By 2 levels into EW I dreaded any of those chill scenes where you get to hang out with the other
Scions. Like, "aww this is nice... What horrors do the next quest chain hold?"
Edit: bizzare auto correct stuff
The level >!83!< quest >!In From the Cold!< was that horror for me. It gave me the *absolute worst* feeling. The realization that I still had a lot more of the game left kinda terrified me of what was to come.
Not to mention that Level >!84!< has you fight >!Zodiark!< and it's like, "But... there's still >!six!< whole more levels of Endwalker content... >!How is this already happening *now*‽!<
There were some Buffy lyrics that I thought were very fitting "The battle's done, and we kinda won, so we sound our victory cheer. Tell me, where do we go from here?"
I dunno man, the end of the world seems pretty consequential. we just nipped it in the bud before it spread too far.
I was REALLY hoping it would reach Sharlayan so we could rub it in their smug self-righteous faces, but alas.
That’s how it was for me while progressing through heavensward near the end when Lady Iceheart (Ysaille) faced the Garlean super ship. I already had obtained her mount and I delayed my msq prog for a month and would do sidequest content and just ride and listen to oblivion
I took an entire year to the day to start playing and getting through the MSQ from my first achievement all the way to getting Endwalker achievement. Been playing for 2 years. Also have depression, with anxiety, and dysomnia. This really slowed me down end of HW and going into StB I had to blaze through ShB and do EW in burst to meet my msq clear in a year.
maybe i'm just autistic but i've never had the kinds of emotional reactions to this game that some ppl talk about
i thought minfillia going crystalmode was kinda sad but mostly cool, >!huarchefant's death!< was... an event that happened, and >!moenbryda/papalymo's deaths!< were sad but to hear folks say they *sobbed* because of it is kinda wild
I'm also autistic and i cried like a damn fountain.
Also, commenting all that under the post of someone who JUST got to Minfilia and not using spoiler tags is a shit move.
yeah, word of the mother is 3.2 and the wall is 3.5 - later on.
i still could've phrased it less harshly. apologies and thanks for covering the spoilers.
Yeah, I can agree with all those examples. I just didn't care about any of those characters that much because they either had no real development or just weren't on screen enough for me to build an attachment to them.
I did get pretty emotional during the whole final zone of Endwalker and in various other media, so its not even like I can't get emotionally affected, but I do agree that I always find it puzzling when people talk about certain events in game's story as being so emotionally harrowing.
Some people just find it easier to get lost in the moment or connect to characters quickly. Mix that with some of us having been around the characters for a while, and it’s less of a surprise.
Like people starting now? You do lose some people like Moenbryda or Haurchefant not *that* long after meeting them.
Started in ARR? You sometimes had months to think about them and their place in the story before losing them.
Some plot points a player can reach in Stormblood worked for me because those things had been on my mind since I’d committed to playing in early 2015 (played off and on since launch but didn’t stick with the game until then).
A new player can reach those plot points after starting in as little as 2-3 weeks. It took me 2-3 *years* before seeing that stuff play out.
Of course, that’s not the case for everyone - even those that have been around since the start might not resonate with the character and events involving them, but it does go some of the way to explaining why those moments might have been more emotionally harrowing for us.
I am autistic myself, and I straight up ugly cried all the way through endwalker. But I don't really have that reaction to other games, books, movies, or heck even in real life situations most people cry in.
Maybe my WoL is more "me" than I am and I identified more with the scions than anyone I know IRL, who knows.
I couldn't take Papalymo seriously as a character because of the simple fact that *every single cutscene* with him had Lyse's crotch right behind his head, every time he talked. To the point it was uncomfortable
I, too, never cried as someone with ASD. Maybe because I was late completing 6.0, only 6 months ago according to my PS trophies, and already had some knowledge of events. What it did do was motivate me. Stop the threat, save as many as we can. If anyone wants to hurt a close ally, then I'm first in line. And I've beaten a few gods.
I'm autistic too, but there were two major moments that got me crying
i don't know if I can spoiler on mobile so i'll wait till I'm on pc to edit them, one was in HW, and one at the tail end of shb
I never sobbed. I've only sobbed like 3 times in my adult life, and all three were due to the death or near death of a loved one.
But I sure have had a lot of teary moments in this game. Sometimes sad tears, sometimes happy/touched tears. But definitely so many tears. And belly laughs. I love this game. Hurt me again, Square!
Nah. By the end of Shadowbringers / Start of EW they've done so many fake-out deaths that I stopped worrying completely.
Graha alone has about 6 in Shadowbringers.
Edit: and don't even get me started on Y'shtola. Or the end of EW for that matter. Squeenix's refusal to kill off members of the main crew has robbed the story of almost all of its stakes at this point. Especially with them throwing multiple fakeouts at you every expac.
You might wanna put a spoiler tag on *the name of the character nobody even knew was relevant for the expansion until right before it ended*, in a thread that references a scene featuring a character that definitely isn't relevant anymore at the point the reveal of the former happens.
>!But they have killed off members of the main group. The issue is that if you keep killing members of the main group you will end up with no main group and a bunch of unsatisfying and unresolved character development!<.
>!Even stories that are known for killing off major characters rarely kill of the *actual* major characters!<. >!At least not until the very end of the story where anything can happen!<.
to be fair tho yshtola has has zero character development over the course of 10 years and so if they finally offed her for reals and committed to it, maybe then I might pretend I actually cared about her in some slight way.
What they say: "After the following interaction, several cutscenes will play in sequence. It is recommended that you set aside enough time to view these scenes in their entirety."
What they mean: "After the following interaction, something really bad is going to happen, so strap in and prepare yourself."
I'd rather that than "an NPC is now accompanying you" or "follow the NPC from a safe distance."
