night before Endwalker and part of me feeling like david tennant in doctor who going "i dont want to go!". Moving on from those places and those characters really felt like leaving something behind in a way the other expansions -or expansions back in other mmos i tried- didn't. Which is a credit to the writers but i still a year on have beaten Endwalker and still hope we go back to The First someday to see those characters again.
-also the music for the trial. finding out later that soken wrote that alone on a cancer ward during lockdown, having told yoshi to not tell the rest of the team to not effect moral makes that ticking clock and those lyrics hit so damn hard.
So something else that helps with the confusion on Elidibus' action/allegiances that I'm sad neither of you two touched upon was when you get to the top of CT he recalls his first meeting with you and explains he thought you'd be useful in ensuring the Source doesn't lean heavily towards a calamity quite yet, but when you defeated Lahabrea for good he started to realize you were a problem, which is why he started being more active, sending Ardbert and Illberd with the Eyes at you, posing as Zenos, and 5.3. He genuinely did not think you would get that strong.
We walk unto the end.
Thank you for the journey
Glad the landing stuck
Something I found out from an interview about "To the Edge" is that Soken Wrote it in hospital while battling Cancer. Adds a real extra dimension to it.
32:40 Crystal Tower actually is mandatory to complete post ARR now! The game won't let you into Heavensward without completing it, which is the best move they could've made
They know, they started playing the game after it was made mandatory after all.
So glad you guys enjoyed the wild ride of 5.3! I would state that you two have some semi-required reading at this point, if you haven't been sitting down and reading the side stories on the Lodestone already. But if you haven't, I would highly...*HIGHLY* recommend "Ere Our Curtain Falls" under Tales from the Shadows. Gives you a *great* idea of the relationship between a few of the characters you interact with in 5.3.
i always verbalized it as "If the game ended right there in 5.3 with the pan over to the Crystal Tower one last time, i'dve been completely satisfied with that."
The voiceacting of elidibus after the trial is just top tier, a critical hit.
I would highly advise you and anyone who doesnt know, to read the lyrics for the trial song, "To the edge", so much symbolism and parallels are crammed into it, that you're shocked they fit in there.
From you(light) and emet(darkness) , shifting to the opposite with you and elidibus,
To how the song is as much about a desperate last stand from elidibus, as it is like Soken was writing the song to reflect his own situation at the time, absolutely incredible.
5.3 is like a huge dps check against you(the player) and its hitting you with critical hits back to back to back, it is no wonder it is renowned for making people cry!
I ran ARR way back before Crystal Tower was required. My main at the time was a Red-Headed Miquo'te and I thought that the Crystal Exarch was a First Version of ME.
Important trivia! The song in the Seat of Sacrifice, "To The Edge," is the song Soken wrote while in the hospital fighting cancer, without telling anyone else he was there but Yoshi P.
You can almost feel some of that in the song.
LOL THE ZOOM IN ON PAPALYMO xD I knew it was coming because you mentioned it on stream today but it still got me.
[edit] I can usually hold myself together during all the good bye cutscenes, but then the final one with Lyna where she says "and that if he should ever find himself reminiscing on the past with a smile, we shall be smiling with him" i just break down. Gets me every time.
As the channel's (self-proclaimed, self-appointed) resident Stormblood fanatic, 5.3 is the exception for me. The Story is beautiful, and heart-wrenching, and badass, and crunchy, and the non-MSQ side content is (imo) JUST as solid. Thoroughly enjoyed your marathon last week, and supremely excited for Nier 5.3 tomorrow night.
Okay! I can dish now! The Echo flashback you got from Elidibus showed you the *back* of the Warrior of Light that he embodied for the purposes of the trial. He was reaching out to that figure and said "even sundered, you never stopped" or something to that effect. The Warrior of Light who inspired all the others was one of *our* past selves, one of the fragments of Azem. It makes the Seat of Sacrifice even more pointed in that Elidibus is imitating his fractured memory of *us*, and yet here we stand, 8 (9?) parts of 14 of the original. And he can't see it.
Also, the music from that trial... Soken wrote that while in a *hospital* being treated for life-threatening *cancer*. You wanna talk about music that comes from a place of courage and strength in the face of destruction? That song has ALL OF IT.
And Seto Extreme... I will NEVER stop sobbing at that scene when I watch it.
I forget where I read it but someone said that the dark scene when you check on the scions is supposed to symbolize the dying hope. There is only a tiny light barely holding on. Compared to the next time you are in that room, it is fully illuminated with the WoL triumphant in his return. It then further is compared to the last scene with Zenos. No lights. Only dead bodies.
_Herein I commit the chronicle of the traveler. Shepherd to the stars in the dark. Though the world be sundered and our souls set adrift, where you walk, my dearest friend, fate shall surely follow. For yours is the Fourteenth seat-the seat of Azem._
Regarding the improved graphics: The graphics team from FFXVI (who were kidnapped after HW) started returning sometime after 5.0 was released to begin teaching their old comrades on the XIV team all the tricks they'd learned to do with the Luminous engine while developing XVI. They are the ones spearheading the 7.0 graphics overhaul, but some of the stuff they brought back really starts to come through in the middle of 5.x as you can see.
