I mean he lost everything he wanted lmao when he lost the contest so he QUITE LITERALLY HAD NOTHING He didn’t ask for the kid either the chick did and that was her responsibility but even then he gave the kid the whole kingdom in case he died lol I dunno man he looked the fuck out for his son lmao because he couldn’t trust Sphene
@@KidultNPlay The Endless far predate Zoraal Ja, which means they already mastered electrope and soul engineering before he ever made it to the city of gold. We also know for a fact that Everkeep and Solution Nine existed before that too, as we hear plenty about how he came in and changed things in there. The arcadion for example was fully functional until he came in and closed it
@silverhand9965 Ah I see. I thought Zoraal Ja made Solution 9 that way. I went back and looked to see. My point still stands though, Alexandria wasn't futuristic. ☺ What happens after the calamity created Solution 9, a separate place then Alexandria, as we see it's ruins outside the map area.
@@KidultNPlay The ruins are only part of the larger city. You can see in the Alexandria dungeon that the people were rebuilding after the second boss and turning the palace in to Everkeep. It's the same place but they abandoned part of the city to focus on what would become Everkeep. During the beginning of the dungeon, before the Storm Surge, people had electrope devices attached to their houses that looked like generators.
@@KidultNPlay The super futuristic electrope gate beyond the Skydeep Cenote was there when Galuf, Galool Ja Ja and Ketenramm found it which predates Zoraal Ja arriving by a ton. As Flippy said, they were already in the progress of advancing to that futuristic look way before due to the electrope.
I love how in the 2nd phase Zoraal Ja's body seems to have a spot for a 2nd head, which is missing. With what we know about his father and applying titles, Zoraal Ja had resolve, but he lacked all reason in his actions.
It's both the abandonment of reason and a perfect visual to show just how badly he wanted to be better than his father, his very form trying to replicate him
He saw no miracle in who he was, only the shadow of who he wanted to be, makes sense his twisted final form would resemble a mangled version of his father.
With so many FFXIV villains being morally complex and dubiously sympathetic, it was kind of refreshing to have a villain who is an absolute, irredeemable piece of shit.
Nah, he was redeemed a little in his dying moments when he finally acknowledges how awful he's been acting. Then he passes down the kingdom to his son.
@@Soooooooooooonicable Yeah but no one is purely evil. Zoraal Ja is probably the closest we got to that, besides Asahi. It's very rare to see. I'd say Asahi is even worse tho cuz he didn't even redeemed himself in any shape or form, but Zoraal Ja is basically on the same page.
Love that if you're doing this fight with npc's, wuk lamat says she has no idea what to do for the 2nd phase mechanics, so she just stands there getting pummeled. In fact, many dungeons and solo duties in the expansion have a lot of funny npc interactions that i love.
A lot of mechanics that involve dodging, Wuk Lamat comments on it with a funny chide. Estinien also helps Alphinaud dodge some moves in this fight and Alisae will jokingly make fun of them for it.
If I had a nickel for every time a wacky but ultimately more responsible red sibling fought their serious but ultimately less mature blue sibling, on top of a giant structure that connects two different worlds and is powered by the lives of an entire city of people, all because the blue one couldn't handle the weight of their father's legacy, I would have two nickels.
@@amoxcillicpsychosis2967Okay so let's run down the list · Eldest sibling that fights said siblings · Has abandoned and harmed his own son · Has a second, demonic-looking form · Fight him on top of a tower where he has a throne · Uses summoned floating swords · LITERALLY YELLS WORD FOR WORD "I NEED MORE POWER" Close enough hi lizard Vergil
I love the detail in his transformation's design that his transformed state is a two-headed being but one of those heads is missing. It really fits his backstory of being the "miracle."
when you play actively with the effects on you just kinda get used to them and learn to look past them. I play and do everything with effects completely on aswell, I just hate how "empty" every group content feels with them gone.
@@Loispealz34 Doesn't seem too unlikely that a handful of Zoraal Ja loyalist Mamool Ja were in Yyasulani (am I spelling that right?) when the Dome went up. Just because we don't see them in the MSQ doesn't mean they weren't there. We see plenty in Tuliyolal, after all, and Xak Tural is right there.
No part of this trial had any right to go as hard as it did. Listening to the theme while waiting for the queue to pop, having the majority of the party be completely new to the fight, Zoraal Ja's VA knocking it out of the park, the fight itself...when I think back on Dawntrail, this trial experience is what I'm going to remember. Holy shit.
Mood. I loved everything about this trial so much. Even the song's name, "Seeking Purpose". They did such a great job portraying both his inner turmoil and just how dangerous he is when on his rampage. A real "force of nature" kind of boss.
It absolutely is a different tone to madness, which is usually characterized by the string slide (glissando, from a quick search) But this? This is gritty. It's _frustrated,_ angry, bitter and unceasing, answering the almost praising choir and slower bridges with heavy clashing notes that, to me, sounds like a "HELL NO".
@@ReksNuadiah The DOOM vibe of the theme is very fitting. It basically just strenghtens Zoraal Ja's resolve to never bow, he would gladly die over and over for it.
Everything about this fight is just narrative perfection. The track is Seeking Purpose, his model is the two head but lacks any head of reason. The music is absolutely all of the place in a chaotic maelstrom of noise as it swings between violent and somber. He literally has no ability to reason, nor does he have a purpose. In the end....he ended up with absolutely nothing.
You have to love that hes copied everything about his father on a face value. Strength, fighting style, appearance, and unweavering resolve. Though in the end, he continued to fall short in everything that truly mattered. In the end he became the shade of his father corrupting the teaching to fit his ambition.
He copies being the ruler of a nation and a father but badly. Most everyone dislikes him in comparison to Sphene and he abandons his child. Gulool Ja Ja is a battle maniac but he's got heart and that's what Zoraal Ja discards in singular pursuit of power. A ruler without compassion for their people is naught but a tyrant.
Ironically enough, Gulool Ja is more the resilient son than the actual Resilient Son. He suffered a hard early childhood and at the end of it made it out with conviction and a family who cares for him. Same can’t be said for Zoraal Ja.
I wish this concept had come through more in the actual story though. The idea is truly timeless and brilliant, a son obsessed with surpassing his father's legacy, while completely failing to understand WHAT that legacy actually is and means.
