I have tried for over a month to express why this zone means so much to me and why the aesthetics/music of it broke me the instant I saw it. Only now do I realize it's the conflicting fight between sincerity and hollowness that echoes throughout all of it. Living Memory is a place that loves you but does not care about you. It's a thoughtful resting place for the departed and constructed to remind them of the home they lost, but it's a literal gilded city built off a mound of corpses; the lights only stay on because Alexandria's enemies are being thrown into a meat grinder hooked up to Everkeep. The design of the very zone itself is one of the most beautiful sights in the game, but all the out-of-sight areas reveal everything to be Electrope painted to look like other materials. Living Memory is a beautiful tribute to FF9 and its themes of death and how people cope with grief, but also a somber reminder that nostalgic fanservice like this can only use the names and places you know, but not the characters you love. A place inhabited by the spirits of people who fought every day of their lives to survive in the 9th reflection and are rewarded with endless bliss, but actually talking with them reveals the ugly truth that most of them are more than ready to move on. Ruled by a Queen Eternal who constantly fights herself on if she should show human compassion or unflinching devotion to her programming, in the end deciding to erase the very reason why her people loved her dearly all in the name of preserving the status quo. It's even designed to look like a theme park à la Disneyland: places that are literal magic kingdoms to innocent children or blatant cash-grabs to cynical adults who know the excessive resources needed to keep the show running. "Who cares if the power budget keeps spiking as more and more people are uploaded to the cloud? We can always fuse with a different dimension and just turn the meatgrinder back on. We need to keep this place alive. It's all we have. It's our Living Memory." It's incredibly sincere love powered by cynical short-sightedness. All of this is scored by a wonderful song, representing the awful tragedy that got these people here but trying to remain upbeat despite it all. The closing part at 2:34 with the smothering reverb, the cheerful driving piano, and the somber choir is just so incredible I can barely put it into words. It perfectly walks the line between the fun rhythm of a night at the carnival with the mournful tone of a funeral march. It feels like trying to ignore the pain and smile as the casket is lowered six feet underground. When I heard that part for the first time as I got here I cried harder than any game has ever gotten me. I wish I could convey through text how pained I looked as the song continued and finished the loop, thinking about all the people here in this ghost town and how hard they had to fight for their golden ticket to virtual heaven. I love this place. I hate that it exists. I feel so bad for the people who live here. I want to scream at the people in Preservation who created it. I am so thankful I got to experience this place, but still glad I got to turn the lights off and let the dead sleep. (On a bit of an indulgent personal note, I grew up with a father who struggled with Bipolar Disorder and projected his insecurities onto me. It was always a coin flip if I would deal with the man who loved me or the man who hated me just for existing. Only recently I had to cut him out of my life completely after a disastrous falling-out, and the leftover grief from that + the duality of loving care/indifferent fakeness you see throughout this zone is probably why it resonated so strongly with me. Also why Dawntrail skyrocketed up to being my favorite expansion, dethroning Shadowbringers which I thought would never happen.) Thank you for reading my long rambles if you made it this far. This place and music mean so, so much to me. I hope everyone at Creative Studio III is proud of the art they made this year. I will never forget it for the rest of my life.
@@orrthehunter I think it’ll be about that too and also more about learning how to move ahead and build something new. That’s why this expansion is the start of putting the past to rest and accepting death. Now we move to build the next future in further expansions rather than simply reacting to external forces attacking us and choose for ourselves how to go on in life. That’s my theory at least.
Rofl. Let go of the past? FF14 is abaout a Super N@zi who slaughtered all life on the planet and distorted it and you are the tool of it to make it stay that way. What suffering? Absolut bullshit. Scions and WoL are 100% Mary Sues, they don't even need any kind of plan, they just win by default. If anyone knows suffering it's the Ascians and Garlemald. Learning to accept death? Whole settin is about being reincarnated anyway, so who even cares? The only problem is the distortion of all life and that all shards will die sooner or later anyway if not saved.
@@orrthehunter considering on what note DT ended, maybe the post or even the next expansion will be something like ... our character looking back at Azem's work, finding clues about them and what they have done and left , doubting themselves but Azem is like '' You don't have to be me, although you inherited my soul, you're your own person with your own flaws, just be you and everything will be well.'' I know yoship said that leaving Azem to remain unknown is the charm in said character but tbh I'd love to know more about them, everything we heard or seen is always by second hand
After playing through this zone and finishing the last bit of MSQ I had an sudden overwhelming need to go visit my parents who I hadn’t seen in awhile. When the credits started to roll, I shut it down, got in my car and drove a thousand miles to go see my parents
As you progress through Ultima Thule, you add elements to the scenery as a symbol of the hope for a new beggining. As you progress through the Living Memory, you take elements from the scenery as a symbol of acceptance for the end of a cycle.
@@Sacrengard Indeed. With Ultima Thule, the loss has already occurred, and it's about trying to make things better afterwards and making the future better. In contrast, Living Memory is like an attempt to deny the loss ever happened, and instead you shut it down bit by bit until it's all off, letting go and accepting the loss so you can move on and make things better in time. The former is about making a new cycle, with the goal of making it better than before where you can, in a sense looking to endure despite it for as long as you can so you can find happiness. The latter is about ending one, with the goal of accepting death and loss instead of trying to deny it, something that is often quite toxic in effect and solves little (if anything), so you can be at peace and move on. They are equal opposites, forming a circle of acceptance and progress: By accepting something is over, you can make something new, as when one door closes, another opens.
Hard not to read it as a commentary on XIV reaching the end of its initial story cycle. This isn't gonna happen, but it'd make sense after this if XIV fully moved on from the Scions as its main cast -- or even if Dawntrail was fully the last expansion. It'd work thematically!
I remember as I was doing the final sequence here, someone said in shout chat “This zone is kicking my ass, and I haven’t even fought anything” and I lost it 😂
I dont know what the haters are saying. This is more heartbreaking than Ultima Thule, because there we knew the Scions were gonna come back. Here, it really is about saying goodbye and being okay with it no matter how hard it is.
This whole expansion is about making the most of life and accepting loss, at the end. Because it's part of life. I love it because it's, like Endwalker, fearless - it looks death right in the face, and challenges the player to process their own personal losses.
Well we had a whole journey with each scion, their sacrifice was about their growth more than about loss, and that was emotional. Here it's sad but we didn't personally knew them so it didn't hit as hard for me.
@@magnainsomnia My issue with this place is that it is largely the concept along with scenery and music cueing me in to feel sad. There's a couple of good scenes in isolation in this area, but it comes in the context of a story that didn't make me care about its characters, because generally they're planks of wood that do little past explaining their motivations like Sphene; I couldn't tell you a single thing about her beyond "she's nice and she cares really, really hard". The end makes this big deal about her relationship with Wuk Lamat, but we only met this character 75% of the way through and their conversations are just "You're nice and you care. I am also nice and caring. We are both conflicted about having to do a murder." It comes off as a bad imitation of the end of Shadowbringers more than anything.
@@FireLordVahn Ishikawa had a supervisory role this time, she didn't write the MSQ. The writers are mentioned to be Daichi Hiroi, Tomohiro Kawasaki and Megumi Onozuka on IMDB.
(Bit of a long comment, but if you'd like to hear my story) My parents went up north recently to go visit my grandmother, who is unfortunately in a rough condition. I wanted to go with them to see her again, in case it would be the last time. But we own pets, and no one was able to watch over them while we'd be away. We couldn't take them (2 dogs and a cat) because they'd just be a hassle to manage while my grandmother was doing so poorly. So I had to stay home instead to watch them. Coincidentally, this was also the launch week for Dawntrail. In a way, kinda nice to be able to play the expansion as a way to distract myself from worrying about my grandmother, and just play the game and watch my pets in the meantime. To say I was devastated and beating myself up inside by the final zone would be an understatement. I remember spawning into the area and thinking, 'oh dear.' Walking up to the NPCs and hearing they had already died and were just happy they could say goodbyes and hellos one last time. I felt this dread opening up in my chest, and it was gnawing away at me. A lot. I've lost a lot of people in my life, more than I wish to recall. I know what loss feels like, unexpected and expected. But it was the fact that I was sitting there, playing a game that was telling me to say goodbye to my loved ones before it was too late. When someone I do love and care for dearly was currently in the care of my family, who I had told to go without me. It all cascaded down on me as I kept playing through this zone, and I had to keep taking breaks to try and ease the aching in my chest. I would frequently call my parents and ask them how my grandmother was, and they were confused by my frequent calling, since I'd barely called at all since they left. On account of me being hyper-fixated on Dawntrail, of course I'd neglected conversation. I was trying to ignore something happening right in front of me, for the sake of myself alone. I felt so fucking selfish suddenly, and I just kept telling my parents to pass my words along to my grandmother (who wasn't well enough for conversation, believe me, I tried). As of me writing this message, she isn't gone yet. But I know it'll happen soon. And I've already started asking for the time off from work to go visit her again. Just myself, taking a plane all on my own, to see her again and spend at least another day with her. To get some final words, whether or not they're the last ones. I did not want to let the chance slip away again.
I hope you got to see your grandmother. I watched my great grandmother slip away from us from altzheimer's and seeing Wuk Lamat's mother in this zone about did me in. The parallels between the two were so close.
what i find most interesting about this zone (and dawntrail in general) is how it takes the quote “for those we have lost and those we can yet save” from earlier expansions and sort of flips it on its head by essentially pitting the two against each other. if its either those we have lost or those we can yet save, its better to move on and accept that those who are gone are truly gone. idk i just found that cool
@@ksNanoSquid thats true, but it definitely feels far more direct here. Emet was trying to revive a civilization that had been long gone via rejoinings, and everything we knew about the ancients was from him specifically (im speaking about base shadowbringers). The people here are as alive as they can possibly be and aware of their situation, and again they aren’t from a civilization so ancient that its completely foreign. The three end zones of the most recent expansions are definitely adjacent to each other in theme, all being “ghost towns” of a sort, but they do have a different aspect that they emphasize on, I am fond of the “ending the facade kept up at the expense of all others” that was shown here, and its given a more personal touch with the main cast having something to actually lose by shutting it down
@@ksNanoSquidyes, and Dawntrail put you into an exact position Emet-Selch was. You supposed to look at Sphene how Emet-Selch looked at you, just some echoes that aren't significant enough compared to your own world. That is the legacy and burden he and other ancients left for you.
All of this has been taken away from the people of Alexandria. None of the living know what this place looks like, none of them even remember the people whose simulacra now roam these streets. All this - it was ripped out of them. Every day, every moment, every second, they are stripped of their precious memories of friends and loved ones, because some people a long long time ago thought that they were doing everyone a favor by forcibly eliminating the grief of loss by amnesia. When we're shutting this place down, we're turning off a colossal and tremendously costly vanity/trauma-cope project that is meant to be seen by nobody that could conceivably remember it. And those that roam the streets, they want it to end. Just like on the Thirteenth, the dead (and even their simulacra) yearn to return to the Lifestream, to be reborn as new life, not held in place forever. By walking these streets, by listening to the Endless trapped here and by remembering their stories, we do for them more than this gilded tombstone could ever do. We give them closure.
