Hey folks! I'm aiming to have my 6.0 finale video live next week! If you enjoyed this video, definitely check out my other videos (if you'd like!) Thanks everybody! 💕
Hold on to your butt. The last few hours are a ride and a half, and as someone who had to walk the journey over 10 years I can absolutely say it was worth it.
At this point you should definitely go back to the original cinematic for a Realm Reborn, the one with Bahamut and all that jazz, and you should listen to the lyrics. Listen. To. The. Lyrics.
What I love is that this line solidifies to me that the Sundering story is a mirror to the Biblical story of Paradise Lost, or Lucifer's fall from heaven. Venat takes the role of Lucifer in this context; but in such a way that she's actually the hero of the story. Which is such a cool and creative take, I love it.
I love the parallels how Emet is angry about someone deciding who lives and dies but then mind erased Emet does the very same thing and for you to reach out to him like Elidibus does in seat. The symmetry is perfect
Emet is by far one of the best characters in Final Fantasy. Rewatching his cutscenes I realized he has this look of sadness when Alise is trying to break the shield and saying they have a right to live.
Emet-Selch is by all measure a hypocrite in that regard. In Elpis, you see him, and ancients as a whole, see their creations as nothin but tools for a purpose, and any creation that doesn't benefit the star is to be eradicated. However, when Hermis proposes to test mankind in the same manner it has tested countless others before, he gets angry at the fact. It is easy to judge someone's worth, and wether they live or die, when you are the judge...
@@Hasediel Emet has always thought of himself as superior, this is not really hidden from us nor are we led to believe that he is in any way shape or form a humble ancient, far from it, but I actually love the hypocrisy in him and how the question of who has the right to decide is put forward in Elpis. Emet's emotions and selfishness is very true to life and is manifested in despots and dictators which is what he ends up being, his character is quite fascinating and he was an excellent villain because a part of me had to ask the question "given that I was in the same position, what would I have done? what could I have done?" it makes you think about the consequences of all actions taken, and these kinds of responses are indicators of really good storytelling and character development.
I must say that the english VA for Meiteon killed it. How she can manipulate her voice from being adorable when she is happy and blue to being creepy with how she keeps changing the inflections and pitch of her voice when she’s connected to her sisters and preaching of nihility. Very well done.
Have to agree, I feel a lot of VA's struggle to put a range of emotion into their performances in moving and convincing ways, and not in ways make me dislike the character due to it sounding generally too wooden, or excelling at one emotion while falling flat on another. She kills it across the board. From wonder and joy, to unsettling, to anguish and suffering, **chef's kiss**
@@Angarato86 I plan to eventually, I've already done NG+ pretty recently (and would have done JP VA then, if I hadn't been synching up cutscenes with them), but if I get another friend to jump in, I'll do JP VA's. I tend to prefer English dubs over original language with subs, because the emotional nuances in the voice performance are lost on me (I can't read and listen for things like that at the same time, ADD brain doesn't let me walk and chew gum at the same time). Also, JP VA seems over the top to a ludicrous degree most of the time anyway, with emotions constantly dialed up to 3,000%; which I hear is somewhat intentional (it's apparently an old holdover from traditional stage and raido performances).
perhaps, i just played during original ARR where the english VA's were trash so i just got used to the jp voices so much i didnt switch, i heard the english plenty of times now tho so i love both but the japanese just feels more like "home" to me, im also not a native english speaker so dont have any loyalty to english per say :P. i also think theyre not too much over the top in this 1, its not full on anime screaming. I actually have favorites in both languages tho. most are pretty equal in quality but these are just better. english VA's: Gosetsu Zenos soroban Sicard Japanese VA's Alisae Venat Metieon Haurchefant @@drayman101
After I saw Venat walk forward, bloody and ragged, fighting for the love of life itself, eyes shining bright with hope, I broke. In the midst of The Endless Queue of early launch, I logged off to be alone with ny thoughts. With my own depression, I was finally seeing how to move forward, and she articulated the lessons my heart already knew. The next time I saw Venat, I had my Answer.
Kind of like a horoscope thing. The lyrics are rather nondescript and broad, which means you can apply them to a whole lot of things. They said themselves that they did not plan that far ahead, so the lyrics do not actually pertain to how the storyline panned out.
@@ExceedProduction less horoscope and more making the story fit the song I think, a cool trick of writing to make it seem like everything was planned from the start.
"do not squander it. The legacy I leave you" kills me every time. The realization that they don't remember us, even though I knew it was coming, still brought me to tears. My friends q.q
@@Irisa0 I kinda disagree just because that moment was... a little more cheesy than "a smile better suits a hero". you character going :O and reaching out to him after he says that was very silly and funny looking to me, and it kinda ruins the line as a super powerful, sad line. Taking that context away from it and looking just at its story implications, yes I can see why you'd think that lol
The thought that Emet may have regained his memories as he was disappearing when we ended him in 5.0 crushed me more than any other part of the story up to here
@@Korashy9 He wouldn't have to return to the etherial sea neccessarily. Ether intertwines all things and the Lifestream flows through all shards. It's heavily implied in the story that he did remember as he was dying. The only one in lore likely to be able to answer the question of how it works would be Hades himself. Hythlodaeus speculates as a way to give people hope they'd eventually be remembered even if it wouldn't be for a long time, but they never go into full details; "return to the star" is just their way of saying dying.
@@austinmartin612 Hytholadeus says they will probably remember in the Etherial Sea because it breaks the spell/ undoes the damage done by Hermes. If just "dying" was enough then the first time Emet died and became incorporeal would have been enough. They need to be actually dead and go to the etherial sea. The scene in SB was already good. Emet was relieved his tens of thousands of years of madness were over and he could finally rest having found someone strong enough to protect the star. We don't need to retcon it.
@@Korashy9 And he knew we were his old friend by our soul color which is why he tried convincing himself it was "trick of the light nothing more". The short stories Hyth actually has the stronger soul sight but Hades had more versitility and Hyth actually turned down the position
The moment at 45:36 kills me every time. Venat told you when she met you that the future was impossible to predict, and you couldn't know for certain what would come to pass until a moment arrived. And then the moment arrived when there really was no other choice but to sunder creation, and her expression tells you that even up to that very second she hoped she wouldn't need to.
This "The Walk" cutscene absolutely broke me when I first saw it. I had to stop for a while, I literally couldn't continue though I wanted to so badly. There's more to come that will break you. "No more shall man have wings to bear him to paradise. Henceforth he shall walk." is one the most powerful lines not just in Final Fantasy 14, or Final Fantasy, but in all of gaming. You now know the TRUE origins of the lyrics for Answers. Who is really asking the questions. Also you'll notice that the first time they do the Question/Answer it's Venat Answering the questioning Ancients and nobody listening just like in cutscene. Second time you hear that similar section, it's Hydaelyn speaking first and the people echoing back, because now Hydaelyn is more than just 1 woman, now she's the voice of the star and people listen to her; she's telling them something in particular, but I'll leave that for you to figure out what it is she's telling.
Imagine being the only person who knows why your world is ending, but being unable to convince others that they path they've chosen to take to save everything is the wrong one. Credit to everyone at CBU3 for adding elements of Cassandra to Venat's character (Cassandra was the prophetess who was cursed by the Greek gods to be able to foretell the future, but be unable to convince anyone she was telling the truth). As for how much Venat knew of the future, I'd say everything up to you going to Elpis. Proof of that is in Shadowbringers, when Minfilia tells Ardbert "your time has not yet come. When all hangs in the balance, you must give them hope." There's no way Minfilia would have known Ardbert's fate unless she'd been told by Hydaelyn.