If your rival is blue, seeks power, tries to surpass his father, is fought on top of a tower, willingly harms his own son, and has a devil looking 2nd form. That's not Zoraal Ja, that's Vergil.
I swear the developers played Cyberpunk 2077 and Phantom Liberty when they were making this expansion. Love to see it. CDProject Red and Square Enix. Imagine that as a collab. Even better. Bring Larian studios, Square Enix, and CDPR to the table. They would make an ungodly next level game.
The screwed-up part of this theme is that it still has bits of the leitmotif of "Smile" in it. Particularly the part at 1:54 up to 2:12 sounds like the chorus of the song
The beginning of the song, with how it opens, gives me Dark Messenger vibes. Zoraal Ja reminds me of an expy of Kuja, in fact, albeit one who's a warrior instead of a powerful mage. A similar superiority-inferiority complex, a desire to be more than his creator/father, a complete descent into madness with the consumption of souls feeding into that final form, and then in his last, dying moments he does see reason and is... not so much friendly, per se, but is more open about his motivations than he ever was, and does give voice to his regrets. Even the arena makes me think of Memoria in FF9.
The elements of his second form seem to take some minor inspirations from Necron. I like how both main antagonists of this expansion reference it. Zarool Ja taking elements from his design, while the final boss (Eternal Queen in Japanese) references Necron's Japanese name, the Eternal Darkness.
@@SweetyMiki It actually has elements of both Trance Kuja and Necron, if you think of it. Zoraal Ja taking power to far transcend his limits and it causes a physical change, much like how Trance augments and changes the characters in FF9. It's actually kinda interesting.
@@BlazeIgnitus Holy smokes! Yep! Good point you brought up! Kuja was only able to enter Trance by taking all the souls Garland had harvested from Gaia (which had a lot of souls from Alexandria's destruction in disc 3) that had been held within the Invincible. Zoraal Ja did the same in Dawntrail by harvesting all the souls within Alexandria.
Was about to say I've been hearing more Dark Messenger, but I've gotten intense Necron vibes from the wails that come from the beginning of the song. Also like Necron's theme it has a very dark tone that hypes and speeds up as it progresses with electronic beats.
I love the message behind this being the Level 99 trial. The guy who throws everything away in pursuit of power has literally reached the level limit in most Final Fantasy games, and then loses to people who are higher level than he is.
Had so much fun with this fight and thought "I'm so glad we've saved the day again and the post-expac stuff can be about helping Sphene" But I then realised this was only the lvl 99 fight and we still had one more area to go.
It’s interesting the parallel between Zoraal Ja and the rest of the contestants. Koana and Wuk Lamat were able to grow as people because they had no real burden of expectation placed upon them. Gulool Ja Ja was burdened with expectation by only his father, as the rest of his people just seemed hopeful that Gulool’s birth meant an end to the infanticidal experiments. Zoraal Ja was born with the expectations placed upon him that he would be the best by the very nature of his birth. Everyone looked at him and spoke of his greatness, of his “resilience”, of how he is CLEARLY the only one meant to take the throne. Whereas Wuk Lamat and Koana were uplifted by the hopes of their people, however, Zoraal was burdened and weighed down by them. He couldn’t grow as a person because who he was as a person was already set in stone in the minds of the people, and thus Zoraal only knew how to try and be the person that others expected of him. And in the end, he ultimately broke and failed to uphold anything.
I also just realized, the blue flames(?) on Zoraal on the first phase seem to mirror normal Viper's Reawaken state in appearance - but much darker. Wonder if that's a small touch of symbolism, even before he transforms.
Probably. He is listed as a Viper when he joins you for the Duty Support of the Valigarmanda fight. It makes sense he'd be strong enough in that class to have that power.
This is not Soken tho, This is Takafumi Imamura, please stop sucking Soken off every time there is a song you like, he is not the only person in his team that makes songs. And majority of "good ones" these days are made by Takafumi Imamura and Daiki Ishikawa
Because this sounds so much like it's meant to have vocals in places I did a bit of digging. Lyrics mapped from 'Smile', this really seems to be the Angsty Version of the same vocal melody: 0:35 At the crossroads standing here Not a star in the sky to guide me tonight Ever lost in loss and fear Deep in darkness drown my cries 1:54 All this pain inside of me Don't know where it starts or when it'll end Try to tend the agony As I close my eyes and scream to the wind
I was quite eager to beat this boss, much like the other characters I did wonder why he wanted violence and war so bad, but it’s sort of answered in his second forms design, two heads with one ripped off, he really is resolve without any reason. Perhaps he would of been a better man had he two heads.
The only thing he ever was known for was to be the miricale child, so he felt compelled to live up to that lofty expectation without any knowledge as to how his father accomplished what he did, so he just resolved himself to be better, no matter the cost
You know...when I think of the music for a fight against a... Aztec lizard man who becomes a cyborg king of a dimension hopping civilization going through roid rage from absorbing too many souls I did not think this. But it's perfect.
In other duties I’m trying not to die by wiping the tears away from my eyes. In this one I was trying not to die by head banging so hard. This music is such a banger.
This has to be Takafumi Imamura and it actually fits so well and perfectly portrays the power-hungry Zoraal Ja. The chaotic nature is also conveyed at 2:35 and it's pretty neat. It also seems like it's a pretty long track since it loops at 4:14.
SIKE! IT'S ISHIKAWA! (per ep credit) (honestly this is the most fuckery credit in this expansion i swear because this track has very similar energy to the black wolf stalks again)
@@NoName-lf9fk Holy shit, this is completely unexpected. No one would've seen it coming. I know Ishikawa also did Pulse but this is way too different from what he usually does. It's amazing though.
How I imagine the development of this expansion went; The rest of the team: Yeah let's have a lighthearted adventure with happy characters for once. Give the WOL a break. Soken: I have made a song for a boss fight! Yoshi.P: Cool let's hear it! Soken: *Blasts this song* Yoshi.P: ...fuck this song is too good... let's add the remnants of a long destroyed reflection trying to invade and kill everyone to fuel their immortality with technology that even the Allagans would do a double take at!!! The rest of the team: *sighs intensify as they open the trauma drawer once more.*
Note: In the second phase when he pulls us into that dimensional space for the platform mechanics, the skybox is the Historia Crux from XIII-2. It explains the key and the other plot relevant issues around it perfectly.
