FF9 Theory: Sphene has been reincarnated on a different body and different form resembling Garnet and no one recognizes her. This grounds her and gives her a different perspective on people in both Alexandria and Tuliolal making her realize that her people should not rely on her anymore. By the end, it gave her a choice to go back to her body declining it and becoming an Adventurer instead.
Literally the only thing I want the WoL to do is go: *"If you need anything at all...too bad. Deal with your problems like adults, I've got some tacos with my name on them."* This is supposed to be the WoL's "beach episode", but they're still running around fixing everyone's problems lol
At this point the WoL is probably so used to fixing other people's problems that they probably don't know how to do much else to actually relax and enjoy him\herself. Fixing people's issues is WoL's vacation, as long as it isn't world ending or nation decimating. Oh, wait...
heavensward wasnt the "finale" of anything. Yet it was great. Stormblood was the tease before the finale expansions. Yet it had one of the most poetic character arcs with Tsuyu.
Tsuyu is one of my favorite villains from Stormblood. I hated her for being so cruel and uncaring, but I also understood how she had become that way. It made sense that she harbored so much hatred in her heart, considering how the people around her constantly abused and took advantage of her to the point where she just didn't care anymore. A part of me wishes she had never regained her memory and could have simply lived with Gosetsu. However, I knew it was always going to end one way. Honestly, I cried at the end.
Lets not lie to ourselves, 3.0 and 4.0 MSQ wasnt good especially for 4.0 during its release ,but HW had much bigger problems to even think about MSQ. They are only remembered thanks to their actual finale x.3 MSQ.
@@MegaKaims I know it's sacrilege to say this for 3.0, but I agree. 3.0 didn't do all that much for me. It was 3.x that made me like it more. Especially 3.2 and 3.3, but 3.4 and 3.5 were pretty strong as well. 4.0 altogether is agreed upon by the community to be mostly awful, BUT very much salvaged with the post-patches. And I agree with that too. I really did like 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5. 4.5 might be my favorite .5 in fact. .1s tend to be pretty weak on average to me. 3.1, 4.1, 5.1. 6.1 was conversely fairly strong for a .1 patch, and I think 7.1 is pretty strong too. Might be recency bias and my opinion might change in the coming weeks, but so far, while it has some of the typical DT issues (cough cough Wuk Lamat), it was a lot less heinous than 7.0. The twins felt a bit like the twins again, Wuk Lamat wasn't the center of attention constantly. Koana got some time to shine. Y'shtola... uh, was there, lol. I dunno, it felt like a step up. Still a ways to go, and I really want them to Lyse Wuk Lamat in 7.2 or 7.3, but I expected worse.
My only complaint about 7.1 is how short it felt, and how quick it was over. Other than that, it felt good to me, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next.
If I recall correctly, months before 7.1 was even announced (but shortly after Arcadion released), Yoshi-P did hint at the probability of the Ascians making an appearance again in an interview. Obviously, the big names are done and dusted. However, there's a few who are still unaccounted for who we haven't even met yet. The Ascians aren't like the Taken from Destiny either, they dont need a being like Oryx or the Witness to guide them. Sure, the remaining Ascians dont have a purpose with Zodiark gone, but what's stopping them from wanting revenge or going rogue like Fandaniel? Tinfoil hat on, the fake Sphene is an Ascian puppeteering one of her bodies like a fucked up ventriloquist act. I'd be fine with that admittedly since Dawntrail's villains weren't as engaging as the Ascians. I like my villains to have depth, not daddy issues
Remember, as far as we know, the original Sphenes body was buried in a grand tomb, that we firmly believed it beneath Alexandria castle, as Everkeep was built on top of the original castle. I wouldn't be surprised if an Ascian took over the original Sphenes body and dressed it up to look like current Sphene, which it why they didn't appear immediately. Meanwhile, what if by perserving her memories. Preservation accidently made the original Sphene Ascian like? But she was kept under lock and key as a way to ensure that anything happen to the digital Sphene, they can copy her, and now shes free but looks different as maybe the digital Sphene wasn't a 1 for 1 recreation, afterall, we never got to see what original Sphene looked like, potentially more Garnet like
I'm mixed, I didn't hate the MSQ but I was not grabbed either. I will not lie, when it started with tacos and Wuk reappearing, it took everything in me not to just skip, I will be honest, I'm so beyond tired and over her. I need her to stay in town and let us actually get to know Koana and Gulool, I still feel so soured to her it's wild. I also struggled to care enough about Zoraal, Gulool and his mom to get hooked in because the development for pretty much all the new characters other than Wuk in the base game was almost non-existent. I wish I cared but I realized playing just how exhausted DT made me, I just could not care. Luckily I liked the dungeon, I really enjoyed the Jeuno raid too. It is an improvement because I did not dislike the story, it was just fine to me but the gameplay hard carried the patch for me personally.
@Titanxzero1 It was better than the baseMSQ, but the base MSQ is also why it didn't land for me. Wuk does not need to be there anymore, she should actually do her job in the city just like they constantly had Koana absent because Dawnservant, and the rest is just hard to salvage now because Zoraal, baby Gulool and everyone in Solution 9 barely got any development or time so the focus now is good but I didn't really care about them in the base game. Low key, lizard Jafar is the one that actually was kind of interesting in the base MSQ but that's not the patch MSQ.
Agree with most points. But... Sphene coming "back to life" isn't a new idea hook at all. It is a Zenos type redux. Look he's dead, now he's not, he's in a different body, and Elidibus is in his real body. Same thing here with Sphene in solution 9, and another possible Spene in Living memory. It may be different but smells the same to me. Lazy writing if that is how it turns out.
Its definitely a different vibe i get. Maybe because its a new spin on it considering it revolves around data as well as holding citizens pretty much hostage. Honestly if anything i get more of an elidibus taking over ardbert vibe than zenos. If its zoraal ja in sphene body ill def be disappointed though
I think Wuk Lamat’s voice actress got a lot better. I like Gulool Ja, so I was interested in his story. I felt like we could’ve gotten pieces of Koana’s backstory in 7.0, it goes back to how none of the other characters really got fleshed out other than Wuk.