This is beautifully said. It is hard but right to let go - to have closure, to have release. Because clinging can do more harm than good. Letting go is part how we're meant to live.
It's also a design decsion. From Endwalkers Raid series, you need three things to build a living being. Body, Soul, Memories. They can preserve the body and keep the soul, but memories are extremely huge and hard to store. You prune them off and suddenly, it's a smaller form factor and it's easier to make someone as you wish. More compact. I bet the original reasons and logic behind the tech was to make soldiers that didn't question when someone went out to die for a silly reason, didn't miss family, didn't mourn the loss of comrades, and could easily be brought back again and again as long as the unit performed on a net positive. Just so happened over time as things got worse, it was repurposed, the original meanings forgotten, and now nobody remembers the why, just the how.
They just got brought there out of no where only to have closure for a short time it’s messed up me more upset that Galool jaja just took over the kingdom and cause this. Had he not I think things could’ve ended differently for this story
@FNGalcatraz That is kinda the point. You could be a continent away or a missed train ride away from a loved one. But regardless of distance, it can happen suddenly and without any necessary reason. Loss sneaks up on you. You always think or hope you should've more time with those you love. Living Memory is, in part, about regardless how much time you have with someone, it will always hurt to let go.
About a month before this expansion released, I lost my brother to suicide. And I never got to say goodbye to him. Going through this zone, seeing people get their final moments with their loved ones, and ultimately stopping the greedy cycle that prevented the natural progression of loss, goodbyes, and moving forward hit a whole lot harder as a result. It was easily the most challenging content I've ever done in this game and I didn't hit one single attack ability.
A few times I found myself thinking what if I were there and I saw my late brother, god what I would do just to say one last goodbye. G’raha’s words resonated with me. I just want one last day or even one last second to see him one more time. Definitely the most challenging content. Extremely beautiful portrayal of grief and acceptance, but makes it all the more painful. Take care friend ❤
This zone reminded me of a dream I had. My best friend died and for months I felt empty. One night I had a dream the world was empty and I was all alone. It frightened me until I saw him and he invited me over to his house. We played video games and talked about fun theories. For a time I forgot about the scary world and it didn’t feel empty. Before the day ended he delivered some bad news and told me he was going away and I wouldn’t be able to see him for a long time. Told me to stay strong and keep doing my best. He became a memory, but I told myself that so long as I have him in my memories he will live on. I’ve noticed I had some of his mannerisms so I felt comfort knowing his legacy will live on in some shape
My condolences, friend. I haven't lost any of my close family members or friends yet. But going through this expansion made me realize that I will have to face the reality eventually. To me, always stay close to the ones you care. You never know when their time will come.
yeah i felt this area was much more effective than ultima thule at making you feel something. I was always close to tearing up going through living memory, I didn't have the same experience with ultima thule.
I couldn't agree with you at all, but that's luckily incredibly subjective. Ultima Thule was for me a lot more effective for me personally than whatever this zone tried. Again though. It's definitely one of the more personal moments and it's impossible to generalize that.
"You may know failure, and burning regret...but these too shall become beacons to guide you. So come what may, hold your head high and carry on with conviction. And wherever your journeys take you, keep me close to your heart, will you?"
I never had the chance to say goodbye to my girlfriend when she passed away. So many times had I wished for one last miracle to say some last words, to have our true parting. When G'raha was asking if my WoL ever grieved so much she wanted the miracle to happen, I just broke in a million pieces. By the end of the zone, I had no tears left to shed. For years, it really has been our bygone serenity, hasn't it? Rest well, my love, we will see each other again, one day. I love you so much.
the fact they decided to make such a detailed and beautiful place for a couple hours of gameplay, just to make you erase it yourself is a very brave choice
Maybe I'm overthinking, but this song feels like it can end in a lot of moments, but refuses to end an continues on and on and on. I mean, some parts of the song can easily be the end in another songs, but here it just continues.
It's honestly very clever of the song to represent the zone. It needs to end, but keeps going, sometimes in an unnatural way - the keyshift before the song loops is a very awkward way to keep the song going. Just like the Endless. The fact that it's such a cheery, warm fuzzy nostalgia song like in a Pixar or Disney movie adds to the vibe. It's so desperately trying to keep that feeling going when it needs to resolve.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed the "continuous" feeling of the song. It feels like it should actually end at the 3:39 mark. But then the higher note at 3:40 feels like it's saying, "Wait..." and then it repeats. It's so minor, yet so brilliant in making the song feel "Endless."
I think what hit me the most was the way the 'people' of Living Memory reacted as we finally put them to rest. I was so sure, SO sure, that as they began to fade they would panic, be scared and confused... but instead they just... kept going on as if nothing was happening. The few who did react did so with a smile. It really hit me the more I saw those reactions that in reality, they were all already gone long ago. And I think they knew it, too. I think they were ready, and that thought helps at least a little bit.
The people in Living Memory know that they are dead and they they are just simulacrum of those departed souls. That was why Calcua and Krile's parents wanted you to end it, they know it is merely an illusion
A lot of music doesn't immediately hit me in game unless i have a fond immediate attachment to it like to the FFIX music in game cause I have delayed emotional reactions at times and it took listening to this track and the comment "Everyone had died, we were just there to turn the lights off in the house." to set me off into near tears, as this nostalgic sound to set in place how much loss we all go through in our everyday life without realizing it, but not only that. time will move forward and those happy memories of bygone days will pass through but it means you shouldn't take what you had for granted and acknowledge that even if life sucks, the people and good days will always be with you in someway. I miss my pet dog so much after he passed, I've moved away from my mom to live in a new location with my best friend, and the intense loneliness i feel from my mom's distance, even when i've been entirely frustrated with her at times, hits because I don't know if it'll be the last time i see her, like how Erenville losing his mom and only getting one more chance to spend time with her. Fuck, I'm sorry. I know I'm just a random stranger crying online and feeling everything suddenly but, Living Memory is a zone that's not bad when you turn it all off. Complaining about how pretty it is and losing it isn't the point of the zone. The point of the zone is accepting not everything lasts forever cause if everything was a happy day, living in only the good times, is that really living. The pain is part of living and being trapped in only a dream is only letting yourself be blinded and you might as well be dead at that point. The ache and hurt of loss isn't fair, may it be loss of someone close to you, a break up, a job, etc. It's important to take the lessons you've learned from what you loss and grow from it. It's scary to hurt, to lose, to ache, but like every wound, it'll heal. It'll be a scar, but it's a reminder that you're going to be okay, that you'll be okay but different. Cause not everything can be the same as it was, but you're still alive.
Contrary to what seems to be the popular opinion, I don't want Living Memory to ever be golden again. I've learned the lesson of the MSQ. Look back and remember the past fondly, but keep it there. If you expend energy to try to keep the past alive, you'll only end up like Alexandria as it truly is...desolate and lonely. Don't be afraid of moving on, continue to grow and don't be fooled bu the beauty of the past. At least, that's the symbolism I read.
Two weeks before the release of Dawntrail, my little brother took his own life. I was in shock, I could hardly even bring myself to cry, it completely decimated me with no idea how to react. The day Dawntrail released was the same day of his funeral. I liked the MSQ but had my issues with it, particularly with the pacing, but when I got here, when I fully took in what was happening, I finally broke down. I could never bring myself to hate this expansion even with all my issues with it, this area and the music still make me shiver even now, months after I've finished Dawntrail. Sphene's fake world is beautiful at first glance, but in the end, it is only an empty amusement park populated by snapshots of the deceased. We have to let go, but it's so hard. This song seriously rocks me to my core in ways I can't describe. I love you buddy. See you again some day.
Really makes you wish we could talk to those we've lost just one more time. Haurchefant, Ysayle, Moenbryda, Papalymo, Minfillia, Ardbert, Emet Selch, Hythlodeus, Elidibus, Venat... Knowing them, they'd want us to keep going forward. And that's what we'll do.
When G'raha asked if there was someone you wished were still around, my mind basically screamed Venat, lol. Of course, we didn't get to answer it. And if we did, none of the 4 or so offered answers would probably be satisfactory to me.
I get why narratively it wouldn't make sense for any of them to be here, but God I wanted just once chance to say goodbye to Moenbryda, for me. Fuck do I miss her...
100% was Emet and Hythlo for me. I still wonder if the trio(the Azem they always refer to and them) will still be able to return to the star together or if they already have. So much left unanswered about those three that I would love to sit and learn all about.
This theme hits more personally for me than I realized. Erenville's relationship with his mother feels a lot like my relationship with mine. I could see us in them. My mother is still here, but I know there will come a time when she won't be. I don't know if I'll be ready when that time comes, but I have hope that I will
If you're reading this and tearing up, its because you're remembering and accepting the pain. It's reminding you of all the good times you had with the people you've lost. They aren't gone...so long as you keep their memory on. The pain you feel now is part of the joy of remembering them, Feeling the pain means you had a lot of love for them... and they loved you back too..
I have lost so many people dear to me in the past. But the most hardest hitting of them all was one and only friend I ever had in past, who took his own life away by hanging himself to death without me knowing until much later when I heard about it from one of his friends. For years and years I kept blaming myself of his death even though I knew it wasn't my fault. He apparently had got himself in a situation that he didn't see any other way out. If I would have known him suffering in the background while pretending to be fine, things would have been different and maybe he still would be alive today. This area when I first played it and when I hear it again here, it always hits me in the feels like a freight train and makes me tear up and cry every single time. So thank you for this message. This song is perfect to let those pent up emotions out and that is okay. It's okay to let your feelings out. Rather that than trying to act tough.
@@akikoWOL I'm glad this helped you too. Acceptance and grief are the only things we can use to cope with the unfairness of life and this song... hits so hard for me too for the people I've lost. Cherish those memories,. Theya re full of love. And a way to heal the blame and hurt.
@@MinishDudebut in a way, it loses the meaning of your actions to do so. For me, I really needed to let go. So I don't try to wind back the past here, i accept that it's gone and to move on.
The oboe is emotional kryptonite to me and Soken uses it perfectly here. Wistfulness and nostalgia in a perfect melody on an instrument with a singular, clear voice. Stunningly beautiful.
This zone is called Living Memory. To put it bluntly: You have found out that there's another world, and it's home to the Alexandrian people called the Endless, who are being kept alive by an AI who was made for the sole purpose of preserving life. This is done by harvesting living people of their aether, collecting their souls and memories, and preserving the memories using the aether from the collected souls. Basically, the people have been turned into living data. As someone put it: Everyone here has died, and we are just here to turn the lights off in the house. You are tasked with shutting down the terminals in Living Memory to grant the Endless a merciful, peaceful end. I am someone who has had four family members on what is essentially life support. They were, in order: My brother, my great grandmother, and my adopted parents (grandparents). I had to witness my brother be taken off at 13, my great grandmom a few years later, I was woken up to my adopted mom having removed her trachea tube and dying from such, and I was at home when my adopted dad died while on life support. As I had to pull what was essentially life support for fictional characters, the quest put me in a dark place, and I ended up sobbing myself to sleep after shutting down the final terminal and wishing Cahciua farewell. I have alts, but I don't think I can go through this zone again, ever. I don't have the strength or will power to endure this for several other characters, and I'm currently just soul and heart broken over how close the story for Living Memory hit home.
