I Just Finished Shadowbringers...
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- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
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Wanna know the best part of all of this, Bellular? You've barely scratched the surface of what the game has to offer. You still need to unlock, and run:
12 Alexander Raids + 3 Shadow of Mhach Alliance Raids from Heavensward
12 Omega Raids + 3 Ivalice Alliance Raids + 3 Optional Trials from Stormblood
12 Eden Raids + 3 Alliance Raids + Optional, Endgame Dungeons from Shadowbringers
Not to mention running/clearing all of the Savage and Ultimate difficulty content-- all of which have rich, fully fleshed out stories and AMAZING fights that are completely, wholly unique from the normal mode versions, even offering new/different enemies, cutscenes and music scores.
Natsuko Ishikawa received a standing ovation for this, and she completely deserves it!
She deservers a lot more than just a standing ovation imo.
Our credit card number perhaps?
@@rptrrwr THIS. And the Ovation damn-near made her cry.
Love watching that clip! Would be interesting to see the reactions post-Endwalker...
Since she wrote EW too, I hope it'll be just as good!
I knew I loved this game, but something about sitting in the alien DMV, and talking to a ghost while waiting for my number to be called, made me realize just how insanely talented and dedicated the team behind it was. I can't tell you why, it was a surreal moment
Hahahaha. Best comment.
Emet talked about his utopia, and how you wouldn't remember it - but the whole design of Amaurot really brings up a sense of nostalgia, which people have pointed out stems from the architecture of the city. Our characters, born to a world just industrializing do not recognize the city, but we do - the architecture is Art Deco - a form popular just prior to World War 2. New York City and a few other older cities have buildings with the style.
The whole DMV thing helps cement it - the city and inhabitants could very well be an illusion crafted by Emet to bias you, but the imperfect bureaucracy just slams it into you that perhaps this place truly once existed.
isn't it amazing what people will buy if they're invested?
I love how the ‘ultimate race’ were a bunch of superbureaucrats lmao
@@pll3827 Even the sound design in the Anyder dungeons, with the jazz music and the weird radio.
Speaking of Ardbert's voice acting, I just remember the extremely angry/sad "We did everything right, everything that was asked of us and still it came to this!" done so well back in 3.4, and then it was so huge to find out what that everything was.
Also when it dawned on me when he was like, "Oh god you can hear me", I was so sad. That would really suck to just be a ghost in a world you tried so hard to save
I'm tearing up again! Truly well done!
That moment where the entire magnitude of what he's been through just hits you like a dry fish. No fanfare, just... Oh. .... oh man. That's awful. I'll be your bro, of course : ( damn
Regardless of what you felt about him before, suddenly you just care. Nobody deserves that.
And then they nail it deeper several times. Oof. Below the belt but in the best way.
Don't do this to me. Why did you make me remember that line.
"run, run danm you GODSDAMNIT PLEASE LETS THIS WORK PLEASE LETS THIS WORK"
Why have done to deserve this "mercy"
I remember people loving that voicework, but wondering what the point of it all was. Why was he here? Why did this happen? Just to take Minfilia off the table? They said the patch was a bit of a waste.
lol. lmao.
This was SUCH an enjoyable watch - you really hit the nail on the head with your comment that FF14 has such a voice, a strong identity. This dev team has "it" & have honed their techniques over many expansions, learning from mistakes and always listening to their players' desires.
FF14 has been a refuge for me as well in dark times, so to see you echo that sense of appreciation...:) its very wholesome, i honestly can't help but smile:) it's one of the things that binds this community together, this shared experience of story that we're all (well mostly all ;) ) so invested in emotionally. to me that sort of deep immersion, the kind that can make you happy when everything else is wrong, well what gaming's all about. thanks for keeping me company in my 2000+ server queue xD off to watch that patch reaction now!
Btw, if you get stuck in a queue, consider watching the FFXIV Official channel's video about the 'making of SHB'. its big spoilers for those who didnt finish but of course, you're safe to watch it now)
The Bible is also a good example where everything in the story matters and isn’t just going no - where. I loved that Bellular pointed that out with FF14. It makes me so hyped to play this game. Been watching your stuff to Zep! Keep up the good work
Couldn't have said it better myself Zepla. This was so wholesome, because you could feel his excitement and love for the game and the moments he experienced. Something most if not all of us can attest to!
Hi Zep :3
There's a reason we say that Shadowbringers isn't just the best MMORPG story ever told, it might be one of the best Final Fantasies. Period.
SHB does make it "one of" the best. Endwalker will help determine if it IS the best.
If it beats Heavensward...
@@sitnspin1819 that bar is so high but I've got faith in Yoshi P and the team.
As a truly hardcore FF Fan and not so great Fan of FF14 (still playing it for the story, sure, but more out of completionism) overall you can't compare it to mainline FFs. Too much storytelling is way too generic and cookie cutter anime to be praised as exceptional and that just stems from the fact that sooo much is boring filler like in a drawn out anime series. Making a story long doesn't make it good, but I see it was necessary to create enough content for the MMO genre.
That being said, I am excited for Endwalker, because storytelling did improve by a lot it sure got me invested enough to care, but it is FAR off to become "the best" Final Fantasy, because you just can't compare apples to oranges. Best MMORPG story is good enough folks.
@@excaligaming2435 Okay... however it IS a mainline FF and, aside from a minute amount of quests, there is some kind of world building going on, so I am confused as to what you're on about when you're talking about filler. I am curious as to what you define as the best FF though.
I'm so glad you _finally_ understand what we've been talking about.
and he hasn’t even seen 5.3 yet
Well tbh, he's just scratching the surface of the game since he's been pretty much "banned" by the others from doing any of the side-content, which many times are good enought on their own to consume many hours of playtime. Not to mention he haven't probably even started to explore the other jobs, crafting and the whole game-mode called Blue Mage. He basicly have hundreds of hours of "evergreen content" to delve into for the full experience... So he ain't quite "there" yet, outside of the story part.
I really liked how they made Dulia Chai such a likeable character, and didn't turn her weight into a punchline
Yes! It made me so happy.
they didn't but I definitely did lmfao she was a hoss
There’s one major character you forgot to discuss: The Warrior of Light/Darkness themself. Shadowbringers did something that I have never seen in any other MMO before, including XIV up to that point. It made the player character the protagonist of the story. In ARR and Heavensward Alphinaud is the protagonist of that story, the WoL is just along for the journey. Lyse (and Hien to a lesser extent) is the protag of Stormblood. But ShB is, at it’s emotional core, about what *is* the WoL, what makes them a hero, and what beyond that makes them special in this world? And the exploration of that theme continues through the patch content in a brilliant way, to the point that there is narrative justification as to why *you*, the player character, are the most important person in this story.
great point
Thanks, just gonna go cry now. That was beautiful.
That's what I really liked about Shadowbringers and Endwalker. In the credits for Endwalker at the very end when it credited the player I actually cried.
Just finished ShB and I totally felt this as well. It was so cool to see all the Scions rally around you and support you for once after all that you've done for them.
When a World of Warcraft player experiences something written by competent people who know what they are doing.
Impossible.. But knowing WoW and how they’ve literally made no effort then is it really surprising?
Dude that whole video he seemed so god damned happy. It genuinely cheered me up
@@theannualantagonist5930 Implying that anyone could do this...
To be honest, I think saying that Shadowbringers was "written by competent people" kinda downplays how good it actually is. I think there is this misguided notion that WoW players were a bunch of deluded fools who never played any other game.
I played WoW for a very long time. I also played a fuckton of other games, mostly JRPGs. Shadowbringers is just really, really good, not just compared to WoW (being "good" compared to Shadowlands isn't all that impressive) but as a game.
So I don't think Bellular is gushing over this expac because he was a poor, quality-starved WoW player. He was gushing over it because Shadowbringers is the best content ever produced to any MMO. Is a top-tier RPG experience.
WoW was competent at one time, easy there.