You know what would be absolutely hilarious? If the 'real Sphene' who got revealed at the end is indeed the true Sphene and not tied to the AI built in her image at all, and wound up being horrified by what her people have become. Remember, the human Sphene died hundreds of years ago, so they presumably weren't ripping peoples' souls out for kicks back then. Also, am I the only one to absolutely die of laughter when it turned out the baby's mom was a crazy chick with a thing for bad boys and an "I can fix him" mentality, who then tried the baby trap strategy? Like, it was.... horrible and grim, but also somehow so incredibly mundane and.... base, I guess, that I was just losing it. Like, the only way it could possibly get any less dignified was if she finally sealed the deal by getting Zoraal Ja SUUUUUUPER drunk first.
What people expected when 50% of the team was put to work on FF16 while they needed to produce a new expansion at the same time...And then their writer left them, and they put a literal nobody to do the story because he worked for them for 10+ years... yeah, never had any trust in this expansion to begin with, they f ed up , and can't admit it. To begin with FF14 is on it's last leg, they only get out money, don't put anything back in the game and it's starts to show.
Overall I'm happy with this patch! Feels like they've done their best to address some concerns with the writing for Wuk Lamat a bit, as she's been toned down and seems a touch more grounded now. And as you said, she helps to enhance the moments of the two characters she's got ties with. Which is a nice start. I never had that much of a problem with her as a character, but as I said in a previous video, she definately got a bit too much screen time. I do also like that they almost immediately cut down the cast of the scions, not feeling like they need to keep Thancred and the others around just because. Even Y'shtola only makes a few appearances towards the end since, understandably, she's investigating the Living Memory rift. The yak herding was causing me to nod off in the middle of it, admittedly. They probably could have done something else with regards to it, like maybe have us investigate past sightings of the monster while Kona was learning about the nomads way of life, but oh well. And I'm eager to see where they go from here with what they are setting up. My current theory is some sort of rogue AI, considering the glitching screen during the moment of 'Sphene's' return, but we'll see how close that is in the future. I also liked learning more about Gulool Ja's family as well, as we got to see a bit more going on with Zeraal Ja as a character. Seeing him lose his composure after seeing his son I think does help to show how troubled he truely was as an individual. But I'm fine if this is all we get to flesh him out, honestly. There's only so much you can do with a character post-mortem after all, even in FF14. Honestly, after playing Veilguard, the writing problems of FF14 almost seem quaint in comparison. That's not to say I won't criticise the decisions that the FF14 team make with regards to story. But more so now, I think I have a bit more perspective which I'm grateful for.
Couldn’t have phrased it better. If I had a bit of rather lukewarm approach to Dawntrail, then 7.1 gave me a lot to think about going into the rest of 7.2 and beyond. I had no idea what they planned to do with Sphene, but the fact they’re actually having Sphene come back was not the road I was expecting them to go down, but I think this is easily the best approach. And I suppose I am in the minority because I enjoyed the involvement of Koana with the Hhetsarro, because I felt like it was a tying of a loose ends, and mending areas affected by the Alexandrian invasion, but that’s just my opinion. But, with all that said, I cannot wait to see what happens next in 7.2 and 7.3, I like it that much.
7.1 felt more like old FFXIV again. Wuk was way less annoying. I liked the dark twist with Gulool Ja's mother. The pacing of story and gameplay was a lot better. The dungeon happened very quickly and after that a long solo duty in Shaaolani. I feel like the part with Koana should have been in the base MSQ though. The cliffhanger was also interesting. Overall I liked it and I may even prefer it over the slog that 6.1 was or 5.1 where nothing really happened at all. I was very disappointed with the base MSQ but this felt a lot better to me.
I will be honest, the fact that there are only 2 cutscenes where Wuk Lamat was not present and is pretty much forcing us to go to Alexandria again (my character didn't want to go there after 7.0) made me sick. Worst of all I don't care about the blue lizzard thing nor his dad and crazy stalker mom so that whole storyline didn't resonate with me. The only time I genuinly got excited was when 'Sphene' came back because she stood up to Wuk Lamat and had that crazy grin. The FF11 raid/storyline- i couldn'tget into that since again 7.0 made me not care about the characters involved in. Why should I give a damn about the two headed guy. Unlike the previous alliance raids I don't care about Tural. Which is the main thing 7.0 made me not care about its characters and locations, it made me want to either leave and never go back, or wish for everything to be wiped out.
As someone who did play 11, but only to level 45, it was weird. Bits and pieces I recognized. Most I didn't. I can definitely appreciate that all of the fights were brilliant, though. I'm sure we'll get used to them quickly enough, but for the time being, that was ROUGH.
@imapseudonym6198 I'll go with that but we also got some of the toughest bosses from XI in that raid and some like the shadowlord got buffs. Divine Might is/was one of the toughest boss fights from the game. Usually in XI you want to kill off the Tantutaru first because he's a whm.
5:05 I agree. While it was a nice way to balance character participation. I was hoping for something better though especially for the use of that sniper.
7.1 was done far better then the base story. There is now a hook and the tid bits of how did a person who isn't the king or queen get access to Living Memories ability to delete memories. That small detail says there are shinanigans happening that we are completely unaware of. Do not forget, only the king and sphene have full access to the software as far as we are aware. So whos has that access now and how?
Totally agreed with how they place wuk this time, but tbh i thought it would go with idea of people let go but then weirdly pick up about zareel back story (prolly for lore and just to finish their story away) what really pick me up is at the end but then prolly gotta see if they gotta reuse the ardbert thingy again or not to determine how 7.1 is good or not for me. I feel so far the story is the same core as amurot so i hope they making new direction from now on.
I also really like Sphene stuff, I never liked how they killed her off in the Base expansion and I have this hope that she comes back, I actually loved her as a character and that she always had nothing but good intentions for Solution 9 and her people but she is scared to lose everyone again and all of this started because big lizard bullied her into him giving power because he couldn't become dawn servant, she was just as much as victim as tuliyolol so I was thrown off abit that she became the big bad instead of a character like Hien or Aymeric, a role best suites her in my opinion and I'll be glad that she gets that position at the end of the Patch Content.