@@TheAuron32im a big simp for ff13 trilogy music not gonna lie heretical thing to say, but i like masashi hamauzu, mizuta naoshi and mitsuto suzuki’s music more than soken’s, although takafumi imamura’s remixes and dawntrail bangers are absolutely great
I did this with Duty Support first and it was such an incredible fight. Then I got it on my first Trial Roulette at level 100, and now I'm scared of that Roulette.
The demoscene is strong in this. I've only done this fight twice, but I've listened to the music over 100 times. Some of Soken's best work is when he toys with new instrumentation.
Nevermind I found it already, it's called the Omnitome and you can get it with 3 Rowena's tokens (from the ARR primal quests I believe). The vendor is in Mor Dhona!
I can't get over his second phase look. Thematically it's so good with him lacking what was known as the head of Reason on his father. And it implies he somehow stole his Father's soul, or at least the Head of Resolve's, which could've also led to the incomplete transformation.
Zoraalgil from the hit game Dawn May Cry. Real talk though this fight is so sick. Love the transition scene showing how far Zoraal Ja has gone on his twisted path.
I was holding back a Vergil comparison when i first went through this part, but when he stood up and literally said "I need more power" i knew it had to be deliberate
When I was early on in the dawntrail MSQ, I for some reason kept thining of Saren from mass effect 1 when I saw Zoraal Ja When he showed up covered in cybernetics, beating the crap out of Gulool Ja Ja, I was surprised. When this music started playing in the trial, I became fully convinced that the devs/soken played mass effect 1 recently
Worst part is Zoraal Ja lost to Gulool Ja Ja in the first encounter lmao Only after he revived and caught Gulool Ja Ja off-guard then we managed to wound the old man.
I was jamming out hard to this song mid fight yelling "Imamura I know this banger was all you" and then dying cause I still have no clue how to read the second phase
I dont think a villain in XIV has made me so irrationally angry (Not in a badly written way). When he tried to harm his own son, I started seeing red and every fiber of my being wanted to skin him alive.
When he *tried* to harm the kid?! My brother, he choked out the boy during the cutscenes before this trial, and then the phase shift has him slice through the image of the kid just before changing form… he already jumped past that barrier.
I felt a similar anger towards Zoraal Ja, one of the most infuriating types of villains to me (again, not in a badly written way) are ones like him where they'll go on about honor and surpassing someone in a "fair fight" while simultaneously using cowardly tactics and cheat powers. Like even after 30 YEARS to prepare, Gulool Ja Ja straight up beats him even in his old age, if it weren't for the regulator he'd be done right there.
Pretty much, talking to friends in game I did nothing but talk down on him from the moment he killed Gulool Ja Ja, basically saying if he was going to act like a spoiled brat desperate for attention then that's how I was going to treat him @ExaltedUriel
do you know that we dont had the guaranteed gugool is his son, i think is a child clone of himself, and that explains why he hates him so much, hes hating himself
These dudes really went 'You know what? What if you fought Queen Brahne?' for how Zoraal Ja and Gulool Ja plays out. And then gave the Brahne equivalent the rawest track, a cyberpunk lizard makeover, and fifteen quintillion complexes.
You know, when I saw this fight I thought to myself "oh yeah, those first phase mechanics are sweet, hope they expand on those in the EX" And then I progged the EX. I regret it. Vollok will follow me in my nightmares
Say what you want about the story but something about this ost feels very classic final fantasy, from the jaunty town and early area themes to the otherworldly techno/classical themes. Well played imo
This is so good. It's so reminiscent of frank klepackis style that I thought I was playing Command and Conquer for a second - which is fitting taking Zoraal Jas militarism into account.
Literally cried whenever Gulool Ja was on screen, so for Zoraal Ja to nearly choke him THEN swipe him...absolute hatred 🤬 edit - Also thank you Shtola for guiding me through this fight npc mvp 🙏
I expected a lot of things going into Dawntrail. A relaxing vacation. Tacos. Bob Ross cosplayers. I did NOT expect this fight to turn into Devil May Cry.
he was so real for consuming the souls of his entire kingdom in response to being asked for to pay child support
"But let me get one thing straight, Wuk Lamat. I will never pay." - Vergiil Ja
Top g moment
I will shred this world to its last soul before you see a cent of child support from me, Wuk Lamat
@@charliemcmillan4561 fr
After Athena won Mother of the Year last year, I'm proud to present the Father of the Year award to Zoraal Ja.
Damn Zoraal Ja being a rather shit father but it gets even worse when *HE NAMED HIS SON AFTER HIS FATHER*.
YOU IDIOT, YOU HAD NO REASON TO DO THAT!
Don't forget the Son of The Year: Asahi!
Man, what a cursed family unit those three.
@@ArCvnDnt Zoraal can win all Father AND Son AND Brother of the years lol
A triple crown winner.
Friend of the year Zenos
"Lizard Who Says He Has Nothing To Lose Fails To Realize He Still Has Plenty To Lose"
I mean he lost everything he wanted lmao when he lost the contest so he QUITE LITERALLY HAD NOTHING
He didn’t ask for the kid either the chick did and that was her responsibility but even then he gave the kid the whole kingdom in case he died lol
I dunno man he looked the fuck out for his son lmao because he couldn’t trust Sphene
@@knitetimeteddy2989 Actually that is a good point, there is the question of whether Sphene would take his son hostage to control Zoraal Ja
Guys will literally take over a futuristic kingdom in a time compressed alternate dimension instead of going to therapy
Alexandria wasn't futuristic. Zoraal Ja made it that way using the power by the joining of both worlds.
@@KidultNPlay The Endless far predate Zoraal Ja, which means they already mastered electrope and soul engineering before he ever made it to the city of gold. We also know for a fact that Everkeep and Solution Nine existed before that too, as we hear plenty about how he came in and changed things in there.
The arcadion for example was fully functional until he came in and closed it
@silverhand9965 Ah I see. I thought Zoraal Ja made Solution 9 that way. I went back and looked to see. My point still stands though, Alexandria wasn't futuristic. ☺ What happens after the calamity created Solution 9, a separate place then Alexandria, as we see it's ruins outside the map area.