Loving how he's pointing at both Vauthrey and Emet, screaming "SEE? SEE? SEE HOW YOU WRITE A VILLAIN! THIS IS WHAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING" to Danuser et al
Emet only got introduced at the tail end of the SB patches, but by the end of ShB we all adored him, what's Zovaal's excuse
Blizzard gets a "Saturday morning cartoon villain!" whinge about Arthas and never highlights their villains again
Meanwhile Square hears the same thing and says "heck yeah, high fives all around"
Zovaal? Look at what they've done with Sylvanas.
This chanel was recomended in a Desperius video about FFXIV content creators: ua-cam.com/video/0sF8uOHF8y8/v-deo.html
Honestly... Emet-Selch is up there in that small club of all time greatest video game villains with Handsome Jack.
@@CrispBaker Honestly a willingness to double down on the "camp" and take things that might be seen silly completely seriously is one of the big differences with FF14 and part of why its so good IMO. I mean, the soundtrack is basically the equivalent of Elite Tauren Chieftain doing all the boss themes. Blizzard is so scared of being corny they don't know how to be cool.
Now for Mike and the Comments to appreciate that Ahm Araeng is Thanalan rotated 90 degrees, all the zones are.
So that Trolley path going down to Nabath Araeng is the tunnel between Horizon and Vesper Bay.
She prayed you would return to Vesper Bay, to the Waking Sands, one last time.
You're shitting me
That is an amazing catch!
Oh man this shit just made me burst into tears
@@stobiepiel2585 When someone else pointed it out to me I was like :O and then I was sad.
It's true of Norvrandt in general. Eulmore is Limsa, Mt Gulg is Ughomoro, Voeburt is Ishgard, Lakeland is Mor Dohna. I don't know if there's anything obvious in Rak'tika's geography, some of the Ronkan ruins may be in the stead of Gelmorra (PotD).
Koji did tease this a bit with the Fate in Ahm Araeng named "Pray Destroy the Waking Sands" to destroy angry sand golems.
@@jaeusa160 Rak'Tika = Gridania
"We Ascians know because it is our history. Our story."
“This world is not yours to end. This is our future. Our story.”
I loved the poetry of those lines reflecting one another.
That line really felt like a reference to FF10. Amaurot is basically Dream Zanarkand as well.
@@roetheboat1 what always made this better for me was they way that you can look at it as each individual FF game is a different one of the shards which makes those tie in and similarities that much more meaningful to those who played those games cause then its not only based on the connection you've developed with the Scions but also the ones you developed with those characters from that game
Holy fuck. Also reflects the main theme music: one brings shadow, one brings the light. Two-toned echoes, tumbling through time.
@Trash Person Interestingly enough, Igeyorhm (the Ascian who messed up and caused the 13th to be lost) has the same face and hairdo of Lightning. If you look her up, you can see her model without the Ascian mask.
@Trash Person Yes, we should. Every failure is a lesson learned; and if they didn't fuck up the 13th then things might not have played out the way they did to save our Universe.
Yeah the people of the 13th were fucked over, but their immense pain and suffering ensured that no other world was met with the same end. The destruction of the 13th was a net-positive because it spared the other 12 worlds AND the source.
Shadowbringers is an experience that is going to stick with me for the rest of my life. Decades from now when I think back fondly on my most cherished gaming memories, Shadowbringers will be at the forefront. I am not an emotional person by any means, but the last bit of content in Shadowbringers had me crying like a little baby girl who just had her lollipop stolen. I genuinely feel bad for people who don't get to experience this. Man . . . Just amazing.
Admittedly, it’s pretty easy for me to cry like a little bitch at media (I don’t try *not too*) and the last scene with
--- *SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER*----
Elidibus makes me weep every time lmao
Finish 5.3 yet? It gets better 😂
Are you saying you'll remember that they once lived? ;)
@@TheTinyTimmyTimTim the rains have ceased, and we have been graced with another beautiful day, but you are not here to see it.
@@keiichimorisato98 And just like that the wound reopens *weeps profusely*
The Thancred vs. Ran'jit fight is a masterpiece of storytelling. If this had been the WoL/D vs. Ran'jit, it would never have worked, because this was set up so beautifully to be Thancred's fight.
They made the stakes for this fight personal. Both of these are father figures to Minfilia, current and previous. Both of these men feel guilt because they feel they let past versions of her down.
Ran'jit is broken by probably decades of war, and wants to see Minfilia safe and happy in what he sees as the final days.
Thancred wants to see Minfilia be her own person, to see her grow, to see her prosper, even though he knows that doing so will mean his Minfilia will be gone forever. Resolving that inner conflict and letting himself finally grieve is just a part of what makes this fight great.
The fight itself is between these two fathers of the same young girl. This fight is personal. The stakes are personal, and their goals are fundamentally incompatible. No words or compromises exist that can prevent this fight. One will walk away with what they want, and the other will have nothing. The fight is inevitable, and they will both give everything to see it through.
It's a masterpiece.
And then ruined by (You) stealing thancred's kill.
@@gackybass thancred wouldn't have been able to get the kill.
@@gackybass It really didn't work that well, because by then Ran'jit was broken. Thancred had already won.
"One last time. With a little help."
Always breaks me when I see that scene.
@@dfsdhjk4780 Says who?
To be honest, when I started this game, I couldn't understand why everyone was praising and talking up Soken, like I get it, he wrote some good music, but god damn. After actually playing through the entire game, he isn't praised enough. The man enhanced the game experience almost two fold simply with the amazing music. I never gave music much thought in my 20 years of playing games but he made me pay attention. He made me see how important the music is to the gameplay, and how big of an impact it can have and how much it can improve the epic moments you experience. he is nothing short of a genius and truly a master of his craft.
Here's an experiment for you to try!
Watch a scary movie, and turn all the sound off during parts where a jump scare might happen. You'll probably find that the scene is no longer nearly as scary.
It turns out that music is fundamental in establishing the emotion or gravitas of scenes, and that is true no matter the medium it is in. Music is primordial, eternal, a pattern in the void of randomness that assaults our other senses. It can make you feel pain, longing, happiness, anger. It can make you hyped for an epic battle sequence or cry during a character death. Sound is the first sense we are born with, as babies have shown to enjoy music and people talking to them even in the womb.
Video games have always been quite lovely in the music department. Would Mario really be Mario without the happy, popping beats? Would Zelda Ocarina of Time been as memorable without the Ocarina or the memorable songs? Final Fantasy has always had great music that is used to lift up the story and pair with it.
I'm glad you've awakened to the realization that Soken deserves the praise he gets :D
@@midnightbloomofeorzea7182 I can tell for sure that one of the big reason the Witcher 3 made it as one of my fav game of all times is because of the soundtracks especially the skellige and Toussaint soundtracks, music is my favorite thing after games and mangas/anime so good music can actually make me go through tedious tasks, I’m one of those people who clears every bloody side quest because I like a cleared map, and “LA-HEE !” sure as hell made the process easier in that zone 😂 and even more so in tempest which actually blew my mind bc every last zone so far always had loud music, but when the first guitar notes dropped I actually teared up a bit while smiling saying “holy shit wth is this music 😭?!” And amaurot was the icing on the cake
good music and story.. but sadly this is where it ends. the game lack social/PVP updates and innovations. they don't even combine PvE and PVP elements. so many outdated things
@@pohancekkrompircek3469 you always post this response on random FF related videos. Nobody actually cares.
Destiny 2 has this features, but is not a better game. Go play it if that's all you care about.
@@pohancekkrompircek3469 How does it lack social updates? What does that even mean? Admittedly PvP is not the greatest but then again it doesn't have to be. This was never a game for PvP players. How would they combine PvE and PvP elements? If you mean the way Wow does it by letting other players kill you in open world, that's dumb and I'm glad the game doesn't have that, if not, I honestly have no clue what you mean.
"If you had the strength to take another step, could you do it? Could you finish the patches before maintenance?"