What really surprised me here SPACE FOR SPOILER was that many of the Endless were perfectly fine with being erased. Unlike their Queen who desperately holds on to this place, they could move on, making her efforts even worse
It's because there's a difference between living and existing. Being put in a simulation, forgotten by your friends and relatives with nothing to do but exist in a pleasant memory isn't a real life. I think that's why I appreciate the rite of succession so much, by passing down the torch and fostering a legacy to future generations is how you can, in a sense, live forever. Thats kinda what the four characters in living memory wanted more than anything, Wuk Lamats mother passing on her kindness to her daughter, Otis realising that Alexandria still exists as a great and wonderous nation, Kriles parents realizing that their child lived a happy and fruitful existence and Caucia inspiring Erenville to live out his dreams and aspirations that she always wanted. I think it makes sense how legacy is the central theme of the expansion
@@hellgoramaI see your point, but a difference here was Emet made Amaurot to show us/remind him what he was fighting for. Sphene actively wanted under her programming to keep her people + alive+, there wasn't any other way to stop her, otherwise it would be shard genocide.
@@Krysta1Rose Yea but Emet Selch and the ascians were actively going around and messing with people's affairs in the source and shards. Emet Selch especially said he orchestrated the creation of various imperial states. my point is he was probably involved in helping/teaching the alexandrians to create this soul capture and manipulation tech.
I cannot stop thinking about this piece of music. At the risk of sounding cringe, this is the sort of music I want played at my funeral. Mournful and nostalgic, with a tiny bit of whimsy to remind people that maybe I made them smile now and then, and gentle in its finality.
this zone felt like walking around a pretty cozy christmas town in the afterlife where you could run into your loved ones who passed away and get a chance to talk to them again it's really beautiful the way dawntrail plays into the meaning of life & death (and the beauty of such a thing, if that makes sense) in way similar to FFIX
The story vibes, too. Twilight Town is about the loss of childhood innocence. The idea that your summer vacation can't last forever. That you'll have to fade away and pass the torch on to someone else. ...and also that you're trapped in a simulation.
This. The MSQ had legit problems but people just choose to ignore the well done themes of this zone because their hatred of the MSQ(which is a bit justified I guess).
No, it's right on point. The zone is a terrible execution. Emotionally, it resonates with a lot of people, I'll give it that, but the concept is flawed. They hammer home that these aren't actually people, but their memories. You need a body, soul, and memories as stated from the endwalker raid series. It's no different than talking to chatGPT imitating one of your loved ones. Frankly, aside from watching how other people handle their loss, I was escatic being able to turn everything off. Last thing we really needed in this game is euthanasia disneyland. But that's just me. I really just feel like my own feelings of keeping someone 'alive' when they're realistically dead are bleeding through. That place was practically no more different than a ward of comatose people that were brain dead. The only difference here is that there is brain, but nothing else. It's effectively no different ethically. Also, the fact that damn cat wouldn't shut the hell up throughout the entire thing didn't help. Like, dude, maybe go play on the swings or something. Let the Scions handle this.
It’s interesting how SPOILERS everyone in this zone, every Endless NPC, was okay with the WoL and the gang turning everything off. They were satisfied, and the Queen did a good job of giving them a chance at fulfilling incomplete wishes. If they had to go, then at least they spent some time in heaven for a bit.
This song is filled with the loneliness of a theme park before it closes, the warmth of holding someone's hand, and the gentle feelings you get when thinking about a loved one. Good night everyone.
It really has those vibes of someone telling you "It's okay, go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning." Holding your hand knowing full well that this will be the last time you'll ever wake up, feeling the warmth slowly leave your palm. Yeah, this zone messed me up, could you tell?
*_"How to describe the sheer amazement we felt when we emerged on the other side of the portal? I fear words do not do it justice."_* *_"Before us was a vibrant world where the memories of the departed abided and reveled in bygone days."_* *_"Living Memory, or so the Endless called it."_* *_"How they laughed and smiled as they reminisced upon unfulfilled dreams. Alive in all perceivable ways...yet knowing no loss."_* *_"So resplendent was every ilm of this paradise, the words rose unbidden to my lips:"_* *"All this time, it was here─the city of gold..."*
You know what this piece makes me feel ? I sincerely hope in the distant future, We'll get a cure for Dementia. It's one thing to lose someone you love,accept and paying our respects and remembering them and pass their stories to the next generation so that they forever be remembered. It's another to see that very loved one slowly LOSES their memories and deteriorates as the get old and worse, the same could happen to you too and that's just completely unfair.
Final dungeon is a banger! Make sure full volume bgm and look at the background. Literally my favorite bgm and dungeon for now. Did not expect a bgm from a MSQ dungeon took my top spot.
I hadn’t cried much this expansion until this goddamned zone, Ho boy even this music just slaughters me. Such a gentle and loving hug. I love this game.
Seven years. I've been playing this game for Seven years. And in all that time; this was the first and only place that had lingering emotional impact. Coming back to this area post msq... the hollow feint notes of this bygone halcyon theme only murmering in the wind. Like a memory, truly fading with time It makes me stop and wander. Every time. I need the time to process. To remember. To *feel*.
As someone who has been very sensitive to the topic of death, this expansion and by extension this theme resonated with me so much. Had to take several breaks while finishing this zone but I'm glad I did
I adored Ultima Thule, but after shutting down the first tower in Living Memory and seeing what happened to that area, I spent a solid hour running around the next one and taking pictures, almost in tears refusing to continue the msq because I didn't want to ruin this beautiful place and its people. This area took me a lot longer than any other in the whole game. Ultima Thule made me want to keep going, but Living Memory made me want to freeze time...This theme is like a punch in the heart but at the same time a warm embrace, how they managed to convey such a feeling amazes me.
Both this song and zone are epitomes of the word bittersweet, it was so surprising to start the final segment on this note. The tone in particular is so beautiful, yet so somber, perfectly capturing the essence of losing yourself in nostalgic memories.
This zone was very hard for me to get through as it spurred feelings of grief over my grandpa, coupled with the vibe I got from the zone of being full of people unable to move on made it a very emotionally taxing zone the I just wanted to be done with.
If you pay attention, this song has some reminiscence with the main theme of FFIX. I was really quite emotional during the whole area, since it's like having a part of FFIX in the game and even more an area as iconic and representative as Alexandria is... I feel that this zone hits harder when you previously played FFIX and understand all the symbolisms that exist in the zone.
Never in my imagination did I think Ultima Thule would have a near perfect counterpart as a reflection on life. And despite Dawntrail's flaws, good lord did it succeed in ruining my soul in the last zone.
@@Naoto-kun1085 It's so much more than that for me. It was the way it was structured to keep hitting you harder each time. We start simple with someone who the characters have already taken the time to grieve for, so they get through it easier. This is followed by someone who had died not long ago who they had NOT yet grieved for. Next, they round up the conclusion of a plot thread while giving us people who we understand the emotional weight but which we know are still kinda disconnected. You're taking a beat down. Then they bust out the end which is so connected! You've been having to watch the turmoil unfold. The tragedy of it all, a slow confrontation, and its victim has yet to come to terms with it. Through this whole part, it's all about setting that up that happening. You know it. And that makes the fleeting happiness it tries to act out feel so painful.
@@hythrainI agree, I found this entitr zone so impactful. It feels sad having to end the happiness of all the Endless, but in the end we have no choice but to put them to rest.
this might be one of my favorite area themes in the game. the fact that it doesnt even change when you enter combat is a good choice, the combat music would totally break the feel of the area, and the fact that its just absolute silence after you shut down the terminals makes it hurt even more. theres not even a day/night cycle, its just infinite and peaceful until its gone.
There's something I really can't put into words about the fact that the wealth of the golden city turned out to not even be anything material like literal gold but rather the memory of those that have died, that combined with the cost of its continued existence feels very uniquely touching as well as heartbreaking and horrifying
It also fits with the real life "City of gold": El Dorado. A delusion born of greed during the colonization of Middle and South America. Several people (a good chunk natives forcefully conscripted) died from starvation, exposure and disease in the jungles searching for something that was never really real. Fitting then that the only thing that can substain the "city of gold" in FFXIV is people dying. All in a pointless attempt to keep a vision of gold from fading away.
I did break into tears for this track, I still do- not because of those who were already lost, this song somehow digs up *something*. I wish you luck if any of you have sorrow in your heart before getting here... I think I'll even just stroll alone around here just to have a moment.
I refuse to restore this zone via NG+ because it goes against the entire point of it, but it's nice to still be able to see it's glory days via recordings, much like an actual memory c:
As beautiful as this theme is, I cannot help but get teary when I hear it. The story of this place and what comes later to it makes it even sadder. It sounds so melancholic.
This track has left an irreparable scar on my heart that just aches whenever it plays. The songs just steadily tugs at your heartstrings as you go through Living Memory. You feel nostalgic at first upon hearing it, then melancholy as you hear it more, then just end up crying buckets the more you explore the place while it’s playing. I legitimately didn’t believe my heart could break into any more pieces this place tortured me so. Fantastic job
You know? That piano that starts looping the same notes beginning at 1:34 in the background and then taking the spotlight at 2:02 kinda make me feel like "it's time to say goodbye". And then Sphene's theme kicks right after that at 2:34, as if she's trying to hold everything and everyone together like she's saying "I won't let you die" while it sounds so cheerful and sad because this is not what it's supposed to be. This is not what she's supposed to do, and they all are aware of it.
Have to say, did not expect the main themes of Dawntrail to be "The Burden of Expectations" and "Dealing woth Loss and Grief". I'm not complaining, I've enjoyed the expansion so far (its not ShB or EW, but its still good), just was not expect those to be the reoccuring theme.
You know I find the interesting that the zone is like ultima thule but instead of a place full of Memories of despair it a place full of memories of happiness and when one or all the zones reveal what they truly are It kind of looks like the final area before going through the final walk I don't know I just get ultima thule vibes from this place especially when you're done with the MSQ part
It's like Ultima Thule, but this is memories of lives well-lived instead of lives of those who gave up on living. The golden light evokes the notion of memories and sepia photographs, in my mind. I really appreciated the notion of "gold" being more a metaphor than about plundering treasure. The treasure is those memories returning to the Lifestream to become new lives.
I won't lie, I broke down in tears many times in this Zone. This song is beautiful and make me feel Nostalgic, even though I never heard t before this expansion. When you turn off parts of the city and the music just gone, that was a real knife turn in the heart for me. It was a good move on the devs but damn did that sting.
