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Playthrough Topic (Hades)

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« Reply #1485 on: 07 November, 2019, 10:11:19 pm »

Yay gimme your name and I’ll add you.

Also Heavensward spoilers in case anyone actually cares.

I’m going to preface this by saying that I really like the Ishgardian storyline. It’s so much more interesting than anything that happened in ARR, save for the ending of 2.55. I think I’m about halfway through with it, and I genuinely like all of the characters. They feel more nuanced and substantial, with their own conflicting beliefs. The writing does a good job of making you understand both Ysayle’s and Estinien’s perspectives.

That said, I am very disappointed with how they handled the story in Ul’dah. 2.55 ended on such a high, and I was really looking forward to how they would progress that story, especially because we spent such an arduously long time in 2.1 - 2.55 setting it up. But it ultimately culminated in...nothing at all. Nanamo was alive the entire time. Raubahn was reinstated. The Scions had their names cleared, and it’s not like the MC, Alphinaud, and co had to actually do anything. The plot just sort of solves itself. It was just a complicated series of affairs designed to kill off Teledji, who wasn’t even given significant development. I would’ve forgiven such lack of development if they actually went somewhere with this story. Also I cannot stand the trope of killing off a character only to reveal they were alive the entire time. I have rarely seen it used well, and this is no exception.

My disappointment is immeasurable, but maybe that’s my own fault for letting myself buy into the hype. I truly hope the Ishgardian plotline doesn’t devolve into this kind of nonsense, because I do think it to be captivating thus far.
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« Reply #1486 on: 07 November, 2019, 10:36:41 pm »

Yay gimme your name and I’ll add you.

Also Heavensward spoilers in case anyone actually cares.

I’m going to preface this by saying that I really like the Ishgardian storyline. It’s so much more interesting than anything that happened in ARR, save for the ending of 2.55. I think I’m about halfway through with it, and I genuinely like all of the characters. They feel more nuanced and substantial, with their own conflicting beliefs. The writing does a good job of making you understand both Ysayle’s and Estinien’s perspectives.

That said, I am very disappointed with how they handled the story in Ul’dah. 2.55 ended on such a high, and I was really looking forward to how they would progress that story, especially because we spent such an arduously long time in 2.1 - 2.55 setting it up. But it ultimately culminated in...nothing at all. Nanamo was alive the entire time. Raubahn was reinstated. The Scions had their names cleared, and it’s not like the MC, Alphinaud, and co had to actually do anything. The plot just sort of solves itself. It was just a complicated series of affairs designed to kill off Teledji, who wasn’t even given significant development. I would’ve forgiven such lack of development if they actually went somewhere with this story. Also I cannot stand the trope of killing off a character only to reveal they were alive the entire time. I have rarely seen it used well, and this is no exception.

It’s very unfortunate, but maybe that’s my own fault for letting myself buy into the hype. I truly hope the Ishgardian plotline doesn’t devolve into this kind of nonsense, because I do think it to be captivating thus far. At least that seems to be the main focus of this expansion.

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« Reply #1487 on: 07 November, 2019, 11:43:15 pm »

i need to know what data center you're on first so I can figure out what character is available to help. got at least one on all three.

fully agree with that, by the way. i guess they didn't really want to risk hampering the story HW is trying to tell by having them run simultaneously, nor could they fit it into their patch content road map or justify a full expansion based on it, so the writers just resolved the ul'dah situation in the easiest way possible so they could get it out of the way. it's not really a shortcoming of HW per se, but it does retroactively poison a section of the game that is already kind of an ordeal to get through.
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« Reply #1488 on: 08 November, 2019, 12:48:12 am »

i need to know what data center you're on first so I can figure out what character is available to help. got at least one on all three.

fully agree with that, by the way. i guess they didn't really want to risk hampering the story HW is trying to tell by having them run simultaneously, nor could they fit it into their patch content road map or justify a full expansion based on it, so the writers just resolved the ul'dah situation in the easiest way possible so they could get it out of the way. it's not really a shortcoming of HW per se, but it does retroactively poison a section of the game that is already kind of an ordeal to get through.
It’s a shame, but I suppose I have other things to look forward to.