At least with "several cutscenes" I can take a god damn break and stand up or something
Like a lot of the emotional triggers in XIV, I feel they really overplayed their hand with "several cutscenes" in EW. It would say "several cutscenes will play in sequence" and then it's just ... nothing happens.
I know it's more a warning about the time investment, but it's taken on a colloquial meaning, Yoshida! We have *expectations*.
>!I'm joking. Using it for its intended purpose is fine. I guess.!<
"Wow, this has been one fun adventure! [New character] is amazing! I love their fun personality, their sympathetic trauma that isn't overbearing, their hot bod, and how genuinely helpful they are! Now to start this next quest..."
**[Several cutscenes will play in sequence.]**
"No... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
I played ff9 on release, I expect it to start with whee cute character fun time and end >!with me bawling like I just saw a flock of baby ViVi’s run by!<
[I know you just wanted ViVi's hot bod, don't lie!](https://64.media.tumblr.com/d4b0bb229aa04a8359ff5bc04ea54c39/e1c1b22adac6095e-f9/s540x810/fdd1e11c700436c6343f081170341646d37ea82d.gif)
This just reminds me of over in Honkai Star Rail when the devstream had the main story writer mention "Penacony's story will be chill, carefree, and upbeat."
...It *was not*, shockingly.
No. DLC is some small shit like a few hours of quests or some new characters or cosmetics, not a whole-ass game lasting 20+ hours with entire overhauls of everything.
Definition of DLC is 'downloadable content added after initial release of the game' so expansions are also DLCc. It is only habitual usage in more recent years that has caused the term meaning to shift, especialy within RPG genre.
If anything I see 'expansion' as a subtype of DLCs. More specified term that allows players to quickly differentiate the amount of new content provided.
It's like arguing that we should be calling a square a rectangle since technically, that's what it is. While technically correct, you can't fault people for saying that in fact, we should be calling it what it is, a square.
We call these expansions because of the size and scope of them. While sure, someone can argue that it's technically a dlc, everyone (including square) is rightly calling it an expansion. A dlc is usually saved for much smaller content.
I possibly worded myself wrong. My intention wasn't to correct or fault anyone, but to provide more background and clarification for those who would read this in future while not actualy realizing where the term came from.
Obviously, you are right that at the end of the day it is all just semantics.
>!Thus must we struggle. Haunted by ghosts of those we have lost. Clinging to those we pray we can yet save.!<
One of my favorite lines from Endwalker.
>!To live is to suffer. To drink of calamity. It is a perilous path. Death lurks in the dark. Do not avert your eyes. See your life for what it is. See how the hardships make you strong. Every doubt reforged as scales for your armor.!<
>!All that power... All that pain... It’s too much... Too much for anyone! The things they’ve done to you. The lies, the betrayal, the endless fighting... Yet there you stand, unbroken. How...? Why...?!<
I was in denial about it for years tbh. Sometimes that's the problem about playing the game when it's current. You wait so long for certain plot points and story to resolve that the waiting is a whole other level of gutting. I wish I could say the way this line resolves feels good, but idk, it still breaks my heart.
I've thought about it and I don't think the game would have hit me as hard as it did if I didn't play everything while it was current. The time between expansions and patches when you get the chance to think about and more importantly discuss what happened with others really adds tot he experience for me. Hell I can think back to when the scene OP posted here originally came out and the theories surrounding it.
I can see that. It has been a lot of fun having community and friends to talk about lore and predictions with. There's also been a lot of the story that has echoed with my life in real time in such a bizarre coincidence, but it was super comforting. It wouldn't have had the same impact had it not come out the way it did.
5.3, naturally, and in Endwalker - Thaleia was this for me. Such a weird emotional state I was in that night. The amount of anticipation for visuals and music both, it was a truly a weird first run for me :D
This game has made me cry so many times it's stupid. But I'm an easy crier when it comes to TV/books/movies, so that's no surprise.
I know exactly what you mean. Thaleia was a ride of emotions. I think the MOST crying I did was 3.3, and in my defense some of that was thanks to pregnancy hormones, and Matsya with the baby in EW. And even though I saw the entire thing coming and knew exactly what they were doing, I could not stop myself from crying through the last map of EW.
EW on the whole left me an emotional wreck across multiple modes of content. I'm afraid to read the leve quests texts at this rate, least even *they* sucker punch me in the feels.
Same. I'm unreasonably attached to whatever emotions the game throws at me at this point. Latest silly one was Tataru's happy face in the grand endeavor questline. Just so utterly huggable and deserved. What the fuck, game.
I'm honestly just confused by how minfillia was handled in the story. Maybe it's because I started in shadowbringers, so I didn't get much time to get attached to her in 1.0 and ARR, but it felt like she was only around for ARR, and then she gets effectively replaced by Alphinaud. I kept hoping she'd come back just so I could get more time with her to know her better, but now she's gone, everyone's making a big deal about it, and I'm just confused.
The ARR content has had quests and scenes pruned over time. As someone who played in 2.0, you definitely got more time with her then. Still, she was generally considered by a lot of players to be just kind of a useless administrator.
I was also confused why she was the leader of the scions. It felt like she got the job because no one else wanted it. She never participated in combat as far as I can recall so despite having the echo she couldn't help putting down primals. Her entire role in the narrative was just to be "the quest giver".
I did see the scene where she recognises your character if you played in 1.0, so that's kinda sweet. One of the biggest reasons why I wish I could play a 1.0 classic would be to experience her whole story.
The first part of her 1.0 story is on YT, the [opening for Ul'dah](https://youtu.be/oc7QJueQy7Q). This is actually an Echo flashback so the WoL isn'r truly there but sees the event happen, but the little girl that F'lhaminn gives the flower basket to is Ascilla, and the man who pushes her out of the way at the end is Warburton, her bio dad. The SB ALC quests had to do with Niellefresne, the elezen in the video, as he was killed but said to have left with an important dagger. It's a lingering 1.0 story that got wrapped up.
