Heh, I'm still fairly new to this RUclips thing so figured I'd mention here that if you enjoyed the video a subscription, like, comment and all that jazz goes a long way to help! I'll be uploading 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 reactions/videos soon! As well as a big theorycrafting video before I dive into Endwalker. Can't wait!
Loved watching this. :) and you playing Dark knight makes it even better. As a Dark knight main i can say but one thing. Ur doing great. And have fun with the patches and endwalker. Its so damn good.
Thank you Jesse! Like yourself I was once a "Champion of Azeroth" (and fan of a certain OMFGCata, I think you guys would get along) It feels SO, so good to have my time & commitment to a game rewarded by the developers. Can't wait to see what's next!
The timing on it is just impeccable. I get that it's literally just lining up the first note to to the very frame the axe stops moving, but maaaan, words cannot describe the sheer elation I felt then. It was like the first time seeing the charge of the Rohirrim. And I can genuinely say that Emet's passing was the first time I ever cried over a videogame. Haurchefant was sad, sure, but Emet is hands down the best written villain I've ever had the displeasure of vanquishing in a game. There were times after that moment. Elidibus' last speech drew some tears as well, the reunion with Seto, the "final walk", and Hermes' speech to Meteion after Emet and Hythlodaeus conjured that field of Elpis flowers... it's like this scene with Emet unlocked something within me that I didn't know was there before. Truly one of the greatest moments in gaming of all time.
Yea I said that back when I first finished ShB. Then EW dropped. Edit: @2:45 to answer Emet-Selch's question....they already did. The whole reason G'raha and the Crystal Tower is on the First is because the entire collective world agreed it would be better to sacrifice their entire timeline for a chance to try and fix things than continue down it.
*"Look to those who walked before, to lead those who walk after."* Yet again our example serves to inspire the next generation of heroes, and while some may meet an untimely end (like Avere & Edda did so long ago), some will survive, even thrive, and serve to inspire the next generation of heroes in turn. :)
Since finishing 5.0 I've done all of the role quests, so when editing this video that moment hit SO much harder knowing all of their respective stories/adventures with one another. This game's great isn't it?
@@EndyD20 I love that he got the recognition he deserved... It's that frustration from even back in Heavensward when he cried out "We did everything right"
The amount of effort put in by that party to cosplay for the cutscene is adorable. Half of them coming in as Ardbert's companions, two as NPC's from this expansion, and one as an ancient themselves. I dunno, just kinda adds a wholesome vibe that you could read it as the Exarch summoning those closest to Ardbert to come to his (and thereby your) aid. It's always a treat to see folks experience this expansion for the very first time, especially this climax. Well done sir, and well done to your friends! Hope y'all have just as much fun with Endwalker!
They're pretty amazing huh? 6 of the 7 are members of the community who I've known for almost 3 years, so getting to share the stage with folks who I've known since I started my little Twitch journey made it all the more special.
I'm sure someone answered this months ago, but 2:11, New-Old Friend had unique sight, unrivaled, and back in that cutscene when you first meet his shade, he even says he doubts anyone be him could spot it (when your sitting on the bench and meet New-Old Friend... again).
It also doesn't help that Emet-Selch, who also has soul-sight, is being purposefully shortsighted. He refuses to see us for what we are not only because it would invalidate his beliefs, but it is an unbearably painful reminder that one of his two closest friends refused to assist him in Zodiark's summoning and any further sacrifice. Once Ardbert joins with us, and we become more than half the whole we were, he can't deny it any longer, even though he tries to pass it off as an impossibility.
The “Hey Emmet” at 1:47 had strong he’s-the-bad-boy-and-I’m-not-supposed-to-like-him-but -I-LIKE-HIM vibes. 😁 Congrats on finishing the main quest line of Shadowbringers! I love the follow up of this story arc as well, so looking forward to it! Happy gaming!