Bellular: *Grabs axe*
*Guitar riff begins*
Yeah and 5.3 is a beast, too. I don't think he realizes just how much he has left to do.
@@CrispBaker he can do it we believe
Shut up and take my thumbs up.
\o/
“If you had the strength to take another step, could you do it? Could you save our worlds?”
"What, all by myself?"
"You know I could."
"What, all by myself?"
"You know I could."
"Nah mate, I'm fething tired."
When you challenge Emet and the floor glows 7 circles around you. You queue for the Hades fight with your friends And they show up in those circles. Fuck me I have never felt as moved by a video game before. My friends, my real life friends, being CANONICALLY there for me for this momentous battle. I'm not ashamed to admit I cried a bit through the whole thing
The only flaw with the scene is that G'Raha's invocation didn't end with a triumphant "Throw wide the gates!"
**5.0 Spoiler Warning for those who haven't done it**
There's a couple neat details they pull at the end:
Emet-Selch stops slouching at his end. Up until the time you fight him, he's always hunched over (to the point of earning a nickname 'Emet-Slouch'). After that fight, before he fades away, he's standing upright. This is because he has judged you worthy of carrying his burdens, and thus dies at peace.
Ardbert's axe loses its bloodstain during that sequence, after he merges with you. This is also Ardbert moving on from his past--he no longer has figurative and literal blood on his hands for what happened to The First and to his friends. Ardbert blamed himself for the Flood, and moreover, when he and his friends travelled to The Source, they did so by giving their lives...and Ardbert was the one who killed them all, then himself.
The fact that the dev team and writers have the thought to put in these little pieces of symbolism shows how much they actually care about even the little things, and yes, NOTHING in FF14 is irrelevant. If it came up in an MSQ, then...it's important. Expect loose threads as far back as ARR to come back in Endwalker.
The thing I loved the most is the world building details like purple color (pigment) allows vegetation to not get destroyed by too much light. (as a natural sunlight protector)
i was always fond of the foil between ardbert and emet. you see two characters who have lost everything they love, willing to destroy worlds to save what they knew and overcome with immense grief and survivor's guilt. come the end of shadowbringers, you see ardbert learn to forgive himself and heal, where as emet up until his final moment hangs onto his pain out of fear of forgetting; the result being ardbert becoming more complete as a person, and emet leaving with a literal hole through his heart.
there's a lot of deliberate, yet nuanced, detail in the writing that is so commendable.
Somehow I never heard "Emet-Slouch" before. Around the Amaurot lore dump all I could think of was "Emet-Sulks."
Also, I don’t know if many people noticed this but the ending is a direct reference to Persona 5’s original ending. Fighting a literal god above a city finally piercing his abdomen with the final shot, the god realizing mankind’s potential, the rays of sunrise and the camera going through emet’s chest hole....
Yoshi-P was literally praising P5’s UI in a past interview, and I think they took great inspiration from it. He was also a bit hesitant about saying anything about P5 when that question hit.
Okay, I love all these little details, but I am really bad at finding them :( can I know how you guys got this info? is it by doing side quests? or is it contained in eorzea encyclopedia?
What's interesting is that Square-Enix didn't really have a plan when they wrote the Crystal Tower, nor did they have a plan when they wrote the Warriors of Darkness in Heavenward. Natsuko Ishikawa talked about this at PAX West in 2019, she took some dangling plot threads and managed to weave it into the story masterfully.
... I had to re-read that twice. It's all come together so masterfully that I could never imagine it wasn't some part of an overarching plan that was expanded upon as necessary for each expansion.
We don't deserve her, what a legend
And yet, seeing those 3.2 cutscenes, one would think they had it all figured out. The whole thing beggars belief.
I started FFXIV due to you guys discussing it, big thanks to Matt. I just finished all MSQ last weekend and glad you're almost there. Keen to see more FFXIV content since WoW just isn't what I want to consume any more.
You're gonna fucking love the patch content.
Ah yes, the near incoherent ramblings of someone recently completed Shadowbringers - love it!
Being more serious though, I doubt there is many people who followed the story and didn't think that moment where Ardbert passes you his axe and the guitar kicks in was just absolutely perfect. Been over two years for me now, and while a lot of the more minor stuff is no longer clear in my memory, the final part after arriving in the underwater city will never fade.
The patches since have kept this high quality, when you think for sure it has to get worse...so can definitely understand why hype for Endwalker is so high.
Good luck to YoshiP and his team, and hope it is as good as we all hope!
not going to lie.. thats going to be quite the marathon for him, if he wants to pay attention to the cut-scenes.
The axe is maybe my favorite moment in the entire game. Although I may be biased as someone who has mained WAR since the ARR beta!
@@renemuller7383 as someone who did it on an alt and didn't skip cutscenes after 5.0 started, it's doable in 2 days, but not in 24 hours so he's got one hades of a race against time.
The showdown with Emet is one of my favorite gaming moments ever. Masterfully written and executed.
That part was so hype.
Of all the lines of dialogue I've ever selected in my lifetime, I think clicking "What, all by myself?" will be the one I remember.
@@PoldaranOfDalaran "You know I could." is equally iconic. The whole thing is just so excellent.
Ascian DMV got me in tears, not only because how ultimately sad the whole story is but also just crying because we got such a TREAT... mostly being able to explore what it was like for them in the days before the sundering, to walk this city, to talk to the npcs there and casually learn about their lives and worldview.
I did not expect at all to get such a big serving of lore and when Our Old New Friend was talking to us I was beyond elated and moved.
Imagine if seeing Zerith Mortis had half the awe that Amaurot has. The game does such a great job balancing spectacle and gameplay, plot development and character development. So excited for Endwalker to begin.
This is such a great comparison, because they were both these sort of ancient places of origination that were introduced and then explored within the same expansion. The difference lies in that Amaurot makes sense because we have been interacting with the Ascians since the start of the story, whereas we have never learned who the "First Ones" are nor do we have any reason to care about them.
@@Biffbifflin I dunno what you’re talking about, you mean “Titan++” isn’t enough to make you like them more than the Titans?
.. this is dripping with sarcasm, the First Ones nonsense is absolutely “thin air” crap.
@@Biffbifflin Exactly. You know who the Ascians are (or at least you think you do), and Amaurot and their history finally fills in the blanks that remained. Filled them in so well that when you go back to do earlier "dungeons" and Trials where they play a major role, your perception of the encounter is permanently changed. You _understand_ them now, and even sympathize with them. That is just phenomenal storytelling.
The first time you saw Ulduar and, to some extent, Suramar had similar awe inspiring moments. But the 5 min walk we had to go through before seeing Amaurot's skyline *chef's kiss*
There is the creature archive used for summoning vs Zerith Mortis, the difference in tone and feeling is massive.
The Ardbert + WoL teamup bit gives me chills every time I see it, no exceptions. I have helped SO many friends through that 80 dungeon and trial and it never gets old
One of the few title drops in media that doesn't feel cheesy and actually delivers. They bring you to your lowest point, then show you the rope to climb out with.
I still think that finding allies--the essence of an mmo--as the players special power is genius.
"What? Never heard of an immortal being cry? Rest assured, if your heart can be broken so can mine."
What I really love is how the zones in Shadowbringers mimic the zones in ARR but with slightly different twists. The Rak'tika Greatwood is Gridania and the Black Shroud. Kholusia is La Noscea. Ahm Araeng is Thanalan. They're familiar enough (forest, ocean, desert) to make us go "Hey, this feels familiar!" but different enough that we can instinctively tell it's a completely different world that is connected to the Source. They perfectly nailed that feeling of being on an alternate world, and it helps sell the whole story just because they went for that "similar but different" feel.
Also Lakeland is Mor Dhona.