In any case, I’m under Aether - Adamantoise. Name is Musa Zaelear.
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« Reply #1489 on: 08 November, 2019, 06:02:16 pm »

alright, my aether character is Lucien L'avide@Faerie. he isn't my main character anymore so I don't use him that often, but go ahead and poke me if you need a body to carry you through some of the old extremes/raids or something.

think both of us have to be online to add someone as a friend. i dunno if you can even log in tonight, but I'll be on him plugging away at shadowbringers so I can renew his mentorship and continue to pollute faerie's novice network because I haven't finished that on him yet in case you do
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« Reply #1490 on: 22 November, 2019, 03:10:32 am »

So I started FF7 with the intent of actually playing it all the way through and...I’m actually enjoying it a lot.

I really dig the game’s setting. Midgar felt oppressive (in a good way), and the game tackles some darker themes than I thought it would (i.e. prostitution). I actually do like the characters. Kingdom Hearts presented these characters as  one-dimensional (i.e. Cloud being exclusively a moody ****, Aerith being really boring, Sephiroth just being...darkness?) and I think that shaped my perspective of both the characters and this game for the worse. I liked those versions of these characters when I played KH at age 12, but I stopped caring as I got older. But seeing them in this game is actually pretty refreshing, especially given my prior expectations. They actually have some personality, and they’re all much better than FFX’s characters.

And the game is fun to play too. It’s very simple to understand, so there isn’t really much of a barrier. The aged, blocky graphics don’t really bother me all too much to be honest. I think it adds to the charm for me. Although to be frank, the option to speed up gameplay by 3X and turn off random encounter helped tremendously. I tried playing this game a while on my PS3 without those options, and I didn’t get very far. I suppose “charm” can only take me so far.

There are some interesting areas outside of gameplay where the game clearly shows its age. I don’t see many games using the word “retarded” as liberally as this one does, for example.

I’ll definitely be continuing with this one.
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« Reply #1491 on: 23 November, 2019, 05:27:56 pm »

The characterizations post Advent Children and stuff are baffling. Aerith being portrayed as a saint when she's way more interesting is the biggest case but yeah, its like a different set of characters almost.
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« Reply #1492 on: 23 November, 2019, 06:02:32 pm »

my only exposure to ffvii's plot is having watched LPs of dirge of cerberus and crisis core and it really is amazing how absolutely horrible both of their plots and characters are, just some of the lowest-grade fan-fiction quality writing. it's prolly why I never played FF7 despite everyone I know swearing up and down that it's not like those and despite me fully believing them

considering how every other bit of the *producer voice* "COMPILATION OF FINAL FANTASY VII" has been dog shit, I kinda await the reception of the remakes with bated breath
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« Reply #1493 on: 24 November, 2019, 10:29:15 am »

I try to tell myself that because the story is already written, then the remake should be okay. But it’s Nomura we’re talking about here. He’ll definitely find a way to inject some KH3-esque BS into that game, I’m sure of it.
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« Reply #1494 on: 24 November, 2019, 01:18:49 pm »

Doesn't help that the localization was ridiculously rushed, so there's a lot of translation wackiness.
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« Reply #1495 on: 29 November, 2019, 11:50:53 am »

Yeah, Jesus. Now I know where “this guy are sick” came from. I dunno, I mean they definitely fixed the more egregious errors like that, but there still are bits and pieces that feel so weirdly...inhuman. It messes with the pacing of the story for me a bit. Not enough to ruin the game, but enough for me to sometimes remark, “huh, that was strange.”

There’s definitely some other stupid ass shit in this game too. Controlling Cloud in tight spaces is awful, and the overworld’s camera makes me dizzy. The mini games are also just straight up not fun, and I dread them every time I’m forced to play them. The game shows its age in these aspects more so than its outdated graphics.

I still like the setting and I think the characters are pretty good otherwise. And playing this game makes me think that perhaps I was too harsh on FF10. I didn’t like that one too much, but the gameplay was actually pretty fun aside from a bunch of the bosses, and the Sphere Grid system aged well.

Also, I really wish “Aerith dies” wasn’t such a meme. It would’ve been more interesting to see that firsthand without anticipating the inevitable cutscene. Things like that make me wonder what it was like to find out Darth Vader was Luke’s father in theaters for the first time back when The Empire Strikes Back came out.

Oh and I beat Heavensward and patches 3.1 - 3.56 in FF14. I really enjoyed this expansion, aside from the mess with Ul’dah. A few issues I had with the story:

1. I think Thordan was an incredibly lame villain. Nidhogg wasn’t the most fleshed out character either, but his motivations were certainly much more interesting and actually personal. His fight felt a more appropriate conclusion to the Heavensward arc.