It's difficult not to like him knowing that if we were in his position we'd likely do the same exact thing, tempered by Zodiark or not. For all his posturing about fractured being and whatnot, it all comes down to he just wanted to see his friends again.
It’s so absolutely exciting watching someone go through this stuff as I did once, for the first time. The goosebumps, the tears, the excitement. It will always give me the best feeling. This absolute masterpiece helped me through so many things. I’m happy to see you enjoyed it too. I hope you enjoy the rest of your journey, and many journeys to come-Warrior of Light.
I've been doing the same after finishing Shadowbringers last week. I need to know my joy, my pain and heartache are shared in the collective. If I could erase my mind and experience it again for the first time, I'd do it in a heartbeat. What a fantastic expac!
Finally, someone that picked "I challenge you, Emet-Selch." So many people chose the other option and miss the significance of that line. Earlier in Amaurot, there is a side quest you can do where you come across two Ancients prepared to do a debate. One of the explains to you that two Ancients debating is essential the two of them challenging one another's ideals. When you say that to Emet, you're doing just that. You're pitting your ideals, that the sundered are their own people and deserve to live, against Hades' ideals, where the sundered are meaningless life to be sacrificed to bring the Ancients back.
I just started Endwalker and I have no idea how it could ever top Shadowbringers. It was one wild ride and I wish I could erase my brain to experience it all anew once again.
I actually made a macro speicifically for when I got this trial in roulettes. Always ran bard, and the macro was rather simple, but I loved using it. Was a simple /vpose with the line "Warrior of Darkness! My bow is yours!" Also: This is one trial where every roulette, I'll tell everyone in the party to max their music for more DPS. I also tell everyone to dance in the phase transition of the moggle mog fight, or we die. (Amusingly enough, it's proven to be true every single time. XD) PS: MY character, for all her badassery as an Ishgardian Dragoon... She also, cannot swim. XD
Having seen the Shadowbringers ending so many times, I've been able to get through most of it now without being emotional.. except when arbert is crossing that bridge... walking towards his old friends. I'll never not tear up at that. Ever.
Lol, so yeah. I said the exact same thing when finishing 5.0. As an Old-school FF fan, and JRPG main, stories are my bread and butter for games. And seeing the way XIVs story has grown and progressed, while keeping itself grounded to its roots, is insanely satisfying. After seeing the hype for years, and finally understanding why it's garnered the praise, was very enlightening. And ad many many many people have likely pointed out, the Rollercoaster is only just beginning. I'm almost 2/3s done with base Endwalker, and the way it and Shadowbringers play off each other, MUAH *chefs kiss*.
Yeah, Shadowbringers is absolutely incredible, especially since it’s one of those “it only works because of everything we’ve done so far” stories, imo Endwalker may be the advertised “end of our journey to this point” expansion but I think Shadowbringers is the true “we’ve come this far, we’ve done all this, this is our story and it doesn’t end here” thanks to the final moments against emet
To this day my favorite trial is still Tsukuyomi, but Hades sure goes HARD. Haven't seen that at min ilvl in so long, I completely forgot about the darkness slowly overtaking the platform. Man. Also "I pity anyone who skips cutscenes in this game" Yeah! The story is the HEART of this game. It's not worth it missing out on it just to rush to 'endgame'
I keep going back to one comment I saw on a video for the Phase 2 song, "Invincible" "This feels like the first time a boss is actually trying to kill us." A lot of the time, we are the agressors, and the Primals are just defending themselves. Nidhogg was going after us, but he would have destroyed any adventurer who dared stand against him. Hades is _actively_ trying to kill _specifically us,_ and the music roars that.
You got what I like to call the magic timing at 40:00, the way the trumpets come in right when trying to break out with it building up to crescendo at the view of Hades.