@@KidultNPlay The ruins are only part of the larger city. You can see in the Alexandria dungeon that the people were rebuilding after the second boss and turning the palace in to Everkeep. It's the same place but they abandoned part of the city to focus on what would become Everkeep. During the beginning of the dungeon, before the Storm Surge, people had electrope devices attached to their houses that looked like generators.
@@KidultNPlay The super futuristic electrope gate beyond the Skydeep Cenote was there when Galuf, Galool Ja Ja and Ketenramm found it which predates Zoraal Ja arriving by a ton. As Flippy said, they were already in the progress of advancing to that futuristic look way before due to the electrope.
I love how in the 2nd phase Zoraal Ja's body seems to have a spot for a 2nd head, which is missing. With what we know about his father and applying titles, Zoraal Ja had resolve, but he lacked all reason in his actions.
The way it looks is like the head was ripped off too, like Zoraal Ja actively discarded Reason.
It's both the abandonment of reason and a perfect visual to show just how badly he wanted to be better than his father, his very form trying to replicate him
He saw no miracle in who he was, only the shadow of who he wanted to be, makes sense his twisted final form would resemble a mangled version of his father.
I was too busy having my ass whooped to notice this-glad I came for the music and saw your comment!!!
I only noticed right before he died since I was so focused on not dying
I Will Not Face Myself, In Fact, I Will Actively Make Myself Worse.
Making a conscious decision to be my worst self
Becoming my own opp because none of you cowards are good enough
"If I can't be the best, then I sure as hell can be the woooooorst!"
-JonTron
He can't face himself, he doesnt even have a second head.
His ass is NOT getting a persona
Zoraal Ja really did all of this instead of just going to therapy
wins the blue ribbon for most self destructive mf to ever live
TRION LOL
Betterhelp wouldve helped
He had 30 whole years to do it too
he doesn't believe in mental health, like umm certain types of people...
Being a bad parent seems to come with banger music as a package
Not the case for Varis 😂
Vergil From DMC? 3 Banger Songs!
@@desubysnusnu Tho to be fair, Zenos did lend a hand to save the world, not that it justifies much, but at least a decent chunk
@@desubysnusnudoesn’t Insatiable plays during the varis trial? Thats a banger in my book.
"Out Getting the Milk" OST goes hard I guess.
With so many FFXIV villains being morally complex and dubiously sympathetic, it was kind of refreshing to have a villain who is an absolute, irredeemable piece of shit.
Completely agree.
So far we have 2 of them, Zenos and now Zoraal
Nah, he was redeemed a little in his dying moments when he finally acknowledges how awful he's been acting. Then he passes down the kingdom to his son.
@@Soooooooooooonicable Yeah but no one is purely evil. Zoraal Ja is probably the closest we got to that, besides Asahi. It's very rare to see. I'd say Asahi is even worse tho cuz he didn't even redeemed himself in any shape or form, but Zoraal Ja is basically on the same page.
@@Lyu-Phy Asahi was definitely the worst. Even Amon displayed some humility before he was taken away into the aethereal sea.
Love that if you're doing this fight with npc's, wuk lamat says she has no idea what to do for the 2nd phase mechanics, so she just stands there getting pummeled. In fact, many dungeons and solo duties in the expansion have a lot of funny npc interactions that i love.
Ikr! My fav is when Wuk Lamat saw the cris cross blade and just shouted WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO BE SEEING HERE?!?!
No wonder I was dying I was following her 😂
A lot of mechanics that involve dodging, Wuk Lamat comments on it with a funny chide.
Estinien also helps Alphinaud dodge some moves in this fight and Alisae will jokingly make fun of them for it.
@@ubermaster1 Love how Estinien's out here doing raid callouts
Eventually she says "no more thinking i'm going with feeling" and that's how i raid savage
If I had a nickel for every time a wacky but ultimately more responsible red sibling fought their serious but ultimately less mature blue sibling, on top of a giant structure that connects two different worlds and is powered by the lives of an entire city of people, all because the blue one couldn't handle the weight of their father's legacy, I would have two nickels.
Which isn't a lot but it's weird it's happened twice.
huuuge shoutout to zoraal ja's VA for a great performance
I loved his voice omg
Daisuke Ono (Jotaro) kills it also.
@@Naoto-kun1085 Me too! A very rare case where the voice over elevates the song IMO
SUCH MIGHT BEFITS A RULER, BEFITS *ME*
MINE IS THE PATH
They really told Soken ‘make us a boss theme for an Aztec lizard that turns into cyberpunk Darth Vader’ and just let the man cook
The intro sounded like Bowser’s theme from Mario 64 and I’m here for it
@@burtwonkNah man you know what this is? This is a Command and Conquer: Red Alert theme
Someone in the group my first clear, when he 'kills' Gurool Ja yelled out "NO ANAKIN NOT THE YOUNGLINGS"
@@TheDarkFable Wait, you're right, I can't unhear the Frank Klepacki crunch now
@@TheDarkFable 00:56 is clearly from Tron: Legacy
Blue? Deadbeat dad? Has a cool transformation? NEEDS MORE POWER!?
Square enix: "We have vergil at home"
underrated comment
You get to the throne and zoraal ja is just sitting on a plastic chair
I’m completely unable to see this now and the word shall be spread
He literally had a kid with an unknown woman and just left him as well so yeah.
That means the Kid is about to become Nero. And considering his adoptive family he might well become a Nero alright.
I understand now why Zoraal Ja cut Gulool Ja Ja's throne in half. He just thought a plastic chair would've been better.
See I knew someone would recognize Vergil!
"It's Over Zorall, hand over the Yamato!"
@@raiya3721 "If you want it, then you'll have to take it"
@@LundisQuieWuk Lamat: "Feeling accepting yet?"
Zoraal Ja: "Of your new title, or your strength?
Wuk Lamat: "Both you fucking asshole!"
@@amoxcillicpsychosis2967Okay so let's run down the list
· Eldest sibling that fights said siblings
· Has abandoned and harmed his own son
· Has a second, demonic-looking form
· Fight him on top of a tower where he has a throne
· Uses summoned floating swords
· LITERALLY YELLS WORD FOR WORD "I NEED MORE POWER"
Close enough hi lizard Vergil
"You WILL pay child support!"