Still a bit give and take in parts myself. I found a lot of the Alexandria portion of 7.0 to be a victim of bad pacing and tonal whiplash, but with some strong points like the last dungeon and trial. I also think Gulool Ja was a superfluous and unnecessary character who did more to bring down Zoraal Jab with a cheap “absent father” trope, and frankly this patch only compounded that issue, BUT the twists at the end are a solid hook-while the first part of it was a clear recycled idea, the very last bit in the stinger is definitely a new addition to it, so I’m hoping they’ll follow that momentum and not reveal themselves to have played their hand too quickly. Gameplay stuff has proven peak though. Most fun I’ve had lying dead for 1/3 of an Alliance Raid
Also I don’t think I had the problem with the Hhetso instance and quests as you did, but I feel like the battle instance could’ve been more interesting if we were to play as Koana during the fight. Also, as someone who quite enjoyed Koana’s arc, the twist regarding his parents was definitely a better-executed Red XIII reference than that fuccboi from Stormblood
I sighed when after 30 seconds into the 1st quest WL appeared to interrupt my tacos, and I was very happy when the groups were made in Shaaloani, as she didn't go with me. A lot of fresh air. I felt like big part of this patch's MSQ was side quests. And I don't really care about Gulool Ja so I couldn't get into his backstory, but the part about his stalker mother was interresting. And yes, the last boss of the dungeon was fire^^ As in 7.0, I really liked the Solution 9/Sphene arc and I can only hope that the story really starts in 7.2
Not so sure about this. Yeah, Wuk is definitely less imposing than before. And they gave other characters more screen presence, which they needed. But at the same time, she's still there constantly. She's still never wrong or struggles. And for many other characters like Zoraal, it's a bit late to develop him beyond daddy issues. There was a lot of lost potential in 7.0. And it's obvious the writers still want Wuk front and center for whatever comes next. Time will tell. I'm just not ready to give em credit yet. Good video! It is decent to see others trying to be positive about things.
yeah i feel lie Koana kinda had enough development in 7.0. the whole learning mother nature thing felt more fitting for a tales of stories that you read on the lodestone
Feeling very conflicted. The Alexandria part showed promise with more maturity and depth, but the Shaaloani part was some of the worst MSQ I've played. So horribly ham-fisted, contrived and cringeworthy. Still, the cliffhanger has me intrigued. Perhaps there is hope if they are able to hone in on the good parts of this patch in .2 and .3
Before watching your video, I was actually thinking about cancelling my subscription for the first time in 3 years. The MSQ is so boring and dreadful until now, that I couldn't even bring myself to finish it yet. Luckily, through some 'spoilers' in your video, you displayed that there's some bits and bobs of an interesting story yet to come. But I couldn't agree more with your criticism. Let's see how this continues for some longer.
Honestly 7.1 was a huge let down. The bar was low but they somehow still disappointed me. It doesn't help I feel like it's just taking 5.1s lunch which doesn't inspire much faith.
@@Titanxzero1 That's fair to have that opinion. To me the storytelling was far too direct on the nose pointing things out like we are idiots "HEY LOOK NOTICE THIS? NOTICE THIS AGAIN? LET ME ZOOM IN AGAIN TO MAKE SURE YOU NOTICE THIS". The little kid finding about his mother was the one bit I thought was good. It brought an answer and had a rather twisted dark element I actually liked and was surprised given how "Kid Show" feeling the game felt during DT that it dived into topics like that. The Koana bit made me dislike the character I had liked during 7.0 over-all. How he had such quick 180 changes to things just struck me as odd, not to mention how conveinent that one guy happened to be there that knew about his parents to tell him about them at the end felt way too conveinent. The Sphene reveal at the end... again... really felt like 5.1. It just felt like a rehash that on its own really took away from it. Now, is it possible something different is done with it? Yeah... but truhtfully with everything else I just don't really have much faith. Are there situations where I think it could become interesting if done in a certain way? Yeah! I just have doubts given the reveal and the ending extra bit. So for me, only 1 bit I found 'good' bit with the motehr reveal, the Koana bit was just bad and hurt his character, the solution 9 bit that COULD be interesting felt far too hamfisted and effectively took away the idea the people had agency with "Oh its the things messing with their memories", and the story effectively turning into 5.1 wth "Arbert" returning which once you do something again it becomes far less interesting. To be fair if you are considering 7.0, then I'd say yeah it wasn't as bad as the worst moments there, but those bits were REALLY REALLY bad. I had hopes 7.1 would perhaps bring the writing back a bit more to feel there is more hope for the story but to me I just don't get that feeling. There are ways it CAN be interesting but just how poorly written the Koana bit was and how much they treat us like idiots pointing out details I have little hope for something really interesting and fresh.
good video! btw. im glad i unsubed after i was done with the msq and the arcadion raid tier, i wait until this absolute atrocity of an expansion is over and we see whats next to come and i dare them to leave the whole DT shit in Tulylulyd or however tf this shit is called and let us move on with another great expansion without the tedious bs quests, Woke Lamat an all what not... and good god i love FF since FF1 but atm i still have nothing but contempt for whoever worked on DT, except the battle content devs they did fckin great...
Agreed, 7.1 felt like a better direction for the MSQ, hooking us properly to want more. Though who knows, we might end up in a standoff where Wuk Lamat has to shoot the fake Sphene and she won't be able to decide which is which and then and then....she'll cry out that name even longer and harder after making that fateful decision. I hope not, but the setup seems to be there xD
This is such cope, the story is a complete copy and paste from shadow bringers. A dead character is being impersonated by someone. Wuk is still taking centre stage even during Koana's segment, she comes in and saves him. Why is she even there? Shouldn't she be leading her people, she's the dawn servant now. I honestly think the only way to save Wuk as a character is for her to die for her people.
