On Patch 4.3 currently. Y'all already know how that goes

Also these Estenien teases are KILLING me right now

What did you think of Zenos?

A lot of people dislike him but I think he’s great. There’s not much depth to his character (yet) but he’s entertaining as hell and he reminds me of Kefka in how he serves as a nihilistic foil for the Warrior of Light.

I liked Zenos. He may not be the most nuanced villain out there, but he's entertaining like you said and incredibly intimidating when he needs to be. Also, the multiple boss fights were a nice touch and the fact that I was dealing with someone who wasn't simply misguided or out for vengeance, but ruthless beyond contempt made taking him down really satisfying. Plus he has some really badass lines which is a nice bonus.

It was tough to watch at times, but I appreciate the way they handled his relationship with Fordola and Yotsuyu. The dude's so bad that I couldn't help but root for them, and that's before the game actually explored their characters, which I also enjoyed. Yotsuyu's arc in particular is one of my favorites from Stormblood

I think part of Zenos's more simple characterisation is reflective of the fact that he's meant to be the rival counterpart to the Warrior of Light, who is mostly a blank slate owing to them being the player character and is pretty much solely defined as being a symbol of hope.

In the context of Stormblood's narrative, I feel that Fordola and Yotsuyu sort of make up for what's lacking in Zenos's character on an emotional and thematic level, and I love the direction the game takes with them afterwards (Yotsuyu's story is straight up heartbreaking).

I never really thought of Zenos as a narrative FOIL to WoL, but I can sort of see it. I think one of the characters' remark that he's not a politician, just a warrior. That stuck with me a lot tbh

I really need to get back into this. I stopped a couple quest before starting Stormblood

This trolley questline in ShB

Finally saved Ahm Areng, went back to the Crystarium...

I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS

I was convinced that Thancred's character arc was going to end with him dying after going all-out in that fight against Ran'jit, especially since he had just finally accepted that Minfilia was gone and that Ryne was her own person.

That scene was really good imo and so was the fight leading up to it. Really made me think he'd be making his "noble sacrifice". I definitely thought Thancred dying there would've been VERY appropriate, but I can kind of understand why they didn't go through with it.

yooooo. started playing the free trial last night. have no idea what I'm doing but I hit level 15 in like 3 hours and I think I'm hooked lmao

lets see what this about

Game is f***ing amazing, I regret picking it back up because I can’t play anything else at the moment. They nailed it.

Bought the Complete Edition. I'm hooked man.

enjoy

which class did you start with?

Conjurer. Goal is to unlock Astrologian, since it seems like a pretty dope job.

nice choice. love the astrologian animations. though really, all of the magic-based classes are really cool imo.

Can’t say too much without going in to spoilers, but there are still interesting things in store for Thancred so I’m fine with him surviving even if it means passing up a damn near perfect ending for his character.

@Wiggler dont read my post since its future spoilers

Just wanted to hop in on this but I really wish that it was Thancred that ended up killing Ran'jit instead of the WoL. Just thought it would have been more meaningful, feel like Ran'jit was pretty unexplored as a character overall tbh

I totally agree that Thancred should have been the one to kill Ran’jit instead of the Warrior of Light; it would have been much more fitting as Ran’jit was basically Thancred’s opposite in terms of being a guardian to Ryne.

The game was still contrasting them even after Shadowbringers had concluded:

I do appreciate how Ran’jit was a sympathetic character in the sense that he had been a mentor to all of the previous incarnations of Minfilia and eventually grew tired of watching them die.

Yeah I was actually really interested in his backstory and his relationships with all the other Minfilias but I feel like we never got the full story of his character unfortunately. Also I love that fight

Have you played through the Sorrow of Werlyt storyline? I think the team gave Gaius a Zuko-level redemption arc.

Yess, that was one of my favourite side storylines out of the whole game, its right up there with the Dark Knight storyline for me. Gaius also rose to one of my favourite characters out of the whole game after that (seeing him tear up made me so sad man) I was not expecting them to develop his character during the trial series and better yet, give a conclusion to his character. I really think the only way they could have made this better was if there was VA; although its very understandable why it wasnt with covid around.

Honestly aside from the Nier raid the side content in this expansion has been great overall from a story telling perspective.

I think Giaus is being set up to lead whatever remains of Garlemald after Endwalker. I’m looking forward to seeing what the team does with his character.

One of the things I love about XIV is how every narrative element is eventually used in service of something meaningful. Giaus could have just been left as a boring character in A Realm Reborn, but instead he was brought back and made to reckon with his legacy in a way that was thematically consistent with the rest of Shadowbringers. Stuff like that just makes storytelling so much more interesting and satisfying for me.

Just finished 5.0.
That was actually incredible. I have no words, I'll try to collect my thoughts later but that may have been one of the most successfully executed stories/themes I've seen in a video game. Just wow.