Venat could only know what we tell her, and we can only really tell her our story from 1.0/ARR to Endwalker. So she knows her true Warrior of Light will eventually be born and stop Lahabrea. But everything before that? From Sundering, through all the eras until Bahamut is released? She has no idea what that future holds or what will happen.
"Masterclass in a story telling and nothing will ever taste as sweet" sums up the entirety of what I've felt in games going forward after playing this. Nothing has ever matched it. This has set a bar so high for story telling in gaming that I don't think I will ever get over and hope not to. The experience of playing through FF14 and finishing the story started so long ago in A Realm Reborn cannot be matched. Love seeing peoples reaction. It just keeps getting better after this towards the apex of the story. I look forward to seeing it.
Yeah, it really is an amazing story. One of the reasons it works so well is because there was a very, very, very long setup across multiple expansions. It's hard to top that with just a single game. That being said: every now and then there still are games that have incredible stories that are really special. First thing that comes to mind would be NieR: Automata.
"It makes subsequent playthroughs or watching the cutscenes again make you go, oh the puzzle pieces were there all along." Now you see why reaction videos to FFXIV are so treasured? We can only experience that kind of shock once, but can get the next best thing by vicariously reliving it through others.
that is frankly how reaction content itself is so poppular, you only get to expeiance something for the first time, that one time. But you can simulate it, by living vicariously through others. It is probably also why reaction content has some of the most heated "discussions" and "critique" towards the reactor. Since it is so close to the heart of the audiance
@@gampie13 Exactly. A lot of these overbearing viewers want the reactor to have the "best" experience, not for the reactor, but for themselves, I feel. That kind of makes it "self altruism," wouldn't you say?
Absolutely love how analytical you are and how much attention you pay to the lore, I've seen so many things fly over the heads of bigger FFXIV streamers that you've instead caught pretty much every time!
The bigger people care mostly naught but the views and cash income of playing popular games. Hence why during content draught they are quick to say, (insert game name) is dead?? [Insert shocked face thumbnail] Its the smaller streamers who have more often then not care for stories and their community.
After starting to somewhat doubt Hydaelyn for not speaking to us for so long and learning she is a primal in Shadowbringers, meeting Venat and seeing she was always there with us even when we set out to put an end to her friend completely destroyed me.
I mean... Learning she was a primal does put into perspective a few things. First, her power, her Aether, is finite. Primals need to be fed whatever they use, and Hydalin took nothing from her star save that which was added to the Mothercrystal. Then there have been multiple points where she protected the Warrior of Light from cataclysmic powers that would have destroyed them. Ultima being a prime example. The Ascians even seemed to know that Hydalin could not pull off such feats forever. *Because* her power is finite. And then she used almost all she had left to forestall the Flood of Light on the first. From that point onward, without someone with the Echo to be her voice, there was almost nothing left in her reserves save that which was needed to defend herself when the time came... I never doubted her. Not for a moment. For even before we knew she was a Primal, I had inferred her strength was finite, from the Ascians and also from Midgardsormr's words.
Same! Like how we hadn’t heard from her in a while and then almost dying on the first. I lost faith in her and now i see how much she did. And how much she cares and was made to suffer. Now she is a favorite character for sure.
28:00 As someone who suffers from memory problems thanks to almost 2 decades of depression, this hit for me. I forget a lot of the smaller moments in the ARR-EW story, but glad i saw this again
I love when shes describing each of the failed races and the camera cuts to each of the amaurotines with us. The first, were eventually victorious but could never recover from the damage done to them (cuts to emet, sounds like the ascians eh?), the second, realizing nothing is infinite gave up on everything. The camera cuts to hythlo, the happy go lucky guy along for the ride. The third, lost the savor of happiness in the absence of sorrow, cut to venat: who knows that the world is imperfect from her adventures and experience, but also knows the amaurotines penchant for disregarding sorrow and existing in their "paradise". I think in that moment she started to realize why she sundered the world, because only with imperfections can humanity overcome sorrow and suffering, making happiness that much more valuable. That is probably my favorite part of that cutscene, besides maybe when emet says his "do not squander it" line. Considering in amaurot he said we couldnt be entrusted with their legacy, its quite an impactful line. Ugh those two cutscenes are just.... perfect. So well done. I cannot stress just how much ishikawa and the writing team have blow my expectations for rpg stories out of the water with this game.
Making the lyrics of Answers the voices of the Ancients as they shout their plight to the heavens has made Answers even MORE of a gut punch than it already was for me. I love it, the full circle moment never gets old to me. Ever.
Something about Meteion's journey that I think might get glossed over, or lost in the other details. It wasn't necessarily that she _found_ all of those civilizations already destroyed. If I'm understanding correctly, her discoveries of some of the ruins filled her with such despair that she inadvertently _caused_ several of the civilizations she came into contact with to end themselves as she watched. She's not just an empathic being, her emotions are shared between her sisters, and amplified to the point that she projects her own feelings onto others.
Don't undersell the translation and localization team here. Yes, Natsuko Ishikawa wrote an incredible story, but some of the original dialogue lines have been completely changed to work better for a western audience and it works so, so well. Especially, the Shakesperian influences Koji brought to the game
@50:51 When Endwalker first dropped, this unusual dialogue had everyone thinking the "promise" she's talking about could be some sort of mind-blowing secret between her and Azem. Never would one expect, the promise whom she made with was actually the real us, and us alone. Hydaelyn wasn't the god whom made us special with her blessing, she's been watching over us, awaiting the moment that we return to her side as the rightful comrade whom swore to end the song of oblivion together.
In the wake of the pandemic when everyone seemed so lost and depressed, this hit like a freight train when we got to play through it for the first time. Even over a year later this one cutscene cuts deep.
The fact that they made ANSWERS loop back to the entire reason of Endwalker and what it means is absolute genius. SB is my favorite expansion for just how legendary FFXIV became but Endwalker takes all that and knows how to complete it. This game is a masterpiece
I'd been playing Answers at the start of any stream where I thought something *big* was going to happen, unknowingly causing emotional trauma for a lot of viewers going as far back as ARR - oops.
I just got back into FFXIV after a decent break, and seeing your excitement and investment is wonderful. This is one of the best stories I have ever experienced. That final cutscene for me was nearly a religious experience, everything seemed to click and it truly impacted how I saw the world and made me a better person.
Man, this cutscene brought me down to my knees. This whole extension tore me down. I've been playing since 1.0 and to have lived for over a decade with this story was an amazing journey in itself...but to see this chapter finally closing after all this time truly destroyed me. I won't sugarcoat it, I got really depressed for a good 2 weeks after finishing 6.0. To see this story end, with all the memories I've amassed over the years, the joy, the tears, new friends, departure, memorable characters passing by and leaving my sight, everything bursted out during the last few hours. I couldn't even do the final trial properly, I couldn't see a thing because I was crying so much. I had to redo it after, just to enjoy the fight in itself. I've experienced bad stuff in my life, really bad stuff but never have I cried this much in such a short time. Life took a new meaning after Endwalker. This whole saga was a fucking masterpiece.