Edit: Also, the Seat of Sacrifice music was one that Souken composed while he was undergoing chemotherapy in the hospital. That awesome hair had been a wig for a while...
Drop a source for this
I don't think XVI utilizes Luminous? I'm fairly sure it's on an adaptation of the same engine XIV is on, which might be exactly why it's so portable. Which is also why I hope some of that great graphical and technical stuff in XVI will find its way to XIV as well. (not the high-res meshes and 4k textures or what have you; that doesn't work in an MMO like it does a single player, but the ideas and the technical foundations, the lighting, the way armor and skin and eyes are rendered, the weather, the fog, etc.)
@@Zakjuh XIV runs on stripped down Luminous.
@@katarh Yes XIV is stripped down luminous. But you said XVI (16) and luminous in your original comment. Everything I find says XVI is Unreal 4. XV (15) was full luminous.
Hey, don't forget that a lot of Seto's anguish is that he watched Ardbert and team 404 themselves. "If only I could have learned to speak sooner, so that I could have told you how much I loved you, how much I cared." It's a close-cutting representation of survivors of people who prematurely ended compounded with the idea it's from perspective of a pet.
I'm of the opinion that Ishikawa really understands depression and Seto was just the beginning of her using depression as a key theme in her storytelling. I recommend keeping that idea in your head as you make your way deeper into Endwalker.
A personal take I had regarding 5.3 that I don't see a lot of folks considering, the kids at the start are a parallel to Elidibus. Elidibus being a kid thrust into the fray of things but unable to get guidance/rely on the Warrior of Light, whereas these kids had the opportunity to let the Warrior of Light help kind of thing.
Elidibus had a truly sad end as his memories had degraded to the point where he was little more than a robot with a few emotions - nothing but drive and duty and no actual reasons for any of it other than it was his purpose. He had to be put down and I think Y''shtola was right in her summation - Emet knew and decided to intervene.
What makes the whole thing tragic is that Elidibus may have been the Emissary of the Convocation, but he was still little more than a child who once had his own dreams, goals, ambitions, and people he idolised and worshipped.
People like Azem.
4:47 what a fantastic monologue, really well spoken
Elidibus is like Shiva and the Knights of the Round. They 'piloted' their primals, so to speak.
@@noppornwongrassamee8941 Fair enough, but the individual standing before us was still him.
Emet: "GET IN THE PRIMAL, 'LIDIBUS!"
Which is interesting because it was the first instance we've seen of a primal (Zodiark's heart) piloting another primal.
All the motifs at once sounds like a really sick idea. That would be cool as hell! =]
Speaking of putting all the elements into one song, and I'm sure your server side community has pointed this out already: The music in the Heroes' Gauntlet is a medley of all the Shadowbringers zone themes (except for the Tempest, which of course is covered in To The Edge)
I gotta say, I was a bit amused in your 5.0 finish when Kyle called the "champions from beyond the rift" a "throwaway line". Now I can finally say it!
i need to say this again that the edits, the pacing, the stuffs you said, the inserted little jokes, everything is amazing and very fun to watch. i enjoyed every second of this almost an hour long video.
From a tank player, I was so happy to see the mods force you to learn how to use LB3. It's the single coolest thing you can do as a tank and it made me sad that you hadn't had the opportunity yet. Thanks for the great content!
Actually, you need to do the Tank LB3 in the Alexander Prime fight back in Heavensward.
I was his partner tank, and I wanted him to be the "main character " for it, plus great learning experience and dark lb looks AWESOME
@@chaossquall plus the ambiance of the Dark Knight LB in the fight of the WoD vs the WoL? Perfection. Perfect LB vs LB moment.
Yeah it's a shame they never did Alexander cause that's the first time Tank LB3 is mandatory and it's way more obvious you are about to get mopped.
@@Ashtarte3D They did do Alexander raid series back in HW, but the OT did the LB for that one. Contributed to the reason why I forced it on Garret 😆
It's worth mentioning that Fandaniel is Sundered. So he's not on the level of Emet, Elidibus and Lahabrea when to comes to strenght. And Lahabrea was also weakened because he changed his bodies way too much.
Oh, congratulations on 30k subs. It got a pretty good boost during the 5.3 stream and now you finally got up to it.
I'm glad you guys had fun~
Nothing quite compares to the raw, vibrating energy of satisfied nerd exhaustion🖤🥳💪 BIG THANK YOU for pushing to record so quickly after a 9 hour live stream!! It was a blast and this video wrap up is just splendid.
Favorite Bites
Y'shtola drinking tea meme
Look at this photograph
Pick your emotional poison
If you don't know how to say goodbye after this....
Zenos and Jessie
The realization you are both making memories that will last a lifetime
Under-rated comment. Well-put. :)
Those "nerd chills" and "adrenaline rushes in your spine" actually has a term: frisson - it's a physiological response to audio and visual stimuli, and it's a huge reason why Japanese story tellers tell stories the way that they do - they have worked to get as many people as they can to all feel frisson. There's a video on here called "Why Anime Makes You Emotional" by Kinda Neet that talks about this in greater detail.
That echo/flashback of garret is precious xD❤
I'm commenting only to express my displeasure at the Photograph joke. How dare you make such a spot on hilarious joke that will live on as a 5-second repeating clip in my head ALL. MORNING.
*proceeds to watch video again because I can*