Did my comment get auto deleted? or just not post? I started 7.1 but quit before the turn in. I'm just so sick of the WoL not being allowed to add input or correct people when they are wrong. Why is the WoL even there? We could be off sitting on a beach with Shtola and nothing would be different. And that's not even mentioning the tacos..... they did it AGAIN! Either show the eat taco emote or stop showing tacos! The WoL is the worst guide/mentor to ever exist.
I'm glad they touched up Halatlai, because I've always considered it THE worst dungeon in the game by far. That being said, I haven't tried it yet, because.... so many better things to do at the moment. As for the finale of 7.1... I have to admit, I was totally uninvested, slightly bored, and even laughing at inappropriate moments throughout most of the new story.... but the ending intrigued me. It looked like some genuinely interesting stuff was about to unfold, and has me greatly interested in what comes next. A pity we'll have to wait a few more months to find out!
Oh, and I feel like the kid should have been more traumatized. His reaction to finding out his mom was a simp, and already knowing what a POS his dad was, just felt too unrealistic, too neat.
Considering the kind of life the kid has had, his reaction fits. I too hoped for some emotional scene for him, let's hope they got something of that nature in store for him.
Like he said he barely knew his father in the first place, and he didn’t know his mother at all. He found out a stranger was a simp. I think that’s a reasonable reaction. Disappointed, but nothing close to feeling traumatized since he has zero personal connection to her
7.1 made me give up hope and cancel my subscription. I don't care about baby lizard, I don't care about the place from the AR, if they go for taco night one more time I'll probably punch my monitor in disgust, and cheating to read what I haven't done yet and seeing that they're rehashing the post-Shadowbringers story just shows to me they have no creativity left.
I only played the Vana'diel story and was severely disappointed. The raid itself was great, but the story was just a boring slog. After teleporting from Jeuno to the main city for a taco eating scene and back to Jeuno, I quit out. I couldn't be bothered to do the auctioning of the electrum. I was bored to tears. I don't know why there's such a focus on eating. Why do I need to see every character doing the most mundane thing. I'm so sick of this stupid trope in all media. It's boring. I'm here for an adventure, not to see what foods a puppet likes. And yes, I'm bitter over Prishe's treatment.
@Titanxzero1 I played FFXI for longer than FFXIV, so I probably am a bit tougher on it than most will be. I wanted more than they were probably ever going to give it. I did enjoy the raid itself though.
Lol I felt the same, and quit at the auction too. Just let me skip it, why do I have participate, whether I do it or the AI does won't change the outcome so just get on with it.
I thought the alliance raid story was fine depending on where it goes but I 100% agree about the opening of the MSQ. I knew I didn't like Wuk Lamat, but genuinely, when they started with tacos and then she's the first relevant character we talk to, I almost skipped and quit. I can't lie, she's fully soured for me at this point, it's too much, she does not need a second more screen time for at least another expansion. The start of the MSQ was such anti-hype I actually did stop and play something else and had to find the energy to come back and actually play the MSQ. I never thought I would feel so negatively towards the MSQ in FF14.
Not even close. 7.1 is pretty much DoA breathing barely a hint of life back into a dying game. If you're not convinced this game is cooked, the next 1 year of WoW content pretty much cements it. Undermine will be out before 7.2 and then they will be hyping up for the next expansion release by the summer, at this rate it's just pretty much unstoppable. I just don't see how DT continues to keep up considering they are already behind in playable content by a longshot mile, so it's just a downhill slog until we MIGHT get some real changes in 8.0.
@Zakjuh when i care more about Moira Bronzebeard than Wuk'lamat, hell when i care more about the garbage Earthen race than all of Tural and Alexandria put together you know the story went to trash. The gameplay has been trash since forever, plus there's nothing to do outside of logging in weekly and capping tomestones for gear that will be obsolete in 4 months, which looks like the art department spent 15 minutes shitting out.
FF9 Theory: Sphene has been reincarnated on a different body and different form resembling Garnet and no one recognizes her. This grounds her and gives her a different perspective on people in both Alexandria and Tuliolal making her realize that her people should not rely on her anymore. By the end, it gave her a choice to go back to her body declining it and becoming an Adventurer instead.
Literally the only thing I want the WoL to do is go:
*"If you need anything at all...too bad. Deal with your problems like adults, I've got some tacos with my name on them."*
This is supposed to be the WoL's "beach episode", but they're still running around fixing everyone's problems lol
The WoL has done so much at this point, that they should at least be getting a lifetime supply of free tacos
but then there would be no game or youd play Wuk Lamat instead
At this point the WoL is probably so used to fixing other people's problems that they probably don't know how to do much else to actually relax and enjoy him\herself. Fixing people's issues is WoL's vacation, as long as it isn't world ending or nation decimating.
Oh, wait...
heavensward wasnt the "finale" of anything. Yet it was great.
Stormblood was the tease before the finale expansions. Yet it had one of the most poetic character arcs with Tsuyu.
@@IKIGAIofficial true and DT will be the Worst expansion off all time
Tsuyu is one of my favorite villains from Stormblood. I hated her for being so cruel and uncaring, but I also understood how she had become that way. It made sense that she harbored so much hatred in her heart, considering how the people around her constantly abused and took advantage of her to the point where she just didn't care anymore. A part of me wishes she had never regained her memory and could have simply lived with Gosetsu. However, I knew it was always going to end one way. Honestly, I cried at the end.
Lets not lie to ourselves, 3.0 and 4.0 MSQ wasnt good especially for 4.0 during its release ,but HW had much bigger problems to even think about MSQ. They are only remembered thanks to their actual finale x.3 MSQ.
@@MegaKaims I know it's sacrilege to say this for 3.0, but I agree. 3.0 didn't do all that much for me. It was 3.x that made me like it more. Especially 3.2 and 3.3, but 3.4 and 3.5 were pretty strong as well.