1) all of the Amaurot/Dying Gasp cutscenes, and really anything in Shb, will hit harder later 2) low-key the most emotional line for me now after many rewatching and replaying this trial, is -- after the active time maneuver - when Emet roars "that Light split the world, and every life upon it!" It enrages him that Hydaeyln's power is still thwarting him, because he sees her as having *literally killed everyone and destroyed the world*. It disgusts him that it's your special power. Really puts you in his POV 3) I love love love love love so much that the final defeat of Emet follows the rules set up for perma-killing an Ascian set out all the way back in those ARR patches that everyone just acts like are yadda yadda. 1) white auracite (melodramatically provided by Thancred), infusion of aether (which the Scions channel from *themselves*, yikes), and the blade of light to finish. Everytime I see WoL preparing to manifest Ardbert's axe, I think of Hydaelyn back in OG Praetorium saying "if thou wouldst pierce the shadows, make thee a blade of light". It's just really rewarding when a fantasy or scifi story is told that's consistent to the rules of the world its built.
This is FFXIV's biggest strength imo; aside from all the neat fights, great music and endearing characters, the story follows the rules it set up for itself, including embracing and addressing implied ones from before a Big Plan even existed. I feel like so much fantasy just expects you to suspend your disbelief "because its fantasy," I appreciate that this team took care to ensure the story made sense 😆
@@Tezasaurus It's the difference between "I ain't gotta explain shit, it's magic" and "Here is a 50 slide spreadsheet as to how this all really works."
Well, _mostly_ consistent. FFXIV does better than any other long-running game I can think of, but they still have some retcons and such that weren't handled particularly well. The Echo / Blessing of Light is the biggest one to me because EW just stomps on everything they'd been building up around the Echo since ARR and especially the development in StB. Continuing below the fold because EW spoilers... . . . (you have been warned) . . . Remember how the Echo was the power of connection, could manifest in different ways for different people, & Ascians could use it to temporarily fuse? Remember how we had an entire storyline around a guy using it for body-stealing, immortality, and hijacking primals? Yeah, let's just throw all that out the window. It's just your soul remembering bits of pre-Sundering existence now (granted, this was started in the post-expansion ShB stuff, but EW doubled down hard). But we'll keep the guy having a stolen dragon form because it's cool even though it no longer makes any sense. The Blessing of Light has never really been consistent, but the EW version is just disappointing. It went from an uber-goddess's blessing (ARR through HW) to kind of just a side-effect of the Echo (StB, where we saw even a fake Echo granted the BoL to resist tempering), to just a minor charm in EW. Post-EW we are apparently stuck in a sorta-kinda-maybe-stable temporal paradox. G'raha in ShB said that time-travel to the past can't actually change the present, and Elidibus in EW itself said we would be unable to interact with past Elpis or change anything we saw. Instead, we not only changed the past, but Venat took actions in the past _because_ of our visit (she states at one point she would never go through with the Hydaelyn/Sundering plan if not for us telling her what was about to happen), and those actions appear to be circular since she accepts us being time-travelers because of the BoL she gave us as a consequence of taking those actions. It's a whole mess of circular causality. Whatever happened to the "Primals drain the land's aether" plotline? StB left a ton of questions around that when we found out that explanation for the Burn was a lie. Do they actually pose a threat to the world (ie do they actually consume/destroy aether)? We saw in ShB that summoning and destroying primals can be used as a way to mass-aspect aether , which suggests they just kind of accumulate and hold onto it rather than consuming it. Also, what about the two biggest ones, and why would the ancients create Zodiark if that was the case? For that matter, do primals actually have persistent memory across summonings, or are their "memories" just filled in by their summoners? Oh yeah, remember how the End of Days was caused by "a keening from deep inside the land"? Well, the EW writers didn't. Now it's caused by a guy who flunked first-year Philosophy creating an interstellar bird that blasts the universe with suicidal brainwashing waves. Speaking of which, she needed to go to the edge of the universe and spend a bunch of time gathering up all that negative emotion dynamis to do her "Give up and die" song, but apparently she started the first End of Days soon after our visit to Elpis and