EndyD20 has had an amazing journey through FFXIV this past year. I only recently found his videos here on TH-cam and have now tried to watch his live streams and VODs whenever possible. You won't find a more honest, thoughtful or engaging streamer. I only wish I had been there from the beginning. Luckily the VODs are there. Absolutely the kind of detailed, analytical mind the devs/writers of FFXIV went to so much effort for. :D
This moment is awesome from the beginning Nobuo Uematsu knew the truth and we had the revelation since ARR in the song "Answer". We thought it was mankind who sang in bass voice at the beginning of the song but it was the Ascient infront of Venat and she gaves the answer.. Then, at the last of the song when they sing together, this is the moment when Emet Selch and Hythlodaeus remember... He is a genius, we had the revelation since the beginning !!
as the song Answers we all known how this song was, the fact is we walk through asking for Answers every big update trying to find what is next, Answers was the heart and soul of final fantasy 14, as the theme song
Months ago when Endy uploaded the stream of 5.3 during the cutscene before the gauntlet of heros, i mentioned in the comments of that video that the elzen man on the balcony of Eulmor said something like he was forgetting something that was dear to him. This was the same reaction and emotion that overwhelmed hermies had during the true final days in amarot. An echo in time.
The sad part about watching Emet look at Hythlodeus leave is you can see it replay whenever you visit Amaurot right outside the main elevator even though it won't obviously show who they are.
I know there's sadder moments, but 24:20 you can see the pain in Hermes' eyes, he wiped his memory and made himself think Meteion died. So that whole conversation and Emet's coarse dialogue is happening while all he's thinking about is that Meteion *just* died (as that's what he replaced the memory with)
V:Try to seek forward (keep walking) E: Can’t choose So stay in his paradise H:Believe in his friends and said Goodbye (Be the Past) When I saw this, I had a goosebumps. This episode was So powerful 😢Im waiting for your next episode:) From Japan Sorry for my bad English 😣
I will say this to my dying breath "Do not Squander it, the legacy I leave you" changed my whole perception of Emet-Selch. His request at the end of Shadowbringers, "Remember us, Remember that we lived" I was like "I will erase your very existence from the stars. You murdered BILLIONS to restore something that couldn't be restored, No. I will remove everything about you." THIS scene was what sunk it in that "he didn't know. He had no idea what happened, and was just doing what he could."
Venat is a phenomenal character, and they purposefully hid her from us till now, at least her motives and backstory, now its clear that no one has ever taken on more of a burden than her, all to prove that hope and life and joy can win out over despair, a will of steel.
A will of steel shared among those chosen as Azem. A determination to explore and learn, continue to bring hope. Just like we do in our time as the WoL 😊
It's amazing what CBU3 and FFXIV can do with characters introduced in one expansion with no prior backstory, whereas WoW can't do the same with characters they've had for two decades.
@@ChainedFei Part of it is the writer's skill itself, the other is that WoW seems allergic to actually moving a plot forward / killing a character / not endlessly "one upping" themselves. Like, even with as big of a trainwreck the Jailer was. They couldn't stop themselves from going "This guy we retconned into existence, and then claimed was behind the Burning Legion, and basically every villain of the franchise???? He's actually worried about a BIGGER VILLAIN!!" They are just incapable of letting a story breathe, everything has to endlessly be bigger than the last.
She literally genocided her own race. Who gave her right to do that? How her decision was better than others? What happend to her race was truly tragic. She not only sundered them into weaker being but literally devolved them into beasts. They had to evolve once again into thinking beings. Unfortunately Ffxiv didnt describe that well. Collab with ffxiv in Nier Reincarnation described that good. What she did was not much better from what Zordiak followers did and wanted to do.
@@Martin-lm8xp its only been 12,000 years, man didn't have to "re-evolve", they simply lost all memory of the before times. and her right is the fact she did it, she doesn't have to justify anything, such is the nature of godly forces, her opposition was willing to sacrifice much more (and still are).
God, this is one of my favorite sequences in the entire game. It's incredibly impactful, and happens kind of *right* when you know enough. I also want to know which mix of You're Not Alone was in your outro lol. It's one of my favorite songs from the entire franchise.
I love your vid! The Venat walking scene for me shows that everywhere we went she was with us! Every time we were injured so was she because she was connected to us! It gets more awesome from here! I am looking forward to the next vid!
23:10 …I don’t know you…I don’t remember you. But, something inside of me tells me that that I do. I can’t explain it, but I feel happy to see you. * starts to shed a tear * ….What? …Why am I crying? ^ The above is a fascinating trope in Anime and Gaming that I LOVE that we’re exploring more. Spirituality, Life after Death, and Reincarnation. That even if our current physical living bodies don’t remember or know of our past selves/lives, our souls and out spirits do. That even if our memories were to be erased, our bodies, our spirit, and our soul still remember. And so long as we continue to exist, old bonds and be reforged. Memories reobtained
Might be said but also feel this is why the community is so good. We are all the WoL making our own journey through joy and despair and just like the OG WoL has companions that got him to the end every helping hand every ripple of kindness matters and is valid. This story aggressively hammers home the importance of hope to anyone everyone and the beauty in empathizing with you're enemy and how the smallest kindness can mean worlds to another being.
There's a small throw away line earlier in Elpis that tied up a lot of loose ends... It is theorized, upon death long lost memories even deeply concealed ones would be recovered as you enter the life stream. -- This is why Hythlodaeus first greets us as our new old friend since we first met him at the end of the last expansion pack but he first met us untold number of years in our past in this expansion pack. There are other examples of that as well. IE Fandaniel :) Oops stealth edit, my memory failed me, lol the line was in this cutscene.
"Who are YOU to decide our fate, to decree if we live or die?" .... says the same guy who did just that while standing in front of a burning recreation of Amaurot. Always thought that was a nice little touch of hypocrisy, lol. masterful writing.
Venat's conviction is so haunting. She believed, when nobody else did, she did what had to be done, knowing her entire kin would perceive her a pariah and sinner for what she would do. Absolutely haunting and a testament to her strength of character.
Oh hey not sure why the alogorithm brought me here but yes, this is the best cutscene in the game. During the lauch myself and my former roomate hit this spot in the MSQ within a few hours of each other, but i hit it in the morning, he had hit it the night before. And i watched this 2 hours before i was to clock in for work (I worked from home) I have been playing this game since stormblood, answers holds a special place in my heart because that was my intro not just to the game, but Final Fantasy in general. This single cutscene redefined what it means to me, and i get emotional everytime I hear it now, which is pretty often cause I have it on a playlist lol
Interesting thing about Emet-Selch's "legacy" line: in Japanese, he is referring to his future self, which makes a lot more sense when you think about it. And I found myself thinking the same thing as you: Meteion deserved so much better than what she became. In particular our Elpis Meteion who wanted none of it and fought against it, but also all of the Meteia who suffered because of Hermes' lack of foresight. The way Venat's line on the boat was spoken, upon first seeing it I simply thought this was going to be about something concerning Azem from her time, ie the past. Could never have anticipated time travel would be brought into play.