4.0 altogether is agreed upon by the community to be mostly awful, BUT very much salvaged with the post-patches. And I agree with that too. I really did like 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5. 4.5 might be my favorite .5 in fact. .1s tend to be pretty weak on average to me. 3.1, 4.1, 5.1. 6.1 was conversely fairly strong for a .1 patch, and I think 7.1 is pretty strong too. Might be recency bias and my opinion might change in the coming weeks, but so far, while it has some of the typical DT issues (cough cough Wuk Lamat), it was a lot less heinous than 7.0. The twins felt a bit like the twins again, Wuk Lamat wasn't the center of attention constantly. Koana got some time to shine. Y'shtola... uh, was there, lol. I dunno, it felt like a step up. Still a ways to go, and I really want them to Lyse Wuk Lamat in 7.2 or 7.3, but I expected worse.
@@MegaKaimshell nah, 3.0 had very good cast, story wasn't this cartoon for 6 yo and it had best pacing out of all expansions.
My only complaint about 7.1 is how short it felt, and how quick it was over. Other than that, it felt good to me, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next.
If I recall correctly, months before 7.1 was even announced (but shortly after Arcadion released), Yoshi-P did hint at the probability of the Ascians making an appearance again in an interview.
Obviously, the big names are done and dusted. However, there's a few who are still unaccounted for who we haven't even met yet. The Ascians aren't like the Taken from Destiny either, they dont need a being like Oryx or the Witness to guide them. Sure, the remaining Ascians dont have a purpose with Zodiark gone, but what's stopping them from wanting revenge or going rogue like Fandaniel?
Tinfoil hat on, the fake Sphene is an Ascian puppeteering one of her bodies like a fucked up ventriloquist act. I'd be fine with that admittedly since Dawntrail's villains weren't as engaging as the Ascians. I like my villains to have depth, not daddy issues
Remember, as far as we know, the original Sphenes body was buried in a grand tomb, that we firmly believed it beneath Alexandria castle, as Everkeep was built on top of the original castle. I wouldn't be surprised if an Ascian took over the original Sphenes body and dressed it up to look like current Sphene, which it why they didn't appear immediately. Meanwhile, what if by perserving her memories. Preservation accidently made the original Sphene Ascian like? But she was kept under lock and key as a way to ensure that anything happen to the digital Sphene, they can copy her, and now shes free but looks different as maybe the digital Sphene wasn't a 1 for 1 recreation, afterall, we never got to see what original Sphene looked like, potentially more Garnet like
I'm mixed, I didn't hate the MSQ but I was not grabbed either. I will not lie, when it started with tacos and Wuk reappearing, it took everything in me not to just skip, I will be honest, I'm so beyond tired and over her. I need her to stay in town and let us actually get to know Koana and Gulool, I still feel so soured to her it's wild. I also struggled to care enough about Zoraal, Gulool and his mom to get hooked in because the development for pretty much all the new characters other than Wuk in the base game was almost non-existent. I wish I cared but I realized playing just how exhausted DT made me, I just could not care. Luckily I liked the dungeon, I really enjoyed the Jeuno raid too.
It is an improvement because I did not dislike the story, it was just fine to me but the gameplay hard carried the patch for me personally.
Ouch... Was it that bad? I thought it was a little better than the 1st DT MSQ.
@Titanxzero1 It was better than the baseMSQ, but the base MSQ is also why it didn't land for me. Wuk does not need to be there anymore, she should actually do her job in the city just like they constantly had Koana absent because Dawnservant, and the rest is just hard to salvage now because Zoraal, baby Gulool and everyone in Solution 9 barely got any development or time so the focus now is good but I didn't really care about them in the base game. Low key, lizard Jafar is the one that actually was kind of interesting in the base MSQ but that's not the patch MSQ.
Agree with most points. But... Sphene coming "back to life" isn't a new idea hook at all. It is a Zenos type redux. Look he's dead, now he's not, he's in a different body, and Elidibus is in his real body. Same thing here with Sphene in solution 9, and another possible Spene in Living memory. It may be different but smells the same to me. Lazy writing if that is how it turns out.
Its definitely a different vibe i get. Maybe because its a new spin on it considering it revolves around data as well as holding citizens pretty much hostage. Honestly if anything i get more of an elidibus taking over ardbert vibe than zenos. If its zoraal ja in sphene body ill def be disappointed though
There is no point of killing off a character if they’re just going to bring them back alive for no apparent reason, just leave them dead.
I loved the part where a bunch of cattle were somehow so important that the leaders of a country had to risk their lives for them. /sarcasm
I think Wuk Lamat’s voice actress got a lot better. I like Gulool Ja, so I was interested in his story. I felt like we could’ve gotten pieces of Koana’s backstory in 7.0, it goes back to how none of the other characters really got fleshed out other than Wuk.
@@Angi3_6 the problem with Wuk lamat has nothing to do with the Voice actress more with the terrible Writing
@@christophermader7577 I think it’s a mix of both.
*actor
And also, I hate how the story pretty much forces our character to go to the funeral, even though we ended up killing her in the main story.
I kind of pictured my character up in the balconies trying hard not to giggle at the absurdity of it all.
I still wouldn’t be surprised if the kid turns out to be some sorta clone of his father.
I don't know how much more trauma this kid can take jeez.
You know what would be absolutely hilarious? If the 'real Sphene' who got revealed at the end is indeed the true Sphene and not tied to the AI built in her image at all, and wound up being horrified by what her people have become. Remember, the human Sphene died hundreds of years ago, so they presumably weren't ripping peoples' souls out for kicks back then.
Also, am I the only one to absolutely die of laughter when it turned out the baby's mom was a crazy chick with a thing for bad boys and an "I can fix him" mentality, who then tried the baby trap strategy? Like, it was.... horrible and grim, but also somehow so incredibly mundane and.... base, I guess, that I was just losing it. Like, the only way it could possibly get any less dignified was if she finally sealed the deal by getting Zoraal Ja SUUUUUUPER drunk first.
Shadowbringers was a new story and it was amazing. The story argument is plain dumb. They just fumbled and that can happen.
What people expected when 50% of the team was put to work on FF16 while they needed to produce a new expansion at the same time...And then their writer left them, and they put a literal nobody to do the story because he worked for them for 10+ years... yeah, never had any trust in this expansion to begin with, they f ed up , and can't admit it. To begin with FF14 is on it's last leg, they only get out money, don't put anything back in the game and it's starts to show.