I am the storm that is escaping
EVADING parental obligations
Wuk Lamat: "Tax evasion is a crime, Zoraal Ja!"
Zoraal Ja: "IT'S AN OBLIGATION!"
@@jacobkern2060 They only made it a crime to catch a maffia boss because the government doesn't like competition
He is the Vergil of this universe I knew it
He gave his son a technological advance kingdom. What else you want him to do?
this song is so good but the smn portrait has me in tears
It's a really good one. I use a portrait like that for SMN in PvP.
i had to pause the video to have a gooooooood look at that portrait. it's marvelous XD
oh that is fantastic LMAO
Is that a mask or something? 😂
@@invisibleseeker It's an ARR book.
Yakuza, SMT, Metal Gear music, all whilst fighting a Covenant-looking dude.
I love Final Fantasy
Not to mention the Devil May Cry vibes as he transforms.
the track itself gives me undertale/terraria biblically accurate angel fight but also mechanized
All amazing soundtracks
Don’t forget xenoblade a bit with the monado looking weapon and ouroboros looking form
arbiter and vergil's child
I love the detail in his transformation's design that his transformed state is a two-headed being but one of those heads is missing. It really fits his backstory of being the "miracle."
And of course he lacks reason
For me I see it more symbolic how he has Resolve but no Reason.
The moment he slashed his son's image I realized he was beyond redemption
If it makes you feel any better, I think he knew it as well. It was do or die. Literally.
@@acgearsandarms1343 "You ask a lost man for the way."
He *did* seem to hesitate, if only slightly, on that one, but yeah.
He was beyond redemption the second he gave the order to wipe out the people of Alexandria just for a couple extra souls
soundtrack is insane but even more insane is how you are able to see anything with all effect on
Madlad cleared dsr and top with full effect, his power is incomprehensible
when you play actively with the effects on you just kinda get used to them and learn to look past them. I play and do everything with effects completely on aswell, I just hate how "empty" every group content feels with them gone.
Your eyes adjust to it after a while.
The effects are above ground. They do a very poor job at obscuring the ground, allowing us all to see what's coming.
First time on this one was all effects on. Definitely made for a harder fight.
Man when he pauses a second for his son that hit so hard.
Now the questions remain. How, who, when and why?
I mean i do not mind, but the kid kinda came out of left field.
That was the point of no return.
@@Loispealz34 I'm gonna assume futuristic clone technology. They have soul extraction and pseudo-eternal life, doesn't seem too unlikely.
@@Loispealz34 Doesn't seem too unlikely that a handful of Zoraal Ja loyalist Mamool Ja were in Yyasulani (am I spelling that right?) when the Dome went up. Just because we don't see them in the MSQ doesn't mean they weren't there. We see plenty in Tuliyolal, after all, and Xak Tural is right there.
@@Loispealz34 Perhaps it will explained in post-Dawntrail MSQ.
No part of this trial had any right to go as hard as it did. Listening to the theme while waiting for the queue to pop, having the majority of the party be completely new to the fight, Zoraal Ja's VA knocking it out of the park, the fight itself...when I think back on Dawntrail, this trial experience is what I'm going to remember. Holy shit.
Mood. I loved everything about this trial so much. Even the song's name, "Seeking Purpose". They did such a great job portraying both his inner turmoil and just how dangerous he is when on his rampage. A real "force of nature" kind of boss.
IT HAD TO GO THAT HARD. ITS LITERALLY THEIR JOB.
This was the peak
This OST just _screams_ 'unhinged'. I couldn't think of a more suitable theme.
It absolutely is a different tone to madness, which is usually characterized by the string slide (glissando, from a quick search)
But this? This is gritty. It's _frustrated,_ angry, bitter and unceasing, answering the almost praising choir and slower bridges with heavy clashing notes that, to me, sounds like a "HELL NO".
@@ReksNuadiah The DOOM vibe of the theme is very fitting. It basically just strenghtens Zoraal Ja's resolve to never bow, he would gladly die over and over for it.
@@ReksNuadiah soul eater be like:
Everything about this fight is just narrative perfection. The track is Seeking Purpose, his model is the two head but lacks any head of reason. The music is absolutely all of the place in a chaotic maelstrom of noise as it swings between violent and somber.
He literally has no ability to reason, nor does he have a purpose. In the end....he ended up with absolutely nothing.
He ended up with actual farts as an instrument in his banger of a track. That's something to be proud of.
After he killed his father, he definitely lost all purpose
Guys, the way my jaw DROPPED when I heard this theme. This had no business being such a banger.
Even now I'm --- 👌😤
I had the exact same reaction when I got to this part. I couldn't believe how epic the music was and I thought : Now that's my kind of boss music!
goosebumps when the blaring started, steel-hardened goosebumps when the beat dropped
The choir with electro shocked me.
I was really high so it fucking floored me
"Foolishness, Wuk Lamat. Is rushing in blind all you can do?"
You have to love that hes copied everything about his father on a face value. Strength, fighting style, appearance, and unweavering resolve. Though in the end, he continued to fall short in everything that truly mattered. In the end he became the shade of his father corrupting the teaching to fit his ambition.
He copies being the ruler of a nation and a father but badly. Most everyone dislikes him in comparison to Sphene and he abandons his child.
Gulool Ja Ja is a battle maniac but he's got heart and that's what Zoraal Ja discards in singular pursuit of power.
A ruler without compassion for their people is naught but a tyrant.
Mf even copied having two heads in phase 2
So he basically made himself an inferior primal version of his father. It's sad and ironic.
Ironically enough, Gulool Ja is more the resilient son than the actual Resilient Son. He suffered a hard early childhood and at the end of it made it out with conviction and a family who cares for him. Same can’t be said for Zoraal Ja.
I wish this concept had come through more in the actual story though. The idea is truly timeless and brilliant, a son obsessed with surpassing his father's legacy, while completely failing to understand WHAT that legacy actually is and means.
If your rival is blue, seeks power, tries to surpass his father, is fought on top of a tower, willingly harms his own son, and has a devil looking 2nd form.
That's not Zoraal Ja, that's Vergil.
oh ffs, i totally lost it when i read this LOL IT MAKES SENSE NOW
I definitely AGREE. Also his ost rocks
I have no counter-argument to this.