her transition to emo mode. Not sure how she gathered all that dynamis that fast, and nobody ever did explain how she makes it stronger or how dynamis works without people (supposedly she was harvesting dynamis from dead worlds). Or negative dynamis turns people into monsters at all. Those are the biggest ones that annoyed me, but I just didn't like the EW story very much at all. Zodiark and the return of the End of Days are fine. Dynamis is fine as a concept but should not have been used like it was. The moon situation was half-cool (Zodiark's binding) and half-stupid (why does anyone think fleeing on a spaceship will save them from a universe flooded with suicidal brainwashing waves? especially right after we heard how this planet is unique in the universe in having a natural resistance to those waves? and how are the Lops so incompetent that they never bothered getting in direct contact with the people they are supposed to "save"?). Elpis was really cool and really broke the story (see: temporal paradox), except for Hermes and Meteion, who pissed me off by holding the idiot ball for the entire expansion. Sharlayan behaved as any bureaucracy of walking superiority complexes would be expected to behave. Meteion was a painfully ham-fisted allegory for depression, and it was never explained how the last zone even exists since dynamis isn't supposed to be able to interact physically with normal aether-based matter. Also... what the hell was Azem doing during the End of Days? I was really hoping for a story around reality unraveling, maybe aether/magic turning against its users somehow (a FFVII-ish "immune response" from the planet to the overuse of aether, for instance). I was also hoping Azem would have actually played some part in it. An alternate storyline I sketched out had Azem, anticipating ruin from the Zodiark and Hydaelyn factions fighting, creating his own primal. This primal would actually be embedded in a living body, though. It would live amongst people, absorb aether naturally rather than aggressively draining it, and basically learn about humanity while looking for a solution to the aether-crisis that Zodiark is forcibly stalling. I was thinking of Janus the Gatekeeper for his God of Beginnings and Endings theme. Plus opportunities for gradually unwinding his connection to Azem/us over the story, and even maybe a dual-blade, light-and-dark themed class. But alas, it is not to be.
I have to agree with point 2, I think this line gets slept on a lot. The sheer disgust and hatred Emet feels for the light, for your blessing, for the fact that the light would overcome him and crush the hopes of his people yet again, is just incredible
even if i am not that deep into lore, which makes me forget many story bits and points that get dropped, i still realised that ew kinda half assed its way to the end with manipulating emotion. i can agree on with every point you made, despite the lack of knowledge. did i have some very impactful and great scenes? oh heck yes, was the package overall satisfying and worth while? kinda no.@@aeonise zenos was stupid and not needed, zodiark in connection to fandaniel, even if i adore time paradox nonsense i just hate that they tell you strictly it wont work, and yet we are the cause for every decision, meteon was god awful as the whole reason for the voices and sounds, no consequenses only cheap "deaths" that were resolved after 5 mins etc
there's a deeper layer, the whole game has been his stageplay, and a test, and in this moment, you've passed, he wants to win, but he also wants to be proven wrong and for you to overcome him, at least some of the entirety of the Dungeon+Trials is him putting on a show, because after he is hit with the Blade of Light, he purposefully changes the scenery to morning, and Ta-Da he was always just in a robe.
I never thought Emet didnt know who we were. I mean, he summoned the false Amaurot. I think that he always knew but refused to see us at the same level. That is why he seeks you out and puts up with your meddling. He actually wants to reconnect with his old best friend or lover.
51:52 marker - "It can't get any better than this." - Says everyone while playing this part for the first time... Yoshi-P - "Challenge accepted!" I am happy you are enjoying/loving your experience in the world of FFXIV. This may be the first video I've seen from you, but I have enjoyed your reactions throughout so it may very well not be the last. Heavensward came out in 2015 and killing Haurchefaunt and the way he dies is something I have never quite forgiven Yoshi-P for, and he sure loves to rub it in - repeatedly!!! ANYways, keep up the good work and steady yourself as it will only get wilder from here on out ^^
Most of the group are folks who've been within my Twitch community for years, so it was *extra* special to experience that moment with them. They'd planned the outfits months beforehand, when I was in Heavensward I think!