One aspect I haven’t really seen talked about is the theme of parenthood. You see it in Gulool Jaja, in Bakool Jana’s parents, in Zoraal Ja, in Otis, in Namikka, in Krile’s parents and of course in Cahciua. Even possibly Sphene. All different forms of parents, all with different impacts on the children.
I thought shutting it all down would make coming back here for gameplay stuff painful, but... weirdly, I like it better after the MSQ. There's more natural places here than you'd think, and the places that aren't are surprisingly nice even in raw electrope. It kind of has the feeling of a peaceful graveyard.
I broke down just seeing the area for the first time. Lost my dad months ago and my granddad weeks before the expansion's early release. I told my friends I was gonna rush through the last area so we could raid, and I spent the night mourning again.
Even after finishing MSQ months ago I've still really been unable to get this zone out of my head. I've had a lot of trouble coming to terms with how "existence" past death or the possible lack their of so long, so to have this reminder tucked in an area we had to take down ourselves felt super painful for me. I think what I felt horrible about is I knew deep down I'd value a second chance like this. I almost died in a car accident a little over a year ago, and my nephew was only a week old. After it happened it gave me that usual reminder of how fragile life is. So even I knew I would cherish at least a chance to say good bye, especially if I perished that day. A lot of people have specific thoughts about this zone, but at least I think most of us can agree on that its a good reminder to live life while we have it.
I lost my brother to suicide right before Endwalker. That last endwalk was super challenging. But this… I pretty much had tears from the moment I entered until the last light turned off and beyond. I still haven’t come to terms with his loss. This zone was even more painful and hard to get through, but it was also beautiful therapy for the soul. Miss you forever Mark Goodstix.
@@waterboiledpizzaAzys Lla is better than Mor Dhona but I pretty much agree with the rest of your list. Azys is horribly underused. Loads of interesting areas and hidden jewels and they used none of it.
Let's not forget the fact that the entrance to this place is hidden on the other side of a door on a graveyard. So I guess the clue to the true nature of the "city of gold" was there all along.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I had to stop and cry a few times in this zone. Some of the characters bore a close resemblance to loved ones who have passed, and it was rough playing through this area.
That was the impression I got. The Ascians were prepping this world to be rejoined in a calamity, but then we killed Emet and Elidibus and the plan collapsed, leaving Alexandria to languish.
@@CallMeNoa maybe, but if I have the timescale of events right I think they just left it to languish after they were done pushing sphene's reflection over to lightning: much like how they discarded the remnants and survivors of the 13th and let the void sent fester and invade every now and then
The reflection of them is already dead. The lightning calamity was the first to struck on the source, and i belive this world was the first the ascians successfuly rejoined provoking the "thunder wars" on that reflection.
@@Zantier There are only 8 "elements" but 13 shards, which means at some point the elements would have to be used again, the lightning calamity was was the 2nd, while the Milala travelled from the source to Alexandria's shard during the 5th(ice), suggesting that this calamity of lightning was not the same one that caused a rejoining. P.S. the First Calamity was the Calamity of Wind
...I can't help but wonder...if you could give a year of your life to spend a day with a lost loved one, would you? Would it be worth the cost? How many people would give up their whole lives just for that tiny bit longer with someone special?
My dad. I'd just want to have a last conversation with him where I could hear him talk and laugh one last time, his heartful, wholly laugh, tell him I love and miss him very much. I wasn't always the best son, he wasn't always the best father. In later years I took solace in the fact him being ''imperfect'' was the experiences that shaped him as a young boy too once - he too was innocent, this is also his first attempt at life, at being an adult, at being a father to his children. He did his best though, that's what I believe. I'll always hold that regard. I wish someone could have been there for him when he was younger. I miss you every day dad 🖤
It's kind of funny. Before I got to Solution Nine and here, I had just finished Persona 3 Reload. A game based around momento mori as one of its themes and how the social links were about helping people who have death as a major factor in their life one way or another and helping them through it. And now we have a society that tries to deny death in multiple different ways. Ranging from actively removing memories to prevent sadness to making ghosts so they can still continue
Couldn't stop crying here - it is a very moving peice of music that Soken made here. Definitely had trouble completing this last part - definitely felt like the story was helping us who have lost loved ones say goodbye once more before letting them rest in peice :(
I just wanted to comment and say thank you for not using the actual name of the zone like so many other channels I've been seeing recently. I actually got spoiled on the final dungeon because youtube decided to just autoplay into it and the creator put the name right in the title. So for that you're getting a like and a sub. ♥
I love how the final part of this incorporates “The trail unending” (which is the Alexandria theme) and it has somber final tone to it to signify that Alexandria is no more, While the dungeon theme is is at the height of kingdom Alexandria’s time. Also it’s played for the first part of interphos with a more updated solution 9 feel to it to show that old Alexandria is gone but it people live on in a new era. Love how soken and his team handled that.
This zone didn’t just hit close to home for me, it hit it right through the roof 😭 a specific area here was so on the nose for me and my grief hit me like a firetruck, I had to step away from the game. Absolutely the hardest xiv has made me cry and I loved it 😭❤️ it’s hard to let go sometimes but it’ll be alright
As soon as I started the first 'segment' of this area and it clicked in me that the thematic of this final zone and thus the ending of the story would be about learning to let go and move on whilst cherishing the memories of loved ones long past, I started crying. Like. Proper crying. I barely made it to the 2nd segment before I had to stop for the night but because of the song as soon as I logged back in the next day it hit me again. I think next expansion I'll be having tissues with me for the finale cause I clearly didn't learn my lesson from the previous 2 expansions and DT LOL
Like the eeriness that fell over the place when turning off the first terminal was a gut punch and as soon as I realized every terminal would have someone there to make it feel harder for us made me go 'oh noooooo...' The emotions were heightened more by the fact that one of my grandmothers has recently passed, and within the last 10 years or so I've also lost both grandfathers, and also currently live with the crippling internal sorrow of the fact that there will be more loved ones passing in the future (because yknow. that's literally how life is, sadly). Heck even typing this has got me teary eyed. I'm scared to return to the zone because I know I'll cry, but I also need to feel that emotional pain, because I severely need to come to terms with things and learn to love and let go
Only remembering what happened in the cutscenes and think of what's about to happen was enough to make me cry while I was just standing in some random place in this area with this song...
There's a lot of people who complain about this zone and the ending... assuming that nothing will happen in the 5+ patches we have coming up over the next few years. Patience.
![[AREA SPOILER] L????? ?????? Theme : Final Fantasy XIV DAWNTRAIL](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kklhuUpBQ8o/mqdefault.jpg)
I have tried for over a month to express why this zone means so much to me and why the aesthetics/music of it broke me the instant I saw it. Only now do I realize it's the conflicting fight between sincerity and hollowness that echoes throughout all of it. Living Memory is a place that loves you but does not care about you.
It's a thoughtful resting place for the departed and constructed to remind them of the home they lost, but it's a literal gilded city built off a mound of corpses; the lights only stay on because Alexandria's enemies are being thrown into a meat grinder hooked up to Everkeep. The design of the very zone itself is one of the most beautiful sights in the game, but all the out-of-sight areas reveal everything to be Electrope painted to look like other materials. Living Memory is a beautiful tribute to FF9 and its themes of death and how people cope with grief, but also a somber reminder that nostalgic fanservice like this can only use the names and places you know, but not the characters you love. A place inhabited by the spirits of people who fought every day of their lives to survive in the 9th reflection and are rewarded with endless bliss, but actually talking with them reveals the ugly truth that most of them are more than ready to move on. Ruled by a Queen Eternal who constantly fights herself on if she should show human compassion or unflinching devotion to her programming, in the end deciding to erase the very reason why her people loved her dearly all in the name of preserving the status quo. It's even designed to look like a theme park à la Disneyland: places that are literal magic kingdoms to innocent children or blatant cash-grabs to cynical adults who know the excessive resources needed to keep the show running.
"Who cares if the power budget keeps spiking as more and more people are uploaded to the cloud? We can always fuse with a different dimension and just turn the meatgrinder back on. We need to keep this place alive. It's all we have. It's our Living Memory."
It's incredibly sincere love powered by cynical short-sightedness.
All of this is scored by a wonderful song, representing the awful tragedy that got these people here but trying to remain upbeat despite it all. The closing part at 2:34 with the smothering reverb, the cheerful driving piano, and the somber choir is just so incredible I can barely put it into words. It perfectly walks the line between the fun rhythm of a night at the carnival with the mournful tone of a funeral march. It feels like trying to ignore the pain and smile as the casket is lowered six feet underground. When I heard that part for the first time as I got here I cried harder than any game has ever gotten me. I wish I could convey through text how pained I looked as the song continued and finished the loop, thinking about all the people here in this ghost town and how hard they had to fight for their golden ticket to virtual heaven.
I love this place. I hate that it exists. I feel so bad for the people who live here. I want to scream at the people in Preservation who created it. I am so thankful I got to experience this place, but still glad I got to turn the lights off and let the dead sleep.
(On a bit of an indulgent personal note, I grew up with a father who struggled with Bipolar Disorder and projected his insecurities onto me. It was always a coin flip if I would deal with the man who loved me or the man who hated me just for existing. Only recently I had to cut him out of my life completely after a disastrous falling-out, and the leftover grief from that + the duality of loving care/indifferent fakeness you see throughout this zone is probably why it resonated so strongly with me. Also why Dawntrail skyrocketed up to being my favorite expansion, dethroning Shadowbringers which I thought would never happen.)
Thank you for reading my long rambles if you made it this far. This place and music mean so, so much to me. I hope everyone at Creative Studio III is proud of the art they made this year. I will never forget it for the rest of my life.
This is such a beautiful description. Lovely writing. Also, good on you for separating yourself from that situation. Wishing you the best.
Everyone had died, we were just there to turn the lights off in the house.
Nobody's home, who the hells left the lights on!? What a waste of electrope.
this comment made me ill 👍 what a beautiful sentiment. i'll be putting it that way for a long time
Emouvant dit comme ça, bien joué 👌
Now we got an ugly ass zone.
@@aceplatini859It took balls for the devs to do that in an mmo.
Amaurot: Learning to let go of the past.
Dead Ends: Learning to live through suffering.
Alexandria: Learning to accept death.
I wonder if the next expansion may end up being about learning to accept no one is perfect in life.
@@orrthehunter I think it’ll be about that too and also more about learning how to move ahead and build something new. That’s why this expansion is the start of putting the past to rest and accepting death. Now we move to build the next future in further expansions rather than simply reacting to external forces attacking us and choose for ourselves how to go on in life.
That’s my theory at least.
Rofl.
Let go of the past? FF14 is abaout a Super N@zi who slaughtered all life on the planet and distorted it and you are the tool of it to make it stay that way.
What suffering? Absolut bullshit. Scions and WoL are 100% Mary Sues, they don't even need any kind of plan, they just win by default. If anyone knows suffering it's the Ascians and Garlemald.
Learning to accept death? Whole settin is about being reincarnated anyway, so who even cares? The only problem is the distortion of all life and that all shards will die sooner or later anyway if not saved.