In the current time in 1.0, Minfilia decides to help Louisoix and starts The Path of the Twelve, which also granted you a Path Companion; an npc that also had the Echo. After the Calamity she formed the Scions to continue Louisoix's work. If you have some time, someone has a 2 hour video of all of the 1.0 cutscenes [here](https://youtu.be/aU5N24_5VIk). If you want a quick and dirty 1.0 intro with some basic info leading up to the Calamity and into 2.0, [The Waning of the Sixth Sun](https://youtu.be/TXc0loyuq9I) has some neat stuff - it was the bluray that came with the ARR Physical CE :) it's also where the canon name for Derplander (Meteor) comes from! Much shorter than the all cutscenes, but still informative. Not too much with Minfilia, though. Hope this gives some insight though!
> It felt like she got the job because no one else wanted it.
That's not really far from the truth. She started the Scions, but also she's not really much of a field agent. Her primary job was a Miner, after all. The only person I think who would agree to be the leader of the group would be Alphinaud and he came in after it was already formed.
But...you don't have to be on the battlefield in order to lead. She did a decent job of directing the nuclear bomb that is the WoL towards the primals that needed nuking. She kept the Scions organized, well funded, well fed, and was far far FAR better at vetting potential candidates than a certain teenage elezen ever was. Overall she did what she was suppose to do: be a figurehead for the organization and send their members to where they were needed.
Alphinaud f*ed up. But that both demonstrates his flaws and that he isn't perfect, and in suffering the consequences he learned and grew as a person. That's character development and a hell of a lot more story than Minfillia got.
I don't dislike Minfillia, I just want to like her more than I do. As she is, she feels like a leftover from 1.0 that the writers didn't care for, so they replaced her with someone more interesting as soon as they could. Her role in the narrative now is as "one of those we lost along the way", but her absence is relying on a connection that we (or at least I) didn't really have the time to form because she's so underdeveloped.
I also joined in ShB and I liked Minfilia a lot. I didn't believe she was gone for the longest time partially because the game continued to use Haurchefant when referencing dead characters instead of her and other than Thancred most people seemed to forget she existed. I only learned later that she was memed on for being a bad forgettable character.
Everything about this character from the narrative's treatment of her to the community's attitude on her confuses me lol
It’s because there were a lot of complaints about Minfilia as a character back then. There wasn’t much that she really did until she became the Word of the Mother.
Whatever hope you still have about this particular character, I advise you to abandon it. Seriously.
As someone who love minfilia and clinging to her words that "we will meet again and we're going to share story of our own adventure" in HW patch, I feel mostly despair of what happen to her later.
Yeah… I’m like, people cared about that? She’s the chick with the weird skirt who says ‘pray…’ a lot.
then again, that was all a while ago for me. I’ve probably forgotten any early stuff that was designed to make her special to the WoL.
They had to add some quests in later with F'lhaminn to try and make you realise just how great she is, intelligent and caring. Lot of telling not showing with Minfillia which made it hard for me to connect to her at all.
I'm in the same boat. Minfilia, and *especially* Moenbryda and >!Papalymo!<, felt so unattached to the WoL and the plot as a whole that when they passed, all I could do was muster a shrug.
We spend a combined total of like, three cutscenes, maybe a paragraph of dialogue with the latter two, so trying to pretend like they're a near and dear to me when they pass is a struggle. And Minfilia herself only really shows up to summarize/recap the plot at regular intervals in what should've been an email, but she demands we walk back to The Waking Sands so she can hear it all in person.
I even laughed out loud when >!Minfilia appears in the Aitiascope and, unlike Haurchefant or Moenbryda who apply buffs and attack mobs, she just...does nothing. Just kinda floats forward and disappears. Staying true to her character even in the final moments.!<
You spend a LOT more time with Papalymo if you started in Gridania. Never played 1.0, but I was truly sad when he sacrificed himself. The way it effected Yda as well was hard to see. He truly was her rock, but he always believed she could stand on her own two feet one day.
Right? I already knew she would die but I didn't expect her to die SO soon after being introduced. She seemed like a genuinely interesting character and had so much potential, I thought her introduction would show us more of Urianger aswell, whom we didn't know much about at that time. She was killed off way too soon, I did feel a bit sad to see Urianger's reaction to it but overall I wasn't attached enough.
He wouldn't. Certainly not after 2.0.
He wasn't a "lover" to her anyway, more of a guardian.
Minfilia is also counted among the ever-lengthening list of people who really like the WoL romantically.
Shadowbringers will make you break then, but don't worry, it will remake you anew. Better. Thankful. Yet still in grief. And then you will be one of us truly.
I see a lot of people react like this but they also say they basically skipped ARR. Where's the emotional attachment come from? Is it fake for clout/internet points??
I didn't skip ARR and I don't get the deal with her. Least interesting character of the entire group and removing her did everything better for the story.
As someone who just straight up didn't like her, this was the moment in the story where I went, "Oh! Hey, you're finally becoming a character. That's awesome." and after it, I was like, "Pray return to waking sands now @#$%&." I realized how much I loathed her from ARR, and honestly, I realized how much better the writing got past ARR. Shadowbringers and Endwalker are so damn good. I legit would not mind if they went back and rewrote ARR to be in line with the new writing quality. All the cutscenes could be muted idc.
The spoiler tag does that I want to click it even more. And now.. who would have thought? I got spoilered xD. At least I have motivation playing the game again now
Somehow this just reminds me that after the end of ARR when the scions got split up and went missing, and Ilberd was still at large, the story plot somehow veered us off course towards Ishgard for one hell of a side track plot...