Not only that but, the reason he seeks power is to surpass his family and mostly his father. I fucking love this game.
Lizard Vergil.
So we can all agree he went Cyberpsycho right?
Soulpsycho
Cyber Trigger.
took too much Prana like Ichiro 😂
I swear the developers played Cyberpunk 2077 and Phantom Liberty when they were making this expansion. Love to see it. CDProject Red and Square Enix. Imagine that as a collab. Even better. Bring Larian studios, Square Enix, and CDPR to the table. They would make an ungodly next level game.
@@ReveredDead After seeing the Arcadion plot, this absolutely seems correct
The screwed-up part of this theme is that it still has bits of the leitmotif of "Smile" in it. Particularly the part at 1:54 up to 2:12 sounds like the chorus of the song
Solution Nine uses the Smile leitmotif too, so it's eerily appropriate that it appears here considering Zoraal just massacred S9's citizens
Yes but the leitmotif is so fucked up-ly downshifted
This Ja is gonezo.
thats the best part of this song which is crazy since i actually dont like smile sounds too disney for me xd
ZORAAL JA COMING IN WITH THE STEEL CHAIR
Electrope chair
And here comes Wuk Lamat with the WoL!
And here comes a second WoL with another WoL!
@@dragonmangames2523 WoL confirmed to be a self replicating eldritch horror.
@@OmegaGamer04 Thordan: WHAT are you?!
WoL: fhgkgksjxmzmc f'tahgn
Plastic Lawn Chair
Give me the Yamato...
Zarool Ja: If you want it...then you'll have to take it. But you already knew that.
Underrated comment
I need a video of this! 😂
you ask a lost man for the way
For Zoraal Ja it was the fight of his life. For The Warrior of Light? It was summer vacation.
In the words of Jesse Cox, "I'm on vacation!"
It was a tuesday.
WoL didn't even bother using azem's crystal until the 3rd trial...
@@Eriqzzzz TACO Tuesday
Idk. We do get the battle surge mech from the Zenos fight here (our hardest fight yet) iirc so that tells me the isn't so easy "lore wise"
The beginning of the song, with how it opens, gives me Dark Messenger vibes. Zoraal Ja reminds me of an expy of Kuja, in fact, albeit one who's a warrior instead of a powerful mage. A similar superiority-inferiority complex, a desire to be more than his creator/father, a complete descent into madness with the consumption of souls feeding into that final form, and then in his last, dying moments he does see reason and is... not so much friendly, per se, but is more open about his motivations than he ever was, and does give voice to his regrets. Even the arena makes me think of Memoria in FF9.
Not to mention that Zoraal Ja's rival is, much like Kuja, his sibling to whom he believes he is superior but is ultimately defeated by.
The elements of his second form seem to take some minor inspirations from Necron. I like how both main antagonists of this expansion reference it. Zarool Ja taking elements from his design, while the final boss (Eternal Queen in Japanese) references Necron's Japanese name, the Eternal Darkness.
@@SweetyMiki It actually has elements of both Trance Kuja and Necron, if you think of it. Zoraal Ja taking power to far transcend his limits and it causes a physical change, much like how Trance augments and changes the characters in FF9. It's actually kinda interesting.
@@BlazeIgnitus Holy smokes! Yep! Good point you brought up! Kuja was only able to enter Trance by taking all the souls Garland had harvested from Gaia (which had a lot of souls from Alexandria's destruction in disc 3) that had been held within the Invincible. Zoraal Ja did the same in Dawntrail by harvesting all the souls within Alexandria.
Was about to say I've been hearing more Dark Messenger, but I've gotten intense Necron vibes from the wails that come from the beginning of the song.
Also like Necron's theme it has a very dark tone that hypes and speeds up as it progresses with electronic beats.
LET THE VICTOR'S REIGN BE SANCTIONED BY THE BLOOD OF THE FALLEN.
Yoshi-P: "So I've started playing Doom 2016-"
Soken: "Say no more!"
"Our farming days are over Zoraal Ja, give me the Wings!"
If you want it... then you'll have to take it, But you already knew that.
@@Ra7eNzTH *Gives Zoraal Ja the open palm then waves him over*
I love the message behind this being the Level 99 trial. The guy who throws everything away in pursuit of power has literally reached the level limit in most Final Fantasy games, and then loses to people who are higher level than he is.
Bit of a reach tbh
I think it's more an coincidence than anything. But it is still a cool interpretation.
Had so much fun with this fight and thought "I'm so glad we've saved the day again and the post-expac stuff can be about helping Sphene"
But I then realised this was only the lvl 99 fight and we still had one more area to go.
Theyre both rotten and gotta be uprooted
Also if you count the endless as people we totally committed genocide, but, I dont count them as people
It’s interesting the parallel between Zoraal Ja and the rest of the contestants. Koana and Wuk Lamat were able to grow as people because they had no real burden of expectation placed upon them. Gulool Ja Ja was burdened with expectation by only his father, as the rest of his people just seemed hopeful that Gulool’s birth meant an end to the infanticidal experiments. Zoraal Ja was born with the expectations placed upon him that he would be the best by the very nature of his birth. Everyone looked at him and spoke of his greatness, of his “resilience”, of how he is CLEARLY the only one meant to take the throne. Whereas Wuk Lamat and Koana were uplifted by the hopes of their people, however, Zoraal was burdened and weighed down by them. He couldn’t grow as a person because who he was as a person was already set in stone in the minds of the people, and thus Zoraal only knew how to try and be the person that others expected of him. And in the end, he ultimately broke and failed to uphold anything.
Bakool* ja ja
He had nothing outside of that contest and when he lost the contest he realized how meaningless his existence was
The music, the gameplay, the ambience, THE LANDSCAPE, this fight had it all, it was purely fantastic.
I also just realized, the blue flames(?) on Zoraal on the first phase seem to mirror normal Viper's Reawaken state in appearance - but much darker.
Wonder if that's a small touch of symbolism, even before he transforms.
Probably. He is listed as a Viper when he joins you for the Duty Support of the Valigarmanda fight. It makes sense he'd be strong enough in that class to have that power.
"I'm seeking purpose"
"Is it paying child support?"
"NO."
