I love FFXIV, and I love its storytelling. That's for so many reasons, but after playing through a few job quests and reflecting, I've come to recognize one specific, subtler reason that I feel often goes unrecognized: The game's frequent use of the "found family" trope; that is, characters who aren't related to each other supporting each other as family. It's something used a lot, and something that I think is used really well.
The most prominent example of this is found in MSQ: The Scions of the Seventh Dawn. While (unless I'm forgetting?) they never use the term "family" outright, they have grown over the duration of MSQ to be much more than just a group of coworkers or friends. Shadowbringers drove home how deep and lasting their bond has grown; they are, effectively, the Warrior of Light's family.
What makes this wonderful is how earned it is. The Scions begin, in ARR, as strangers. You meet them and grow to know them slowly over time; even by post-ARR, you're only just starting to really get to know them. Over the course of post-ARR, you become friends. The tragedy of Heavensward catapults this further: You know loss together, suffer together, struggle together. By Stormblood, they are your closest allies. By its end, you've all been through so much together... And then they're ripped away, and you cross time and space to find them. Shadowbringers then hammers home, over and over, how much the Scions will do for each other. The bit just before traveling to The Tempest is the best example of this: They come together to follow you into the abyss itself. It's so much more than comrades or allies, or even friends.
Of course, Shadowbringers has another exploration of the same trope on top of the Scions as a unit, which is Thancred and Ryne. This needs no real exploration, but I think it's a very salient use of the trope. It's tackled with more complexity than elsewhere; at first, their relationship is poor if not actively damaging. Thancred has to learn to be an adoptive dad of sorts, and his journey to get to that point is well-done. On top of that is the addition of Ran'jit, who, despite being a pretty bland villain, makes for an effective contrast to the increasingly loving found family of Thancred: He is an adoptive dad in his own right, but a controlling and abusive one, for Thancred to distinguish himself from.
Those are kind of obvious, though; they're literally the main focus of Shadowbringers. What I've noticed recently is just how obvious it crops up in job quests.
A very good one is Dark Knight, where it's the primary focus of the 50-60 story arc, with Sidurgu and Rielle. It's a really underrated story arc, in which two broken people with nobody else come together and learn to love and trust in one another. It ties in so well with the job itself, too; the idea that Dark Knight's power is predicated on love, and a significant form of love is familial, is beautiful. 50-60 DRK is almost a proto-Thancred/Ryne, dealing with a lot of the same ideas of a father figure and a daughter figure realizing how much they care for one another, and it works just as well here.
Another one I love is Astrologian. Again, they never use the term "family", but it certainly feels that way. Leveva and Jannequinard are misfits and outcasts, who bicker and fight but come to respect and care for one another. What I love about AST is how the Warrior of Light fits into it: If done at the right time, they, too, are an outsider and a misfit in Ishgard. The three of them coming together, learning to trust one another and resist tradition within the Holy See, is kinda beautiful, even if their relationship is often played for laughs.
Yet another is Red Mage, which might be my favourite. The Warrior of Light and Arya are positioned uniquely as students and proteges of X'rhun Tia, and that bond is used cleverly to tie into and complete X'rhun and Arya's arcs. It's another story of misfits and outsiders finding strength in each other, done with a really positive and idealistic bent that I enjoy a lot. I also really love how much it integrates the WoL themself: They are solidly positioned as key to this small little ragtag family, and it is Arya and their relationship with X'rhun that's so important.
Those aren't even the only places this crops up. It happens in other job quests - Machinist and Gunbreaker come to mind - as well as side content, such as Four Lords, Omega, and now Sorrow of Werlyt. It's a heartwarming trope, and it's one that FFXIV explores thoroughly, in a ton of different ways. It makes things feel so much more engaging, and real. Despite being a silent protagonist, the Warrior of Light - and by extension the player - is afforded organic and incredibly close relationships.
The story of Final Fantasy XIV is one of a dozen small found families of misfits finding their way in the world. I think that's really beautiful.
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The most prominent example of this is found in MSQ: The Scions of the Seventh Dawn. While (unless I'm forgetting?) they never use the term "family" outright, they have grown over the duration of MSQ to be much more than just a group of coworkers or friends. Shadowbringers drove home how deep and lasting their bond has grown; they are, effectively, the Warrior of Light's family.
What makes this wonderful is how earned it is. The Scions begin, in ARR, as strangers. You meet them and grow to know them slowly over time; even by post-ARR, you're only just starting to really get to know them. Over the course of post-ARR, you become friends. The tragedy of Heavensward catapults this further: You know loss together, suffer together, struggle together. By Stormblood, they are your closest allies. By its end, you've all been through so much together... And then they're ripped away, and you cross time and space to find them. Shadowbringers then hammers home, over and over, how much the Scions will do for each other. The bit just before traveling to The Tempest is the best example of this: They come together to follow you into the abyss itself. It's so much more than comrades or allies, or even friends.
Of course, Shadowbringers has another exploration of the same trope on top of the Scions as a unit, which is Thancred and Ryne. This needs no real exploration, but I think it's a very salient use of the trope. It's tackled with more complexity than elsewhere; at first, their relationship is poor if not actively damaging. Thancred has to learn to be an adoptive dad of sorts, and his journey to get to that point is well-done. On top of that is the addition of Ran'jit, who, despite being a pretty bland villain, makes for an effective contrast to the increasingly loving found family of Thancred: He is an adoptive dad in his own right, but a controlling and abusive one, for Thancred to distinguish himself from.
Those are kind of obvious, though; they're literally the main focus of Shadowbringers. What I've noticed recently is just how obvious it crops up in job quests.
A very good one is Dark Knight, where it's the primary focus of the 50-60 story arc, with Sidurgu and Rielle. It's a really underrated story arc, in which two broken people with nobody else come together and learn to love and trust in one another. It ties in so well with the job itself, too; the idea that Dark Knight's power is predicated on love, and a significant form of love is familial, is beautiful. 50-60 DRK is almost a proto-Thancred/Ryne, dealing with a lot of the same ideas of a father figure and a daughter figure realizing how much they care for one another, and it works just as well here.
Another one I love is Astrologian. Again, they never use the term "family", but it certainly feels that way. Leveva and Jannequinard are misfits and outcasts, who bicker and fight but come to respect and care for one another. What I love about AST is how the Warrior of Light fits into it: If done at the right time, they, too, are an outsider and a misfit in Ishgard. The three of them coming together, learning to trust one another and resist tradition within the Holy See, is kinda beautiful, even if their relationship is often played for laughs.
Yet another is Red Mage, which might be my favourite. The Warrior of Light and Arya are positioned uniquely as students and proteges of X'rhun Tia, and that bond is used cleverly to tie into and complete X'rhun and Arya's arcs. It's another story of misfits and outsiders finding strength in each other, done with a really positive and idealistic bent that I enjoy a lot. I also really love how much it integrates the WoL themself: They are solidly positioned as key to this small little ragtag family, and it is Arya and their relationship with X'rhun that's so important.
Those aren't even the only places this crops up. It happens in other job quests - Machinist and Gunbreaker come to mind - as well as side content, such as Four Lords, Omega, and now Sorrow of Werlyt. It's a heartwarming trope, and it's one that FFXIV explores thoroughly, in a ton of different ways. It makes things feel so much more engaging, and real. Despite being a silent protagonist, the Warrior of Light - and by extension the player - is afforded organic and incredibly close relationships.
The story of Final Fantasy XIV is one of a dozen small found families of misfits finding their way in the world. I think that's really beautiful.
submitted by /u/AigisAegis
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Continue reading...