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Started playing FFXIV, it has a silly lighthearted tone, and then randomly in a quest an NPC walks in after getting raped. WTF?
- Thread starter Jonnax
- Start date
The climax to 1.0 was a battle between the Garlean Empire and the Eorzean Alliance where Bahamut laid waste to just about everything. It was so hopeless that the player character had to be teleported into the future as a last resort.
That's nowhere near light-hearted.
That's nowhere near light-hearted.
Regarding the stories in each expansion, I think 2.0 is the most vanilla (obviously). Maybe it's because you're going from level 1-50 and you're simply growing into becoming THE Warrior of Light. I think the subsequent expansions are smart in treating the WoL as a legitimate force after the events of 2.0. I also like how each expansions adds more to their reputation and significance that the game's world is aware and reminds you about.
That probably comes down to the rushed development of ARR. You're being told a lot more than you're being shown, but once you start hitting the patch quests after the end of the base ARR story it kind of flips the other way around.
Yeah idk if I agree with the OP on the initial argument that the game was somehow misleading about its subject matter. When you're just memeing about in the grand cities, of course it's lighthearted, but there's an entire world out there with the good, bad, and ugly. The game never tells you otherwise.
Also: https://www.esrb.org/ratings/29479/FINAL+FANTASY+XIV/
Also: https://www.esrb.org/ratings/29479/FINAL+FANTASY+XIV/
Pretty much. XIV's WoL is damn close to a walking natural disaster at this point for anyone who's against them. Even among other FF heroes if it were a Dissidia situation where they were fighting would I give the nod to very few others over XIV's WoL.
Well, while you're the Warrior of Light you're not actually super powerful yet as you haven't gathered all the crystals for Hydaelyn. You're still special when it comes to dealing with Primals due to the power of Echo but the full might of the Empire is too much for the WoL here and they don't take him completely seriously, since no one remembers who the WoL was.
But, uh, the entire state the world is in at this point is due to the Empire. They're the reason Bahamut came crashing down and mega flared a ton of crap and the WoL had to be sent into the future and millions of people died. The Empire did that.
e:
Oh yeah and IIRC you can see this first thing when you launch the game unless you bought the full game + Shadowbringers right away in which case go watch the 1st Cinematic in the cinematics section on the title screen.
The games takes lot of jarring tonal shifts and character acts like they are totally normal and not unusual at all. Certain haunted mansion had me go ... WTF
If nothing else, that's a storyline that does get expanded on further as part of one of the level 50 dungeon quest lines. One of the ideas behind her and her party is that being an adventurer in this world does not go as well for everybody else as it does you. It's a world with real dangers that not everybody is as equipped to handle as you, which does tie into something you've noticed- your character is a uniquely powerful existence. Maybe not so much in regards to many of the powers you wield (because there are many powerful characters, and you learn basically all of your combat abilities from other characters), but even so, you do have some unique abilities and you are uniquely successful in your endeavors.
If you end up sticking with the game, I think you'll find it grows into its tonal identity more and more as it goes on. There's levity because if there weren't, it would be downright oppressive for people who stay subbed for extended periods. But it also (by and large) excels at its handling of serious subjects, and doesn't shy away from such subjects because it is a story that wants to be taken seriously.
This probably won't be a popular perspective, but FFXIV has some of the worst treatment of incidental female characters in any Final Fantasy I can remember.
I am regularly surprised how often quests incorporate low brow bro humor (with "period appropriate dialogue" I guess) around ogling women, picking up girls, cat calls, harassment etc. I don't remember the quest OP describes, but any female characters outside of the MC and key NPCs appear to be positioned as objects with alarming regularity.
It's genuinely weird to me, and I agree that the tone suffers for it. If you watch most cutscenes and ignore the incidental stuff or "not good enough for VA" quest stuff, the characterizations are usually pretty alright. If you skip all the cutscenes it's possible that the majority of female characterizations you might encounter are women-as-victims, women-as-property, women-as-conquests, etc.
I enjoy FFXIV, but it has its issues.
I am regularly surprised how often quests incorporate low brow bro humor (with "period appropriate dialogue" I guess) around ogling women, picking up girls, cat calls, harassment etc. I don't remember the quest OP describes, but any female characters outside of the MC and key NPCs appear to be positioned as objects with alarming regularity.
It's genuinely weird to me, and I agree that the tone suffers for it. If you watch most cutscenes and ignore the incidental stuff or "not good enough for VA" quest stuff, the characterizations are usually pretty alright. If you skip all the cutscenes it's possible that the majority of female characterizations you might encounter are women-as-victims, women-as-property, women-as-conquests, etc.
I enjoy FFXIV, but it has its issues.