I already have a deep love for this game and watching others react, but you're just so handsome and charming I can't help but be overwhelmed by all of the amazing things on my screen while watching. You have a new fan in me. I even went to the twitch to watch the 5.3 reactions because I bawl like a baby for certain parts.
I'm so glad you do these at min ilvl. You still only caught a glimpse but as he was dying, he was casting Black Cauldron, the moves that the Hades summon does in other game. If it goes off it one shots the raid :3
Been watching the entire MSQ playthrough on Twitch and it's been great. Trying to catch you live whenever I can, though I'm usually just lurking anyway lol. Coincidentally I also play on Odin and I've seen myself run around in one of your vods which felt weird but kinda cool as well. Anyways, I wanted to comment about something I hadn't noticed before, though maybe I'm just insanely slow at noticing these kinds of things. You can actually see the light inside you get spent during your fight with Hades! From 40:09 the arena is flooded in light and dims bit by bit as you fight him. the attack he uses is called 'The Dark Devours', even). Figured you'd find it interesting.
That's incredibly surreal to hear; I don't know how I'd feel if I saw me going about my "wizard chores" in the background of somebody elses playthrough - if you see me in-game again gimme a poke or a wave and I'll know it's you! Also, I never did notice that, even when editing it (where I must've watched the fight a half-dozen times...) that's awesome.
So Glad You are doing YT stuff Endy. Twitch is so bad for discoverability (unless you are like a FFXIV directory gremlin like myself). All the best. Hope we can shake hands IRL one day.
YMMV but there's stuff that is easily as good, and for some players arguably even better, to come. Which at this point is mind-blowingly because 5.0 has one of the most satisfying endings of any game I've ever played, but FFXIV just nails stuff left and right.
I think ShB being a lot of people's "This is my favourite" expansion comes down to the fact that it's a really well told one-shot. It pulls in a lot of the lore and set-up (which make it even better, more impactful and climactic), but you could easily extricate it from the rest of the expansions, add a little bit of pre-roll setup and character introduction material and have a top-tier mainline FF story. By comparison, EW goes the other way. It's literally built on the bones of what came before, inextricably intertwined, pulling all the threads together and weaving a fantastic finale, paying off pretty much every loose hanging thread and question and "God, wouldn't it be cool if..." moment you've had and more beyond. Easy to forget that ShB opens up the lore so much and dumps so many extra pieces to fill gaps in the world's backstory that it's easy to think you know what's going on, only for EW to come in swinging like "Oh, no no no no no... not yet, that was just a taste. Put your big boy pants on, shit's about to get wild."
I think I'm happy making the comparison between the standalone Final Fantasy games being akin to fantastic standalone novels, in that they tell a great self-contained story front-to-back, whereas FFXIV is a multi-book epic, where each book tells it's own story, but all of them work seamlessly with one another to create one of if not the greatest stories in gaming. Partly due to the nature of an MMO, but mostly because of how well they've woven the narrative across 10~ years of storytelling. It's mindblowing.
This is a game that makes you feel ALL the feels. I love these reactions so I dont feel like a dork when I get emotional playing this game. Subbing because.