Ahh, Endy. While I absolutely look forward to making my way toward this part of the journey, I could hardly abstain from partaking in what brought me to your orbit to begin with. Your delight, your hype, your shock, your sorrow, were everything I wanted to know that you shared with us. I cried with you and for us. I wept and remembered my own experience, not that long ago. I hated Hydaelyn. I had never trusted her since I began ARR, and that loathing and mistrust is baked into my character's story for roleplay. I was certain she would be a villain in the end. And then came Elpis, and the Walk, and the aetherial sea (I do hope we get an Atiascope + EW Trial 2 video as well, but if not I know I will get to it in time!). I have memorized her words long ago. No longer shall men have wings to fly... henceforth, he shall WALK. And so we have, and so we shall. All the way to the end. There's so much more to say, but I will leave it there, and with this: Thank you, Endy. Thank you for corking, for investing, for giving up your FFVI playthrough (someday?) to live in this world and be a part of our community. For your joy, and your tears, and ever being honest and forthright with everything you experience, thank you. ~T.L. Maslar~
I love how everyone seems to stop playing after that cutscene... but really, how can you not take a break after it? It just leaves you with so many feelings, so much to think about. If you don't need a moment after it then clearly the gane isn't landing with you
I think it was at this point I pretty much put the pieces together and realized that of all the Raids, Alexander had the most keys to what was about to transpire in the future. That primal is the embodiment of the Checkov's Gun. At first glance (this is when Heavensward first came out and speculation about the raid was in high gear) you would think...time travel....time loops really. Isnt alexander focused on light and judgement. Its only until these series of quests at the end that I was like "welp the gun is now fired". The biggest elusive is who crafted Alexander and with Hythlo being the chief architect a time manipulating contraption would have been on the forbidden list of 'things you do not create'. Yet it was created and here we are.... so the short list is well quite short if you know what I mean.
Venet/Hydaylin story hit hard this expansion, the comming together of 10 years of story, the emotion and music, the call backs everything. I hope the next 10 years of FF14 can find good footing, we are leaving behind a legacy with 6.0
I only just found your videos and stream. I watched the entire Endwalker 6.0 finale VOD. FInally got to bed at 3am, which, for an old man like is very unusual. Congratulations on your journey, and since you sound like a Brit, I might even be able to get to a live stream at some point.
Wow, that's awesome. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. The game truly has been lifechanging for me this past year. As for stream times, it's 14:00BST every weekday :)
One thing cinematics (in game or just in shows and movies) have trouble landing is the timing between the climax of a theme and the climax of a scene. If done right, it will trigger strong reactions that will hype ppls our just straight out tear their hearts out. Endgame did it when capt said "assemble". And this scene nailed it with Answers and Venat's declaration. It was so emotional and it made such an impact that many applaud this moment. Even though it has already been told in the previous expansion that this is what happened. Its probably one of the best cinematic scene in games and movies
You will never hear "Answers" the same way again. It is stunning thinking about the foresight that, a song used to reboot 1.0 into A Realm Reborn would have this meaning and story behind it 5 bloody expansions later!!!... I will never hear "Answers" the same way, ever...
I think its incorrect to look at Hydaelyns actions through the lens of this chapter on Elpis, we are creating a time loop, but before we made that time loop, there had to be reasons for what she did before that. In the original timeline, she probably did make the spaceship out of the moon to ferry people to safety, because in the original timeline she wouldn't have known about Meteion, just that their planet was falling apart essentially. I would like a chapter or cutscene on what actually happened in the end of days pre-timeloop, did Meteion tell Hermes about the planets and he pretended not to know during the final days? I assume that Meteion did not break down in front of Hythlo and Emet in the original timeline, they would have had their Convocation meeting and then been done before it happened i imagine.
After you leave Elpis you finally understand the song Answers from the first game's cinematic. A 10 year old song that speaks about how can live have meaning if there is so much suffering and we are meant to die and Venat's answer saying BECAUSE that suffering and death and despite that you bring light and that light is the meaning. A little bit of light to the future generations forever in that quest to beat Meteion's despair. Truly just the best
Important life advice. "Why must we suffer?" is probably the most often asked question in philosophy... as well as the most often used rebuke against the religious. As the song says... you miss the point of life if all you see is the suffering.
I also hope when you have reached the end of 6.0 (although it is probably already safe at this point in the story) that you will revisit Fandaniel's speech as Zodiark dies. There are so many nuances you can't catch at the time, but are so striking once you know Hermes' story.
Elpis was my favorite part, as a huge lore lover Elpis was like, a nuke of pure Lore who re-shuffuled all the cards and everything we knew (and broke my Theory that the 3 Trials would be Anima followed by Zordiark and The actual 2nd last to restaure balance between light and Dark because Zordiark Death would have caused problem of Overwhelming light .... well, was wrong but hey, that's the thing with Theories, some are right and most are wrong)
so you might not understand this part there is a book that you come cross that tells your that your pc name is one of the oldest along with the rest you keep be rebirth over and over for the last several thousand and thousand of years and the one in your video was once your past self hin't why the mother crystal is so in tune with your character and it gets better with everytime you find more about it like you said it is one of the most pleasing story lines ever
Hey folks! I'm aiming to have my 6.0 finale video live next week! If you enjoyed this video, definitely check out my other videos (if you'd like!) Thanks everybody! 💕
I would really like not to miss that. Hope I can make it :D (Zedd here)
Oh man it must be an incredibly long video for all that's left after this moment! Can't wait!
Can't wait to see you get to the patches :) its pretty neat sofar
Hold on to your butt. The last few hours are a ride and a half, and as someone who had to walk the journey over 10 years I can absolutely say it was worth it.
At this point you should definitely go back to the original cinematic for a Realm Reborn, the one with Bahamut and all that jazz, and you should listen to the lyrics.
Listen. To. The. Lyrics.
"Henceforth, He Shall Walk."
Such a powerful line. Still get chills
And right she is. Mankind has no right to gain true bliss without knowing the struggle of pain and suffering
Mommy Genocydaelyn is such a deep philosophical character, I literally cried so hard that my tears started crying. Literally.
lmao, "Genocydaelyn". Never heard that one! @@silly5905
What I love is that this line solidifies to me that the Sundering story is a mirror to the Biblical story of Paradise Lost, or Lucifer's fall from heaven. Venat takes the role of Lucifer in this context; but in such a way that she's actually the hero of the story. Which is such a cool and creative take, I love it.
And Hermes said to Meteion "I never taught you how to walk because I didn't want to bind another being"
I love the parallels how Emet is angry about someone deciding who lives and dies but then mind erased Emet does the very same thing and for you to reach out to him like Elidibus does in seat. The symmetry is perfect
It is a bit ironic yes. But then again, he does regret it afterwards and does Help you against meteion
Emet is by far one of the best characters in Final Fantasy. Rewatching his cutscenes I realized he has this look of sadness when Alise is trying to break the shield and saying they have a right to live.
@@cherrydragon3120and also against elidibus
Emet-Selch is by all measure a hypocrite in that regard. In Elpis, you see him, and ancients as a whole, see their creations as nothin but tools for a purpose, and any creation that doesn't benefit the star is to be eradicated. However, when Hermis proposes to test mankind in the same manner it has tested countless others before, he gets angry at the fact. It is easy to judge someone's worth, and wether they live or die, when you are the judge...
@@Hasediel Emet has always thought of himself as superior, this is not really hidden from us nor are we led to believe that he is in any way shape or form a humble ancient, far from it, but I actually love the hypocrisy in him and how the question of who has the right to decide is put forward in Elpis. Emet's emotions and selfishness is very true to life and is manifested in despots and dictators which is what he ends up being, his character is quite fascinating and he was an excellent villain because a part of me had to ask the question "given that I was in the same position, what would I have done? what could I have done?" it makes you think about the consequences of all actions taken, and these kinds of responses are indicators of really good storytelling and character development.
I must say that the english VA for Meiteon killed it. How she can manipulate her voice from being adorable when she is happy and blue to being creepy with how she keeps changing the inflections and pitch of her voice when she’s connected to her sisters and preaching of nihility. Very well done.
