Final Fantasy XIV - Kiwi Free Company

[Zenos Yae Viator]

I was under the impression that it was less that he (Hermes the ancient, not Fandaniel the ascian or Amon) didn't have hope for mankind and just wanted them gone altogether but that he was just really disillusioned with mankind and wanted them to prove that they should have the right to exist. After he erased his own memories, he was just as heartbroken and distraught about the final days as everyone else and actually worked really hard against it when it finally happened. He even went out of his way to make the playing field as fair as possible by attempting to erase everyone's memories along with his. In fact I'd go as far as to say that if we and Venat hadn't escaped the mind wipe, the universe would be cooked most likely.

Yes, but he assumed we/Humanity would lose, he wanted us to win, and he still wanted us to win all the way up to his own death, but nothing really had changed his mind much on the matter.
He's quite the liar when we initial see him, what with his "I want you all to die, and then I want to die too" bit, manic, exuberant, but when you see him in the afterlife, he's as despondent as Hermes was, nothing about his death, and the coming universal apocalypse brings him any joy.

He's honestly one of the best omnicidal villains in gaming, they spend alot of time justifying why and how he is, the way he is, and it works, everything you see about the Dead Ends and the other dead races you talk to before that would lead you to believe that actually making it in this universe would be a hopeful fluke more than something that happens basically at all, since the bleakest possible interpretation of the Fermi Paradox was put forth as the premise of Endwalker, a very dark turn for a Final Fantasy game.. oh yea there's tons of worlds out there, and all of them are already dead!.

 

[Brandy [◉'']]

Variant Advanced is both the best content they have added to the game in DT and at the same time also the worst. It is amazing because it is content where stronger players can and want to have weaker players around. The person knowing mechanics is a safety blanket and people can get up again and again until the boss is dead and they have probably learned the mechanics. Like, genuinely, I have been joining new groups and mother-hen'd new people through it and everyone had fun. And surprise surprise, if you don't just mercilessly ground people in the dust with mechanics vomit, people actually want to learn how, for example, you can cheese the mechanic where the Swordmaster breaks two quadrants.

What irks me about it is that all it needed was completely removing the Role system from the equation via the Variant skills. A role can be reduced to two skills, which is kinda hilarious if you think about it. Still I really hope they keep advanced up, it brings the playerbase actively together, instead of separating it like almost every other bit of endgame content.

 

[Scream Aim Fire]

oh yea there's tons of worlds out there, and all of them are already dead!.

A bit off-topic, but... is it just me, or is Ultima Thule/The Dead Ends just such a cool and fascinating area? I think it's genuinely my favorite area/dungeon in FFXIV, honestly; this graveyard collection of dead worlds from all around the universe, with the main feature being you getting to walk through their final hours and see just how everything collapsed...

And then, managing to take all of that horrific despair, and turning it into new life in the post-game. It's great, really.

 

[Zenos Yae Viator]

A bit off-topic, but... is it just me, or is Ultima Thule/The Dead Ends just such a cool and fascinating area? I think it's genuinely my favorite area/dungeon in FFXIV, honestly; this graveyard collection of dead worlds from all around the universe, with the main feature being you getting to walk through their final hours and see just how everything collapsed...

And then, managing to take all of that horrific despair, and turning it into new life in the post-game. It's great, really.

The best bit is that Meteion assumed no one would be able to properly harness Dynamis on arrival, hence how it negates brute force or relative travel, even on arrival to the area Meteion had a trap that would kill any Ancient and likely basically any regular race, the one in the ship where she simply erases all the oxygen with dynamis, also a great payoff for Thancred, he was so thinned by losing his aether and his training to hold his breath to use his special technique (that you used against Ran'jit in Shadowbringers) he could manage to stand and strike her, causing her to blink him out and him harnessing dynamis to pave the way.

The whole area, and the plot, does nicely to force the cast to do something other than rely on the WoL's freakish strength for a while, and instead, their literal hope bringing nature, and also their own talents and ideals, all instead of just using straight fighting to win, even up to the final encounter with Endsinger, straight power would not be enough, Endsinger's dynamis reality warping was simply too powerful for likely any direct battle confrontation, so it came down to the connections with others, and likely all the connections you've ever made, to affect the dynamis (along with the praying cast) enough to win.