I love looking through them now over a year later! If you ever find the time, watch the the first 10 or so minutes of my Endwalker finale video and you’ll see how I put those screenshots to good use :)
8:33 Endy is about to be canceled like Logan Paul taking video of suicide corpses That being said, congrats on finishing 5.0! I love that you put effort into reading the duty descriptions. So under appreciated, but they are usually top notch writing
Well there's some flavor text somewhere, don't remember where in side quests or something....but they talk about the different jobs each one of the convocation oversee, and emet selch was the overseer of the aetherial sea...so...kinda makes sense he's hades lol I'm glad you're doing it all min. Ilvl, otherwise these fights are over in two seconds and it doesn't carry any of the weight it did to us on release. Also, keep in mind: in order for us to destroy an ascian, we had to trap the ascian in the white auracite and THEN break it. We didnt kill him. He deemed us worthy and so he let himself return to the aetherial sea on his own. Really important but slightly underplayed detail of this that i love.
thats a highly debated theory with no confirmation. I dont see Emet doing less than his very best to destroy us to bring back his people. Letting us win isnt part of that.
I'm working on an archive of all the quests and the optional dialogue responses. I've had to hit the ellipses responses for that and, every time, it feels wrong lol.
Amaraut dungeon.. the only times ive seen final fights fail is if 1 or 2 ppl dont know what there doing. and then there has been other times i as the tank managed to save it by standing on the last broken side block to avoid the main blast, then quickly move into that blast before the cracked rock breaks completely.
"The land buckled; the cities burned; the waters ran red with blood..." My WoL : AND THE PROM'S TOMORROW! Emet : "... Ok nevermind, I'm just killing you now."
2:25 Think is, Endy. Emmet **CAN** see the color of the WoL's soul. Nearly every exposition he had alone with the WoL, and sometimes blatantly upfront, alludes to this. He'd recount a beloved memory, with a few liberties, then look at the WoL And say something along the lines of either. "Do you remember?" Or "You're an incomplete being, of course you don't remember." Edit: I'm bad at grammar.
It was after a similar musing we had with him in Kholusia, shortly before riding the lift for the first time, that made me theorise as to not only “who” we are, but if Ardbert is linked to us due to sharing a fragment of whoever’s soul it was we possessed. I likely missed loads of other clues, but that one was the standout for me in this play through.
@@EndyD20 In my circle of friends, I've ended up the "Story theory-crafter" And most of them have been spot on. Even ones that I made years before the relevant expansions came out. I even went toe-to-toe with Nier Automata's writing, and nailed most of that as well. I love story crafting, catching small details, asking questions no one else is asking... And it's SO very gratifying when I'm right. XD Regardless, good thinking outside the box. That's where a lot of FF14's best stories await. :)
Heh, I'm still fairly new to this RUclips thing so figured I'd mention here that if you enjoyed the video a subscription, like, comment and all that jazz goes a long way to help!
I'll be uploading 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 reactions/videos soon! As well as a big theorycrafting video before I dive into Endwalker. Can't wait!
Hello Endy, first time viewer. I am wondering which shader preset (if any) you use for your footage?
Just discovered you, and the combination of your open, honest reactions and your theorycrafting is top-notch!
Small sidenote for the Trial: He is the only Boss in the game without a title, which is a fitting touch
Loved watching this. :) and you playing Dark knight makes it even better.
As a Dark knight main i can say but one thing.
Ur doing great. And have fun with the patches and endwalker. Its so damn good.
Excellent work warrior of light 😊
Thank you Jesse! Like yourself I was once a "Champion of Azeroth" (and fan of a certain OMFGCata, I think you guys would get along) It feels SO, so good to have my time & commitment to a game rewarded by the developers. Can't wait to see what's next!
Damn Jesse you really do watch every one of these!
@@maligor Jessie has really fallen into the MSQ watcher cult. One of Us! One of Us!
I cried a long with your reactions too Jesse!
@@maligor he does! You should see the reaction from really small streamers when he drops by!
"It can't get any better than this"
And the writing team took that personally.
Whenever someone says that before EW my face does all sorts of Jim from "The Office" memes
Ishikawa: alright bet, let’s do this
@@danh8804 even before EW, he still has 5.3 coming up!
I just finished 6.4.... Holy crap!
@@danh8804 SHB>EW especially comparing the patch story
The music drop when Ardbert holds out the axe will never not give me the BIGGEST chills
"Take it we fight together"
Together!
