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autumnslance · 2 years

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Side Stories and the Warrior of Light’s Integration

Was thinking and wondering about the upcoming trial series, that I don’t think we’ve had any hints at really as to what it’s going to be, and reflecting again that the biggest problem I believe Sorrow of Werlyt has in its “bones of a good story but lacking in execution” was how it not only decentered the WoL but made the PC superfluous to the narrative entirely. It’s also a reason why the final tier of YoRHa: Dark Apocalypse as a crossover with FFXIV falls flat, in my opinion.

FFXIV has done a good job overall of taking our silent protagonist, and even with Assumed Default WoL (since this is an MMO that can’t do multiple options the way a single player game can), the connection folks feel to their own OCs is often very real, due to how the main narrative centers the WoL and hinges upon their actions and relationships with the NPC cast. The RP duties where the player takes on a NPC for a time helps branch it out a little and makes what would otherwise be a summary or long cutscene interactive, but those are brief asides. The MSQ is the WoL’s hero story, and many of the side stories follow the same vein by at least keeping the WoL as an active and necessary participant even when another character is the story focal point.

Spoilers for various side content below.

The loose idea of the trials in ARR patches is further investigation of Ascians pushing the tribes to summon more powerful versions of the primals the WoL’s already fought, so WoL’s investigation of those escalations is front and center; especially for Ifrit, where a still-recovering-from-2.0-MSQ Thancred can’t go into the field himself yet, so WoL has to do the heavy lifting. Coils of Bahamut and Crystal Tower also have the WoL involved, interacting with the NPCs, forming bonds with the other central characters in the plot, investigating, creating items to get past defenses, and so on. We’re doing more than just the fighting, we’re part of the team. The Coils story has a direct impact on Alisaie’s development, and her friendship with and admiration of WoL really starts here (please play Coils story, it’s easy now to desync and roll it as a 90 solo, or get high level friends to run one through, and does affect almost all of Alisaie’s dialogues on her return to MSQ in 3.4).

Same in the Heavensward stories; in Alexander, WoL is part of a team with Y’shtola and the Ironworks; making friends with Mide and Roundrox, helping them, is essential to the story. Actions in the plot center WoL and their comrades in the mystery and time shenanigans. In Warring Triad, again WoL is part of a Scion research team figuring out how to deal with the eikons, while interacting directly with Unukalhai and Regula the entire time. We feel Regula’s sacrifice for the youth, and see his sense honor, twisted as it is by Imperial doctrine. There’s a reason Regula, for the very brief time he has on screen, is one of the more popular and lamented as lost-too-soon Garlean antagonists. Folks were interested in our little buddy Unukalhai and pleased he got more story in the Void Quests in ShB finally. Meanwhile, WoL is also off adventuring with the sky pirates to investigate the Shadows of Mhach; they treat WoL as a member of the crew, sharing info, bringing them in on tense meetings with the rival, letting WoL hang out at their base.

In Stormblood, we get drug into helping Cid’s old school friend and realizing his dream of the truth of Ivalice; there is a LOT going on with that story, and there are moments where it doesn’t land for folks because it’s such a huge reference-fest to Tactics and FFXII that sometimes WoL does get lost among the rest, but overall it’s the WoL’s interactions with Ramza that help him get past his adolescent upset and back to focusing on his family, WoL who supports Alma, WoL who meets with Fran and gets the rebels’ cooperation, WoL who deals with the Dramaturge and his wife’s silly requests. Four Lords, meanwhile, works right off the MSQ and Alphinaud’s little error with the checkbook, WoL agreeing to Soroban’s offer of adventure and treasure, and upon meeting the auspices, becomes integral to helping Soroban’s new training and not just fighting the Lords, but also listening to their stories, letting them shed their long-held burdens. It’s necessary for the WoL to help them finally grieve their friend, and in the finale, though it’s a cutscene, WoL still has a place and role. Omega likewise has the WoL as part of another Ironworks research team, and as the bot takes out other members of that team, WoL has to do a bit more work they’d normally aid Cid with. Making friends with Alpha is again essential here, letting the little birb self-actualize in a way Omega cannot (yet?).

In Shadowbringers, Eden gets it mostly right. The 8man raid series, much like Coils, is a wrap-up of MSQ and directly related to past events (Coils is more related to 1.0, but still). We work specifically with a Scion team again, and forming connections and memories with Gaia is essential to the story. The WoL’s experiences with the primals is also central for the majority of it, and it all ties back in, too, with our Ascian antagonists. Even the Bozja Resistance storyline, building off the Ivalice raids and the friendships formed there, makes sure the WoL is an active participant, enough that the major NPC betrayal fairly early on stings a good deal. I mentioned the role and follow-up Void Quest earlier, and again, the non-combat connections WoL makes with those characters, how the PC investigates the Virtues, interacts with the hunters and the boys, everything with Cylva, relies on the WoL as a person, not just a combatant.