The one many miss is Ill Mheg *Is* Ishgard, but because of the lack of the 7th Umbral, it never became a snowy hellscape! And presumably the lack of the Abyss we see around Ishgard is because the 4th Umbral Calamity - the one that wiped out the Allagans - the EARTH Calamity - never occurred to the area. It's amazing what realizing how much the Calamities had on OUR world changed the entire population and landscape, and how the First is closer to how the world SHOULD look sans the blemishes caused by/since the Flood of Light.
don't forget for random facts that lakeland when you add a negative filter looks like a normal forest
The maps are actual mirror images of each other. Take a look.
@@CaptainWolverine1993 😮
Time travel was introduced in Heavensward. That's why certain optional raids and side content are actually quite important even when they're not mandatory.
So true, like how the twinnings data logs show how each expansions side content lays the foundation for what they did
Forward and back, indeed...
@@GamestMesa Yeah, inspiration from Alexander and Omega led to the creation of the Tycoon.
emet selch is one of my favorite villains of all of gaming. he's written in such an amazing way that you empathize with him greatly, learn that he isn't some harbinger of evil bent on world destruction like we originally though. no, he's just a man trying desperately to reclaim the lives of his loved ones, lost to a fallen civilization long ago. in a way, he could be the "hero" of his own game and it would be a great game.
That's basically the plot of Shadow of the Colossus, just with the genocide magnified to a multiversal scale. And in that game when you realize you were the villain all along, it feels really bad. There's a reason Emet-Selch looks *relieved* just before he dies.
It reminds me one of the Nier series. Was it Nier Replicant? Like how ypu choose to save your loved one which ulimately condamned the whole world and humans had truly become extinct. Emet’s job pretty much extincts all life in the Shards although in his viewpoint those lifes in Shards weren’t alive to begin with. I wonder he had convinced himself to think like that so it became less guilty for him to do his job…
Emet Selch is absolutely fuckin brilliant.
The motive for his goal is absolutely reasonable since i believe that most of us in his shoes would have done the same thing
The struggle and the pain he has carried for countless millenia is so relatable.
He is not a villain who wants to see violence nor he has any God complex.
He is just us doing his best to save those he holds dear. He is just us kicking and screaming in the face of desperation. He is just us fighting on so that he could see the faintest light at the end of the tunnel
Fantastic
The thing is, we like him because, he was written as an antagonist but one we could relate to to some extent. As opposed to a vilain that purely wants to destroy you, Zenos. Don't get me wrong. I like the character. But he is not as epic as emett is. (at least for now, usually these type of vilain needs one big wtf scenes)
That game is called Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.
After watching the entire world magically change around him, the main character had to fight against everyone else, including some other people from the old world who like the new one better, in order to make it all go back to normal. He had to become the villain in order to do what he knew was right.
FFXIV is basically just FFTA told from Mewt/Ritz/Cid's perspective. The only difference between Marche and Emet Selch is that we're not playing as an Ascian.
I cried when Heavensward sent a javelin through the shield, the aftermath, and the final confrontation with Nidhogg.
I felt triumphant when you kept on gaining ground in Stormblood.
Shadowbringers made me do both through just amazing setpieces and a banging soundtrack. The ending cutscene after the Emet Selch fight was just precious.
I want to give these characters a fucking hug. They're in dire need of one.
They need to upgrade the game engine so the characters can actually give hugs. To many scenes where a hug was 100% appropriate
The way this game has periodically improved on itself has been so special to experience. I really hope Endwalker can cap it off with their best performance.
Honestly I'm sure endwalker will be great, the real proof of a masterpiece is going to be what comes next.
@@rptrrwr Yeah its one thing to continue an end a story that has been going well, its another to adjust from that story to something totally new aftwrwards.
@@rptrrwr I am actually totally fine if the one after Endwalker mellows out a bit. I don't think we should expect a new story to take off banging like Shadowbringers and potentially Endwalker. It's important to not over hype and expect every single one to be better than the last. I don't expect another ARR, but maybe something along the lines of Stormblood. If I am making any sense. Not the best, but not bad by any means either. I'm kinda just rambling.
not really.... I am in stormblood and it
@@MrAlexvizz Stormblood improves a lot in the second half, and much more so in the post msq patches. But yeah, Heavensward was a hard act to follow.
Crystal Tower released December 14th, 2013.
Shadowbringers released July 2nd, 2019.
Imagine the shock if you were there at the start.
Trust me, it's been shocking.... (1.0 player to current)
As a longtime player of Final Fantasy XIV, there is something about the game that makes you wanna share it. To see people's first time reaction to these big moments. That kinda started with the end of ARR, where they kicked the story off the standard fantasy story rails, scooped it up and sprinted for the deep dark woods and never looked back, while we were trying to figure out what the hell just happened.
All of these new players from WoW have been such a massive hit of that, and especially all of these incredibly talented and passionate content creators that came to give our game a try. It's been a joy to watch you all share these moments, and to see that you 'get it' too when you get there. Thank you for giving our game a chance, and I'm really looking forward to going through Endwalker with you all.
Couldn't agree more!
In case it wasn't completely clear, Thancred's "thing" for Minfilia is non-romantic, the devs themselves have stated that his relationship to Minfilia was that of a surrogate parent, or more specifically of an older brother. Without the 1.0 context, a few players sometimes miss that.
I'd compare their relationship more to Thancred being her crappy drunk uncle. He's pretending to be a young pretty boy in ARR and it's easy to miss that he's actually a lot older than you'd guess from his archetype, the sad dad he becomes in Shadowbringers is his true self
His romantic inclinations were always towards F'lhaminn, but she was married in 1.0 and [redacted alchemist questline spoilers.] So she never gave him the time of day, and his biggest regret was not being more of a presence in Minfilia's life because of that.
definitely can recommend the lv50 alchemist questline.
@@arachnofiend2859 I mainly say Thancred's relationship to Minfilia/Ascilia was that of an older brother because that's how Yoshida himself described it as (and a paternal relationship to Ryne).
Didn't Krile get on his case about it once, only to go 'ooooh. okay'.
I was in the hospital after being diagnosed with cancer about 2 months before ShB launched. I was able to play once ShB launched. God damn this was an emotion experience for me, and something I needed to feel like life was normal still. 5.3 is amazing, but all the patch MSQ for SHB was really good.
I hope we see a 5.1-5.55 thoughts video before Endwalker, and hope you get to experience it day one as well. These have been great to watch, can't wait to see what you have in the future.
based
I really hope that you are better at this time
hope you get/got better
Soken wrote the music in the latter half of ShB after he himself was diagnosed with cancer and confined to the hospital. You should read/listen to the lyrics of the main ShB theme as well as the remix that plays in 5.3, as he wrote it specifically about his experience dealing with his own mortality in the face of cancer.
//Hug
The best japanese storytelling I've seen in games or anime usually focus a lot on character development and the death of a character isn't just in vain, they choose who to kill based on which character "needs" that death to "grow up", Lyse and Papalimo being the example on this, but a lot of other JRPGs and animes also use this plot device (Naruto and Jiraya, Asuma and Shikamaru, Edward/Alphonse and their mother, the list goes on)
Also, Bellular seems like a person who's been imprisioned in a padded room for a decade to the point his senses were numb, now he has been released and became another man after feeling the smell of fresh air, tasting good food, etc. "What a present to be alive!" instead of "Oh God Blizzard stop stepping my source of joy".
Same goes for another streamer called Quazii, who came from WoW and broke free from the shackles of Blizzard.
japanese stories aren't afraid to talk about mortality and death. there was a pokemon episode where the kids had to deal with a death that was not shown in the west because the topic was " too much for children".
@@1LuvMLPFiM World of Fruitbowls For The Win wwww
@@primastanislaus9184 S. Jastice!
@@idleeidolon in west waaaay too many parent are trying to protect their kids from realities of the world. Children have to face things sooner or later, rather be sooner than growing to be fragile adult.
Amaurot just blew me away. This Big City under Water...the Music... the Story..
That was one of the best FF moments, period
From the moment Alisaie says, “By the gods…” to the end of the game, Shadowbringers is as perfect a game as you could hope for. No qualifiers needed-it’s not good “for an MMO” or “For a Final Fantasy game “ or “as good as a single player game”-it’s better and it makes your heart soar into the stars.