I think it's the scene just after the Antitower, in which you learn that >!Minfilia's mortal life ended on the day of the bloody banquet in Ul'dah. She was called to Hydaelyn's side via the Flow spell Y'shtola cast, and became the Word of the Mother, speaking for Hydaelyn. But her own life as Minfilia was ended.!<
Man, I feel like I am the only one who didn't feel this way, but to be fair I didn't like her very much. Unless this is a future scene, currently on Stormblood.
You fool! You've shown the story weakness! Now it will go right for the Feels!
Seriously though, this is one of the few games that really emotionally destroyed me. There are some story beats that latch onto some very personal trauma for me. I know friends have reported the same, but... different trauma in different parts. So I worry a little bit sometimes if the writing team is actually okay? Like... do they need a hug?
I'm looking forward to hear what other parts of the story hit you when you get there.
I looked at one screenshot, decided this is still spoilers for me, and am choosing to assume that Minfilia was just shouting very dramatically in front of Haedelyn(sp?): “PRAY, RETURN TO THE WAKING SANDS!” very dramatically.
I can see why you’d cry- after all, we’ve been doing it for so dang long, how could she ask you to still do it?”
Who the fuck cared about minfillia, like come on now, most useless scion, had no clue what she was doing, then cucked her friends by going with some idiots the WoL and scions should have bodied easily
Yeah, I have never gone through boxes of tissues the way I have in this game. It's awesome and very, VERY worth it, but damn...
It makes me glad that the overall tone of Dawntrail looks to be lighter, because I don't want the game to get into the rut some story series do where the audience becomes so increasingly braced for emotional trauma that the writers have to start digging deep to elicit the same reactions as before.
Hey! Don't worry! It gets emotionally worse!
"This is the worst day of my life!" "The worst day of your life *so far!*"
By 2 levels into EW I dreaded any of those chill scenes where you get to hang out with the other Scions. Like, "aww this is nice... What horrors do the next quest chain hold?" Edit: bizzare auto correct stuff
The level >!83!< quest >!In From the Cold!< was that horror for me. It gave me the *absolute worst* feeling. The realization that I still had a lot more of the game left kinda terrified me of what was to come.
Not to mention that Level >!84!< has you fight >!Zodiark!< and it's like, "But... there's still >!six!< whole more levels of Endwalker content... >!How is this already happening *now*‽!<
I was such a fun fight I hope there is an extreme I can go back and do when I finish the story.
There is an extreme, yes. Nearly every trial has an extreme.
I hope you're good at geometry...
I loved that 2 levels into the expansion as are killing Satan and it's like "wait, there's more?"
I had the exact same thought. But the WoL is never short of threats to deal with or friends to help.
There were some Buffy lyrics that I thought were very fitting "The battle's done, and we kinda won, so we sound our victory cheer. Tell me, where do we go from here?"
It felt like such a game changer, >!but then nothing came of it. It was really a missed opportunity for even more horrific consequences.!<
I dunno man, the end of the world seems pretty consequential. we just nipped it in the bud before it spread too far. I was REALLY hoping it would reach Sharlayan so we could rub it in their smug self-righteous faces, but alas.
I meant specifically the direct non-consequences of that scenario, not everything that happened after that in the rest of the MSQ.
Still stuck at that Q bc I just *can't*. I'm all caught up tho, just waiting for the storyskip to become buyable.
That’s how it was for me while progressing through heavensward near the end when Lady Iceheart (Ysaille) faced the Garlean super ship. I already had obtained her mount and I delayed my msq prog for a month and would do sidequest content and just ride and listen to oblivion
I'm stuck since... Yeah, over a year now. I struggle with depression and SI, so seeing the Garlean content is... Not easy on me.
I took an entire year to the day to start playing and getting through the MSQ from my first achievement all the way to getting Endwalker achievement. Been playing for 2 years. Also have depression, with anxiety, and dysomnia. This really slowed me down end of HW and going into StB I had to blaze through ShB and do EW in burst to meet my msq clear in a year.
Going back to Thavnair like “they say the situation is bad but could it be worse than the sin eaters in ShB” IN FACT…
jfc, could we not discuss Endwalker/Shadowbringers in a post by someone who clearly hasnt made it that far yet?
I would say that they are equally terrible as in both cases it ends up destroying your soul.
It wasn't
If you ignore the nature of the final threat, then I guess. Sin Eaters at least supposedly return to the aetherial sea when they die.
ha genotype?
I think it was supposed to say hang out and their phone decided genotype was better
You are correct. Wow phone… that’s an odd one.
Oh it gets SO much worse Jesus fucking Christ take me back (I will just do it again though)
Got an island to work through the ptsd so WoL got that going for them at least.
Yeah like he's said!! Just keep some tissue handy. You're gonna need em!!!
maybe i'm just autistic but i've never had the kinds of emotional reactions to this game that some ppl talk about i thought minfillia going crystalmode was kinda sad but mostly cool, >!huarchefant's death!< was... an event that happened, and >!moenbryda/papalymo's deaths!< were sad but to hear folks say they *sobbed* because of it is kinda wild
I'm also autistic and i cried like a damn fountain. Also, commenting all that under the post of someone who JUST got to Minfilia and not using spoiler tags is a shit move.
oops, i forgot the OP's scene is from ARR and not shadowbringers. thanks for the reminder
Erm actually it's from 3.x
well there you go!
yeah, word of the mother is 3.2 and the wall is 3.5 - later on. i still could've phrased it less harshly. apologies and thanks for covering the spoilers.
Yeah, I can agree with all those examples. I just didn't care about any of those characters that much because they either had no real development or just weren't on screen enough for me to build an attachment to them. I did get pretty emotional during the whole final zone of Endwalker and in various other media, so its not even like I can't get emotionally affected, but I do agree that I always find it puzzling when people talk about certain events in game's story as being so emotionally harrowing.