Have to agree, I feel a lot of VA's struggle to put a range of emotion into their performances in moving and convincing ways, and not in ways make me dislike the character due to it sounding generally too wooden, or excelling at one emotion while falling flat on another. She kills it across the board. From wonder and joy, to unsettling, to anguish and suffering, **chef's kiss**
Yes, she is extremely good. All the way to the end of the expansion, she does a phenomenal job.
you should also give the japanese VA a listen, absolutely brilliant and completely shattered me at the end. but both are amazing.
@@Angarato86 I plan to eventually, I've already done NG+ pretty recently (and would have done JP VA then, if I hadn't been synching up cutscenes with them), but if I get another friend to jump in, I'll do JP VA's.
I tend to prefer English dubs over original language with subs, because the emotional nuances in the voice performance are lost on me (I can't read and listen for things like that at the same time, ADD brain doesn't let me walk and chew gum at the same time).
Also, JP VA seems over the top to a ludicrous degree most of the time anyway, with emotions constantly dialed up to 3,000%; which I hear is somewhat intentional (it's apparently an old holdover from traditional stage and raido performances).
perhaps, i just played during original ARR where the english VA's were trash so i just got used to the jp voices so much i didnt switch, i heard the english plenty of times now tho so i love both but the japanese just feels more like "home" to me, im also not a native english speaker so dont have any loyalty to english per say :P. i also think theyre not too much over the top in this 1, its not full on anime screaming.
I actually have favorites in both languages tho. most are pretty equal in quality but these are just better.
english VA's:
Gosetsu
Zenos
soroban
Sicard
Japanese VA's
Alisae
Venat
Metieon
Haurchefant
@@drayman101
After I saw Venat walk forward, bloody and ragged, fighting for the love of life itself, eyes shining bright with hope, I broke.
In the midst of The Endless Queue of early launch, I logged off to be alone with ny thoughts. With my own depression, I was finally seeing how to move forward, and she articulated the lessons my heart already knew.
The next time I saw Venat, I had my Answer.
The fact that the lyrics of Answers finally made sense after almost a decade is just mind blowing.
Kind of like a horoscope thing. The lyrics are rather nondescript and broad, which means you can apply them to a whole lot of things. They said themselves that they did not plan that far ahead, so the lyrics do not actually pertain to how the storyline panned out.
@@ExceedProduction less horoscope and more making the story fit the song I think, a cool trick of writing to make it seem like everything was planned from the start.
RIGHT?! I can’t help but think that venat/hadaelyn is singing answers.🫶😭
@SadGirlXandra I had always thought it was Hydaelyn singing to the people of Eorzea. Different Calamity, same questions for the gods
I can't hear Answers anymore without a tear coming to my eye.
"Twitter discovers Nihilism and makes it everyones problem"
Coincidentally I think we hit this cutscene the same week Twitter became X, so chat was *full* of memes.
"do not squander it. The legacy I leave you" kills me every time.
The realization that they don't remember us, even though I knew it was coming, still brought me to tears. My friends q.q
I'd say, "do not squander it, this legacy I leave you" is right up there with "a smile better suits a hero"...
Hello my new old friend :)
I CRY EVERYTIME HE SAYS IT. LIKE WTF
@@Irisa0 I kinda disagree just because that moment was... a little more cheesy than "a smile better suits a hero". you character going :O and reaching out to him after he says that was very silly and funny looking to me, and it kinda ruins the line as a super powerful, sad line.
Taking that context away from it and looking just at its story implications, yes I can see why you'd think that lol
The thought that Emet may have regained his memories as he was disappearing when we ended him in 5.0 crushed me more than any other part of the story up to here
This is such a real comment that I have been saying a version of for so long now.
He wouldn't until he went to the ethereal sea.
@@Korashy9 He wouldn't have to return to the etherial sea neccessarily. Ether intertwines all things and the Lifestream flows through all shards. It's heavily implied in the story that he did remember as he was dying. The only one in lore likely to be able to answer the question of how it works would be Hades himself. Hythlodaeus speculates as a way to give people hope they'd eventually be remembered even if it wouldn't be for a long time, but they never go into full details; "return to the star" is just their way of saying dying.
@@austinmartin612 Hytholadeus says they will probably remember in the Etherial Sea because it breaks the spell/ undoes the damage done by Hermes. If just "dying" was enough then the first time Emet died and became incorporeal would have been enough. They need to be actually dead and go to the etherial sea.
The scene in SB was already good. Emet was relieved his tens of thousands of years of madness were over and he could finally rest having found someone strong enough to protect the star. We don't need to retcon it.
@@Korashy9 And he knew we were his old friend by our soul color which is why he tried convincing himself it was "trick of the light nothing more". The short stories Hyth actually has the stronger soul sight but Hades had more versitility and Hyth actually turned down the position
That 10 minutes Venat cutscene made me cry for good 20 minutes after it concluded. Best game story I have ever played 💯.
Same! Just seeing the more time that went by the weaker she got and emotionally broke her.😔
The moment at 45:36 kills me every time. Venat told you when she met you that the future was impossible to predict, and you couldn't know for certain what would come to pass until a moment arrived. And then the moment arrived when there really was no other choice but to sunder creation, and her expression tells you that even up to that very second she hoped she wouldn't need to.
This "The Walk" cutscene absolutely broke me when I first saw it. I had to stop for a while, I literally couldn't continue though I wanted to so badly. There's more to come that will break you.
"No more shall man have wings to bear him to paradise. Henceforth he shall walk." is one the most powerful lines not just in Final Fantasy 14, or Final Fantasy, but in all of gaming.
You now know the TRUE origins of the lyrics for Answers. Who is really asking the questions. Also you'll notice that the first time they do the Question/Answer it's Venat Answering the questioning Ancients and nobody listening just like in cutscene. Second time you hear that similar section, it's Hydaelyn speaking first and the people echoing back, because now Hydaelyn is more than just 1 woman, now she's the voice of the star and people listen to her; she's telling them something in particular, but I'll leave that for you to figure out what it is she's telling.
Imagine being the only person who knows why your world is ending, but being unable to convince others that they path they've chosen to take to save everything is the wrong one.
Credit to everyone at CBU3 for adding elements of Cassandra to Venat's character (Cassandra was the prophetess who was cursed by the Greek gods to be able to foretell the future, but be unable to convince anyone she was telling the truth).
As for how much Venat knew of the future, I'd say everything up to you going to Elpis. Proof of that is in Shadowbringers, when Minfilia tells Ardbert "your time has not yet come. When all hangs in the balance, you must give them hope." There's no way Minfilia would have known Ardbert's fate unless she'd been told by Hydaelyn.
Venat could only know what we tell her, and we can only really tell her our story from 1.0/ARR to Endwalker. So she knows her true Warrior of Light will eventually be born and stop Lahabrea.
But everything before that? From Sundering, through all the eras until Bahamut is released? She has no idea what that future holds or what will happen.
"Masterclass in a story telling and nothing will ever taste as sweet" sums up the entirety of what I've felt in games going forward after playing this. Nothing has ever matched it. This has set a bar so high for story telling in gaming that I don't think I will ever get over and hope not to. The experience of playing through FF14 and finishing the story started so long ago in A Realm Reborn cannot be matched. Love seeing peoples reaction. It just keeps getting better after this towards the apex of the story. I look forward to seeing it.
Yeah, it really is an amazing story. One of the reasons it works so well is because there was a very, very, very long setup across multiple expansions. It's hard to top that with just a single game. That being said: every now and then there still are games that have incredible stories that are really special. First thing that comes to mind would be NieR: Automata.