Overall I'm happy with this patch! Feels like they've done their best to address some concerns with the writing for Wuk Lamat a bit, as she's been toned down and seems a touch more grounded now. And as you said, she helps to enhance the moments of the two characters she's got ties with. Which is a nice start. I never had that much of a problem with her as a character, but as I said in a previous video, she definately got a bit too much screen time. I do also like that they almost immediately cut down the cast of the scions, not feeling like they need to keep Thancred and the others around just because. Even Y'shtola only makes a few appearances towards the end since, understandably, she's investigating the Living Memory rift.
The yak herding was causing me to nod off in the middle of it, admittedly. They probably could have done something else with regards to it, like maybe have us investigate past sightings of the monster while Kona was learning about the nomads way of life, but oh well.
And I'm eager to see where they go from here with what they are setting up. My current theory is some sort of rogue AI, considering the glitching screen during the moment of 'Sphene's' return, but we'll see how close that is in the future. I also liked learning more about Gulool Ja's family as well, as we got to see a bit more going on with Zeraal Ja as a character. Seeing him lose his composure after seeing his son I think does help to show how troubled he truely was as an individual. But I'm fine if this is all we get to flesh him out, honestly. There's only so much you can do with a character post-mortem after all, even in FF14.
Honestly, after playing Veilguard, the writing problems of FF14 almost seem quaint in comparison. That's not to say I won't criticise the decisions that the FF14 team make with regards to story. But more so now, I think I have a bit more perspective which I'm grateful for.
Sry but the writing in Vailguard as weak as it is is still genius compared with the writing of DT
@christophermader7577
I personally disagree with that statement, but I respect your opinion on the matter all the same.
@@peterwinter1962 and it's absolutely ok^^ thank you
Couldn’t have phrased it better. If I had a bit of rather lukewarm approach to Dawntrail, then 7.1 gave me a lot to think about going into the rest of 7.2 and beyond. I had no idea what they planned to do with Sphene, but the fact they’re actually having Sphene come back was not the road I was expecting them to go down, but I think this is easily the best approach. And I suppose I am in the minority because I enjoyed the involvement of Koana with the Hhetsarro, because I felt like it was a tying of a loose ends, and mending areas affected by the Alexandrian invasion, but that’s just my opinion. But, with all that said, I cannot wait to see what happens next in 7.2 and 7.3, I like it that much.
7.1 felt more like old FFXIV again. Wuk was way less annoying. I liked the dark twist with Gulool Ja's mother. The pacing of story and gameplay was a lot better. The dungeon happened very quickly and after that a long solo duty in Shaaolani. I feel like the part with Koana should have been in the base MSQ though. The cliffhanger was also interesting.
Overall I liked it and I may even prefer it over the slog that 6.1 was or 5.1 where nothing really happened at all. I was very disappointed with the base MSQ but this felt a lot better to me.
.1s are usually pretty meh as far as patch narratives go, so as funny as it may sound, it probably puts 7.1 up there by comparison.
I will be honest, the fact that there are only 2 cutscenes where Wuk Lamat was not present and is pretty much forcing us to go to Alexandria again (my character didn't want to go there after 7.0) made me sick.
Worst of all I don't care about the blue lizzard thing nor his dad and crazy stalker mom so that whole storyline didn't resonate with me.
The only time I genuinly got excited was when 'Sphene' came back because she stood up to Wuk Lamat and had that crazy grin.
The FF11 raid/storyline- i couldn'tget into that since again 7.0 made me not care about the characters involved in. Why should I give a damn about the two headed guy. Unlike the previous alliance raids I don't care about Tural. Which is the main thing 7.0 made me not care about its characters and locations, it made me want to either leave and never go back, or wish for everything to be wiped out.
@@yoanignatov7610 truer words was never been spoken
idk I just didn't feel that way at all.
As an FFXI vet echos of Vanadiel was just great. I can't wait for the rest of the raid to drop
As someone who did play 11, but only to level 45, it was weird. Bits and pieces I recognized. Most I didn't.
I can definitely appreciate that all of the fights were brilliant, though. I'm sure we'll get used to them quickly enough, but for the time being, that was ROUGH.
@imapseudonym6198 I'll go with that but we also got some of the toughest bosses from XI in that raid and some like the shadowlord got buffs. Divine Might is/was one of the toughest boss fights from the game. Usually in XI you want to kill off the Tantutaru first because he's a whm.
@imapseudonym6198 ps: I got 75 but I never managed to get the help I wanted to beat Chains of Promithia. Prishe is from there
5:05 I agree. While it was a nice way to balance character participation. I was hoping for something better though especially for the use of that sniper.
@@Sky_Ler2000 Character Participation? Your Wol is still just a cheerleader and Wuk lamat is still in almost every scene
7.1 was done far better then the base story. There is now a hook and the tid bits of how did a person who isn't the king or queen get access to Living Memories ability to delete memories. That small detail says there are shinanigans happening that we are completely unaware of.
Do not forget, only the king and sphene have full access to the software as far as we are aware. So whos has that access now and how?
Totally agreed with how they place wuk this time, but tbh i thought it would go with idea of people let go but then weirdly pick up about zareel back story (prolly for lore and just to finish their story away) what really pick me up is at the end but then prolly gotta see if they gotta reuse the ardbert thingy again or not to determine how 7.1 is good or not for me. I feel so far the story is the same core as amurot so i hope they making new direction from now on.
I also really like Sphene stuff, I never liked how they killed her off in the Base expansion and I have this hope that she comes back, I actually loved her as a character and that she always had nothing but good intentions for Solution 9 and her people but she is scared to lose everyone again and all of this started because big lizard bullied her into him giving power because he couldn't become dawn servant, she was just as much as victim as tuliyolol so I was thrown off abit that she became the big bad instead of a character like Hien or Aymeric, a role best suites her in my opinion and I'll be glad that she gets that position at the end of the Patch Content.