ShB: genocide bad
EW: genocide bad
DT: genocide bad
@@orrthehunter considering on what note DT ended, maybe the post or even the next expansion will be something like ... our character looking back at Azem's work, finding clues about them and what they have done and left , doubting themselves but Azem is like '' You don't have to be me, although you inherited my soul, you're your own person with your own flaws, just be you and everything will be well.''
I know yoship said that leaving Azem to remain unknown is the charm in said character but tbh I'd love to know more about them, everything we heard or seen is always by second hand
After playing through this zone and finishing the last bit of MSQ I had an sudden overwhelming need to go visit my parents who I hadn’t seen in awhile. When the credits started to roll, I shut it down, got in my car and drove a thousand miles to go see my parents
As you progress through Ultima Thule, you add elements to the scenery as a symbol of the hope for a new beggining. As you progress through the Living Memory, you take elements from the scenery as a symbol of acceptance for the end of a cycle.
Ultima Thule: Embracing a New Future
Living Memory: Letting go of the Past
@@Sacrengard Indeed. With Ultima Thule, the loss has already occurred, and it's about trying to make things better afterwards and making the future better. In contrast, Living Memory is like an attempt to deny the loss ever happened, and instead you shut it down bit by bit until it's all off, letting go and accepting the loss so you can move on and make things better in time.
The former is about making a new cycle, with the goal of making it better than before where you can, in a sense looking to endure despite it for as long as you can so you can find happiness. The latter is about ending one, with the goal of accepting death and loss instead of trying to deny it, something that is often quite toxic in effect and solves little (if anything), so you can be at peace and move on. They are equal opposites, forming a circle of acceptance and progress: By accepting something is over, you can make something new, as when one door closes, another opens.
Hard not to read it as a commentary on XIV reaching the end of its initial story cycle. This isn't gonna happen, but it'd make sense after this if XIV fully moved on from the Scions as its main cast -- or even if Dawntrail was fully the last expansion. It'd work thematically!
I remember as I was doing the final sequence here, someone said in shout chat “This zone is kicking my ass, and I haven’t even fought anything” and I lost it 😂
While doing this zone there were a lot of other players doing MSQ simultaneously and in shout chat they had the same reactions, it felt so surreal
On week one the shout chat was our group therapy there lol
I literally saw a guy in shout saying motivational things like "Keep going!" Or "It's okay to feel and let it go". It was... Beautiful.
I dont know what the haters are saying. This is more heartbreaking than Ultima Thule, because there we knew the Scions were gonna come back. Here, it really is about saying goodbye and being okay with it no matter how hard it is.
yea devs didn't pull any punches for once, and it's what makes it poignant
This whole expansion is about making the most of life and accepting loss, at the end. Because it's part of life. I love it because it's, like Endwalker, fearless - it looks death right in the face, and challenges the player to process their own personal losses.
Honestly Ultima Thule was a culmination of the death fake out stupidity present throughout 14.
Well we had a whole journey with each scion, their sacrifice was about their growth more than about loss, and that was emotional. Here it's sad but we didn't personally knew them so it didn't hit as hard for me.
@@magnainsomnia My issue with this place is that it is largely the concept along with scenery and music cueing me in to feel sad. There's a couple of good scenes in isolation in this area, but it comes in the context of a story that didn't make me care about its characters, because generally they're planks of wood that do little past explaining their motivations like Sphene; I couldn't tell you a single thing about her beyond "she's nice and she cares really, really hard".
The end makes this big deal about her relationship with Wuk Lamat, but we only met this character 75% of the way through and their conversations are just "You're nice and you care. I am also nice and caring. We are both conflicted about having to do a murder." It comes off as a bad imitation of the end of Shadowbringers more than anything.
“We want to make players look back fondly on memories they never had.”
Soken: “Say no more.”
And Ishikawa made it happen with the writing too
@@FireLordVahn but soken didn't compose this ost and ishikawa has nothing to do with this expansion's story...
@@Vitalywow123 she was the senior story designer? That's even more influence than a writer would have
@@FireLordVahn Ishikawa had a supervisory role this time, she didn't write the MSQ. The writers are mentioned to be Daichi Hiroi, Tomohiro Kawasaki and Megumi Onozuka on IMDB.
Yeah, Ishikawa got promoted.
I can hear someone close in the distance says:
"You're lucky... looks like my summer vacation is over."
CLOSE IN THE DISTANCE MENTIONED
Roxas..
Definitely got major KH vibes in this place, TT and Roxas' town immediately came to mind.
Yoshi-P: "We want to give you a kind of summer vacation vibe with Dawntrail"
This zone:
@@iosonotom1010 the type of summer vacation that Roxas had lol
(Bit of a long comment, but if you'd like to hear my story)
My parents went up north recently to go visit my grandmother, who is unfortunately in a rough condition. I wanted to go with them to see her again, in case it would be the last time. But we own pets, and no one was able to watch over them while we'd be away. We couldn't take them (2 dogs and a cat) because they'd just be a hassle to manage while my grandmother was doing so poorly. So I had to stay home instead to watch them. Coincidentally, this was also the launch week for Dawntrail. In a way, kinda nice to be able to play the expansion as a way to distract myself from worrying about my grandmother, and just play the game and watch my pets in the meantime.
To say I was devastated and beating myself up inside by the final zone would be an understatement. I remember spawning into the area and thinking, 'oh dear.' Walking up to the NPCs and hearing they had already died and were just happy they could say goodbyes and hellos one last time. I felt this dread opening up in my chest, and it was gnawing away at me. A lot. I've lost a lot of people in my life, more than I wish to recall. I know what loss feels like, unexpected and expected. But it was the fact that I was sitting there, playing a game that was telling me to say goodbye to my loved ones before it was too late. When someone I do love and care for dearly was currently in the care of my family, who I had told to go without me.
It all cascaded down on me as I kept playing through this zone, and I had to keep taking breaks to try and ease the aching in my chest. I would frequently call my parents and ask them how my grandmother was, and they were confused by my frequent calling, since I'd barely called at all since they left. On account of me being hyper-fixated on Dawntrail, of course I'd neglected conversation. I was trying to ignore something happening right in front of me, for the sake of myself alone. I felt so fucking selfish suddenly, and I just kept telling my parents to pass my words along to my grandmother (who wasn't well enough for conversation, believe me, I tried).
As of me writing this message, she isn't gone yet. But I know it'll happen soon. And I've already started asking for the time off from work to go visit her again. Just myself, taking a plane all on my own, to see her again and spend at least another day with her. To get some final words, whether or not they're the last ones. I did not want to let the chance slip away again.
I hope you got to see your grandmother. I watched my great grandmother slip away from us from altzheimer's and seeing Wuk Lamat's mother in this zone about did me in. The parallels between the two were so close.
what i find most interesting about this zone (and dawntrail in general) is how it takes the quote “for those we have lost and those we can yet save” from earlier expansions and sort of flips it on its head by essentially pitting the two against each other. if its either those we have lost or those we can yet save, its better to move on and accept that those who are gone are truly gone. idk i just found that cool
Pitting those two against each other was the entire point of Emet-Selch's story
@@ksNanoSquid thats true, but it definitely feels far more direct here. Emet was trying to revive a civilization that had been long gone via rejoinings, and everything we knew about the ancients was from him specifically (im speaking about base shadowbringers). The people here are as alive as they can possibly be and aware of their situation, and again they aren’t from a civilization so ancient that its completely foreign. The three end zones of the most recent expansions are definitely adjacent to each other in theme, all being “ghost towns” of a sort, but they do have a different aspect that they emphasize on, I am fond of the “ending the facade kept up at the expense of all others” that was shown here, and its given a more personal touch with the main cast having something to actually lose by shutting it down
@@ksNanoSquidyes, and Dawntrail put you into an exact position Emet-Selch was. You supposed to look at Sphene how Emet-Selch looked at you, just some echoes that aren't significant enough compared to your own world. That is the legacy and burden he and other ancients left for you.
All of this has been taken away from the people of Alexandria. None of the living know what this place looks like, none of them even remember the people whose simulacra now roam these streets. All this - it was ripped out of them. Every day, every moment, every second, they are stripped of their precious memories of friends and loved ones, because some people a long long time ago thought that they were doing everyone a favor by forcibly eliminating the grief of loss by amnesia.
When we're shutting this place down, we're turning off a colossal and tremendously costly vanity/trauma-cope project that is meant to be seen by nobody that could conceivably remember it. And those that roam the streets, they want it to end. Just like on the Thirteenth, the dead (and even their simulacra) yearn to return to the Lifestream, to be reborn as new life, not held in place forever. By walking these streets, by listening to the Endless trapped here and by remembering their stories, we do for them more than this gilded tombstone could ever do. We give them closure.
This is beautifully said. It is hard but right to let go - to have closure, to have release. Because clinging can do more harm than good. Letting go is part how we're meant to live.
It's also a design decsion. From Endwalkers Raid series, you need three things to build a living being. Body, Soul, Memories. They can preserve the body and keep the soul, but memories are extremely huge and hard to store. You prune them off and suddenly, it's a smaller form factor and it's easier to make someone as you wish. More compact. I bet the original reasons and logic behind the tech was to make soldiers that didn't question when someone went out to die for a silly reason, didn't miss family, didn't mourn the loss of comrades, and could easily be brought back again and again as long as the unit performed on a net positive. Just so happened over time as things got worse, it was repurposed, the original meanings forgotten, and now nobody remembers the why, just the how.
What gets me that’s it’s not fair for those that were snatched up prematurely like Wuk’s mother, or chicua
They just got brought there out of no where only to have closure for a short time it’s messed up me more upset that Galool jaja just took over the kingdom and cause this. Had he not I think things could’ve ended differently for this story
@FNGalcatraz That is kinda the point.
You could be a continent away or a missed train ride away from a loved one. But regardless of distance, it can happen suddenly and without any necessary reason. Loss sneaks up on you. You always think or hope you should've more time with those you love. Living Memory is, in part, about regardless how much time you have with someone, it will always hurt to let go.
About a month before this expansion released, I lost my brother to suicide. And I never got to say goodbye to him.
Going through this zone, seeing people get their final moments with their loved ones, and ultimately stopping the greedy cycle that prevented the natural progression of loss, goodbyes, and moving forward hit a whole lot harder as a result. It was easily the most challenging content I've ever done in this game and I didn't hit one single attack ability.
A few times I found myself thinking what if I were there and I saw my late brother, god what I would do just to say one last goodbye. G’raha’s words resonated with me. I just want one last day or even one last second to see him one more time. Definitely the most challenging content. Extremely beautiful portrayal of grief and acceptance, but makes it all the more painful. Take care friend ❤
This zone reminded me of a dream I had. My best friend died and for months I felt empty. One night I had a dream the world was empty and I was all alone. It frightened me until I saw him and he invited me over to his house. We played video games and talked about fun theories. For a time I forgot about the scary world and it didn’t feel empty. Before the day ended he delivered some bad news and told me he was going away and I wouldn’t be able to see him for a long time. Told me to stay strong and keep doing my best. He became a memory, but I told myself that so long as I have him in my memories he will live on. I’ve noticed I had some of his mannerisms so I felt comfort knowing his legacy will live on in some shape
My condolences, friend. I haven't lost any of my close family members or friends yet. But going through this expansion made me realize that I will have to face the reality eventually.