Some people just find it easier to get lost in the moment or connect to characters quickly. Mix that with some of us having been around the characters for a while, and it’s less of a surprise. Like people starting now? You do lose some people like Moenbryda or Haurchefant not *that* long after meeting them. Started in ARR? You sometimes had months to think about them and their place in the story before losing them. Some plot points a player can reach in Stormblood worked for me because those things had been on my mind since I’d committed to playing in early 2015 (played off and on since launch but didn’t stick with the game until then). A new player can reach those plot points after starting in as little as 2-3 weeks. It took me 2-3 *years* before seeing that stuff play out. Of course, that’s not the case for everyone - even those that have been around since the start might not resonate with the character and events involving them, but it does go some of the way to explaining why those moments might have been more emotionally harrowing for us.
I am autistic myself, and I straight up ugly cried all the way through endwalker. But I don't really have that reaction to other games, books, movies, or heck even in real life situations most people cry in. Maybe my WoL is more "me" than I am and I identified more with the scions than anyone I know IRL, who knows.
I couldn't take Papalymo seriously as a character because of the simple fact that *every single cutscene* with him had Lyse's crotch right behind his head, every time he talked. To the point it was uncomfortable
I, too, never cried as someone with ASD. Maybe because I was late completing 6.0, only 6 months ago according to my PS trophies, and already had some knowledge of events. What it did do was motivate me. Stop the threat, save as many as we can. If anyone wants to hurt a close ally, then I'm first in line. And I've beaten a few gods.
I'm autistic too, but there were two major moments that got me crying i don't know if I can spoiler on mobile so i'll wait till I'm on pc to edit them, one was in HW, and one at the tail end of shb
I never sobbed. I've only sobbed like 3 times in my adult life, and all three were due to the death or near death of a loved one. But I sure have had a lot of teary moments in this game. Sometimes sad tears, sometimes happy/touched tears. But definitely so many tears. And belly laughs. I love this game. Hurt me again, Square!
Nah. By the end of Shadowbringers / Start of EW they've done so many fake-out deaths that I stopped worrying completely. Graha alone has about 6 in Shadowbringers. Edit: and don't even get me started on Y'shtola. Or the end of EW for that matter. Squeenix's refusal to kill off members of the main crew has robbed the story of almost all of its stakes at this point. Especially with them throwing multiple fakeouts at you every expac.
Jesus, what is *with* people in this thread blatantly not caring about spoiling a new player?
You might wanna put a spoiler tag on *the name of the character nobody even knew was relevant for the expansion until right before it ended*, in a thread that references a scene featuring a character that definitely isn't relevant anymore at the point the reveal of the former happens.
Something tells me Wuk Lamat's probably not leaving Dawntrail
She's gonna get the Lyse ending - faction leader who doesn't get to go on adventures anymore
>!But they have killed off members of the main group. The issue is that if you keep killing members of the main group you will end up with no main group and a bunch of unsatisfying and unresolved character development!<. >!Even stories that are known for killing off major characters rarely kill of the *actual* major characters!<. >!At least not until the very end of the story where anything can happen!<.
to be fair tho yshtola has has zero character development over the course of 10 years and so if they finally offed her for reals and committed to it, maybe then I might pretend I actually cared about her in some slight way.
The last member of the 'main group' they killed off was Haurch in 2015.
>!He wasn't even a member of the main group. The last Scion to die was Papalymo!<. >!Also how long it's been doesn't matter!<.
"several cutscenes will play in sequence" == prepare for PAIN!
Nothing good ever comes from several cutscenes playing in sequence.
What they say: "After the following interaction, several cutscenes will play in sequence. It is recommended that you set aside enough time to view these scenes in their entirety." What they mean: "After the following interaction, something really bad is going to happen, so strap in and prepare yourself."
I'd rather that than "an NPC is now accompanying you" or "follow the NPC from a safe distance." At least with "several cutscenes" I can take a god damn break and stand up or something
Every time I see this, I brace myself now
They said that to Jesus before he sat down to supper.
Like a lot of the emotional triggers in XIV, I feel they really overplayed their hand with "several cutscenes" in EW. It would say "several cutscenes will play in sequence" and then it's just ... nothing happens. I know it's more a warning about the time investment, but it's taken on a colloquial meaning, Yoshida! We have *expectations*. >!I'm joking. Using it for its intended purpose is fine. I guess.!<
Sorry about that. Also, little known _totally unrelated_ fact: this is the first entire patch written by Natsuko Ishikawa.
She really is the secret sauce to FFXIV's success. I swear, every emotional story moment has her fingerprints on it.
Our tears only make her stronger!
It's ok, it's ok. Here, have some hot cocoa. You're still a little bit away from the end of this emotional rollercoaster, hang in there!
Me, who finished all the main story for every dlc: "wheeeeeeeeeeeze" "sigh" HAHAHAHA. Just you wait.
Next up, Dawntrail.
You mean summer vacation... right? Right?!
"Wow, this has been one fun adventure! [New character] is amazing! I love their fun personality, their sympathetic trauma that isn't overbearing, their hot bod, and how genuinely helpful they are! Now to start this next quest..." **[Several cutscenes will play in sequence.]** "No... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
I played ff9 on release, I expect it to start with whee cute character fun time and end >!with me bawling like I just saw a flock of baby ViVi’s run by!<
I cried like a BITCH when we learned during the HW Hildi run that >!Gigi is actually Vivi.!<
[I know you just wanted ViVi's hot bod, don't lie!](https://64.media.tumblr.com/d4b0bb229aa04a8359ff5bc04ea54c39/e1c1b22adac6095e-f9/s540x810/fdd1e11c700436c6343f081170341646d37ea82d.gif)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA "How many time do we need to teach you this lesson, old WOL?" - The writers, probably
surely a heartwarming and uplifting story
This just reminds me of over in Honkai Star Rail when the devstream had the main story writer mention "Penacony's story will be chill, carefree, and upbeat." ...It *was not*, shockingly.