Congrats on finishing 5.0!
I read "By the gods..." in this comment and I could hear Alisaie in my memories saying that, as well as the overview over Amaurot. Yeah - this game sure sticks with you.
Well for me Shadowbringers started the moment Alisaie begged me to not leave her side before we went off to fight the Empire already back in Stormblood, once I went into Shadowbringers and i got choice between looking for Alphi or Alisaie I didn't even flinch a second to go search for Ali.
dirty fanboy weeb
@@matc1995 hope you’re playing a game you love, brother!
Tesleen's story is straight up nightmare fuel and that's the moment I realized ShB was gonna be quite good.
Always keep this in mind: They had a more graphic transformation scene for her originally to truly demonstrate how horrifying the Sin Eaters are. They had to cut it because they were concerned it would affect the game's age rating.
@@CrashB111 I remember that. I want to see a cut content vidoc for what was actually left on the "cutting room floor"
@@rahvlanthal8583 I'm fairly sure FFXVI is going to be that as an entire game and I am SO THERE FOR IT
"Welcome to Shadowbringers!"
"Welcome to Shadowbringers fuck you :^)"
I was just thinking "Damn, what is Bel's thoughts on Shadowbringers? Did he finish it?" Fantastic timing as always!
I was literally thinking this on my way and whaddya know...a vid was ready. hah
I picked up the game a few weeks ago and just finished Shadowbringers yesterday. Everything about this game is absolutely phenomenal and I can not wait to dive into the next expansion in a few days. Love your content broheim!
@5:05 They did EXACTLY what I wanted. I wanted them to not use the trailer music in-game until the climax. Climax arrives, bam, trailer music. So freaking perfect.
@7:30 Our prologue to such an epic experience was a cycling lead-in to a music piece for a several minutes, and the only dialogue was a drunk guy with a heavy accent... and then after a few minutes pass, we get the actual track, a title drop, and some narration.
I liken this to the Vashjir intro, at least Alliance side, and not before you do it 10 times for alts... It's a veteran and newbie soldier on a dock, talking about things going on, and basically concludes with the newbie getting his first somber dose of the fact that war sucks. It's memorable and stands because of personal grounding.
@14:10 On Thancred, the 1.0 intro to Ul'dah has him failing to stop a rampaging Gubbue from killing Minfilia's parents. This is still part of the lore, as all 1.0 things are, of course but not something ARR people will ever see proper. That's also when Minfilia is adopted by the songstress F'lhamin also present during those events. Give or take.
The post 5.0 content is incredible because it wraps up everything, and I mean EVERYTHING perfectly. From the Twinning explaining the time travel, to the fight with MISTER FINAL FANTASY himself, it perfectly wraps up a story that was already tied off perfectly.
The 5.3 dungeon and following trial is an entire experience unto itself
So one fun thing, Amaurot is also a literary reference. It's the city from Thomas More's Utopia, and Hythlodeus is a major character from it. Just to really hit home if you get the reference that just like Utopia this isn't actually a place that's as perfect as it pretends to be.
Yeah, knowing that reference really made me sideeye some of those Amaurotines when playing through the end of 5.0.
Hythlodaeus literally means "Speaker of Gibberish". I have a feeling he's going to be in Endwalker, and he's going to be a real dickhead.
@@ReiEmeraldTakedo Yeah he's definitely a bit of a loose end especially since we don't really know what side of the overall situation he was on.
Indeed. I actually spotted clues that Amaurot wasn't perfect despite Emet-Selch's rose tinted recreation of it. Namely:
1) There's bureaucracy to prevent the realization of dangerous creations.
2) There were side conversations where the spectres talk about having to keep their inner darkness at bay to maintain social harmony.
My conclusion: Amaraut may have been a paradise, but it's one that the Ascians had BUILT by overcoming their darker impulses and creating traditions to reign them in. And the Ascians have NO IDEA how to truly recreate that society because it was so much ancient history to them. Their method in the current day story basically amounts to, "We do it my way, and kill everyone who disagrees." which is pretty much 180 degrees backwards from how pre-Final Days Amaraut society worked and would never recreate their paradise even if they did get as far as resurrecting everyone who sacrificed themselves to summon Zodiark.
Nope, the logical end if the Ascians had been successful would have been a tyrannical empire of immortals whose first response to any problem is to kill people to solve the problem. And anyone who so much as questions this set up would be used as Zodiark fuel for fear of someone creating another Hydaelyn. Which would of course push some cabal or other to do just that simply for self preservation reasons. The Ascian plan was NEVER going to be successful.
@@noppornwongrassamee8941 I hadn't even thought about how the Ascians might go about trying to recreate their utioia, but with their current mindset and operating methods your suggestion seems disturbingly plausible. With or without whatever effects of Zodiark's tempering may have altered their thinking.
22:55 - This...
This is why I've been a Final Fantasy fan for about 19 years.
I had a rough childhood at school and a bit at home. Kingdom Hearts, FFX, FFXII, FF1-9...
These are the games that allowed me to be inspired, creative and emotional.
I wouldn't be an artist, animator or a musician, if it wasn't for these games.
The fact that you meet a traveling merchant just like you do in the beginning of ARR, is just a sneaky way of writing your feelings for the Source's people and places to include the First. It's just good writing; setting up the player's expectations and feelings about a place by alluding to previous experiences and feelings.
if i had to hazard a guess, i'd wager they're the same person, the same sundered soul, in both worlds. they have the same general face, same beard, and IIRC, they both offer you a drink, and they both get beset by danger moments after your involvement.
A friend of mine went through all of 5.0 without ever doing the Crystal Tower. I was curious if that changed the impact of the story for them. I think they actually liked the Exarch even more than I did. So even then, before it was required, it still worked wonderfully as a story. I do understand why they made it mandatory when they released 5.3.
The first time I played it was before CT was required. I had no idea who the Exarch was and when it was revealed I was mildly confused but I still felt the emotion. Even more so after actually doing CT and going through the game on an alt.
@@omnilisk279 I think a lot of it has to do with the amazing quality of the voice direction and voice acting, for sure. You can just hear the emotion in his voice, etc. I half-jokingly, half-seriously held a grudge against him the entire expansion cause I said to my friends during the end of 4.55, "I swear, if he interrupts me right now I will never forgive him." When he then gets you after you do the Zenos duty.
I did the same thing. Don't know if it's better not knowing who the Crystal Exarch is and ending up loving him, and then going back to the Crystal Tower to relive those moments. It does add some punch to the way the Exarch conducts himself in Shadowbringers.
It actually does impact the story I don't know in how many ways but multiple things affect story some cutscenes will be different for a legacy 1.0 player than what you'll see as a player that started with 2.0 in the instant of the crystal tower raids 1 of the things that changes is when it is revealed the crystal exarch is graha after the Vauthry fight and you get the option to call out his name or remain silent you only get the option to call out his name if you've done the crystal tower raids
im gonna be honest, i was so angry that the game was forcing me to make CT right before the climax of the patches that i skipped the whole.
I watched a video about the whole thing before shadowbringer but is fair to say i didnt really experienced the crystal tower's story but despite that the exarch is my favorite character in the game....i love him so much.
What I find interesting is it's very interesting the personal interactions between the Cultures of the 1st has developed without the interference of the Ascians the 'beast tribes' aren't beast tribes at all.
I kinda have to disagree. All 3 of the Beast Tribes are aloof from humans. Pixies are downright hostile to everybody. Viera are somewhat accepting of the Qitari but nobody else even knows of them. Dwarves, for the most part, stay away from the other races.
Who cares for petty politics or xenophobia when you see the end of your world approaching?
The Beast tribes as we know were considered Beast Tribes loooong before the machinations of the Ascians - the Sahagin and Limsa were fighting long before the battle of Silvertear Falls (which was when Summoning became common place, even if the potential was always there) for example, likewise Limsa and the Kobolds. In fact Merlwyb fought one of the first manifestations of Leviathan.