There is never anything cute about the primals being summoned except for fanservice for long time FF fans. Everything about the primals from the reason they are summoned to the effects they have on the surrounding world and on the people they temper is really not cute and its why they are such epic and effective fights in the game.
There's some really dark shit in this game, I did a quest recently where the mother tried to sell her son to slavers for drug money, an important character later on has a history of being sold as a prostitute
There's some really dark shit in this game, I did a quest recently where the mother tried to sell her son to slavers for drug money, an important character later on has a history of being sold as a prostitute
The Arcanist class questline deals with sex trafficking and the NPC you partner up with (as is done for every class quest story arc) is a survivor of sexual assault and it morphs into a quest about bringing the person running the trafficking ring down. A class that uses books and summons a friendly furball. It definitely wasn't what I expected it to be but it was handled rather well (in my view but maybe I'm misremembering really hard) as the quest partner felt really fleshed out and I saw myself in her.
This guild is associated with a city state that steals lands from the native Kobolds on the regular and the game doesn't delude you into thinking that the people you help save aren't problematic on a government level and I enjoy that they kept that from XI (which dealt with racism in the city state of Bastok and how that racism reared it ugly head in the Crystal war years before you begin your adventures in Vanadiel)
So I'll agree that with other saying you interpreted the quest correctly but not it's tone but it's understandable that such a sudden tonal shift can make anyone go "Wait wtf why is this a thing?"
This guild is associated with a city state that steals lands from the native Kobolds on the regular and the game doesn't delude you into thinking that the people you help save aren't problematic on a government level and I enjoy that they kept that from XI (which dealt with racism in the city state of Bastok and how that racism reared it ugly head in the Crystal war years before you begin your adventures in Vanadiel)
So I'll agree that with other saying you interpreted the quest correctly but not it's tone but it's understandable that such a sudden tonal shift can make anyone go "Wait wtf why is this a thing?"
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she jumps off a boat and you become the top dps that can move and you become the best healer in the game >.>
I think it's also important to note how big of a deal it is to have this kind of content in a Japanese game.
The Garleans pretty much did everything the Japanese did during WW2, things that modern-day Japanese right-wingers are trying to write out of their history.
Jesus I really need to go and revisit that then cuz it's close to 8 years since I did the quest. However I very much will stand by the fact that I saw a lot of myself in her, her fear especially as it did bring up some past experiences when I played thru it.
I completed the arcanist quests up to level 30 earlier this week and you are remembering correctly, I also thought they did it really well
I probably should have mentioned that I'm in Heavensward at the moment.
Just did this recently and that definitely caught me off guard. Not that the game isn't framed for dark stuff mind you, but just reading the dialogue and I was like dang those characters are evil!
Holy fuck I don't remember that in game. I mean I wasn't paying too much attention to the story because I mainly played to craft things, but ummmm....holy fuck.
well, think about it: you made it to level 27 before you encountered anything similar to this. so i'd think that that alone would indicate that, tho the game definitely can occasionally get dark, it's in no real way 'a common thing', or you'd have already encountered it previously...
FFXIV is a bit unusual in that it isn't afraid to both have a lot of very serious and dark themes, but at the same time mix in a lot of humor and light-heartedness. That is what makes it good. The serious themes create drama and captivate the audience, while the humor humanizes the characters and relieves the tension created by the dark themes. The problem in 2.0 is that it was rushed, incomplete, and badly written, so both the serious stuff and the humor fall flat more often than not. It gets way better later on when the scenario writing gets more consistent and the writers find their post-Hildebrand comedy writing talents.
But if you got to the mid-twenties in level without noticing the serious side of the story, then you simply have not been engaging with the story at all. If anything, FFXIV leans too hard into serious stuff too quickly, especially since even now the story has never gotten around to letting the Warrior of Light deal with all the awful problems festering in the starting cities.
But if you got to the mid-twenties in level without noticing the serious side of the story, then you simply have not been engaging with the story at all. If anything, FFXIV leans too hard into serious stuff too quickly, especially since even now the story has never gotten around to letting the Warrior of Light deal with all the awful problems festering in the starting cities.
I started playing at the same time Trump was focused on the migrant caravan. I still don't have very high opinion of any of the city state leaders.
FF14 goes from "Haha Moogles are cute" to "here is the soul crushing reality of poverty, war, inequality, racism etc.. found in humans" real fast.
It's why it is one of my favorite settings. The game does all the highs AND the lows.
Also a lot of the sidequests can have some pretty dark tones.
It's why it is one of my favorite settings. The game does all the highs AND the lows.
Also a lot of the sidequests can have some pretty dark tones.
the whole DRK quest is wild out of pocket and that's why its one of the best questlines in the game
Shit starts out with some guy telling you " Yo dog, the church is trafficking children. Fucking murder them violently"
Try leveling Alchemist. Its storyline is pretty messed up too.