30 years of prep 600 years of prep no one outpizzas the hut (we’re the hut)
Lahabrea looks at this guy and says hey man chill out it's going to be OK
Between this and the dungeon before it, I'm thoroughly convinced Soken and his team have been playing a lot of Yakuza recently
Good. Those games have sick af music. Even the spinoff Judgment series has sick music. Kog and Fog are dope af tracks
This sounds exactly like something that would be in the newer yakuza games
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who noticed that, and good on them. Those are great OSTs to pull inspiration from!
DUDE!!! I was just saying this to my partner, this bossfight for sure hits heavy Yakuza/Judgment vibes
This is not Soken tho, This is Takafumi Imamura, please stop sucking Soken off every time there is a song you like, he is not the only person in his team that makes songs.
And majority of "good ones" these days are made by Takafumi Imamura and Daiki Ishikawa
in terms of music, I dined divinely this expansion.
For sure, the music’s been fucking unbelievable in quality, this might be the best soundtrack theyve done yet better than shadowbringers
@@charliemcmillan4561 Let's be real, it's Square Enix, they're basically incapable to many any music track that'd be at least below an 8.5/10 lmao
Kudos to the boss for actually making you kneel.
Bro did not sugarcoat it
bro fucking launched you at terminal velocity and knocked you on your ass for a minute while you put your hat back on and dust yourself off
I like to imagine that blast genuinely knocked the whole party on their ass for a good 30 seconds
Just to get obliterated anyway
thank you for keeping things sapoiler free as can be my friend you are a godsend
Because this sounds so much like it's meant to have vocals in places I did a bit of digging. Lyrics mapped from 'Smile', this really seems to be the Angsty Version of the same vocal melody:
0:35
At the crossroads standing here
Not a star in the sky to guide me tonight
Ever lost in loss and fear
Deep in darkness drown my cries
1:54
All this pain inside of me
Don't know where it starts or when it'll end
Try to tend the agony
As I close my eyes and scream to the wind
I dig it.
Let’s get Shootie HG to sing it.
Battle enters second phase:
"Now I'm motivated."
"It's over, Zoraal Ja. Give me the child support."
"If you want it, you'll have to take it... But you already knew that."
The new Warframe boss is looking pretty dope.
Lol i was thinking it reminded me of something, the second is phase is zoraal ja prime🤣
More like Zoraal Ja Umbra xD
@@dreamllusion8390 Red Vay Hek finna say "HELLO" when the new field op rolls in.
I was quite eager to beat this boss, much like the other characters I did wonder why he wanted violence and war so bad, but it’s sort of answered in his second forms design, two heads with one ripped off, he really is resolve without any reason. Perhaps he would of been a better man had he two heads.
The only thing he ever was known for was to be the miricale child, so he felt compelled to live up to that lofty expectation without any knowledge as to how his father accomplished what he did, so he just resolved himself to be better, no matter the cost
3:55 - 4:14
Insanity Innocence from Shadowbringers!
I was gonna say Deep Drive from Kingdom Hearts 2. But youre right as well
This is what we'd have if Virgil looked like a reptillian Galvatron.
Dawnservant Wuk Lamat? This is bad comedy.
@@clintmatthews3500 Huh?? Zoraal Ja?
@@SpaceManFive Here's a hint!
This Vergil, but from another Shard. :3
You know...when I think of the music for a fight against a...
Aztec lizard man who becomes a cyborg king of a dimension hopping civilization going through roid rage from absorbing too many souls
I did not think this. But it's perfect.
In other duties I’m trying not to die by wiping the tears away from my eyes. In this one I was trying not to die by head banging so hard.
This music is such a banger.
This has to be Takafumi Imamura and it actually fits so well and perfectly portrays the power-hungry Zoraal Ja. The chaotic nature is also conveyed at 2:35 and it's pretty neat. It also seems like it's a pretty long track since it loops at 4:14.
When I first heard this, my mind went straight to “The Black Wolf Stalks Again” (which he also arranged)
SIKE! IT'S ISHIKAWA! (per ep credit) (honestly this is the most fuckery credit in this expansion i swear because this track has very similar energy to the black wolf stalks again)
@@NoName-lf9fk Holy shit, this is completely unexpected. No one would've seen it coming. I know Ishikawa also did Pulse but this is way too different from what he usually does. It's amazing though.
Zoraal Ja was feeling MOTIVATED in this fight.
Having finished the story and all duties, this is by far and away my favorite and the best track of DT
It was the first trial in got to use my lv100 machinist abilities and i was headbanging the entire time while high as fuck, this was DT’s peak
How I imagine the development of this expansion went;
The rest of the team: Yeah let's have a lighthearted adventure with happy characters for once. Give the WOL a break.
Soken: I have made a song for a boss fight!
Yoshi.P: Cool let's hear it!
Soken: *Blasts this song*
Yoshi.P: ...fuck this song is too good... let's add the remnants of a long destroyed reflection trying to invade and kill everyone to fuel their immortality with technology that even the Allagans would do a double take at!!!
The rest of the team: *sighs intensify as they open the trauma drawer once more.*
Everyone is raiding Ishikawa's desk for notes.
"Let's have the WoL speak to Wuk Lamat during this quest."
"You pointed at every single quest this expansion."
"I didn't stutter."
Honestly even if this isn't how it went, I'm sure it's happened at least once in the development of this game and that's so funny to me.
I love how he's like "COME AT ME WITH EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT" and your WoL is just like "one sec, let me pull out my dainty little star globe" :P
Note: In the second phase when he pulls us into that dimensional space for the platform mechanics, the skybox is the Historia Crux from XIII-2. It explains the key and the other plot relevant issues around it perfectly.
I’m glad I’m not the only one that thought of Historia Crux!
After years since the Lightning Returns event, me as a Fem Roe Lightning look-a-like Gunbreaker:
"Hell, its about damn time!!"
@@TheAuron32when you hear liam o brien (Caius’ VA) being fabulous accompanied by latin lyrics, shit is about to go down.
@ honestly the music is amazing in those games and the voice work is incredible too.
@@TheAuron32im a big simp for ff13 trilogy music not gonna lie
heretical thing to say, but i like masashi hamauzu, mizuta naoshi and mitsuto suzuki’s music more than soken’s, although takafumi imamura’s remixes and dawntrail bangers are absolutely great
The amount of times I have yelled "WHAT THE FUCK, SOKEN" this expansion. Music is top tier.