Beast tribes are a term coined by the Monetarists of Ul'Dah. Dwarves being a beast tribe in the First is clearly meant as a jab to the term beast tribe.
@@katomamundara8106 Summoning has existed long before the Silvertear battle. Allag having it's wars of extermination against the people of Meracydia and their summoned gods the Warring Triad for instance.
The Ascians have been working on the Source since day 1 to ensure conflict between it's people. Because conflict can be coaxed into summoning primals to drift the planet towards one element or another for a Rejoining to occur.
The dialogue delivered by Lahabrea at the end of Prae still makes sense. Three expansions later.
And I can't wait to see it being relevant at the very end of Endwalker as well. December starts with a bang.
Thancred doesn't "have a thing" for Minfilia. His feelings for her are more along the lines of a father or older brother, due to him feeling responsible for looking after her. He has feels guilt for being unable to save her father's life which in turn left her with no family. After that happened he took it upon himself to look after her and is even the one who gave her the name Minfilia, in order to protect her from Garlemald. Krile even refers Minfilia as his "beloved" which Thancred responded to by saying "Minfilia is dear to me, it is true-but not in the way you think."
pretty sure he confessed his love for her when he was laying in Amh Araeng Dying. Something he had never said to her before because he always felt that guilt over robbing her of her family. And said... too late. IN a manner of speaking.
If you look at the shadowbringers theme lyrics it fits with the story, it starts with "one brings shadow and one brings the light" mean you(wod) and ardbert(wol) and at the end of the song it is "i am the shadow, i am the light"
The themes for each expansion have to do with their respective stories :p
Shadowbringers lyrics are also from the perspective of the Ascians/Emet-Selch.
Also there are 7 "we falls" at the chorus representing the 7 calamitys and rejoinings, THE DETAILS
You're going at Sakaguchi speed!
Haha, I love how that's a thing now. Sakaguchi-speed! 😄😄
Nah Sakaguchi was faster. lmao
As expected for the founder of the entire FF franchise.
Seeing Mike going from dabbling a little bit at a time in ARR to cannonballing Shadowbringers in a race to make it in time for Endwalker has been one hell of a satisfying journey.
Once ShB gets going, it's really hard to put down. I think even without EW's impending release there's a lot of "one more page!" sensation that makes you just want to jump into the next quest to see how things unfold.
This was my favorite story in any jrpg. I broke down several times, just from the stories being told invoking emotions and reflecting on things in my own life. I’m grateful to have found this game
Just wanna say, everybody memes on "La-hee!" because we all love it! Also, fun fact, La-hee actually means something in ancient Rhonkan! I'm not gonna spoil what, but it's mentioned in a beast-tribe quest!
Bellular pulling away from WoW and leaning into FFXIV is really the best thing he has done for his content in a while.
From his reactions in his videos, I'd say it's the best thing he's done for himself in a while, too.
Look how happy and excited he is aw :D
Well "disappointment"(or well "ragebaiting") just go that far when it comes to content and unfortunately even if it ain't intended WoW have for a long time been just disappointment, sadness, rage or frustration... Seeing Bellular do positive videos where there's no need to sugarcoat things to make it seem better then it is, is a delight. WoW content creators across the board have been well recieved by the FFXIV community so they all seem way happier doing "happy content" rather then trying to make the best out of a mistreated game(I still have copium WoW can turn around).
Watching reactions to people playing the ending of Shadow Bringers has become a hobby of mine. I love that moment with Ardbert and the sudden guitar riff leading to the most badass showdown I have ever seen in any game. Just amazing.
Seeing his love for the twins, I can imagine how he's going to feel when he gets to that scene where you say hello to their family member.
You went through that so fast XD Hope you enjoyed! :D (Edit: Watched the vid, just wait until you get through the patch content! :D)
(Second edit since I finished the video now: Listening to this makes me feel all the things about Shadowbringers all over again)
Emet-Selch is my favorite antagonist of any game I have ever played. I deliberately didnt use villain as in his story we are the villains and he is the hero who just wants to reunite the broken souls and world of his people.
By sacrificing everyone else, people who he doesn't even recognize as living since he sees us so beneath him (unless I'm confusing him with Elidibus). Doesn't sound so heroic when you paint the whole picture.
@@Boyzby imagine your world that somehow managed to attain a semblance of what many would call peace. Now image a great catastrophe hit where half of the people commit their essence to save. Then half of that half then commit to create an opposing force "to balance the scales". This opposing force then divides the very essence and souls of your people into 13 different lesser versions that are incapable by a factor of 13 to do what your people could do. Can you really call them people knowing what they could have been? That is the question proposed by Emet Selch to you... btw factor of 13 looks like this 100,000,000,000,000%. If you could be that much better than you are now but that cost is just all of your current essence and that of others would you choose it?
Emet-Selch has a great one liner about (paraphrasing) "In war the conqueror must embrace the conquered with dignity. And you have succeeded so effortlessly." It's moments like this that really make me appreciate the brilliants of the story tellers behind this game.
that's an overall underrepresented scene altogether. emet is complimenting us, not mocking us, he is actually admiring something we accomplished and is not shy to admit it. it's one of the scenes for me where he becomes so likable that afterwards i was so emotionally puzzled that i could never shake the feeling again, that we do not really have the moral highground and that things are at least debatable.
@@moonmoonluna there is a significant difference between "liking" a villain in a game and liking a real life fascist.
being immersed in a fantasy world also means (to me at least) that the rules of reality do not apply.
there are no ascians in real life. there is no all-powerful immortal race of super-human beings in the real world. what you call fascism doesn't apply because fascism is between equal beings trying to dominate each other. that's not the case here.
ascians, or the ancients, are in charge of creation of life. it's not entirely absurd that they believe they are also in charge of destroying said life.
emet-selch is a well fleshed out character with a purpose that is understandable and makes sense in itself. that's what makes him likable to me.
from his standpoint it is pretty surprising that he even bothers with trying to get to know and understand us.
i'm sick of people not understanding that we're not in the real world here and your everyday political views have no place in this.
@@ashitakaharuo I mean, we do pretty clearly have the moral high ground. Creating a bunch of sapient beings and then deciding to kill them to bring back your own friends is pretty clearly wrong, whereas the protagonist and company are trying to protect currently living people.
The Ascians' motivation is understandable, but they're still obviously in the wrong (and even Selch realizes that and is just in denial about it).
@@BenkaiDebussy that's just a matter of perspective. and if your perspective is real life it simply isn't applicable here.
all life on the shards was essentially life-stock for the ascians.
emet was considering going vegan but eventually decided against it.
@@ashitakaharuo Nah, that's nonsense. Even Emet Selch knows that the new peoples of the Source/shards have just as much potential as his people (this is why he's so fascinated with stuff like G'raha's time travel - it's proof that people of the present can achieve things that even the Ancients didn't). Everything he says about current people being inferior is basically him being in denial over it and struggling with the sunk cost of all his millennia of efforts.
Also "people are like livestock to (insert higher power)" is dumb and doesn't make any sense (and fortunately isn't a trope that actually exists in FF14). The morality of "killing sapient life" is pretty straight-forward and doesn't change just because someone is a lot smarter/stronger/whatever.
The character moments between the scions are great too, you see more of the twins interacting with each other (anything happens to them in endwalker....) but the moment that felt the most.. like these people are a family from differnet places to me was in the greatwood, where y'shtola asks uberdanger to describe the sky to her because, of course she can't actually see it. It really kind of reinforces these people aren't just collogues, these people are family. The scions as a larger organization may change but these ones are the core of it, and they damn well better not hurt them in endwalker
Being able to revisit the major story beats through all the recent coverage the game has been getting, I've been struck by how hard the big moments still hit. Actually I think they hit harder the farther you go because every past moment becomes even more meaningful as the story continues.