To me, always stay close to the ones you care. You never know when their time will come.
I lost my uncle who was like a father to me 3 weeks before DT. I feel this
this music fucks me up more than close in the distance ngl
2:32 is like getting hit with a sledgehammer made of haunting bittersweet nostalgia.
It's omouness plus familiar, like an old friend trying to reach out. Are you ready to accept its arrival?
to think we have come to this place as the Angel of Death
yeah i felt this area was much more effective than ultima thule at making you feel something. I was always close to tearing up going through living memory, I didn't have the same experience with ultima thule.
I couldn't agree with you at all, but that's luckily incredibly subjective. Ultima Thule was for me a lot more effective for me personally than whatever this zone tried.
Again though. It's definitely one of the more personal moments and it's impossible to generalize that.
"You may know failure, and burning regret...but these too shall become beacons to guide you. So come what may, hold your head high and carry on with conviction. And wherever your journeys take you, keep me close to your heart, will you?"
I never had the chance to say goodbye to my girlfriend when she passed away. So many times had I wished for one last miracle to say some last words, to have our true parting. When G'raha was asking if my WoL ever grieved so much she wanted the miracle to happen, I just broke in a million pieces. By the end of the zone, I had no tears left to shed.
For years, it really has been our bygone serenity, hasn't it? Rest well, my love, we will see each other again, one day. I love you so much.
Looked for the City of Gold but i found City of Tears.
THIS 😭
scions look around "why are there talking bugs everywhere"
EGIIIDO
SHAW SHAW SHAW
HEGAAAARE
A Weeping City, if you will.
when they say "all that glitters is not gold" what they mean is "what glitters is not only gold, but it's tears as well."
the fact they decided to make such a detailed and beautiful place for a couple hours of gameplay, just to make you erase it yourself is a very brave choice
It’s Scala Ad Caelum all over again.
@@Darksaviour This zone honestly reminded me quite a bit of Twilight Town (especially the data version in Kingdom Hearts 2).
Kinda sad I didn't do lots of gposes before I turn everything off
@@sbricksful Worse case, you can NG+ and Gpose to return everythin as was but. That pulls the impact away huh.
@@gulusgammamon That isn't really the same as restoring it canonically, though, right? It's not coming back for real.
Maybe I'm overthinking, but this song feels like it can end in a lot of moments, but refuses to end an continues on and on and on. I mean, some parts of the song can easily be the end in another songs, but here it just continues.
It's honestly very clever of the song to represent the zone. It needs to end, but keeps going, sometimes in an unnatural way - the keyshift before the song loops is a very awkward way to keep the song going. Just like the Endless. The fact that it's such a cheery, warm fuzzy nostalgia song like in a Pixar or Disney movie adds to the vibe. It's so desperately trying to keep that feeling going when it needs to resolve.
@@chronoxtreme2427 you're both so right! this insight is making me cry all over again 😭
I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed the "continuous" feeling of the song. It feels like it should actually end at the 3:39 mark. But then the higher note at 3:40 feels like it's saying, "Wait..." and then it repeats. It's so minor, yet so brilliant in making the song feel "Endless."
The consistent fade-in and fade-out that occurs once you „cleared“ the entire area and are revisiting it adds to this theory. I like it!
I think what hit me the most was the way the 'people' of Living Memory reacted as we finally put them to rest. I was so sure, SO sure, that as they began to fade they would panic, be scared and confused... but instead they just... kept going on as if nothing was happening. The few who did react did so with a smile. It really hit me the more I saw those reactions that in reality, they were all already gone long ago. And I think they knew it, too. I think they were ready, and that thought helps at least a little bit.
The people in Living Memory know that they are dead and they they are just simulacrum of those departed souls.
That was why Calcua and Krile's parents wanted you to end it, they know it is merely an illusion
Do not seek restoration, for it will not ease the burden
It weighs as it should
A lot of music doesn't immediately hit me in game unless i have a fond immediate attachment to it like to the FFIX music in game cause I have delayed emotional reactions at times and it took listening to this track and the comment "Everyone had died, we were just there to turn the lights off in the house." to set me off into near tears, as this nostalgic sound to set in place how much loss we all go through in our everyday life without realizing it, but not only that. time will move forward and those happy memories of bygone days will pass through but it means you shouldn't take what you had for granted and acknowledge that even if life sucks, the people and good days will always be with you in someway.
I miss my pet dog so much after he passed, I've moved away from my mom to live in a new location with my best friend, and the intense loneliness i feel from my mom's distance, even when i've been entirely frustrated with her at times, hits because I don't know if it'll be the last time i see her, like how Erenville losing his mom and only getting one more chance to spend time with her.
Fuck, I'm sorry. I know I'm just a random stranger crying online and feeling everything suddenly but, Living Memory is a zone that's not bad when you turn it all off. Complaining about how pretty it is and losing it isn't the point of the zone. The point of the zone is accepting not everything lasts forever cause if everything was a happy day, living in only the good times, is that really living. The pain is part of living and being trapped in only a dream is only letting yourself be blinded and you might as well be dead at that point.
The ache and hurt of loss isn't fair, may it be loss of someone close to you, a break up, a job, etc.
It's important to take the lessons you've learned from what you loss and grow from it. It's scary to hurt, to lose, to ache, but like every wound, it'll heal. It'll be a scar, but it's a reminder that you're going to be okay, that you'll be okay but different. Cause not everything can be the same as it was, but you're still alive.
Contrary to what seems to be the popular opinion, I don't want Living Memory to ever be golden again. I've learned the lesson of the MSQ. Look back and remember the past fondly, but keep it there. If you expend energy to try to keep the past alive, you'll only end up like Alexandria as it truly is...desolate and lonely. Don't be afraid of moving on, continue to grow and don't be fooled bu the beauty of the past.
At least, that's the symbolism I read.
so many people online totally missed the message. (also half of them seemed to have just skipped the cutscenes so its like.....why yall here?!)
I do want to see it changed in the patches, but not back to what it was. I want them to do something with this unknown reflection
the inevitability of death and importance of processing grief VS the unmatched power of new game plus
@@ashencometmom5291 The NG+ that isn't out yet, has to be activated separately, and you still need to go through the entire back half of Dawntrail?
@@ShabadoobieVTif you activate even ARR Ch1 it sets every zone back to their original states
Two weeks before the release of Dawntrail, my little brother took his own life. I was in shock, I could hardly even bring myself to cry, it completely decimated me with no idea how to react. The day Dawntrail released was the same day of his funeral. I liked the MSQ but had my issues with it, particularly with the pacing, but when I got here, when I fully took in what was happening, I finally broke down.
I could never bring myself to hate this expansion even with all my issues with it, this area and the music still make me shiver even now, months after I've finished Dawntrail. Sphene's fake world is beautiful at first glance, but in the end, it is only an empty amusement park populated by snapshots of the deceased. We have to let go, but it's so hard. This song seriously rocks me to my core in ways I can't describe.
I love you buddy. See you again some day.
Really makes you wish we could talk to those we've lost just one more time. Haurchefant, Ysayle, Moenbryda, Papalymo, Minfillia, Ardbert, Emet Selch, Hythlodeus, Elidibus, Venat...
Knowing them, they'd want us to keep going forward. And that's what we'll do.
When G'raha asked if there was someone you wished were still around, my mind basically screamed Venat, lol. Of course, we didn't get to answer it. And if we did, none of the 4 or so offered answers would probably be satisfactory to me.
I get why narratively it wouldn't make sense for any of them to be here, but God I wanted just once chance to say goodbye to Moenbryda, for me. Fuck do I miss her...
100% was Emet and Hythlo for me. I still wonder if the trio(the Azem they always refer to and them) will still be able to return to the star together or if they already have. So much left unanswered about those three that I would love to sit and learn all about.
I was thinking if there would have been surprise appearances by past characters but this isn't in the same shard as the one you lost them in
This theme hits more personally for me than I realized. Erenville's relationship with his mother feels a lot like my relationship with mine. I could see us in them. My mother is still here, but I know there will come a time when she won't be. I don't know if I'll be ready when that time comes, but I have hope that I will
This zone broke me a few times. There was a point where I wasn't sure if I could keep going.
I deff had to step away a few times to go hang out with my wife and work through the emotions hahahah
I'm currently going through that...
If you're reading this and tearing up, its because you're remembering and accepting the pain.
It's reminding you of all the good times you had with the people you've lost. They aren't gone...so long as you keep their memory on.
The pain you feel now is part of the joy of remembering them,
Feeling the pain means you had a lot of love for them... and they loved you back too..
GDI I triggered myself writing this whilst listening to the music and doing some of the blue aethercurrent quests
I thank you for this. I had a lot of pent up emotion and finally let it out
I have lost so many people dear to me in the past. But the most hardest hitting of them all was one and only friend I ever had in past, who took his own life away by hanging himself to death without me knowing until much later when I heard about it from one of his friends. For years and years I kept blaming myself of his death even though I knew it wasn't my fault. He apparently had got himself in a situation that he didn't see any other way out. If I would have known him suffering in the background while pretending to be fine, things would have been different and maybe he still would be alive today. This area when I first played it and when I hear it again here, it always hits me in the feels like a freight train and makes me tear up and cry every single time. So thank you for this message. This song is perfect to let those pent up emotions out and that is okay. It's okay to let your feelings out. Rather that than trying to act tough.
@@krillffxiv5021 I'm glad it helped you
@@akikoWOL I'm glad this helped you too. Acceptance and grief are the only things we can use to cope with the unfairness of life and this song... hits so hard for me too for the people I've lost.
Cherish those memories,. Theya re full of love. And a way to heal the blame and hurt.
Reminds me of Tidus’ Zanarkand: A collective memory that needed to end.
yeah this expansion gave me big FFX and ffIX vibes. but still no blitzball 😂
The fact that we had to turn the place off killed me but the message of letting go is so powerful I can’t even be mad still sad but wow
Yeah, I was really bummed. Then I found out you can restore it with any earlier chapter of New Game+, so I just toggle that on when doing FATEs, etc.
@@MinishDudebut in a way, it loses the meaning of your actions to do so. For me, I really needed to let go. So I don't try to wind back the past here, i accept that it's gone and to move on.
Call your mom and tell her how much you love her
I played this very close to the 1st anniversary of my mom's death. You can imagine how it went...
@@MajaHeban I hope you're doing ok
Can't. :(
The oboe is emotional kryptonite to me and Soken uses it perfectly here. Wistfulness and nostalgia in a perfect melody on an instrument with a singular, clear voice. Stunningly beautiful.