The timing on it is just impeccable. I get that it's literally just lining up the first note to to the very frame the axe stops moving, but maaaan, words cannot describe the sheer elation I felt then. It was like the first time seeing the charge of the Rohirrim. And I can genuinely say that Emet's passing was the first time I ever cried over a videogame. Haurchefant was sad, sure, but Emet is hands down the best written villain I've ever had the displeasure of vanquishing in a game.
There were times after that moment. Elidibus' last speech drew some tears as well, the reunion with Seto, the "final walk", and Hermes' speech to Meteion after Emet and Hythlodaeus conjured that field of Elpis flowers... it's like this scene with Emet unlocked something within me that I didn't know was there before. Truly one of the greatest moments in gaming of all time.
Yea I said that back when I first finished ShB. Then EW dropped.
Edit: @2:45 to answer Emet-Selch's question....they already did. The whole reason G'raha and the Crystal Tower is on the First is because the entire collective world agreed it would be better to sacrifice their entire timeline for a chance to try and fix things than continue down it.
I like how the boy at the end looks just like Ardbert. And so the cycle repeats, a hero for the new generation!
I think alot of people miss that obvious detail.
*"Look to those who walked before, to lead those who walk after."*
Yet again our example serves to inspire the next generation of heroes, and while some may meet an untimely end (like Avere & Edda did so long ago), some will survive, even thrive, and serve to inspire the next generation of heroes in turn. :)
I LOVE seeing Arbert reunite with his friends. It's like....finally, I'm going home.
Since finishing 5.0 I've done all of the role quests, so when editing this video that moment hit SO much harder knowing all of their respective stories/adventures with one another. This game's great isn't it?
@@EndyD20 I love that he got the recognition he deserved... It's that frustration from even back in Heavensward when he cried out "We did everything right"
@@EndyD20 Hope you realized your CREWMATES for the Haedes fight (Four of them) were dressed like Ardbert's Crew. (Renda Rae, Brendan, etc.)
@@ChainedFei I introduce them at 29:29 😄
The amount of effort put in by that party to cosplay for the cutscene is adorable. Half of them coming in as Ardbert's companions, two as NPC's from this expansion, and one as an ancient themselves.
I dunno, just kinda adds a wholesome vibe that you could read it as the Exarch summoning those closest to Ardbert to come to his (and thereby your) aid.
It's always a treat to see folks experience this expansion for the very first time, especially this climax. Well done sir, and well done to your friends! Hope y'all have just as much fun with Endwalker!
They're pretty amazing huh? 6 of the 7 are members of the community who I've known for almost 3 years, so getting to share the stage with folks who I've known since I started my little Twitch journey made it all the more special.
At 39:46 I can't get over how pained Hades sounds. He is so damn tired after all these ages. His voice actor did an amazing job!
I'm sure someone answered this months ago, but 2:11, New-Old Friend had unique sight, unrivaled, and back in that cutscene when you first meet his shade, he even says he doubts anyone be him could spot it (when your sitting on the bench and meet New-Old Friend... again).
It also doesn't help that Emet-Selch, who also has soul-sight, is being purposefully shortsighted. He refuses to see us for what we are not only because it would invalidate his beliefs, but it is an unbearably painful reminder that one of his two closest friends refused to assist him in Zodiark's summoning and any further sacrifice. Once Ardbert joins with us, and we become more than half the whole we were, he can't deny it any longer, even though he tries to pass it off as an impossibility.
The “Hey Emmet” at 1:47 had strong he’s-the-bad-boy-and-I’m-not-supposed-to-like-him-but -I-LIKE-HIM vibes. 😁 Congrats on finishing the main quest line of Shadowbringers! I love the follow up of this story arc as well, so looking forward to it! Happy gaming!
It's difficult not to like him knowing that if we were in his position we'd likely do the same exact thing, tempered by Zodiark or not. For all his posturing about fractured being and whatnot, it all comes down to he just wanted to see his friends again.