I've been sitting here for like 3 hours now, just WAITING to watch this and goddamn cry. I'm so ready XD
Gets me every damn time, the moment I hear "Answers" kick in it begins.
"It makes subsequent playthroughs or watching the cutscenes again make you go, oh the puzzle pieces were there all along."
Now you see why reaction videos to FFXIV are so treasured? We can only experience that kind of shock once, but can get the next best thing by vicariously reliving it through others.
that is frankly how reaction content itself is so poppular, you only get to expeiance something for the first time, that one time. But you can simulate it, by living vicariously through others.
It is probably also why reaction content has some of the most heated "discussions" and "critique" towards the reactor. Since it is so close to the heart of the audiance
@@gampie13 Exactly. A lot of these overbearing viewers want the reactor to have the "best" experience, not for the reactor, but for themselves, I feel. That kind of makes it "self altruism," wouldn't you say?
@@ravenmadd3895 "self altruism" might be the most apt way of describing it indeed
@@gampie13 DO'H! I meant to write "Selfish Altruism." I'm blaming that on auto-correct. And me being too lazy to double check before clicking reply.
Absolutely love how analytical you are and how much attention you pay to the lore, I've seen so many things fly over the heads of bigger FFXIV streamers that you've instead caught pretty much every time!
The bigger people care mostly naught but the views and cash income of playing popular games. Hence why during content draught they are quick to say, (insert game name) is dead?? [Insert shocked face thumbnail]
Its the smaller streamers who have more often then not care for stories and their community.
After starting to somewhat doubt Hydaelyn for not speaking to us for so long and learning she is a primal in Shadowbringers, meeting Venat and seeing she was always there with us even when we set out to put an end to her friend completely destroyed me.
I mean... Learning she was a primal does put into perspective a few things. First, her power, her Aether, is finite. Primals need to be fed whatever they use, and Hydalin took nothing from her star save that which was added to the Mothercrystal. Then there have been multiple points where she protected the Warrior of Light from cataclysmic powers that would have destroyed them. Ultima being a prime example. The Ascians even seemed to know that Hydalin could not pull off such feats forever. *Because* her power is finite.
And then she used almost all she had left to forestall the Flood of Light on the first. From that point onward, without someone with the Echo to be her voice, there was almost nothing left in her reserves save that which was needed to defend herself when the time came...
I never doubted her. Not for a moment. For even before we knew she was a Primal, I had inferred her strength was finite, from the Ascians and also from Midgardsormr's words.
Same! Like how we hadn’t heard from her in a while and then almost dying on the first.
I lost faith in her and now i see how much she did.
And how much she cares and was made to suffer.
Now she is a favorite character for sure.
28:00 As someone who suffers from memory problems thanks to almost 2 decades of depression, this hit for me. I forget a lot of the smaller moments in the ARR-EW story, but glad i saw this again
I love when shes describing each of the failed races and the camera cuts to each of the amaurotines with us. The first, were eventually victorious but could never recover from the damage done to them (cuts to emet, sounds like the ascians eh?), the second, realizing nothing is infinite gave up on everything. The camera cuts to hythlo, the happy go lucky guy along for the ride. The third, lost the savor of happiness in the absence of sorrow, cut to venat: who knows that the world is imperfect from her adventures and experience, but also knows the amaurotines penchant for disregarding sorrow and existing in their "paradise". I think in that moment she started to realize why she sundered the world, because only with imperfections can humanity overcome sorrow and suffering, making happiness that much more valuable. That is probably my favorite part of that cutscene, besides maybe when emet says his "do not squander it" line. Considering in amaurot he said we couldnt be entrusted with their legacy, its quite an impactful line. Ugh those two cutscenes are just.... perfect. So well done. I cannot stress just how much ishikawa and the writing team have blow my expectations for rpg stories out of the water with this game.
Couldn't agree more. Endwalker answered every question I've had leading up to it, and delivered far more than I anticipated
Making the lyrics of Answers the voices of the Ancients as they shout their plight to the heavens has made Answers even MORE of a gut punch than it already was for me. I love it, the full circle moment never gets old to me. Ever.
Something about Meteion's journey that I think might get glossed over, or lost in the other details. It wasn't necessarily that she _found_ all of those civilizations already destroyed. If I'm understanding correctly, her discoveries of some of the ruins filled her with such despair that she inadvertently _caused_ several of the civilizations she came into contact with to end themselves as she watched. She's not just an empathic being, her emotions are shared between her sisters, and amplified to the point that she projects her own feelings onto others.
Gigakawa exerting her writing finesse at its finest, so many lines that brings a tear to my eye even after all this time
Don't undersell the translation and localization team here. Yes, Natsuko Ishikawa wrote an incredible story, but some of the original dialogue lines have been completely changed to work better for a western audience and it works so, so well. Especially, the Shakesperian influences Koji brought to the game
@50:51 When Endwalker first dropped, this unusual dialogue had everyone thinking the "promise" she's talking about could be some sort of mind-blowing secret between her and Azem. Never would one expect, the promise whom she made with was actually the real us, and us alone. Hydaelyn wasn't the god whom made us special with her blessing, she's been watching over us, awaiting the moment that we return to her side as the rightful comrade whom swore to end the song of oblivion together.
I still have the theory that the Azem of the past is the us from the future. Maybe two or three expansions from now.
I love that despite Emet saying he doesn't believe us, there's still that tiny sliver of belief he cannot refuse to acknowledge.
And now, after all this time, we finally have our Answer.
Oh this just hurt my soul, I cried when I played through this part, it's like I was walking in pain and anguish with Venat, it was so beautifully done
Same. The end of endwalker is way worse though. 😢 its hitting feels on a completely different level
In the wake of the pandemic when everyone seemed so lost and depressed, this hit like a freight train when we got to play through it for the first time. Even over a year later this one cutscene cuts deep.
The fact that they made ANSWERS loop back to the entire reason of Endwalker and what it means is absolute genius.
SB is my favorite expansion for just how legendary FFXIV became but Endwalker takes all that and knows how to complete it.
This game is a masterpiece
This scene is so powerful, that since I played it, I literally can't listen to Answers without my eyes watering.
I'd been playing Answers at the start of any stream where I thought something *big* was going to happen, unknowingly causing emotional trauma for a lot of viewers going as far back as ARR - oops.
@@EndyD20 We wouldn't have it any other way! XD
I just got back into FFXIV after a decent break, and seeing your excitement and investment is wonderful. This is one of the best stories I have ever experienced. That final cutscene for me was nearly a religious experience, everything seemed to click and it truly impacted how I saw the world and made me a better person.
Oh man. I am so thankful you shared this. So emotional. So powerful. Such great writing and the story... Oh man. This brought it all back.
Man, this cutscene brought me down to my knees. This whole extension tore me down. I've been playing since 1.0 and to have lived for over a decade with this story was an amazing journey in itself...but to see this chapter finally closing after all this time truly destroyed me. I won't sugarcoat it, I got really depressed for a good 2 weeks after finishing 6.0. To see this story end, with all the memories I've amassed over the years, the joy, the tears, new friends, departure, memorable characters passing by and leaving my sight, everything bursted out during the last few hours. I couldn't even do the final trial properly, I couldn't see a thing because I was crying so much. I had to redo it after, just to enjoy the fight in itself. I've experienced bad stuff in my life, really bad stuff but never have I cried this much in such a short time. Life took a new meaning after Endwalker. This whole saga was a fucking masterpiece.
