So, come with me on this journey.
The cinematic for Shadowbringers was basically a retrospective through all of the cinematics for FF14 up to this point: from Derplander as an Archer, to Warrior, to Dragoon, to Monk, to Samurai, and finally to Dark Knight. It set the stage for Shadowbringers to be a story about the Warrior of Light stepping into the unknown by becoming the Warrior of Darkness when traveling to Bizarro World the First. When you make a review of EVERYTHING like that, it's not just for nostalgia; it's because you're retelling the beginning of the story in advance of bringing it to an end.
That the Crystal Tower was also such a focus of that cinematic (with its own ties not only into 2.0, but also reaching back into FF3) is emblematic of that same theme, of reminding us of how far we've come and the places we've been. I can't help but think that this is because a) we're going to stop going to new places or b) we're coming to the end of another era in this game.
Folks talk about the great tonal shift Final Fantasy went through after FF6, transitioning from high fantasy steampunk adventure JRPG into a darker, grittier fantasy space, which persisted through FF7-8 and was then subverted completely when FF9 was an end-run around those older fantasy concepts. FF10 then presented a dramatically different kind of fantasy that moved away from the more familiar Western tropes and introduced many more specifically Japanese and Southeast Asia/Oceania-inspired elements. The games since then have all gone in wildly different directions, but those key points of transition, when 7 broke the mold, 9 was a love letter to the old style, and 10 was a bold introduction of entirely NEW style, strike me as similar to what we're seeing now with FF14.
We've been told that 5.3 is intended to be the end of the Ascian/Zodiark narrative, which is largely the keystone narrative we've been working with since 2.0 redefined the game as a whole. 5.2 was titled "Echoes of a Fallen Star" and solidified the beginning of that narrative, building on what we'd been shown about the creation of Hydaelyn and Zodiark and the destruction of Amaurot -- "echoes" as a concept are always about repeating a thing from before, even if contextually we're hearing some of this for the first time. 5.3 is now titled "Reflections in Crystal," with a clear double meaning of reflections as both "the image reflected in a mirror" AND "ruminating on events of the past." The First as a reflection of the Source, and everything that entails. Emet-Selch's plea for us to remember him.
Meanwhile, back here in the real world, we've been told that Yoshi P is going to be heading up a new project. Obviously producers aren't married to individual projects the way game directors are here, but Yoshida has been largely the face of 14 since 2.0. That Shadowbringers feels built to be the capstone effort to signify the end of another era, freeing Yoshida to move onto what's next with his contribution to 14's revival complete, feels entirely reasonable to me.
Now, I don't say this to suggest that we won't have a 5.4 or 5.5 or that 6.0 isn't happening -- obviously someone is going to step into Yoshida's position, we'll see the .4 and .5 patches build into setting up the next expansion, 6.0 will be our grand homecoming to the Source and all of the problems it still has (hello Garlemald) and Stormblood has always positioned our new non-Ascian villain in Zenos to be the springboard for the next major arc of FF14. But it feels like if there was a time for there to be an end to the Yoshi P phase of the game and pass the torch onto someone else, this would be the time to do it.
Yoshida has always said the game will continue on while players still want to play it, and Square-Enix will keep making content accordingly. But to me, it's never come across that Yoshida HIMSELF plans to stay on 14 forever. So it could be that this is not the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning.
Apologies if the title feels a little click-baity, and apologies for going on so long as well.
submitted by /u/unlimitedblack
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Continue reading...
The cinematic for Shadowbringers was basically a retrospective through all of the cinematics for FF14 up to this point: from Derplander as an Archer, to Warrior, to Dragoon, to Monk, to Samurai, and finally to Dark Knight. It set the stage for Shadowbringers to be a story about the Warrior of Light stepping into the unknown by becoming the Warrior of Darkness when traveling to Bizarro World the First. When you make a review of EVERYTHING like that, it's not just for nostalgia; it's because you're retelling the beginning of the story in advance of bringing it to an end.
That the Crystal Tower was also such a focus of that cinematic (with its own ties not only into 2.0, but also reaching back into FF3) is emblematic of that same theme, of reminding us of how far we've come and the places we've been. I can't help but think that this is because a) we're going to stop going to new places or b) we're coming to the end of another era in this game.
Folks talk about the great tonal shift Final Fantasy went through after FF6, transitioning from high fantasy steampunk adventure JRPG into a darker, grittier fantasy space, which persisted through FF7-8 and was then subverted completely when FF9 was an end-run around those older fantasy concepts. FF10 then presented a dramatically different kind of fantasy that moved away from the more familiar Western tropes and introduced many more specifically Japanese and Southeast Asia/Oceania-inspired elements. The games since then have all gone in wildly different directions, but those key points of transition, when 7 broke the mold, 9 was a love letter to the old style, and 10 was a bold introduction of entirely NEW style, strike me as similar to what we're seeing now with FF14.
We've been told that 5.3 is intended to be the end of the Ascian/Zodiark narrative, which is largely the keystone narrative we've been working with since 2.0 redefined the game as a whole. 5.2 was titled "Echoes of a Fallen Star" and solidified the beginning of that narrative, building on what we'd been shown about the creation of Hydaelyn and Zodiark and the destruction of Amaurot -- "echoes" as a concept are always about repeating a thing from before, even if contextually we're hearing some of this for the first time. 5.3 is now titled "Reflections in Crystal," with a clear double meaning of reflections as both "the image reflected in a mirror" AND "ruminating on events of the past." The First as a reflection of the Source, and everything that entails. Emet-Selch's plea for us to remember him.
Meanwhile, back here in the real world, we've been told that Yoshi P is going to be heading up a new project. Obviously producers aren't married to individual projects the way game directors are here, but Yoshida has been largely the face of 14 since 2.0. That Shadowbringers feels built to be the capstone effort to signify the end of another era, freeing Yoshida to move onto what's next with his contribution to 14's revival complete, feels entirely reasonable to me.
Now, I don't say this to suggest that we won't have a 5.4 or 5.5 or that 6.0 isn't happening -- obviously someone is going to step into Yoshida's position, we'll see the .4 and .5 patches build into setting up the next expansion, 6.0 will be our grand homecoming to the Source and all of the problems it still has (hello Garlemald) and Stormblood has always positioned our new non-Ascian villain in Zenos to be the springboard for the next major arc of FF14. But it feels like if there was a time for there to be an end to the Yoshi P phase of the game and pass the torch onto someone else, this would be the time to do it.
Yoshida has always said the game will continue on while players still want to play it, and Square-Enix will keep making content accordingly. But to me, it's never come across that Yoshida HIMSELF plans to stay on 14 forever. So it could be that this is not the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning.
Apologies if the title feels a little click-baity, and apologies for going on so long as well.
submitted by /u/unlimitedblack
[link] [comments]
Continue reading...