This zone is called Living Memory. To put it bluntly: You have found out that there's another world, and it's home to the Alexandrian people called the Endless, who are being kept alive by an AI who was made for the sole purpose of preserving life. This is done by harvesting living people of their aether, collecting their souls and memories, and preserving the memories using the aether from the collected souls. Basically, the people have been turned into living data.
As someone put it: Everyone here has died, and we are just here to turn the lights off in the house. You are tasked with shutting down the terminals in Living Memory to grant the Endless a merciful, peaceful end.
I am someone who has had four family members on what is essentially life support. They were, in order: My brother, my great grandmother, and my adopted parents (grandparents). I had to witness my brother be taken off at 13, my great grandmom a few years later, I was woken up to my adopted mom having removed her trachea tube and dying from such, and I was at home when my adopted dad died while on life support.
As I had to pull what was essentially life support for fictional characters, the quest put me in a dark place, and I ended up sobbing myself to sleep after shutting down the final terminal and wishing Cahciua farewell.
I have alts, but I don't think I can go through this zone again, ever. I don't have the strength or will power to endure this for several other characters, and I'm currently just soul and heart broken over how close the story for Living Memory hit home.
What really surprised me here
SPACE FOR SPOILER
was that many of the Endless were perfectly fine with being erased. Unlike their Queen who desperately holds on to this place, they could move on, making her efforts even worse
It's because there's a difference between living and existing. Being put in a simulation, forgotten by your friends and relatives with nothing to do but exist in a pleasant memory isn't a real life. I think that's why I appreciate the rite of succession so much, by passing down the torch and fostering a legacy to future generations is how you can, in a sense, live forever. Thats kinda what the four characters in living memory wanted more than anything, Wuk Lamats mother passing on her kindness to her daughter, Otis realising that Alexandria still exists as a great and wonderous nation, Kriles parents realizing that their child lived a happy and fruitful existence and Caucia inspiring Erenville to live out his dreams and aspirations that she always wanted. I think it makes sense how legacy is the central theme of the expansion
@@shareyy8129 That's a great point. Well said
@@shareyy8129 The biggest thing I noticed was that Alexandria had Emet Selch written all over it.
@@hellgoramaI see your point, but a difference here was Emet made Amaurot to show us/remind him what he was fighting for.
Sphene actively wanted under her programming to keep her people + alive+, there wasn't any other way to stop her, otherwise it would be shard genocide.
@@Krysta1Rose Yea but Emet Selch and the ascians were actively going around and messing with people's affairs in the source and shards. Emet Selch especially said he orchestrated the creation of various imperial states. my point is he was probably involved in helping/teaching the alexandrians to create this soul capture and manipulation tech.
This area just made me cry; to be able to talk to someone you lost so dearly again....tears of joy, tears of sadness.
I cannot stop thinking about this piece of music. At the risk of sounding cringe, this is the sort of music I want played at my funeral. Mournful and nostalgic, with a tiny bit of whimsy to remind people that maybe I made them smile now and then, and gentle in its finality.
Won't lie--if I had my choice of "funeral music", it could be much worse. Between this and Tchaikovsky's 6th...yeah, both would feel appropriate.
It's actually completely appropriate for that purpose.
this zone felt like walking around a pretty cozy christmas town in the afterlife where you could run into your loved ones who passed away and get a chance to talk to them again
it's really beautiful the way dawntrail plays into the meaning of life & death (and the beauty of such a thing, if that makes sense) in way similar to FFIX
Remember to treasure the moments you have with your loved ones while you can, make sure to cherish them, every, single, day
The color, the music, the architecture.
Twilight Town anyone?
i got that vibe as well!
The story vibes, too. Twilight Town is about the loss of childhood innocence. The idea that your summer vacation can't last forever. That you'll have to fade away and pass the torch on to someone else.
...and also that you're trapped in a simulation.
I'm so glad I wasn't the only one who had this thought!
Heh, both the gf and I were saying the same thing.
I thought the same. Whole area gave me putting Roxas to sleep vibes.
I feel like people calling this "basically Amaurot 2.0" are too blinded by their dislike for the MSQ that they missed the point of this zone
What I’ve been sayinggg
This. The MSQ had legit problems but people just choose to ignore the well done themes of this zone because their hatred of the MSQ(which is a bit justified I guess).
No, it's right on point. The zone is a terrible execution. Emotionally, it resonates with a lot of people, I'll give it that, but the concept is flawed. They hammer home that these aren't actually people, but their memories. You need a body, soul, and memories as stated from the endwalker raid series. It's no different than talking to chatGPT imitating one of your loved ones. Frankly, aside from watching how other people handle their loss, I was escatic being able to turn everything off. Last thing we really needed in this game is euthanasia disneyland. But that's just me. I really just feel like my own feelings of keeping someone 'alive' when they're realistically dead are bleeding through. That place was practically no more different than a ward of comatose people that were brain dead. The only difference here is that there is brain, but nothing else. It's effectively no different ethically.
Also, the fact that damn cat wouldn't shut the hell up throughout the entire thing didn't help. Like, dude, maybe go play on the swings or something. Let the Scions handle this.
@@roetemeteor what’s funny is your dislike for the zone is pretty much the moral to the story that they were trying to deliver lol
This is a deeper meaning of amarout... something that feels more personal to you than a race that existed out of your space...
It’s interesting how SPOILERS
everyone in this zone, every Endless NPC, was okay with the WoL and the gang turning everything off. They were satisfied, and the Queen did a good job of giving them a chance at fulfilling incomplete wishes. If they had to go, then at least they spent some time in heaven for a bit.
This song is filled with the loneliness of a theme park before it closes, the warmth of holding someone's hand, and the gentle feelings you get when thinking about a loved one.
Good night everyone.
It really has those vibes of someone telling you "It's okay, go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning." Holding your hand knowing full well that this will be the last time you'll ever wake up, feeling the warmth slowly leave your palm. Yeah, this zone messed me up, could you tell?
*_"How to describe the sheer amazement we felt when we emerged on the other side of the portal? I fear words do not do it justice."_*
*_"Before us was a vibrant world where the memories of the departed abided and reveled in bygone days."_*
*_"Living Memory, or so the Endless called it."_*
*_"How they laughed and smiled as they reminisced upon unfulfilled dreams. Alive in all perceivable ways...yet knowing no loss."_*
*_"So resplendent was every ilm of this paradise, the words rose unbidden to my lips:"_*
*"All this time, it was here─the city of gold..."*
You know what this piece makes me feel ?
I sincerely hope in the distant future, We'll get a cure for Dementia.
It's one thing to lose someone you love,accept and paying our respects and remembering them and pass their stories to the next generation so that they forever be remembered.
It's another to see that very loved one slowly LOSES their memories and deteriorates as the get old and worse, the same could happen to you too and that's just completely unfair.
My Elene'shpya 😭
why you make us cry once more...
my clever mallard…
My fussy little bun-bun...
I had to go to work right after unlocking the final dungeon and boy, I was not in a great state of mind after having just finished this zone.
Final dungeon is a banger! Make sure full volume bgm and look at the background.
Literally my favorite bgm and dungeon for now. Did not expect a bgm from a MSQ dungeon took my top spot.
@@bigfoxkiYup, finished the expac back on Monday. I’m still thinking about this map in particular, even now.
I hadn’t cried much this expansion until this goddamned zone, Ho boy even this music just slaughters me. Such a gentle and loving hug. I love this game.
Seven years.
I've been playing this game for Seven years. And in all that time; this was the first and only place that had lingering emotional impact.
Coming back to this area post msq... the hollow feint notes of this bygone halcyon theme only murmering in the wind. Like a memory, truly fading with time
It makes me stop and wander. Every time. I need the time to process. To remember. To *feel*.
As someone who has been very sensitive to the topic of death, this expansion and by extension this theme resonated with me so much. Had to take several breaks while finishing this zone but I'm glad I did
I adored Ultima Thule, but after shutting down the first tower in Living Memory and seeing what happened to that area, I spent a solid hour running around the next one and taking pictures, almost in tears refusing to continue the msq because I didn't want to ruin this beautiful place and its people. This area took me a lot longer than any other in the whole game. Ultima Thule made me want to keep going, but Living Memory made me want to freeze time...This theme is like a punch in the heart but at the same time a warm embrace, how they managed to convey such a feeling amazes me.
Both this song and zone are epitomes of the word bittersweet, it was so surprising to start the final segment on this note.
The tone in particular is so beautiful, yet so somber, perfectly capturing the essence of losing yourself in nostalgic memories.
This zone was very hard for me to get through as it spurred feelings of grief over my grandpa, coupled with the vibe I got from the zone of being full of people unable to move on made it a very emotionally taxing zone the I just wanted to be done with.
Congratz ff14 devs, once again (the tone shift at 2:30 is magical, feels like the music reminds us that they found joy even "after" death)
This point just kills me. Floored. Sooooo good.
If you pay attention, this song has some reminiscence with the main theme of FFIX.
I was really quite emotional during the whole area, since it's like having a part of FFIX in the game and even more an area as iconic and representative as Alexandria is...
I feel that this zone hits harder when you previously played FFIX and understand all the symbolisms that exist in the zone.
Never in my imagination did I think Ultima Thule would have a near perfect counterpart as a reflection on life. And despite Dawntrail's flaws, good lord did it succeed in ruining my soul in the last zone.
Anyone else cry during this zone? Please don't tell me I'm alone.
I definitely did, seeing everyone happy and family reunited, only to have to bring those memories to an end
@@Naoto-kun1085 It's so much more than that for me. It was the way it was structured to keep hitting you harder each time. We start simple with someone who the characters have already taken the time to grieve for, so they get through it easier. This is followed by someone who had died not long ago who they had NOT yet grieved for. Next, they round up the conclusion of a plot thread while giving us people who we understand the emotional weight but which we know are still kinda disconnected. You're taking a beat down.
Then they bust out the end which is so connected! You've been having to watch the turmoil unfold. The tragedy of it all, a slow confrontation, and its victim has yet to come to terms with it. Through this whole part, it's all about setting that up that happening. You know it. And that makes the fleeting happiness it tries to act out feel so painful.
@@hythrainI agree, I found this entitr zone so impactful. It feels sad having to end the happiness of all the Endless, but in the end we have no choice but to put them to rest.
What are you talking about? I'm still crying..
@@ladyopheliagames True. I feel the tears well up every time I go back there for a train.
this might be one of my favorite area themes in the game. the fact that it doesnt even change when you enter combat is a good choice, the combat music would totally break the feel of the area, and the fact that its just absolute silence after you shut down the terminals makes it hurt even more. theres not even a day/night cycle, its just infinite and peaceful until its gone.
There's something I really can't put into words about the fact that the wealth of the golden city turned out to not even be anything material like literal gold but rather the memory of those that have died, that combined with the cost of its continued existence feels very uniquely touching as well as heartbreaking and horrifying
It also fits with the real life "City of gold": El Dorado. A delusion born of greed during the colonization of Middle and South America. Several people (a good chunk natives forcefully conscripted) died from starvation, exposure and disease in the jungles searching for something that was never really real.