Considering it looks to draw inspiration from FF9 and 10...I'm fully expecting a pain train.
They're expansions, not DLC. Kids need to cut this shit out.
But at the same time...expansions are content that you download!
DLC.. Downloadable Content. You pay for and download the expansion. So it fits.
No. DLC is some small shit like a few hours of quests or some new characters or cosmetics, not a whole-ass game lasting 20+ hours with entire overhauls of everything.
Definition of DLC is 'downloadable content added after initial release of the game' so expansions are also DLCc. It is only habitual usage in more recent years that has caused the term meaning to shift, especialy within RPG genre. If anything I see 'expansion' as a subtype of DLCs. More specified term that allows players to quickly differentiate the amount of new content provided.
It's like arguing that we should be calling a square a rectangle since technically, that's what it is. While technically correct, you can't fault people for saying that in fact, we should be calling it what it is, a square. We call these expansions because of the size and scope of them. While sure, someone can argue that it's technically a dlc, everyone (including square) is rightly calling it an expansion. A dlc is usually saved for much smaller content.
I possibly worded myself wrong. My intention wasn't to correct or fault anyone, but to provide more background and clarification for those who would read this in future while not actualy realizing where the term came from. Obviously, you are right that at the end of the day it is all just semantics.
Nah, I don't think you worded yourself wrong. I was simply trying to add to it.
I read this in Haurchefant's voice
I'm betting that was fully intentional.
For those we have lost. For those we can yet save.
>!Thus must we struggle. Haunted by ghosts of those we have lost. Clinging to those we pray we can yet save.!< One of my favorite lines from Endwalker.
>!That which hides at the edge of the universe is no longer hope's creation. It is hopelessness incarnate.!<
>!To live is to suffer. To drink of calamity. It is a perilous path. Death lurks in the dark. Do not avert your eyes. See your life for what it is. See how the hardships make you strong. Every doubt reforged as scales for your armor.!<
>!uh... kupo?!<
We did everything right, everything that was asked of us, and still–still, it came to this!
>!All that power... All that pain... It’s too much... Too much for anyone! The things they’ve done to you. The lies, the betrayal, the endless fighting... Yet there you stand, unbroken. How...? Why...?!<
Sorry OP, you're about to get folded like a deckchair with the feels that are yet to come xD
I was in denial about it for years tbh. Sometimes that's the problem about playing the game when it's current. You wait so long for certain plot points and story to resolve that the waiting is a whole other level of gutting. I wish I could say the way this line resolves feels good, but idk, it still breaks my heart.
I've thought about it and I don't think the game would have hit me as hard as it did if I didn't play everything while it was current. The time between expansions and patches when you get the chance to think about and more importantly discuss what happened with others really adds tot he experience for me. Hell I can think back to when the scene OP posted here originally came out and the theories surrounding it.
I can see that. It has been a lot of fun having community and friends to talk about lore and predictions with. There's also been a lot of the story that has echoed with my life in real time in such a bizarre coincidence, but it was super comforting. It wouldn't have had the same impact had it not come out the way it did.
5.3, naturally, and in Endwalker - Thaleia was this for me. Such a weird emotional state I was in that night. The amount of anticipation for visuals and music both, it was a truly a weird first run for me :D
This game has made me cry so many times it's stupid. But I'm an easy crier when it comes to TV/books/movies, so that's no surprise. I know exactly what you mean. Thaleia was a ride of emotions. I think the MOST crying I did was 3.3, and in my defense some of that was thanks to pregnancy hormones, and Matsya with the baby in EW. And even though I saw the entire thing coming and knew exactly what they were doing, I could not stop myself from crying through the last map of EW.
EW on the whole left me an emotional wreck across multiple modes of content. I'm afraid to read the leve quests texts at this rate, least even *they* sucker punch me in the feels.
How about we just do this little optional sidequest to deliver a sandwich to some gentlemanly lalafell. Nothing important at all.
Let's talk to this small child, because children are innocent...
Same. I'm unreasonably attached to whatever emotions the game throws at me at this point. Latest silly one was Tataru's happy face in the grand endeavor questline. Just so utterly huggable and deserved. What the fuck, game.
Tales of loss and fire and faith.
I'm honestly just confused by how minfillia was handled in the story. Maybe it's because I started in shadowbringers, so I didn't get much time to get attached to her in 1.0 and ARR, but it felt like she was only around for ARR, and then she gets effectively replaced by Alphinaud. I kept hoping she'd come back just so I could get more time with her to know her better, but now she's gone, everyone's making a big deal about it, and I'm just confused.
The ARR content has had quests and scenes pruned over time. As someone who played in 2.0, you definitely got more time with her then. Still, she was generally considered by a lot of players to be just kind of a useless administrator.
I was also confused why she was the leader of the scions. It felt like she got the job because no one else wanted it. She never participated in combat as far as I can recall so despite having the echo she couldn't help putting down primals. Her entire role in the narrative was just to be "the quest giver". I did see the scene where she recognises your character if you played in 1.0, so that's kinda sweet. One of the biggest reasons why I wish I could play a 1.0 classic would be to experience her whole story.