EndyD20 has had an amazing journey through FFXIV this past year. I only recently found his videos here on TH-cam and have now tried to watch his live streams and VODs whenever possible. You won't find a more honest, thoughtful or engaging streamer. I only wish I had been there from the beginning. Luckily the VODs are there. Absolutely the kind of detailed, analytical mind the devs/writers of FFXIV went to so much effort for. :D
Glad this popped up on my recommended and I was able to experience these scenes again. TY.
I love watching everyone’s reactions to this. It broke me hard the first time
The group of people praying to zodiark at the amaurot second boss location is a nice and sad touch.
This moment is awesome from the beginning Nobuo Uematsu knew the truth and we had the revelation since ARR in the song "Answer".
We thought it was mankind who sang in bass voice at the beginning of the song but it was the Ascient infront of Venat and she gaves the answer.. Then, at the last of the song when they sing together, this is the moment when Emet Selch and Hythlodaeus remember...
He is a genius, we had the revelation since the beginning !!
as the song Answers we all known how this song was, the fact is we walk through asking for Answers every big update trying to find what is next, Answers was the heart and soul of final fantasy 14, as the theme song
Months ago when Endy uploaded the stream of 5.3 during the cutscene before the gauntlet of heros, i mentioned in the comments of that video that the elzen man on the balcony of Eulmor said something like he was forgetting something that was dear to him.
This was the same reaction and emotion that overwhelmed hermies had during the true final days in amarot.
An echo in time.
Hermes really did send google translate with the mission of finding the meaning of life into the universe
Watched this so many times but it's always amazing to see someones reaction to this. Was fun reliving this mindblowing scene again!
Mans saying “how could they beat this” while walking up to the best cutscene in the game
The sad part about watching Emet look at Hythlodeus leave is you can see it replay whenever you visit Amaurot right outside the main elevator even though it won't obviously show who they are.
Can't believe that they just casually presented and answered the problem of evil in this gameworld as a patch storyline.
I know there's sadder moments, but 24:20 you can see the pain in Hermes' eyes, he wiped his memory and made himself think Meteion died. So that whole conversation and Emet's coarse dialogue is happening while all he's thinking about is that Meteion *just* died (as that's what he replaced the memory with)
2:10 the transition from twitter to X
V:Try to seek forward (keep walking)
E: Can’t choose So stay in his paradise
H:Believe in his friends and said Goodbye (Be the Past)
When I saw this, I had a goosebumps. This episode was So powerful 😢Im waiting for your next episode:)
From Japan
Sorry for my bad English 😣
Rewatching this still gave me chills like the first time
I will say this to my dying breath "Do not Squander it, the legacy I leave you" changed my whole perception of Emet-Selch. His request at the end of Shadowbringers, "Remember us, Remember that we lived" I was like "I will erase your very existence from the stars. You murdered BILLIONS to restore something that couldn't be restored, No. I will remove everything about you." THIS scene was what sunk it in that "he didn't know. He had no idea what happened, and was just doing what he could."
Venat is a phenomenal character, and they purposefully hid her from us till now, at least her motives and backstory, now its clear that no one has ever taken on more of a burden than her, all to prove that hope and life and joy can win out over despair, a will of steel.
A will of steel shared among those chosen as Azem. A determination to explore and learn, continue to bring hope.
Just like we do in our time as the WoL 😊
It's amazing what CBU3 and FFXIV can do with characters introduced in one expansion with no prior backstory, whereas WoW can't do the same with characters they've had for two decades.
@@ChainedFei Part of it is the writer's skill itself, the other is that WoW seems allergic to actually moving a plot forward / killing a character / not endlessly "one upping" themselves.
Like, even with as big of a trainwreck the Jailer was. They couldn't stop themselves from going "This guy we retconned into existence, and then claimed was behind the Burning Legion, and basically every villain of the franchise???? He's actually worried about a BIGGER VILLAIN!!" They are just incapable of letting a story breathe, everything has to endlessly be bigger than the last.
She literally genocided her own race. Who gave her right to do that? How her decision was better than others? What happend to her race was truly tragic. She not only sundered them into weaker being but literally devolved them into beasts. They had to evolve once again into thinking beings. Unfortunately Ffxiv didnt describe that well. Collab with ffxiv in Nier Reincarnation described that good. What she did was not much better from what Zordiak followers did and wanted to do.
@@Martin-lm8xp its only been 12,000 years, man didn't have to "re-evolve", they simply lost all memory of the before times.
and her right is the fact she did it, she doesn't have to justify anything, such is the nature of godly forces, her opposition was willing to sacrifice much more (and still are).
God, this is one of my favorite sequences in the entire game. It's incredibly impactful, and happens kind of *right* when you know enough.
I also want to know which mix of You're Not Alone was in your outro lol. It's one of my favorite songs from the entire franchise.
Endy's videos are such a treat. Even when you've been in the streams. I always look forward to the next upload! Now, back to the waiting room I go.❤👏🙌
"Thou must live, die, and known." The Answer was there all along.
"Thy life is a riddle to bear rapture and sorrow. TO listen, to suffer, to entrust unto tomorrow."
I love your vid! The Venat walking scene for me shows that everywhere we went she was with us! Every time we were injured so was she because she was connected to us! It gets more awesome from here! I am looking forward to the next vid!
You spoke of them bringing it all full circle. From ARR to Endwalker. Well, here you are...
Answers.
23:10 …I don’t know you…I don’t remember you. But, something inside of me tells me that that I do. I can’t explain it, but I feel happy to see you. * starts to shed a tear * ….What? …Why am I crying?
^ The above is a fascinating trope in Anime and Gaming that I LOVE that we’re exploring more. Spirituality, Life after Death, and Reincarnation. That even if our current physical living bodies don’t remember or know of our past selves/lives, our souls and out spirits do. That even if our memories were to be erased, our bodies, our spirit, and our soul still remember. And so long as we continue to exist, old bonds and be reforged. Memories reobtained
The Answers song from the ARR Trailer hits so much harder after this cut scene.
Might be said but also feel this is why the community is so good. We are all the WoL making our own journey through joy and despair and just like the OG WoL has companions that got him to the end every helping hand every ripple of kindness matters and is valid. This story aggressively hammers home the importance of hope to anyone everyone and the beauty in empathizing with you're enemy and how the smallest kindness can mean worlds to another being.
Our new old friend.
There's a small throw away line earlier in Elpis that tied up a lot of loose ends...
It is theorized, upon death long lost memories even deeply concealed ones would be recovered as you enter the life stream. -- This is why Hythlodaeus first greets us as our new old friend since we first met him at the end of the last expansion pack but he first met us untold number of years in our past in this expansion pack. There are other examples of that as well. IE Fandaniel :)
Oops stealth edit, my memory failed me, lol the line was in this cutscene.
"Who are YOU to decide our fate, to decree if we live or die?" .... says the same guy who did just that while standing in front of a burning recreation of Amaurot. Always thought that was a nice little touch of hypocrisy, lol. masterful writing.
And before Elpis I think many of us had considered the possibility of Hydaelyn actually being the villain at some point. They TRICKED US!!
Venat's conviction is so haunting. She believed, when nobody else did, she did what had to be done, knowing her entire kin would perceive her a pariah and sinner for what she would do. Absolutely haunting and a testament to her strength of character.