2. I don’t really like the way Ysayle sacrificed herself. She did it to protect them from the Empire, who as far as I am concerned is a non-entity in this expansion. Her sacrifice should’ve been utilized in the fight with Thordan, Nidhogg, or literally anyone else more thematically appropriate.

3. The Ul’dah plotline was mishandled in the worst way possible, but I already expressed my thoughts on that.

Overall though, I really dug it. The pacing was solid, and the cast of characters was fun to work with. I felt that Alphinaud had some solid character development. He seemed so cocky and arrogant in ARR and 2.1 - 2.55, so it was refreshing to see him humbled after his failure with the Crystal Braves. Ysayle and Estinien were fun to travel with as well.


It was a huge step up from ARR despite its flaws, and I’m willing to forgive such imperfections anyways. I’m not expecting Stormblood to have the best story based on what I’ve heard, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.
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« Reply #1496 on: 29 November, 2019, 12:21:16 pm »

i'm pretty alright with thordan as the main antagonist of 3.0, he's not a particularly impressive antagonist in terms of threat or martial ability but he's a pretty good embodiment of the rot of ishgardian society and a foil to nidhogg without being an absolutely, comically-evil strawman about it. but it's also because the ishgard/dravania plotline doesn't actually end when he's dead and 3.1-3.3 are a continuation of it into a more impressive final boss rather than an epilogue. i would agree that ysayle's death sucks though -- shows up out of nowhere 50 quests later to save you from an threat too external to the narrative.

I’m not expecting Stormblood to have the best story based on what I’ve heard

you mean the half-dozen times I shat on it in my topic. if not, absolutely don't look there, I definitely left some big spoilers about the thing I hated most out in the open back when I was sure nobody here would ever play it

at least shadowbringers is good once you get to that, though
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« Reply #1497 on: 29 November, 2019, 02:31:56 pm »

Your endorsement of Shadowbringers carries more weight than most reviews I’ve seen of it at this point lol. I think the reception towards that expansion is half the reason I decided to pick up this game.

So far Stormblood hasn’t been that bad, but it isn’t impressive either, especially coming off of Heavensward. I just hope it’s better than ARR. I’m still really early into though.

Also DRK is fun. I was pretty nervous with tanking, but it’s actually more fun than DPS once you figure out how to manage a given dungeon.
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« Reply #1498 on: 05 December, 2019, 02:32:58 am »

Still no-lifeing FF14 on my journey towards Shadowbringers.

Stormblood spoilers

I’ve done a fair amount of Stormblood now. I lowered my expectations of this expansion’s story, which I think helped a bunch. I can already tell that it isn’t as strong as Heavensward. Each zone’s story is usually some variation of the heroes trying to get help from a group of people, the group of people refusing unless the heroes do some **** for them, and then the group helps them out against the Empire.

Speaking of, the Empire is still pretty comically evil. This game continues to take a lot of cues from Star Wars. Zenos isn’t a particularly compelling villain, but I guess he’s entertaining enough for me to want to beat him. I just wish we got to see some more nuance to the Empire this time around. Like, Nidhogg was a bloodthirsty jerk, but at least we know he’s that way because we killed his sister or whatever. You would think they would’ve evolved beyond ARR’s one-dimensional depiction of this entity. In fact, I think Gaius was a more interesting villain than Zenos. I’m hoping Yotsuyu’s backstory doesn’t disappoint, but who knows.

That said, I am still enjoying the story. I really like the Azim Steppe and the way the game explored its people’s culture. Some of the side quests have also been great too. You do, of course, have the typical fetch quests, but there are some pretty good ones here otherwise, and I’m digging it. I don’t think any of this is bad at all, just not as good as HW.

Despite whatever grievances I have, I’m actually at the peak of my enjoyment of this game. I think that’s mainly because I have discovered that I love tanking at these higher levels. It’s so incredibly satisfying. This expansion’s sequence of DRK quests have been really good too. Currently at level 67 for that, hoping to finish it up soon. The overall dungeon quality of Stormblood is also very good, although I haven’t done many yet.
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« Reply #1499 on: 05 December, 2019, 02:58:55 am »

how does it make you feel when I say that zenos is as evil as he is because the writers thought gaius and regula were TOO nuanced and decided to have a general who was just comically evil to balance it out
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