This electric guitar/drums drop at 1:00 hits sooooo hard
1:34 always gets me lol
I did this with Duty Support first and it was such an incredible fight. Then I got it on my first Trial Roulette at level 100, and now I'm scared of that Roulette.
The demoscene is strong in this. I've only done this fight twice, but I've listened to the music over 100 times. Some of Soken's best work is when he toys with new instrumentation.
0:45 Okay wtf is going on with your Summoner's duty portrait?! How did they even do that, wtf is that??
omg.. now that you say it xD
i wish i knew haha
It’s a summoner book that has a face on it. I don’t remember which one, I think it’s a relic of some sort.
If I remember the name of the book I'll let you know, but it's a book in the game! I think it's an older one too, will look for it
Nevermind I found it already, it's called the Omnitome and you can get it with 3 Rowena's tokens (from the ARR primal quests I believe). The vendor is in Mor Dhona!
Omg I didnt even see that.
I can't get over his second phase look. Thematically it's so good with him lacking what was known as the head of Reason on his father. And it implies he somehow stole his Father's soul, or at least the Head of Resolve's, which could've also led to the incomplete transformation.
He lost his corporeal form. This form is completely a reflection of how he sees himself.
0:15 I remember when this was played I thought my PC is collasping again lol
That gave me ptsd XD. My previous PC was so badly built that everytime it would BSOD it gave this SFX
Zoraalgil from the hit game Dawn May Cry.
Real talk though this fight is so sick. Love the transition scene showing how far Zoraal Ja has gone on his twisted path.
4:32
"hey dad how was work-"
"Done. Like you!!"
This ost goes hard af
"I need more *power!* I need more... *rage!!!* I need more *SOULS!!!!* " - Zoraal Ja, the Resilient Nobody
This has to be the heaviest FF track since Otherworld when you fight Sin in 10.
Put some respect on Sephirot.
FF13 2 Chocobo theme (the red one)
I was holding back a Vergil comparison when i first went through this part, but when he stood up and literally said "I need more power" i knew it had to be deliberate
Vergil if he were the Arbiter
@@charliemcmillan4561A deadbeat's life is the life for me, a lol lol lol and a botel of win
When I was early on in the dawntrail MSQ, I for some reason kept thining of Saren from mass effect 1 when I saw Zoraal Ja
When he showed up covered in cybernetics, beating the crap out of Gulool Ja Ja, I was surprised.
When this music started playing in the trial, I became fully convinced that the devs/soken played mass effect 1 recently
Worst part is Zoraal Ja lost to Gulool Ja Ja in the first encounter lmao
Only after he revived and caught Gulool Ja Ja off-guard then we managed to wound the old man.
This was so damn fun! The music. The mechanics. All of it
this fucking ROCKS oh my god they cooked so hard, i legitimately headbanged the entire fight
"Give me the key."
"If you want it.... You'll have to take it."
I was jamming out hard to this song mid fight yelling "Imamura I know this banger was all you" and then dying cause I still have no clue how to read the second phase
Vergil: *I AM THE STORM THAT IS APROACHING*
Zoraal Ja: Hold my beer
Frank Klepacki, Evanescence, Smooth Jazz, Orchestral... Is there a style Soken replicate?
I dont think a villain in XIV has made me so irrationally angry (Not in a badly written way). When he tried to harm his own son, I started seeing red and every fiber of my being wanted to skin him alive.
When he *tried* to harm the kid?! My brother, he choked out the boy during the cutscenes before this trial, and then the phase shift has him slice through the image of the kid just before changing form… he already jumped past that barrier.
I felt a similar anger towards Zoraal Ja, one of the most infuriating types of villains to me (again, not in a badly written way) are ones like him where they'll go on about honor and surpassing someone in a "fair fight" while simultaneously using cowardly tactics and cheat powers. Like even after 30 YEARS to prepare, Gulool Ja Ja straight up beats him even in his old age, if it weren't for the regulator he'd be done right there.
Pretty much, talking to friends in game I did nothing but talk down on him from the moment he killed Gulool Ja Ja, basically saying if he was going to act like a spoiled brat desperate for attention then that's how I was going to treat him @ExaltedUriel
@kurosakikun96 Making best girl cry by killing their father was reason enough to burn him to the ground.
do you know that we dont had the guaranteed gugool is his son, i think is a child clone of himself, and that explains why he hates him so much, hes hating himself
This track though like damn. I remember just jamming to it before queuing for the trial lol So good
I was hoping with all the IX stuff we would get something that went hard like Dark Messenger does with a bit of rock. Oh man did this go even beyond.
One thing I only noticed after the fight, but he has a stump of a second neck in his second form... To some extent, he's still trying to be Gajuul.
he also has resolve,but not reason
These dudes really went 'You know what? What if you fought Queen Brahne?' for how Zoraal Ja and Gulool Ja plays out.
And then gave the Brahne equivalent the rawest track, a cyberpunk lizard makeover, and fifteen quintillion complexes.
You know, when I saw this fight I thought to myself "oh yeah, those first phase mechanics are sweet, hope they expand on those in the EX"
And then I progged the EX.
I regret it. Vollok will follow me in my nightmares
Whoah dt music goes hard, can't wait to get here. Just started dt msq though, gonna take a while
2:35 - 3:15 is definitely my favorite part.
Say what you want about the story but something about this ost feels very classic final fantasy, from the jaunty town and early area themes to the otherworldly techno/classical themes. Well played imo
This is so good. It's so reminiscent of frank klepackis style that I thought I was playing Command and Conquer for a second - which is fitting taking Zoraal Jas militarism into account.
Literally cried whenever Gulool Ja was on screen, so for Zoraal Ja to nearly choke him THEN swipe him...absolute hatred 🤬 edit - Also thank you Shtola for guiding me through this fight npc mvp 🙏
im usually never too blown away by FF14 music, like some people are. but this song is fire.
I was high af when this song came on for the first time and it was unironically a religious experience i listen to it like every day now lol
I expected a lot of things going into Dawntrail. A relaxing vacation. Tacos. Bob Ross cosplayers.
I did NOT expect this fight to turn into Devil May Cry.
"Wake the fuck up, SAM. We have a city to burn."