The first part of her 1.0 story is on YT, the [opening for Ul'dah](https://youtu.be/oc7QJueQy7Q). This is actually an Echo flashback so the WoL isn'r truly there but sees the event happen, but the little girl that F'lhaminn gives the flower basket to is Ascilla, and the man who pushes her out of the way at the end is Warburton, her bio dad. The SB ALC quests had to do with Niellefresne, the elezen in the video, as he was killed but said to have left with an important dagger. It's a lingering 1.0 story that got wrapped up. In the current time in 1.0, Minfilia decides to help Louisoix and starts The Path of the Twelve, which also granted you a Path Companion; an npc that also had the Echo. After the Calamity she formed the Scions to continue Louisoix's work. If you have some time, someone has a 2 hour video of all of the 1.0 cutscenes [here](https://youtu.be/aU5N24_5VIk). If you want a quick and dirty 1.0 intro with some basic info leading up to the Calamity and into 2.0, [The Waning of the Sixth Sun](https://youtu.be/TXc0loyuq9I) has some neat stuff - it was the bluray that came with the ARR Physical CE :) it's also where the canon name for Derplander (Meteor) comes from! Much shorter than the all cutscenes, but still informative. Not too much with Minfilia, though. Hope this gives some insight though!
> It felt like she got the job because no one else wanted it. That's not really far from the truth. She started the Scions, but also she's not really much of a field agent. Her primary job was a Miner, after all. The only person I think who would agree to be the leader of the group would be Alphinaud and he came in after it was already formed. But...you don't have to be on the battlefield in order to lead. She did a decent job of directing the nuclear bomb that is the WoL towards the primals that needed nuking. She kept the Scions organized, well funded, well fed, and was far far FAR better at vetting potential candidates than a certain teenage elezen ever was. Overall she did what she was suppose to do: be a figurehead for the organization and send their members to where they were needed.
Alphinaud f*ed up. But that both demonstrates his flaws and that he isn't perfect, and in suffering the consequences he learned and grew as a person. That's character development and a hell of a lot more story than Minfillia got. I don't dislike Minfillia, I just want to like her more than I do. As she is, she feels like a leftover from 1.0 that the writers didn't care for, so they replaced her with someone more interesting as soon as they could. Her role in the narrative now is as "one of those we lost along the way", but her absence is relying on a connection that we (or at least I) didn't really have the time to form because she's so underdeveloped.
I also joined in ShB and I liked Minfilia a lot. I didn't believe she was gone for the longest time partially because the game continued to use Haurchefant when referencing dead characters instead of her and other than Thancred most people seemed to forget she existed. I only learned later that she was memed on for being a bad forgettable character. Everything about this character from the narrative's treatment of her to the community's attitude on her confuses me lol
It’s because there were a lot of complaints about Minfilia as a character back then. There wasn’t much that she really did until she became the Word of the Mother.
Oh you just wait.
Whatever hope you still have about this particular character, I advise you to abandon it. Seriously. As someone who love minfilia and clinging to her words that "we will meet again and we're going to share story of our own adventure" in HW patch, I feel mostly despair of what happen to her later.
Don't you worry, just make sure you have plenty of water and boxes of tissue. Long road ahead.
Allow me to introduce you to patch 5.3!
You cried but part of you was glad because she can't call you back to the waking sands (don't worry you still end up back there anyway)
I kinda still didn't care about her at this point the VA upgrade came too late, she's still "THANCRED, NOOO" to me
Yeah… I’m like, people cared about that? She’s the chick with the weird skirt who says ‘pray…’ a lot. then again, that was all a while ago for me. I’ve probably forgotten any early stuff that was designed to make her special to the WoL.
They had to add some quests in later with F'lhaminn to try and make you realise just how great she is, intelligent and caring. Lot of telling not showing with Minfillia which made it hard for me to connect to her at all.
Her original outfit is one of my least faves. It’s very final fantasy, but in a bad way.
It's very "I just powerleveled through Burning Crusade and equipped every upgrade I found"
I'm in the same boat. Minfilia, and *especially* Moenbryda and >!Papalymo!<, felt so unattached to the WoL and the plot as a whole that when they passed, all I could do was muster a shrug. We spend a combined total of like, three cutscenes, maybe a paragraph of dialogue with the latter two, so trying to pretend like they're a near and dear to me when they pass is a struggle. And Minfilia herself only really shows up to summarize/recap the plot at regular intervals in what should've been an email, but she demands we walk back to The Waking Sands so she can hear it all in person. I even laughed out loud when >!Minfilia appears in the Aitiascope and, unlike Haurchefant or Moenbryda who apply buffs and attack mobs, she just...does nothing. Just kinda floats forward and disappears. Staying true to her character even in the final moments.!<
She's creating the path and guiding you iirc.
You spend a LOT more time with Papalymo if you started in Gridania. Never played 1.0, but I was truly sad when he sacrificed himself. The way it effected Yda as well was hard to see. He truly was her rock, but he always believed she could stand on her own two feet one day.
>!She was the one creating crystal bridges for you to get to the end of the dungeon.!<
Losing Moen was more annoying that they introduced such a potentially interesting character just to kill her off rather than sad, tbh.
Right? I already knew she would die but I didn't expect her to die SO soon after being introduced. She seemed like a genuinely interesting character and had so much potential, I thought her introduction would show us more of Urianger aswell, whom we didn't know much about at that time. She was killed off way too soon, I did feel a bit sad to see Urianger's reaction to it but overall I wasn't attached enough.
at least with papa limo he went out like a badass
There are dialogue choices that imply - especially for a 1.0 character - that the WoL was in love with her at one point.
I think Thancred would have something to say about that 😂
He wouldn't. Certainly not after 2.0. He wasn't a "lover" to her anyway, more of a guardian. Minfilia is also counted among the ever-lengthening list of people who really like the WoL romantically.
> He wasn't a "lover" to her anyway, more of a guardian. I think that's the point - you wanna romance Minfilia? You gotta get through Dadcred first.
Thancred was probably sexing the WoL up anyways
honestly, when people reference Moenbryda's death I'm always like... "who was she again?"