What before I thought were just well done and touching scenes, now are significantly harder to rewatch, in a good way - because I already have an emotional connection both to the characters and the music playing in those moments. Where before, I felt sorry for Lyna when she falls down and has her moment of frustration, now it brings be to tears because I fully know the weight she has been carrying on her shoulders, always putting a brave face and soldiering on.
And more, I know that from all Shadowbringers characters Masayoshi Soken identifies the most with Lyna. And that just makes it even more powerful.
This game is incredible, because every part of it oozes genuine passion, true, lived-in story and utmost respect for the audience.
Feeling very confident Eorzea will be saved with all these WoWheads standing next to us.
The slow planning is key to good MMO storytelling. That horrible moment with Tesleen when that white goo covers her face? They shock that into your mind to make you remember how excruciating it is to be converted to a sin eater. Then at the lowest point of the story, right before the climax, your character is overwhelmed by the Light. What does he do in that last moment? He spits up that white goo onto the ground. The player automatically thinks of Tesleen and is panicking because the subconscious part of their brain that is repulsed by things like body horror is actually scared for their character. It's the closest you'll ever get to fearing for your avatar's existence in a MMO.
Not more than a few seconds later, you get the Ardbert's question and then the climax of the story. It takes you from Nadir to Xenith in less than a minute and it's perfect. Not just "good for video games" either.
There's so much of everything about FFXIV that is just perfect.
Wanna know the best part of all of this, Bellular? You've barely _scratched the surface_ of what the game has to offer. You still need to unlock, and run:
12 Alexander Raids + 3 Shadow of Mhach Alliance Raids from Heavensward
12 Omega Raids + 3 Ivalice Alliance Raids + 3 Optional Trials from Stormblood
12 Eden Raids + 3 Alliance Raids + Optional, Endgame Dungeons from Shadowbringers
Not to mention running/clearing all of the Savage and Ultimate difficulty content-- all of which have rich, fully fleshed out stories and AMAZING fights that are _completely, wholly unique_ from the normal mode versions, even offering new/different enemies, cutscenes and music scores.
I think its time to point out that Thancred's relationship with Minfilia is more of a father-daughter sort of relationship.
yep, this needs to be pointed out a lot more, i think most people misunderstand it which is not really their fault because their story starts in 1.0. Wish they would have made it a bit clearer
yup a lot of people miss that ..he has a thing for her mom figure the miqote
At this rate, he's gonna finish Endwalker before all of us
Finishes 7.0 before the 6.x patches are released
Emet Selch is my favorite antagonist. His character was spot on perfect, i loved his mannerisms and his classic off handed wave he does when walking away. It just fit his internal struggle of trying to fix the world while also destroying it. Because even though his goal was his life, he at the same time showed that he cared as well and even respected the warrior of light.
I love how he got so attached to the twins. Don't you hurt our kids, SE!
Leaving the First was incredibly difficult for me; technically, I still haven't "left" because my Home Point is still the Crystarium. Did you notice how the lvl 80 Job quests were all very simple "talking" quests? It was part of beginning to wean the player from "living" in the First and get them reconnected with the Source. I literally felt somewhat disoriented when I started doing MSQs in the Source again. It felt every bit as alien as the First felt those first dozen main quests or so. That is amazing worldbuilding and storytelling.
Also many of those lvl 80 quests, while brief, are amazing. Dark Knight, per usual really, stands out for how it has you interact with your darker side once again, but I feel most of them bring something to the table, either as lore or showing the progress that has been made.
A few standouts for me are:
The Summoner quest which largely explains how the Source has been dealing with Primals in your absence and setting up some stuff that happens later in the MSQ.
The Scholar quest sees you use the experiences gained to finally make some real headway in curing the curse that the Scholar story revolves around.
I think when you take out the first Light Warden and bring back the night by splitting the sky every player knew this was going to be epic.
Make sure you go back to your job trainer. They'll have a quest for you that looks unimportant but it's a job quest to round out that line.
Also, go back to Fortempts manor in Ishgard. There's what looks like a side quest from a servant in the back left of the house. It's not a side-quest, it's the wrap up to Heavensward.
And then, go visit F'llahmin where she's sitting in the restaurant above Rowena's House in Revenent's Toll. She offers another game-wide wrap up quest that's kind of quiet, but it it's more than the side quest it appears to be.
Just a few suggestions you might have missed while speed-reading the MSQ :)
The way shadowbringers makes you feel ABSOUTLELY hopeless is stellar. You are fighting a loosing battle. EVREYONE at the start says it's not possible. Evreyone tells you to give up and yet you push forwards and you manage to fucking do it....and then...evreything goes to shit after Rak'tika. You see Lyna break down which was such a powerful, yet short moment (I'm shocked you didn't mention it, it's what made Lyna my favorite side character in the whole game). And yet you go forwards. You kill Innonence....and then you know you're the doom. Then you realize your folly. And yet now, after all you've done, evreyone holsters you on their shoulders to push you forwards. Because you can't give up. Because if you do, two worlds are doomed. And yet the depressing atomsphere goes on. You go into Amaurot and finish it. Emet kicks your ass and all truly seems lost, but hope glimmers at the last second and you stand up with the conviction of two whole worlds standing behind you. Shadowbringers was never about playing the hero. Shadowbringers was about fighting because you want this world, and yours, to survive. And in the end, to me, that's what gives you the strength to finish the fight. Because a lose is not an option. Shadowbringers shows you that you, the warrior of light, is not invincible. You're the slayer of gods, ender of wars, and liberator of nations, yet at the end of the day....you're human. Even the music adds to it. The pre-freed Kholusia music is depressing and shows toil. the desert (I cannot spell) shows that these people are scorched endlessly by the blistering sun as they toil and work to stave off the sin eaters. I honestly think the purpose of shadowbringers is to humble you. ARR is about the start, building up a world and setting it all up. Hevansward is about ending a war so that Eorzea can be fully unified again. Stormblood is about fighting for freedom and standing up no matter the odds. Shadowbringers is about showing you that you're human. You're weak. And by doing that, and doing it in a belivable way, they avoid a very obvious video game protanist trap of "You're invincible! You'll always find a way to beat your foes! You know you'll come out on top because you're the warrior of light/champion of azeroth/the hero." But shadowbringers makes you genuinely question that and remebering that....that is powerful.
Wew, you are speeding through it Bell! Glad you are enjoying yourself, looking forward to Endwalker! LETS GOOOOOOOO
one of the things wich made me completly respect the work of what the story writers do at square is that i always always always hate time travel stuff because it makes things weird and is in 99.9% just a bad thing in general because i think its lazy to just say lets go back in time and change the usual whatever if that box is opened you can just reuse it all the time. but the way xiv did it just impressed me. the second thing is that the scions i mostly didnt care about alot of them ( thancred, urianger, even ystola) because they were mostly just there i didnt know much about them i didnt feel with them but they grew so much onto me in shadowbringers because you see them really grow and have traits wich change depending on what people they are arround. truly a masterpiece
I became more emotionally attached to Dulia-Chai than any character introduced in Shadowlands. I check on her every time I'm in Eulmore
Dulia-Chai is the real catmom of this expansion.
She just wanted a painting from her adopted son god damn it!
And the relationship she has with Alphi is made even more emotional after you meet the twins father
RIP Chai-Nuzz's spine, though.
@@InRealTime769 I'm reminded of a Blackadder quote when it comes to what I want to say to Daddy Leveilleur - "I suggest you make the explanation you are about to give phenomenally good".
I mean, the dude walked into my party, insulted me and everyone I cared about to my face then stripped two of my closest friends of the only part of their Sharlayan heritage they actually gave a shit about and walked off like it was nothing. Mans lucky I haven't knocked his teeth down his throat already.
Bellular what can really blow your mind is when you realize that all the creatures in the Endwalker trailer are ALSO in the Amarout dungeon. The kill the WoL does on the moon is the first boss in the same dungeon, and tentacle creatures that are there when Einstinien appears with Vritra likewise, show up just before the end boss, etc.