Throughout, even stories like Hildibrand keep the WoL an active participant in the story. While the Inspector’s quests focus on his antics, WoL is a part of his team alongside Nashu. WoL still interacts with all the other NPCs, handles investigative tasks, and only occasionally has to fight something the others cannot. We’re along for the ride, but also nudging it on its course.

YoRHa seemed to start off well enough in that same vein; the WoL’s interactions with the dwarves are a big part of the story, and being able to explore the raid zones and bring back documentation as clues to what’s going on felt good. I loved having quests during the off-patches to give more story and characters. But in the end…Anogg runs away, there’s a confusing mystery as to what happened to her and when, and then she apparently meets 2B and 9S and helps revive the latter all off-screen. The weekly follow-ups with rebuilding the town go well while seem to be building to a problem with Glagg that just…goes away on its own, no help from WoL needed. Meanwhile the twins just vanish with the WoL left in the empty room. All so Dark Apocalypse can be part of the greater NieR storyline, with its cameo in FFXIV being just a confusing aside that the FFXIV characters never get even minor resolution on in-universe.

And in Werlyt…the WoL is superfluous. Literally only shows up to fight the weapons, maybe have an Echo vision of some things that set it up, and that’s…it. You could replace WoL with an advanced Ironworks defense mechanism and nothing changes. We actually meet most of the kids only once (and the first girl not at all) outside of their weapons. All of the major character interactions happen elsewhere, in “meanwhile” scenes WoL and Team Gaius aren’t present for. WoL never even meets the primary antagonist nor sees him in those Echoes; he’s Gaius’ villain—barely—and while that Diamond finale scene is well-done, WoL isn’t part of it. A lot happens with Gaius and his team becoming part of Terncliffe, helping Werlyt, the struggles with this former conqueror now working with the rebels…all offscreen. Summarized and informed. We just show up, fight a weapon, get to pilot the G-Warrior once, and then go back to other WoL business. We’re watching the story—and there’s a lot of cutscenes that run long that we just watch—but our character isn’t really part of it.

And it’s frustrating because the elements of a good tragic mecha anime story are there. The concept of Gaius examining his past beliefs and working toward change in himself (while never expecting others’ forgiveness) is there. There’s a lot going on in Werlyt, perhaps a bit too much, and along the way, the WoL, the game’s protagonist and the player POV character, is entirely lost in the shuffle and relegated to the side in a way they aren’t usually in these stories. Even when other side stories focus on specific characters, like Mide and Roundrox, or Ryne and Gaia, The Four Lords, or the Lexentales, the WoL’s interactions with them, the help we offer outside of combat scenarios, is integral to those characters resolving their issues. We never get the chance with the weapon pilots, and in the end, I’m still wondering what and how exactly did Team Gaius learn from the WoL when we just show up now and again long enough to fight the next weapon and leave right away while actual story events happen elsewhere outside the characters’ POVs.

So far in Endwalker, I am optimistic with Pandaemonium and Aglaia; the first tiers of each have gone well enough, and WoL’s interactions with the characters is so far forefront. We’ll see what comes in the next series as the 6.x patches continue forward with new ideas and stories.

EDIT: And as of 6.5 and the end of the raid stories...Yeah. Panda and Myths both centered WoL in interesting ways, with Panda relying on the stable time loop and the friendships forged with Themis/Elidibus, and then Erich, and even our renewed understanding of Lahabrea and bringing it all back to the Heart of Sabik and Athena’s obsessions, which became fixed on WoL. Myths had the Twelve decide that with Hydaelyn and Zodiark gone, they could enact their own retirement plan and who better than Her Champion to aid them? And the friendship with WoL, the other Baldesion pals, and a baby monkey, were pivotal to the climax, and it’s WoL there all the way to the end. The trial series for Endwalker ended up as part of the MSQ, and so of course WoL is central there, working with the other Scions to teach Zero how to remember to be a real person again. Even so far in the Tataru quest line and in Hildibrand again, it’s the WoL’s connections to people across the star and actions as part of the agents’ team that matters. Even Island Sanctuary’s minimal plot is all about giving the WoL a vacation project to work on and others coming to visit them for fun!

So yeah. Keeping WoL involved not just for combat and the handy Echo, actually having pivotal moments happen onscreen and that WoL is simply present for--even if just as moral support!--go a long way to making the stories feel more involved, make more sense, and gives it a better chance of hitting the desired emotional resonances, as the players are then able to care about the NPCs, the the story, and how their WoLs fit in.

#Final Fantasy XIV #Warrior of Light #Sorrow of Werlyt #yorha: dark apocalypse #Eden #Return to Ivalice #Four Lords #Omega #Warring Triad #Shadows of Mhach #Alexander #Coils of Bahamut #Crystal Tower #primals #blogging #opinion

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