Fitting then that the only thing that can substain the "city of gold" in FFXIV is people dying. All in a pointless attempt to keep a vision of gold from fading away.
I did break into tears for this track, I still do- not because of those who were already lost, this song somehow digs up *something*. I wish you luck if any of you have sorrow in your heart before getting here... I think I'll even just stroll alone around here just to have a moment.
Soken's ability to make you nostalgic for a place you've never been before is unparalleled. What a potent song.
the piano part kills me every time. this zone was incredible
I refuse to restore this zone via NG+ because it goes against the entire point of it, but it's nice to still be able to see it's glory days via recordings, much like an actual memory c:
Indeed, it feels similar to deleting your save file at the end of NieR Automata, it's part of the experience
This was a bold choice for a final boss theme. Can't believe I wiped 4 times to the Flowing Tears mechanic
As beautiful as this theme is, I cannot help but get teary when I hear it. The story of this place and what comes later to it makes it even sadder. It sounds so melancholic.
This track has left an irreparable scar on my heart that just aches whenever it plays. The songs just steadily tugs at your heartstrings as you go through Living Memory. You feel nostalgic at first upon hearing it, then melancholy as you hear it more, then just end up crying buckets the more you explore the place while it’s playing. I legitimately didn’t believe my heart could break into any more pieces this place tortured me so. Fantastic job
that whole final section gave me "Angel Beats" vibes in concept (albeit a bit diffrent ofc), i absolutely loved it and the music fits so damn well.
yea i thought the same xD, felt like angel beats + plastic memories a bit
"All this time, it was here - the city of gold."
You know? That piano that starts looping the same notes beginning at 1:34 in the background and then taking the spotlight at 2:02 kinda make me feel like "it's time to say goodbye".
And then Sphene's theme kicks right after that at 2:34, as if she's trying to hold everything and everyone together like she's saying "I won't let you die" while it sounds so cheerful and sad because this is not what it's supposed to be. This is not what she's supposed to do, and they all are aware of it.
And they say this is a happy expansion...a summer vacation...!!!!
And somewhere, far in the distance, we can hear Yoshi-P gloating over our collective naivety
It's safe to say that that was marketing. But it was a fun thought! And I think it can carry on in spirit in its own way.
Still, every vacation has to end, doesn't it?
Have to say, did not expect the main themes of Dawntrail to be "The Burden of Expectations" and "Dealing woth Loss and Grief".
I'm not complaining, I've enjoyed the expansion so far (its not ShB or EW, but its still good), just was not expect those to be the reoccuring theme.
You know I find the interesting that the zone is like ultima thule but instead of a place full of Memories of despair it a place full of memories of happiness and when one or all the zones reveal what they truly are It kind of looks like the final area before going through the final walk I don't know I just get ultima thule vibes from this place especially when you're done with the MSQ part
It's like Ultima Thule, but this is memories of lives well-lived instead of lives of those who gave up on living. The golden light evokes the notion of memories and sepia photographs, in my mind. I really appreciated the notion of "gold" being more a metaphor than about plundering treasure. The treasure is those memories returning to the Lifestream to become new lives.
@@laerwen Rather beautifully, the weather in Living Memory before you shut it all down is just called "Reminiscence"
Sad and beautiful. I cannot express anything else. It's even saddier that it doesn't last after everything is off.
The piano part playing after i just saw all the children in yesterland 💔
I won't lie, I broke down in tears many times in this Zone. This song is beautiful and make me feel Nostalgic, even though I never heard t before this expansion. When you turn off parts of the city and the music just gone, that was a real knife turn in the heart for me. It was a good move on the devs but damn did that sting.
I fucking broke when Cahciua teared up….goodbyes really are hard
One aspect I haven’t really seen talked about is the theme of parenthood. You see it in Gulool Jaja, in Bakool Jana’s parents, in Zoraal Ja, in Otis, in Namikka, in Krile’s parents and of course in Cahciua. Even possibly Sphene. All different forms of parents, all with different impacts on the children.
its been 3months still this theme breaks my heart
"Memories are nice, but that's all they are" -- Rikku, FFX.
Dawn trail chain of memories
I thought shutting it all down would make coming back here for gameplay stuff painful, but... weirdly, I like it better after the MSQ. There's more natural places here than you'd think, and the places that aren't are surprisingly nice even in raw electrope. It kind of has the feeling of a peaceful graveyard.
I broke down just seeing the area for the first time. Lost my dad months ago and my granddad weeks before the expansion's early release. I told my friends I was gonna rush through the last area so we could raid, and I spent the night mourning again.
Even after finishing MSQ months ago I've still really been unable to get this zone out of my head. I've had a lot of trouble coming to terms with how "existence" past death or the possible lack their of so long, so to have this reminder tucked in an area we had to take down ourselves felt super painful for me.
I think what I felt horrible about is I knew deep down I'd value a second chance like this. I almost died in a car accident a little over a year ago, and my nephew was only a week old. After it happened it gave me that usual reminder of how fragile life is. So even I knew I would cherish at least a chance to say good bye, especially if I perished that day.
A lot of people have specific thoughts about this zone, but at least I think most of us can agree on that its a good reminder to live life while we have it.
I lost my brother to suicide right before Endwalker. That last endwalk was super challenging. But this… I pretty much had tears from the moment I entered until the last light turned off and beyond. I still haven’t come to terms with his loss. This zone was even more painful and hard to get through, but it was also beautiful therapy for the soul. Miss you forever Mark Goodstix.
This place at the start, especially with this music, gave me huge Twilight Town vibes from Kingdom Hearts.
Why is this song giving me more KH2 nostalgia vibes then KH3s Twilight Town
Probably the best zone theyve ever done. So beautiful yet so morbid
lmao, worse 6th zone to ever be made
@@1jidion Lochs
Ultima Thule > Living Memory (Pre-termination) > Amaurot > Living Memory (Post-termination) > Mor Dhona > Azys Lla > The Lochs
@@waterboiledpizzaAzys Lla is better than Mor Dhona but I pretty much agree with the rest of your list.
Azys is horribly underused. Loads of interesting areas and hidden jewels and they used none of it.
@@TheWally02 Only thing Azys Lla needs is another Aetheryte then it's all good
Let's not forget the fact that the entrance to this place is hidden on the other side of a door on a graveyard. So I guess the clue to the true nature of the "city of gold" was there all along.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I had to stop and cry a few times in this zone. Some of the characters bore a close resemblance to loved ones who have passed, and it was rough playing through this area.
Preservation, the endless, and alexandria as a whole feels like the leftovers of an ascian plot that just... kept living on without supervision.
That was the impression I got. The Ascians were prepping this world to be rejoined in a calamity, but then we killed Emet and Elidibus and the plan collapsed, leaving Alexandria to languish.
@@CallMeNoa maybe, but if I have the timescale of events right I think they just left it to languish after they were done pushing sphene's reflection over to lightning: much like how they discarded the remnants and survivors of the 13th and let the void sent fester and invade every now and then
The reflection of them is already dead. The lightning calamity was the first to struck on the source, and i belive this world was the first the ascians successfuly rejoined provoking the "thunder wars" on that reflection.
@@Zantier There are only 8 "elements" but 13 shards, which means at some point the elements would have to be used again, the lightning calamity was was the 2nd, while the Milala travelled from the source to Alexandria's shard during the 5th(ice), suggesting that this calamity of lightning was not the same one that caused a rejoining.
P.S. the First Calamity was the Calamity of Wind
@@austinmartin612 hey you are right, maybe it is another reflection. And yea, I completely forgot the first was wind
...I can't help but wonder...if you could give a year of your life to spend a day with a lost loved one, would you? Would it be worth the cost?
How many people would give up their whole lives just for that tiny bit longer with someone special?
My dad. I'd just want to have a last conversation with him where I could hear him talk and laugh one last time, his heartful, wholly laugh, tell him I love and miss him very much.
I wasn't always the best son, he wasn't always the best father. In later years I took solace in the fact him being ''imperfect'' was the experiences that shaped him as a young boy too once - he too was innocent, this is also his first attempt at life, at being an adult, at being a father to his children. He did his best though, that's what I believe. I'll always hold that regard. I wish someone could have been there for him when he was younger.
I miss you every day dad 🖤
already teary :(. Such a beautiful piece.
It's kind of funny. Before I got to Solution Nine and here, I had just finished Persona 3 Reload. A game based around momento mori as one of its themes and how the social links were about helping people who have death as a major factor in their life one way or another and helping them through it. And now we have a society that tries to deny death in multiple different ways. Ranging from actively removing memories to prevent sadness to making ghosts so they can still continue
Couldn't stop crying here - it is a very moving peice of music that Soken made here. Definitely had trouble completing this last part - definitely felt like the story was helping us who have lost loved ones say goodbye once more before letting them rest in peice :(
This was my favourite zone in DT, my man Otis is the GOAT
I just wanted to comment and say thank you for not using the actual name of the zone like so many other channels I've been seeing recently. I actually got spoiled on the final dungeon because youtube decided to just autoplay into it and the creator put the name right in the title. So for that you're getting a like and a sub. ♥
I love how the final part of this incorporates “The trail unending” (which is the Alexandria theme) and it has somber final tone to it to signify that Alexandria is no more, While the dungeon theme is is at the height of kingdom Alexandria’s time. Also it’s played for the first part of interphos with a more updated solution 9 feel to it to show that old Alexandria is gone but it people live on in a new era. Love how soken and his team handled that.
This zone didn’t just hit close to home for me, it hit it right through the roof 😭 a specific area here was so on the nose for me and my grief hit me like a firetruck, I had to step away from the game. Absolutely the hardest xiv has made me cry and I loved it 😭❤️ it’s hard to let go sometimes but it’ll be alright
As soon as I started the first 'segment' of this area and it clicked in me that the thematic of this final zone and thus the ending of the story would be about learning to let go and move on whilst cherishing the memories of loved ones long past, I started crying. Like. Proper crying. I barely made it to the 2nd segment before I had to stop for the night but because of the song as soon as I logged back in the next day it hit me again. I think next expansion I'll be having tissues with me for the finale cause I clearly didn't learn my lesson from the previous 2 expansions and DT LOL
Like the eeriness that fell over the place when turning off the first terminal was a gut punch and as soon as I realized every terminal would have someone there to make it feel harder for us made me go 'oh noooooo...'
The emotions were heightened more by the fact that one of my grandmothers has recently passed, and within the last 10 years or so I've also lost both grandfathers, and also currently live with the crippling internal sorrow of the fact that there will be more loved ones passing in the future (because yknow. that's literally how life is, sadly). Heck even typing this has got me teary eyed. I'm scared to return to the zone because I know I'll cry, but I also need to feel that emotional pain, because I severely need to come to terms with things and learn to love and let go
Only remembering what happened in the cutscenes and think of what's about to happen was enough to make me cry while I was just standing in some random place in this area with this song...
There's a lot of people who complain about this zone and the ending... assuming that nothing will happen in the 5+ patches we have coming up over the next few years.
Patience.