It can be both extremely silly and light-hearted, and extremely dark and disturbing. It's got range, which is a good thing in a game you're meant to play on an ongoing basis.
Is the suggestion here that it would be better for the game to stay only in one lane or the other? Why?
Is the suggestion here that it would be better for the game to stay only in one lane or the other? Why?
Side-quests & optional content is often on the lighter side of tones, but the main story is generally all kinds less light stuff from somewhat less political "monsters are wrecking havoc, could you take care of this" to tackling migrant crisises, coups & all kinds of more serious topics.
If there is one thing Stormblood's story did a good job in it was Colonization.
Citizens of Ala Mhigo seemed to hate Garlemald even more than their own Tyrant.
And who could blame them, with their human experimentations and their belief of superiority.
We got characters like Fordola, Yotsoyu and Arenvald's mother, whom I am not sure if I sympathize with them or hate them.
This was one of the first time I had some sort of confused feelings for characters in a JRPG.
And who could blame them, with their human experimentations and their belief of superiority.
We got characters like Fordola, Yotsoyu and Arenvald's mother, whom I am not sure if I sympathize with them or hate them.
This was one of the first time I had some sort of confused feelings for characters in a JRPG.
People think things don't get worse when
We saw that scene with Valens Van Varro.
I remember that event and so should everyone who participated in it because it was made pretty damn clear what happened to that girl and many others.
FF14 is NOT a light hearted game and I've never heard it described as such by anyone who's played it.The story gets compared to FFT because of all the political machinations and backstabbings. It goes further than any video game story I can think of in terms of the results of war, the refugees, occupied nations, crushed rebellions, terrorism, and more with just Stormblood expansion.
The plot is so clunky in MMO's because everyone is running around as the main character of their own instance with like 50 other people crowding around NPCs, yet also taking a backseat to the preset story characters because its too hard to give everyones character voiced dialogue etc.
Oh boy, you're in for a ride.
FFXIV gets very dark and very emotional. ARR is still annoying af to go through (although I haven't played since they reworked it this summer, tbh), but the ending is a masterpiece of epic storytelling in a MMO.
And then comes HW, and suddenly you care more about the story and characters than about the gameplay.
FFXIV gets very dark and very emotional. ARR is still annoying af to go through (although I haven't played since they reworked it this summer, tbh), but the ending is a masterpiece of epic storytelling in a MMO.
And then comes HW, and suddenly you care more about the story and characters than about the gameplay.
The Warrior of Light kills plenty of people, and this fact is stated definitively multiple times in the game.
Heck an NPC later got demolished verbally by Yshtola because he misinterpreted WoL's heroism as a "pure" thing, saying that WoL is and has done things that needs to be done during their journey.
Heck an NPC later got demolished verbally by Yshtola because he misinterpreted WoL's heroism as a "pure" thing, saying that WoL is and has done things that needs to be done during their journey.
FFXIV story always presents you as alone though. And when cutscenes load, your character disappear from view on the field. This isn't like SWTOR or WoW.
Not to mention DRK quests dealing with the toll it takes.
Some of most fuck up shit are in the side-quests though like the Wood Wailers (essentially Gridania's police) go around raping miqotes to the point that they turned to criminals to help protecting them from the these rapist police. Or the whole thing about people taking advantage of Little Ladies Day to kidnap children and sold them as sex slave.
The conclusion to that party surprised the heck out of me. I didn't imagine the developers actually willing to go there, damn.
Yeah.
FFXIV can be very very very dark.
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, and
Yotsuyu
I'm surprised you didn't mention it considering it's a large part of her background.
Did mention in my other post for different reason
And kinda new it was going to be mentioned so went with another one instead.
https://www.resetera.com/threads/st...-after-getting-raped-wtf.293363/post-46552775
Welcome to FFXIV. It starts out light hearted, and then it's going to get fucking dark, and it's going to stay fucking dark.
Ethnic cleansing, war, subjugation, refugees, assassination...this is what you're in for with FFXIV. They just gave you the lighthearted silly stuff so you can feel happy for a bit. Then they're going to rip it all away.
Enjoy your time in Eorzea.
Ethnic cleansing, war, subjugation, refugees, assassination...this is what you're in for with FFXIV. They just gave you the lighthearted silly stuff so you can feel happy for a bit. Then they're going to rip it all away.
Enjoy your time in Eorzea.
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Yeah...
This is a good summary though is 2 years prior to Palace of the Dead.
r/ffxiv - Tam-Tara Lore! Welcome to creepsville! (Spoilers All) (Wall of Text)
177 votes and 105 comments so far on Reddit
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TOR was pretty good with dialogue though. Everyone had their own input in quest conversations.
This is having the opposite effect of getting me to keep playing it.