We highly recommend doing the Shadowbringers optional Trials, The Sorrow of Werlyt questline!
I’m about to start 5.3, can I do sorrow yet? Or do I have to finish all the patches?
@@jet44444 Finish all the patches first. MSQs should always come first. :D
If he likes Vauthry so much he's really gonna like the antagonist in that trial series...
Yeah for what I thought would just be a trial man... the emotions there. Won't say more.
Literally never clicked on a video so fast in my LIFE
Saaaame XD
Same 😀
Someone was tabbing out during thancred and krile in heavensward.
That moment where Michael finally tastes a proper Wagyu beef steak after reviewing McDonalds burgers for years.
Well *that* was quick! Michael's really tearing through the MSQ!
One thing I'd like to see is the Bellular team's opinions on the difference in storytelling between Heavensward & Shadowbringers.
In your post Heavensward video, there was a lot of talk about how the Post ARR patch quests took a lot of time laying the ground work for Heavensward, introducing characters, settings, & plots, all so that Heavensward could hit the ground running.
But in Shadowbringers, the opposite can be said to be true. With only a handful of exceptions, the setting, conflicts, and characters are all new in Shadowbringers. You don't know any of them till you land on the First. All of this has to be filled in during the MSQ. Somehow, the dev team has worked entire emotional arcs into the expansion, with minimal pre-set up. They make you care about everyone and everything, in a much smaller space of time. And none of it feels any less grand.
When ShB's end starts smelling like it's in sight somewhere around Mt Gulg, it's like everyone turns into a shark chasing right to the end to scratch that raging itch of 'ong what now, what happens now'. The plot pulls the rug under you so perfectly - you knew something had to go wrong and you knew Emet has always been trouble, but then when the moment comes, somehow you didn't see it coming at all. Everything just falls apart, you go from hero to a massive problem with no clear fix... It's such a special mood to find yourself in. This mixture of excitement, deflation and rudderless 'crap, what now'.
Shout out to Tesleens moment of "death", cos that's when you get hooked into SHB
It's really difficult for most RPGs to compete for one simple reason - by the time you step into it, you've already got literally hundreds of hours of connection with your character, a massive cast, and the world and lore. Your immersion into the world has already been twice as long as most RPGs entire runtime. The connection your character has to the world and all the other characters, the way they're your comrades with a long history - it's earned because you lived through that entire history. It means something in a way that no amount of flashbacks or exposition can compare. Characters can genuinely reminisce with you - in other RPGs you'd get a flashback that'd fill in the backstory. Here, the backstory was lived. You do remember that, but it might have been weeks or months or even years prior so it's a legitimate sense of nostalgia.
They're telling a top-notch RPG story, and the starting point is already at the top of a mountain that most RPGs don't even reach, and really never could because nobody can make feasibly make and sell single-player RPGs that last 400-500 hours without repeating content. It'd have to be another long-running MMO, but none of them even come close to bothering. So ShB stands alone on the field.
I‘m really surprised to hear that the overarching story wasn’t fixed right from the start. It‘s so cohesive, tying it up from loose ends seems like magic to me.
One thing I love is that many the moments that make you cry are those where the villains die. There’s hardly anyone without a relatable motivation. I‘m about 3/4 through 6.0, and I really enjoyed learning (mild spoilers following) the history of the „Ascians“. The only letdown so far is Zenos. I hope there will turn out to be more to him than „I want to beat the strongest fighter you have to offer“.
Good luck getting through 5.56 by tomorrow night! Dashing into the Endwalker Waiting Room just before the door slams shut.
72 hours, not a lot of time for sure!
@@ThisisCitrus totally enough time for 5.5 stuff
Grats on finishing MSQ~ Now on to the next chapter! I play on CN server so it won't get the expansion until 4 month later. Have fun and I will be catching up with you guys after 4 month.
May you not be cursed with seeing any spoilers before you finish it
I remember the early access days for Shadowbringers. It was maybe the wildest experience for everyone there. I mean, the server issues were for the first time mitigated enough that it didn't impact the experience wildly, and we were all enjoying this wild-ass story and collectively freaking out about what we were seeing. I mean, people would hang out at various checkpoints to say hello and just listen to the music. I specifically walked around that final city for probably an hour just to take in the sights. I think any expectation that they could top that experience in endwalker would be too much, so I'm hoping that it's half as good, because it'd still be an incredible expansion that way.
I hope we can say “it keeps getting better” in Endwalker the same way we did for Shadowbringers
Nice, he managed to finish Shadowbringer just before Endlkwalker comes out. Now I wonder if he'll upload his reaction videos. Would like to hear some of his theories during gameplay and his reaction to their revelations.
I saw on twitter that he finished base story, he still needs to get through patches, but at this rate, he could get it done to get to the waiting room just before maint!
He said on Twitter he didnt record his reactions.
@@ayesonnai3835 So it is! I just didn't look far enough into the tweets lmao. Thanks for the correction!
@@ayesonnai3835 ah bummer. Would have made a nice YT playlist to watch.
Woo hoo!! Shadowbringers is such a great story!
IT NEVER GETS OLD, MY MAN!
IT NEVER, EVER GETS OLD! Every time I've put a little bit of distance between myself and the story of FFXIV, taken a break from it to do IRL stuff or other games, and I come back, I always have this moment where I'm like, "Man, was the story and lore and characters all really as good as I felt like it was right after I finished it? Did I overhype it to my friends? Am I fanboying just a bit too hard?"
Then a video like this comes along, and I get to relive the raw excitement, the emotion welling up inside me, all over again alongside someone else just experiencing it for the first time, and all doubt disappears, and all the goddamn feelings come rushing back and I remember what it was like to have just finished that final fight, tears streaming, hands shaking, breath ragged, when I realized I was experiencing the best FUCKING story gaming has to offer. And it NEVER, EVER GETS OLD hearing from others who are just catching up, and being excited along with them for the journey we're about to embark on in just over one short day.
NEVER GETS OLD!!! I'm super happy for you Michael, and I'm excited to dive into Endwalker with you and everyone else who's ready this weekend!
The structure of 5.0, the early chapters in particular, are quite brilliant. Alisaie's intro chapter shows (not tells, shows) what the excess Light does to individuals; Alphinaud's shows what it does to whole societies. It's such a great way to explain what the Light is doing to the First, why it's bad, and why you must stop it. Only after those things are firmly established do you properly set out on your adventure to reunite the Scions and put a stop to Emet-Selch's plans.
I liked ARR, loved HW, slogged through SB, but ShB... wow. I will play it over and over and over. The story, the CHARACTERS, even though we knew the Scions all along, the way they interacted with each other and grew in this expansion was far beyond anything we had seen before. They weren't just a group of people tasked with keeping the world together anymore, they are a family. Moments between Y'ashtola and Urianger where he describes to her what she cannot see, moments where Urianger quietly helps both Ryne and Thancred when they misunderstand each other, and where Urianger and Thancred bicker and prod at each other fondly. And of course the twins.
I haven’t played WoW in years so I’ve had no idea who some of you guys (wow streamers) were before now, but I’ve really enjoyed watching you guys enjoy a game I’ve loved for years now. I love seeing you get fired up and love the story and characters as much as I do.
I've fallen so behind you in game-play now, I just finished 5.0 this morning (got severely side-tracked with crafting), once again your video is summing up everything I couldn't put into words.
I remember for the Exarch's reveal of Urianger's "Vision" being his reality, the thought in my head is "THIS IS HOW YOU PUT TIME TRAVEL IN A GAME STORY." Not whatever Draenor was (I experienced a little bit of it, but that was when I was mostly mentally checked out of WoW anyway) or even the Bronze Flight's dungeons back starting in BC. This is how you do it, One character, who is not your player, is coming back to prevent their timeline's catastrophe, and also NOT TELLING YOU STRAIGHT UP.