Still a bit give and take in parts myself. I found a lot of the Alexandria portion of 7.0 to be a victim of bad pacing and tonal whiplash, but with some strong points like the last dungeon and trial. I also think Gulool Ja was a superfluous and unnecessary character who did more to bring down Zoraal Jab with a cheap “absent father” trope, and frankly this patch only compounded that issue, BUT the twists at the end are a solid hook-while the first part of it was a clear recycled idea, the very last bit in the stinger is definitely a new addition to it, so I’m hoping they’ll follow that momentum and not reveal themselves to have played their hand too quickly.
Gameplay stuff has proven peak though. Most fun I’ve had lying dead for 1/3 of an Alliance Raid
Also I don’t think I had the problem with the Hhetso instance and quests as you did, but I feel like the battle instance could’ve been more interesting if we were to play as Koana during the fight. Also, as someone who quite enjoyed Koana’s arc, the twist regarding his parents was definitely a better-executed Red XIII reference than that fuccboi from Stormblood
I sighed when after 30 seconds into the 1st quest WL appeared to interrupt my tacos, and I was very happy when the groups were made in Shaaloani, as she didn't go with me. A lot of fresh air.
I felt like big part of this patch's MSQ was side quests. And I don't really care about Gulool Ja so I couldn't get into his backstory, but the part about his stalker mother was interresting. And yes, the last boss of the dungeon was fire^^
As in 7.0, I really liked the Solution 9/Sphene arc and I can only hope that the story really starts in 7.2
Hearing that Wuk Lmao has been pushed back in exposure alone is enough to raise my interest in the story again.
Not so sure about this.
Yeah, Wuk is definitely less imposing than before. And they gave other characters more screen presence, which they needed.
But at the same time, she's still there constantly. She's still never wrong or struggles. And for many other characters like Zoraal, it's a bit late to develop him beyond daddy issues. There was a lot of lost potential in 7.0. And it's obvious the writers still want Wuk front and center for whatever comes next.
Time will tell. I'm just not ready to give em credit yet.
Good video! It is decent to see others trying to be positive about things.
@@durantes yeah no money from me as long as Wuk lamat is the center of the game
I think Koana story should have been in the first part of the patch and everything in Alexandria should have been as the last part of the patch.
yeah i feel lie Koana kinda had enough development in 7.0. the whole learning mother nature thing felt more fitting for a tales of stories that you read on the lodestone
7.1 had more Wuk. Enough reason to skip every scene possible.
So true
🎻
Feeling very conflicted. The Alexandria part showed promise with more maturity and depth, but the Shaaloani part was some of the worst MSQ I've played. So horribly ham-fisted, contrived and cringeworthy.
Still, the cliffhanger has me intrigued. Perhaps there is hope if they are able to hone in on the good parts of this patch in .2 and .3
Before watching your video, I was actually thinking about cancelling my subscription for the first time in 3 years.
The MSQ is so boring and dreadful until now, that I couldn't even bring myself to finish it yet.
Luckily, through some 'spoilers' in your video, you displayed that there's some bits and bobs of an interesting story yet to come.
But I couldn't agree more with your criticism. Let's see how this continues for some longer.
It was ok, but yeah im excited to see what comes next.
We gotta let go of the scions. We need all new cash members, maybe a couple scions here and there.
The Koana bit honestly made his character feel worst to me and made 0 logical sense.
Honestly 7.1 was a huge let down. The bar was low but they somehow still disappointed me. It doesn't help I feel like it's just taking 5.1s lunch which doesn't inspire much faith.
Didn't think it was that bad tbh
@@Titanxzero1 That's fair to have that opinion. To me the storytelling was far too direct on the nose pointing things out like we are idiots "HEY LOOK NOTICE THIS? NOTICE THIS AGAIN? LET ME ZOOM IN AGAIN TO MAKE SURE YOU NOTICE THIS".
The little kid finding about his mother was the one bit I thought was good. It brought an answer and had a rather twisted dark element I actually liked and was surprised given how "Kid Show" feeling the game felt during DT that it dived into topics like that.
The Koana bit made me dislike the character I had liked during 7.0 over-all. How he had such quick 180 changes to things just struck me as odd, not to mention how conveinent that one guy happened to be there that knew about his parents to tell him about them at the end felt way too conveinent.
The Sphene reveal at the end... again... really felt like 5.1. It just felt like a rehash that on its own really took away from it. Now, is it possible something different is done with it? Yeah... but truhtfully with everything else I just don't really have much faith. Are there situations where I think it could become interesting if done in a certain way? Yeah! I just have doubts given the reveal and the ending extra bit.
So for me, only 1 bit I found 'good' bit with the motehr reveal, the Koana bit was just bad and hurt his character, the solution 9 bit that COULD be interesting felt far too hamfisted and effectively took away the idea the people had agency with "Oh its the things messing with their memories", and the story effectively turning into 5.1 wth "Arbert" returning which once you do something again it becomes far less interesting.
To be fair if you are considering 7.0, then I'd say yeah it wasn't as bad as the worst moments there, but those bits were REALLY REALLY bad. I had hopes 7.1 would perhaps bring the writing back a bit more to feel there is more hope for the story but to me I just don't get that feeling. There are ways it CAN be interesting but just how poorly written the Koana bit was and how much they treat us like idiots pointing out details I have little hope for something really interesting and fresh.
good video! btw. im glad i unsubed after i was done with the msq and the arcadion raid tier, i wait until this absolute atrocity of an expansion is over and we see whats next to come and i dare them to leave the whole DT shit in Tulylulyd or however tf this shit is called and let us move on with another great expansion without the tedious bs quests, Woke Lamat an all what not... and good god i love FF since FF1 but atm i still have nothing but contempt for whoever worked on DT, except the battle content devs they did fckin great...
Agreed, 7.1 felt like a better direction for the MSQ, hooking us properly to want more. Though who knows, we might end up in a standoff where Wuk Lamat has to shoot the fake Sphene and she won't be able to decide which is which and then and then....she'll cry out that name even longer and harder after making that fateful decision.