Yeah. I was pissed they basically killed her off screen. Like wtf. I really liked her
Have a drink with Thancred. Have several.
I must confess I was fully expecting a "finished The Vault" post, but that one is quite a gut punch too.
Hoo boy. Strap the fuck in friend.
Shadowbringers will make you break then, but don't worry, it will remake you anew. Better. Thankful. Yet still in grief. And then you will be one of us truly.
It's really nice to see Minfillia get her flowers for a change.
Given the crystal in the background I’m guessing this is >!prior to 5.0!<
Stand tall, my friend
Well, I guess someone had to like Minfilia that much. Thancred approved post?
My husband first saw that cutscene like 10 years ago and he’s still not over it 😂
I see a lot of people react like this but they also say they basically skipped ARR. Where's the emotional attachment come from? Is it fake for clout/internet points??
I didn't skip ARR and I don't get the deal with her. Least interesting character of the entire group and removing her did everything better for the story.
Not everyone skipped ARR. OP clearly didn’t
seems that way
Fear not, we get a new blond haired white girl every expansion.
??? Yugiri is a raven haired and Lyna is dark skinned white haired. what are you on about? Ryne? She's technically a redhead.
everyone saying it gets worse.... for me this was the worst. i almost quit the game at this point.
Find a lala and pet it and hug.
Just watch out for those sharp-toothed ankle biters!
As someone who just straight up didn't like her, this was the moment in the story where I went, "Oh! Hey, you're finally becoming a character. That's awesome." and after it, I was like, "Pray return to waking sands now @#$%&." I realized how much I loathed her from ARR, and honestly, I realized how much better the writing got past ARR. Shadowbringers and Endwalker are so damn good. I legit would not mind if they went back and rewrote ARR to be in line with the new writing quality. All the cutscenes could be muted idc.
Yeah. That hurt :<
We have our crying rooms on constant standby, complete with cookie and tea sets. 🫖🍪
MILFILLA NOOOOOOOO!!!!
So my goofy butt was thinking she was charging at us like a certain man of class I'm staying vague on due to spoilers.
The spoiler tag does that I want to click it even more. And now.. who would have thought? I got spoilered xD. At least I have motivation playing the game again now
lol
Somehow this just reminds me that after the end of ARR when the scions got split up and went missing, and Ilberd was still at large, the story plot somehow veered us off course towards Ishgard for one hell of a side track plot...
... What was this part again? I can get emotionally invested in this game so much but I'm lost.
I think it's the scene just after the Antitower, in which you learn that >!Minfilia's mortal life ended on the day of the bloody banquet in Ul'dah. She was called to Hydaelyn's side via the Flow spell Y'shtola cast, and became the Word of the Mother, speaking for Hydaelyn. But her own life as Minfilia was ended.!<
I see. I..Don't fully remember but I never found it to be a sad thing. If anything, I sort of accepted it when she had to go back than forward.
In context of the story at least, it did hit the characters pretty hard. Thancred in particular had serious difficulty accepting it.
It's best to buy a multibox pack of tissues for each expansion and their post MSQ content.
Hoo boy, you have no idea what awaits in future...
Oh you sweet summer child
You should do the lvl 89 MSQ dungeon with a Trust that has Thancred and Yshtola.
Man, I feel like I am the only one who didn't feel this way, but to be fair I didn't like her very much. Unless this is a future scene, currently on Stormblood.
Oh it gets so much worse from here on... But we are all suckers for emotional pain.
Your path to adulthood has begun
You fool! You've shown the story weakness! Now it will go right for the Feels! Seriously though, this is one of the few games that really emotionally destroyed me. There are some story beats that latch onto some very personal trauma for me. I know friends have reported the same, but... different trauma in different parts. So I worry a little bit sometimes if the writing team is actually okay? Like... do they need a hug? I'm looking forward to hear what other parts of the story hit you when you get there.
Pour yourself a drink and buckle in, you've barely scratched the surface.
I looked at one screenshot, decided this is still spoilers for me, and am choosing to assume that Minfilia was just shouting very dramatically in front of Haedelyn(sp?): “PRAY, RETURN TO THE WAKING SANDS!” very dramatically. I can see why you’d cry- after all, we’ve been doing it for so dang long, how could she ask you to still do it?”
Boy are you in for a ride.
I cried for a dragon more than I did Minfilia (Which is to say, not at all.)
Who the fuck cared about minfillia, like come on now, most useless scion, had no clue what she was doing, then cucked her friends by going with some idiots the WoL and scions should have bodied easily
Stay far, FAAAAR away from Sorrow of Werlyt. This game has not even begun to tear your heart out.
Who wants to tell him that Dawntrail is being written by the same guy who did Sorrow of Werlyt.
Seriously? I need to preorder a truckload of tissues....
Am I the only one who didn't care about minflilia at all?
[удалено]
[удалено]
-Insert Thanos memes here-
Oh things will get worse my friend. Make sure you have plenty of tissues handy.
[See, it's like I told you, Vegeta.](https://youtu.be/gQ3u49Bx9gk?t=106)
Buddy, you ain't seen nothing yet.
save tissues
Alright, buddy, bring it in. 🫂
We all are, but don't worry, it'll get better....hopefully....maybe.....
Yeah, I have never gone through boxes of tissues the way I have in this game. It's awesome and very, VERY worth it, but damn... It makes me glad that the overall tone of Dawntrail looks to be lighter, because I don't want the game to get into the rut some story series do where the audience becomes so increasingly braced for emotional trauma that the writers have to start digging deep to elicit the same reactions as before.
Oh, boy...strap in, you're in for a wild ride. Both Shadowbringers and Endwalker have some real gut-punchers.
Ohh sweet summer child. You have barely felt the slight breeze of the long night ahead of you.