All of this had to be, because of the plot of Endwalker, it couldn't be just "and we were stronger and beat them up harder", since the core story isn't about that, none of the conflicts with the dead races or Meteion would be resolved with an even bigger shonen fight and nothing else going on, which was reserved for Zenos after, even Meteion's defeat is done tenderly and uniquely, one of the best written MMO Storylines and really JRPG storylines around, getting around all the problems of "well the cast was just stronger than Sephiroth so they deserve the moral, ideological and physical victory!"

 

[Rich Evans Ayypologist]

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10057745/

"Join V, the newest resident to an ostensibly average New York apartment, and Beatrix, a transgender hacker girl who lives on the 4th floor, as they use "totally real" brain interface technology to jump into legally distinct video games." Creators: Phobia Hansen, Lilith Walther. 5.6/10.

Kate's effectively fired and Sena's effectively unemployable. It's breathtaking, really: nepotism almost-always works out and is a scourge of the entertainment industries, and yet these two managed to fuck up so hard and so obviously that they screwed up even that.

 

[Sunflower Samurai]

You're right that it is fixable and that it deflects away from the other larger issues inherent with the character.

I just find the performance from Sena to be so odious. Incidentally, what's that retard been up to?

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10057745/

lol

You know, I was so uninterested In Sena and Dawntrail as a whole that I never bothered to look up any of his prior roles and looked up the first thing I recognized, Gloucester from Unicorn Overlord (never played, but I liked Vanillaware's previous works) and

Lmao, its a slightly kinda effeminate but otherwise perfectly manly posh knight. I never bothered to know why, but hearing this voice really made it clear how he could've fucked up "SPHEEN, LISTEN TO MII". The fucking forced latino accent and trying to sound like a grown woman fucking murdered his range. Lmao

 

[Not your Buddy Holly]

The fucking forced latino accent and trying to sound like a grown woman fucking murdered his range. Lmao

Not beating the allegations of Kate pulling strings to get him that role

 

[Armitage]

I find the handwaving of how Gulool Ja Ja forged his "le peaceful empire" to be very funny. It's such shoddy worldbuilding in a world that I already felt like edged on the veneer of plausible and fantastical, and often handwaved a lot of things. (Like why is Eorzea still made up of city states? And how the fuck does Ishgard even survive buried under perpetual snow for like five years? Etc etc.)

But the way Tural was laid out takes the cake. It's akin to a childish scribble set against the competent crayon drawings of prior FFXIV worldbuilding.

I know I'm a bit late in this discussion but I just wanted to comment on this one. I was initially also quite annoyed by this until I was doing something else and listening to a history podcast which had an episode about the Inca's and through that I learned (and checked afterwards) that specifically their empire expanded to its ultimate size and kept it in about 80 years, in many instances without war, however at times through bloody conquest. It was also relatively peaceful until contact with the Spanish and the Incan civil war.

This actually afterwards was one of the few good references to the source material of the Incans etc. in the expansion. However, because of how terrible everything else in the story is, this one just comes across to people as being unrealistic and too disney-like to function, which actually is quite a sad situation, as it could've been a nice nod to actual history

 

[Zenos Yae Viator]

I know I'm a bit late in this discussion but I just wanted to comment on this one. I was initially also quite annoyed by this until I was doing something else and listening to a history podcast which had an episode about the Inca's and through that I learned (and checked afterwards) that specifically their empire expanded to its ultimate size and kept it in about 80 years, in many instances without war, however at times through bloody conquest. It was also relatively peaceful until contact with the Spanish and the Incan civil war.

This actually afterwards was one of the few good references to the source material of the Incans etc. in the expansion. However, because of how terrible everything else in the story is, this one just comes across to people as being unrealistic and too disney-like to function, which actually is quite a sad situation, as it could've been a nice nod to actual history

Eh, I don't see the point in leaning into real world history for their backstory, it doesn't jive with the rest of the places, sure the World Map is explicitly a copy of Earth, but the history shouldn't be.. how do French Knight Elves line up with living in modern day LIbya, which instead of a desert is a mountainous frozen tundra? Why was almost the entirety of western Europe sans Britian blipped off the world map? just brings up more questions if you align them with trying to fit in real world history as psuedo-backstory.