I hope not, but the setup seems to be there xD
The whole of FFXIV 7.0 Dawntrail needs to be scrapped story-wise. It's the worst-rated expansion and is taking things in the wrong direction.
This is such cope, the story is a complete copy and paste from shadow bringers. A dead character is being impersonated by someone. Wuk is still taking centre stage even during Koana's segment, she comes in and saves him. Why is she even there? Shouldn't she be leading her people, she's the dawn servant now. I honestly think the only way to save Wuk as a character is for her to die for her people.
But if I skip all cutscenes where Wuk lamat show's up how many I have left?
2 cutscenes
@yoanignatov7610 thanks ^^ so the game is still not Worth my Money
@@christophermader7577 the cut scenes with her aren't even bad tho
I thought it was bad. Feels like a carbon copy of Ardbert showing back up in 5.2
Did my comment get auto deleted? or just not post?
I started 7.1 but quit before the turn in. I'm just so sick of the WoL not being allowed to add input or correct people when they are wrong. Why is the WoL even there? We could be off sitting on a beach with Shtola and nothing would be different. And that's not even mentioning the tacos..... they did it AGAIN! Either show the eat taco emote or stop showing tacos!
The WoL is the worst guide/mentor to ever exist.
I have TH-cam's automod comment checker thing set to strict and sometimes innocuous messages get picked up and I'm not really sure why
@@Joe-it2dh yeah we are only allowed to be a Wuk lamat fan girl we are no Mentor at all
I'm glad they touched up Halatlai, because I've always considered it THE worst dungeon in the game by far. That being said, I haven't tried it yet, because.... so many better things to do at the moment.
As for the finale of 7.1... I have to admit, I was totally uninvested, slightly bored, and even laughing at inappropriate moments throughout most of the new story.... but the ending intrigued me. It looked like some genuinely interesting stuff was about to unfold, and has me greatly interested in what comes next. A pity we'll have to wait a few more months to find out!
my favorite part was when i skipped everything so that i can do the new dungeon. first ff14 xpac that i skipped through most of the msq
Oh, and I feel like the kid should have been more traumatized. His reaction to finding out his mom was a simp, and already knowing what a POS his dad was, just felt too unrealistic, too neat.
Considering the kind of life the kid has had, his reaction fits.
I too hoped for some emotional scene for him, let's hope they got something of that nature in store for him.
Like he said he barely knew his father in the first place, and he didn’t know his mother at all. He found out a stranger was a simp. I think that’s a reasonable reaction. Disappointed, but nothing close to feeling traumatized since he has zero personal connection to her
Easy skip dawntrail is dog shit
zodiark trance!!!
I skipped all
7.1 made me give up hope and cancel my subscription. I don't care about baby lizard, I don't care about the place from the AR, if they go for taco night one more time I'll probably punch my monitor in disgust, and cheating to read what I haven't done yet and seeing that they're rehashing the post-Shadowbringers story just shows to me they have no creativity left.
Thanks for leaving!
Really? Rehash?its fine if you dont like it but are you really comparing zenos to sphene?
@@kita6502 Elidibus, not Zenos.
Good choice if the quality is this bad they don't deserve your money
This is just trash.
I only played the Vana'diel story and was severely disappointed. The raid itself was great, but the story was just a boring slog. After teleporting from Jeuno to the main city for a taco eating scene and back to Jeuno, I quit out. I couldn't be bothered to do the auctioning of the electrum. I was bored to tears.
I don't know why there's such a focus on eating. Why do I need to see every character doing the most mundane thing. I'm so sick of this stupid trope in all media. It's boring. I'm here for an adventure, not to see what foods a puppet likes. And yes, I'm bitter over Prishe's treatment.
Jeez. Was it that bad? I just thought it was alright so far.
@Titanxzero1 I played FFXI for longer than FFXIV, so I probably am a bit tougher on it than most will be. I wanted more than they were probably ever going to give it. I did enjoy the raid itself though.
Lol I felt the same, and quit at the auction too. Just let me skip it, why do I have participate, whether I do it or the AI does won't change the outcome so just get on with it.
I thought the alliance raid story was fine depending on where it goes but I 100% agree about the opening of the MSQ. I knew I didn't like Wuk Lamat, but genuinely, when they started with tacos and then she's the first relevant character we talk to, I almost skipped and quit. I can't lie, she's fully soured for me at this point, it's too much, she does not need a second more screen time for at least another expansion.
The start of the MSQ was such anti-hype I actually did stop and play something else and had to find the energy to come back and actually play the MSQ. I never thought I would feel so negatively towards the MSQ in FF14.
@@mismismism sadly Wuk lamat will never go away according to Yoshi P he will Use her even more
Not even close. 7.1 is pretty much DoA breathing barely a hint of life back into a dying game. If you're not convinced this game is cooked, the next 1 year of WoW content pretty much cements it. Undermine will be out before 7.2 and then they will be hyping up for the next expansion release by the summer, at this rate it's just pretty much unstoppable.
I just don't see how DT continues to keep up considering they are already behind in playable content by a longshot mile, so it's just a downhill slog until we MIGHT get some real changes in 8.0.
lol
lmao even
@Zakjuh when i care more about Moira Bronzebeard than Wuk'lamat, hell when i care more about the garbage Earthen race than all of Tural and Alexandria put together you know the story went to trash.
The gameplay has been trash since forever, plus there's nothing to do outside of logging in weekly and capping tomestones for gear that will be obsolete in 4 months, which looks like the art department spent 15 minutes shitting out.
Huge overrataction.
I pretty much hated 7.1 MSQ except for the quest. Hoping they make it interesting in 7.2
@@voidmonkey7907 believe me they Won't if anything we will have even more Trash lamat in the future according to Yoshi P
@@christophermader7577 oh, well damn.
Less Trash Lamat and more krile...
simple as that.
absolutely despise the horrid written character, horrid story.
@@esko911 yup as long as this thing is the MC I will not pay any money for the game
@@christophermader7577 then don't play it? Bitching about it constantly isn't gonna change anything. You might as well wait for the next expansion.