Oh hey not sure why the alogorithm brought me here but yes, this is the best cutscene in the game. During the lauch myself and my former roomate hit this spot in the MSQ within a few hours of each other, but i hit it in the morning, he had hit it the night before. And i watched this 2 hours before i was to clock in for work (I worked from home) I have been playing this game since stormblood, answers holds a special place in my heart because that was my intro not just to the game, but Final Fantasy in general. This single cutscene redefined what it means to me, and i get emotional everytime I hear it now, which is pretty often cause I have it on a playlist lol
FFXIV: Take Several Cutscenes
The two scariest things to happen to a streamer in this game: Several cutscenes warning, and chat spamming smile emotes.
Elpis was so hard for me. I knew we couldn't change their fate but damn did I want to.
Interesting thing about Emet-Selch's "legacy" line: in Japanese, he is referring to his future self, which makes a lot more sense when you think about it. And I found myself thinking the same thing as you: Meteion deserved so much better than what she became. In particular our Elpis Meteion who wanted none of it and fought against it, but also all of the Meteia who suffered because of Hermes' lack of foresight.
The way Venat's line on the boat was spoken, upon first seeing it I simply thought this was going to be about something concerning Azem from her time, ie the past. Could never have anticipated time travel would be brought into play.
Ahh, Endy.
While I absolutely look forward to making my way toward this part of the journey, I could hardly abstain from partaking in what brought me to your orbit to begin with. Your delight, your hype, your shock, your sorrow, were everything I wanted to know that you shared with us. I cried with you and for us. I wept and remembered my own experience, not that long ago. I hated Hydaelyn. I had never trusted her since I began ARR, and that loathing and mistrust is baked into my character's story for roleplay. I was certain she would be a villain in the end. And then came Elpis, and the Walk, and the aetherial sea (I do hope we get an Atiascope + EW Trial 2 video as well, but if not I know I will get to it in time!). I have memorized her words long ago. No longer shall men have wings to fly... henceforth, he shall WALK. And so we have, and so we shall. All the way to the end.
There's so much more to say, but I will leave it there, and with this: Thank you, Endy. Thank you for corking, for investing, for giving up your FFVI playthrough (someday?) to live in this world and be a part of our community. For your joy, and your tears, and ever being honest and forthright with everything you experience, thank you.
~T.L. Maslar~
I was in tears during this. So good.
I have watched this now a good 100 times and I cry every single time q.q
I still say to continue to draw the parallels between the Ascian’s and gods, their blood should’ve been gold.
Can't wait to see you run that dungeon
this expansion of Final fantasy was really emotional, I got so caught up with it and absolutely loved it.
Ah yes, this scene. I remember holding my breathe the entire Walk. So good.
Answers hits on a whole different level now, don't it?
I love how everyone seems to stop playing after that cutscene... but really, how can you not take a break after it?
It just leaves you with so many feelings, so much to think about.
If you don't need a moment after it then clearly the gane isn't landing with you
Emet in ShB: "You are not worthy of our legacy."
Emet in EW: "Do not squander it--the legacy I leave you!"
I think it was at this point I pretty much put the pieces together and realized that of all the Raids, Alexander had the most keys to what was about to transpire in the future. That primal is the embodiment of the Checkov's Gun.
At first glance (this is when Heavensward first came out and speculation about the raid was in high gear) you would think...time travel....time loops really. Isnt alexander focused on light and judgement. Its only until these series of quests at the end that I was like "welp the gun is now fired".
The biggest elusive is who crafted Alexander and with Hythlo being the chief architect a time manipulating contraption would have been on the forbidden list of 'things you do not create'. Yet it was created and here we are.... so the short list is well quite short if you know what I mean.
Venet/Hydaylin story hit hard this expansion, the comming together of 10 years of story, the emotion and music, the call backs everything. I hope the next 10 years of FF14 can find good footing, we are leaving behind a legacy with 6.0
I only just found your videos and stream. I watched the entire Endwalker 6.0 finale VOD. FInally got to bed at 3am, which, for an old man like is very unusual.
Congratulations on your journey, and since you sound like a Brit, I might even be able to get to a live stream at some point.
Wow, that's awesome. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. The game truly has been lifechanging for me this past year. As for stream times, it's 14:00BST every weekday :)
Yesssss.... emotional vampire mode engage.
After this Answers rose to the top of my favorite songs of the game ❤
Shadowbringers changes you...
But Endwalker reforges you!
Nah the CS of the final days is literally....bone chilling. Such a full circle moment ,and venat is THAT GIRL i swtg...I scream every time I watch it.
One thing cinematics (in game or just in shows and movies) have trouble landing is the timing between the climax of a theme and the climax of a scene. If done right, it will trigger strong reactions that will hype ppls our just straight out tear their hearts out. Endgame did it when capt said "assemble".
And this scene nailed it with Answers and Venat's declaration. It was so emotional and it made such an impact that many applaud this moment. Even though it has already been told in the previous expansion that this is what happened. Its probably one of the best cinematic scene in games and movies
Can't wait to see the reaction to the end of the 89 dungeon and trial.
You will never hear "Answers" the same way again. It is stunning thinking about the foresight that, a song used to reboot 1.0 into A Realm Reborn would have this meaning and story behind it 5 bloody expansions later!!!... I will never hear "Answers" the same way, ever...
She never left us.
These cutscenes reduce me to tears every time.
I think its incorrect to look at Hydaelyns actions through the lens of this chapter on Elpis, we are creating a time loop, but before we made that time loop, there had to be reasons for what she did before that. In the original timeline, she probably did make the spaceship out of the moon to ferry people to safety, because in the original timeline she wouldn't have known about Meteion, just that their planet was falling apart essentially. I would like a chapter or cutscene on what actually happened in the end of days pre-timeloop, did Meteion tell Hermes about the planets and he pretended not to know during the final days? I assume that Meteion did not break down in front of Hythlo and Emet in the original timeline, they would have had their Convocation meeting and then been done before it happened i imagine.
Can you tell me the number of the vod? I want to continue watching your playthrough
After you leave Elpis you finally understand the song Answers from the first game's cinematic. A 10 year old song that speaks about how can live have meaning if there is so much suffering and we are meant to die and Venat's answer saying BECAUSE that suffering and death and despite that you bring light and that light is the meaning. A little bit of light to the future generations forever in that quest to beat Meteion's despair. Truly just the best
Important life advice. "Why must we suffer?" is probably the most often asked question in philosophy... as well as the most often used rebuke against the religious. As the song says... you miss the point of life if all you see is the suffering.
I'm sure one day I'll watch this scene and not have shivers runs down my entire body every 5 seconds :L
Emet saved you when you fought with Elidibus, perhaps because he remembered? ;)
Can't wait for him to get to the good part.
I also hope when you have reached the end of 6.0 (although it is probably already safe at this point in the story) that you will revisit Fandaniel's speech as Zodiark dies. There are so many nuances you can't catch at the time, but are so striking once you know Hermes' story.
"The man I was would weep for who I've become."
Elpis was my favorite part, as a huge lore lover Elpis was like, a nuke of pure Lore who re-shuffuled all the cards and everything we knew (and broke my Theory that the 3 Trials would be Anima followed by Zordiark and The actual 2nd last to restaure balance between light and Dark because Zordiark Death would have caused problem of Overwhelming light .... well, was wrong but hey, that's the thing with Theories, some are right and most are wrong)
Didn't need to make myself cry again. Did it anyway!
so you might not understand this part there is a book that you come cross that tells your that your pc name is one of the oldest along with the rest you keep be rebirth over and over for the last several thousand and thousand of years and the one in your video was once your past self hin't why the mother crystal is so in tune with your character and it gets better with everytime you find more about it like you said it is one of the most pleasing story lines ever