 

[Sheep King]

I know I'm a bit late in this discussion but I just wanted to comment on this one. I was initially also quite annoyed by this until I was doing something else and listening to a history podcast which had an episode about the Inca's and through that I learned (and checked afterwards) that specifically their empire expanded to its ultimate size and kept it in about 80 years, in many instances without war, however at times through bloody conquest. It was also relatively peaceful until contact with the Spanish and the Incan civil war.

This actually afterwards was one of the few good references to the source material of the Incans etc. in the expansion. However, because of how terrible everything else in the story is, this one just comes across to people as being unrealistic and too disney-like to function, which actually is quite a sad situation, as it could've been a nice nod to actual history

I would be fine with showing a civilization that grew peacefully, it could've made an interesting contrast to Garlemald and the history of the world in general, but if that's the case then they should've focused on other kinds of conflict unique to an Incan style empire. There should still be a tribal hierarchy, economic disputes etc. An easy choice would've been to show that peace in Tural relied on very careful negotiation and concessions which the elderly Gulool Ja Ja after the death of the Vow of Reason is no longer capable of, leading to him (maybe with Zoraal Ja's urging) using force more frequently.

 

[Dopey Cunt]

Variant Advanced is both the best content they have added to the game in DT and at the same time also the worst. It is amazing because it is content where stronger players can and want to have weaker players around. The person knowing mechanics is a safety blanket and people can get up again and again until the boss is dead and they have probably learned the mechanics.

How difficult is it? Wanted to try my hand at it for the glamor weapons but if it's something I have to put a lot of effort into, then meh. I'll skip it.

 

[Racial Slurs the Movie]

uh, no, he was tainted by Hermes's existential crisis, he tries to say otherwise when you see him in the afterlife, but its a lie, he could never get over the pure terror knowing the Universe was dead and there was no answer to the meaning of life, it just carried forth into every life he reincarnated into, Xande just reiterated and enforced what he was already afflicted by.

Which is the core crux of the plot of FF14 up to that point, if you found out that ALL civilizations before your own had all died off to failures and despair and ennui, what meaning, really would there be to continuing? For Hermes, there was none, he assumed his people were no different and would soon perish.

Nigga he quite literally reminisces on Xande and how he did it for him as he dies as Zodiark what the fuck are you talking about, He even says multiple times he doesn't see himself as Hermes but as Amon.

 

[Zenos Yae Viator]

Nigga he quite literally reminisces on Xande and how he did it for him as he dies as Zodiark what the fuck are you talking about, He even says multiple times he doesn't see himself as Hermes but as Amon.

he's a lying faggot, he lies to you the entire time, the only time he's ever truly honest is when he opens up to you in Elpis, and when he's quite literally fading away.

"Are these the answers.. that I was hoping for?" that's HERMES speaking, its the CORE of his soul, if he truly felt he was nothing more than Amon now, he'd be happy that the answer is universal omnicide, giving Xande exactly what he wanted, instead he's full of despair and dread that he thinks his devils advocate turned out correct and life is doomed.

 

[Xerxes IX]

But I feel like that is the literal sum total of Calyx's entire character. Isn't it? Am I wrong?

Yeah it should be. But I think they conveyed it poorly. His plan being stupid doesn't really come across as an immature kid going more immortality = good, or even as the source of his villianous morivation at all (though I don't find his personality the problem, I'm talking immature as in lacking life experience). The most direct confirmation of this was the Wandering Minstrel saying out of everyone he probably feared death the most due to his circumstances during the Necron EX unlock. Instead they mostly emphasize he is a cold person obsessed with preserving life without really caring about it. But that also comes down to what I'd like to see out of the writing and execution of characters since they've done it before.

he's as despondent as Hermes was, nothing about his death, and the coming universal apocalypse brings him any joy.

Yeah, he by no means was happy everyone was going to die. Did he have qualms with Amaurotine society? Yes, but he was doing something constructive about it, his whole experiment with the Meteia was to bring back proof there are other meanings to life than their "collectively striving for perfection". When they imstead brought back "everything dies and there's no happiness, only despair" he lost it. He wants them to prove they have the right to exist like he wanted the creations culled in Elpis to be able to prove it, but he's extremely negative because from his perspective and experiences he has objective proof that there's nothing anyone can do to fight against their ends.

I've noticed Hermes gets his own version of "Emet did nothing wrong uwu" simps but they think him being omnicidal is justified because society is so mean to mentally ill trannies so he's so them...or something. But that's not even the point of his character at all. He is depressed because he feels powerless in the face of the fact everything comes to an end, and that's the source of his nihilism.

 

[Zenos Yae Viator]

I've noticed Hermes gets his own version of "Emet did nothing wrong uwu" simps but they think him being omnicidal is justified because society is so mean to mentally ill trannies so he's so them...or something. But that's not even the point of his character at all. He is depressed because he feels powerless in the face of the fact everything comes to an end, and that's the source of his nihilism.

I like him because he's a true opposite to Venat, and also because he slots into alot of the greek shit they put into the Ancients, namely the three major philosophy types, Optimist (Venat) Realist (Emet) and Pessimist (Hermes).

At first his stance seems sadly correct, and Venat seems hopelessly naive, but then you see just how much shit Venat was willing to go through to push forth her optimism and realize it was Hermes who was completely incorrect

 

[Sheep King]

How difficult is it? Wanted to try my hand at it for the glamor weapons but if it's something I have to put a lot of effort into, then meh. I'll skip it.

The individual bosses are easier than Extremes and you only need one player with Revive to keep the party going so it's not too difficult to defeat one boss. It at least feels like you're making progress even if you don't clear all 3. Getting a PF party to stick together for all 3 bosses will still come with all the usual PF antics, though.

 

[Dopey Cunt]

The individual bosses are easier than Extremes and you only need one player with Revive to keep the party going so it's not too difficult to defeat one boss. It at least feels like you're making progress even if you don't clear all 3. Getting a PF party to stick together for all 3 bosses will still come with all the usual PF antics, though.

Eh, sounds like a pain in the ass. I'll skip.

 

[Brandy [◉'']]

How difficult is it? Wanted to try my hand at it for the glamor weapons but if it's something I have to put a lot of effort into, then meh. I'll skip it.

It is fairly gentle and if you understood the variant bosses, the mechanics will at least not be much of a surprise. What they did is make Variant mechanics a bit more complex (instead of the mermaid having 2 animals that shoot from N to S across the arena she had 4 animals where 2 are N to S and 2 are E to W) and after resolving it once they will add a second mechanic to it when it repeats (with the mermaid animals it would be adding an In-Out during the animal's shots). There is usually 1 Mechanic that needs some coordination for each fight. Mermaid you have to do a force march with everyone where everyone ends up in another corner, Swordmaster has an In-Out Stack-Spread she repeats often and the Genie has tether mechanic where everyone has to hold a tether during another mechanic. It is very approchable and if you have a tank with raise who knows what they are doing they can keep the group going for a long time.

The individual bosses are easier than Extremes and you only need one player with Revive to keep the party going so it's not too difficult to defeat one boss. It at least feels like you're making progress even if you don't clear all 3. Getting a PF party to stick together for all 3 bosses will still come with all the usual PF antics, though.

Every blind group I have been in, including the very first one has been able to limp somehow to the finish, even if one was down to the last 2 minutes. It is way easier to get people for it and keep them going, unless you have a joyless raider who thinks in "X Bronze Pieces/Hour". Also, it is significantly easier with just two people since it streamlines a few otherwise confusing mechanics. So in theory you need just a single friend to tackle it.

 

[00R-Gundam]

Would be funny if at the end of the story they pull a "its all a dream/simulation" and the WoL perished at the end of endwalker and meteion took pity on us and gave us a dream of how would have things been different.

 

[Agarathium1066]

Would be funny if at the end of the story they pull a "its all a dream/simulation" and the WoL perished at the end of endwalker and meteion took pity on us and gave us a dream of how would have things been different.

If they really wanted to pull a giant flaming middle finger the dying dream would be due to Bahamut. All of the ARR and beyond content never happened in the "true" timeline or what have you. Eorzea exploded, The Meteor Survivor/WoL just ate shit or got Isekai'd into an alternate timeline.