It’s so absolutely exciting watching someone go through this stuff as I did once, for the first time. The goosebumps, the tears, the excitement. It will always give me the best feeling. This absolute masterpiece helped me through so many things. I’m happy to see you enjoyed it too. I hope you enjoy the rest of your journey, and many journeys to come-Warrior of Light.
A wild Haurchefant appeared! It used emotional damage... it's super effective!!
😢
Dang I love watching others go through 5.0 I still get chills in the cut scenes. Thanks for appreciating SB for the masterpiece it truly is.
I was smiling, laughing, crying and frequently getting the chills editing it. This game really is something special.
I've been doing the same after finishing Shadowbringers last week. I need to know my joy, my pain and heartache are shared in the collective. If I could erase my mind and experience it again for the first time, I'd do it in a heartbeat. What a fantastic expac!
Finally, someone that picked "I challenge you, Emet-Selch." So many people chose the other option and miss the significance of that line.
Earlier in Amaurot, there is a side quest you can do where you come across two Ancients prepared to do a debate. One of the explains to you that two Ancients debating is essential the two of them challenging one another's ideals.
When you say that to Emet, you're doing just that. You're pitting your ideals, that the sundered are their own people and deserve to live, against Hades' ideals, where the sundered are meaningless life to be sacrificed to bring the Ancients back.
Shadowbringers is truly an amazing expansion!
the best
Absolutely
I just started Endwalker and I have no idea how it could ever top Shadowbringers. It was one wild ride and I wish I could erase my brain to experience it all anew once again.
it cant, simply@@JamieBarrington
@@Exel3nce * Laughs in The Final Day *
I cannot count how many times I've watched someone go through the end of 5.0. I always cry 😂. Always!
I would agree, the ending of 5.0 is on of the best moments in Gaming. No matter how often i see G'raha Tia's entrance it always gives me chills.
There's something really special about re-watching this MSQ. Especially when someone is really enjoying it!
I actually made a macro speicifically for when I got this trial in roulettes. Always ran bard, and the macro was rather simple, but I loved using it. Was a simple /vpose with the line "Warrior of Darkness! My bow is yours!"
Also: This is one trial where every roulette, I'll tell everyone in the party to max their music for more DPS.
I also tell everyone to dance in the phase transition of the moggle mog fight, or we die. (Amusingly enough, it's proven to be true every single time. XD)
PS: MY character, for all her badassery as an Ishgardian Dragoon... She also, cannot swim. XD
Having seen the Shadowbringers ending so many times, I've been able to get through most of it now without being emotional.. except when arbert is crossing that bridge... walking towards his old friends. I'll never not tear up at that. Ever.
*"Behold, a sorcerer of eld! Tremble before my glory!"*
Emet is such a magnificent villain.
You are incredibly endearing to watch.
Lol, so yeah. I said the exact same thing when finishing 5.0. As an Old-school FF fan, and JRPG main, stories are my bread and butter for games. And seeing the way XIVs story has grown and progressed, while keeping itself grounded to its roots, is insanely satisfying. After seeing the hype for years, and finally understanding why it's garnered the praise, was very enlightening. And ad many many many people have likely pointed out, the Rollercoaster is only just beginning. I'm almost 2/3s done with base Endwalker, and the way it and Shadowbringers play off each other, MUAH *chefs kiss*.
yep, just very dissapointing
“Take it, we fight as One”
That gave me chills and one of the best moments ever
I love that the BRD did the LB for your Hades run. Raining light arrows down!! So epic!!
Yeah, Shadowbringers is absolutely incredible, especially since it’s one of those “it only works because of everything we’ve done so far” stories, imo
Endwalker may be the advertised “end of our journey to this point” expansion but I think Shadowbringers is the true “we’ve come this far, we’ve done all this, this is our story and it doesn’t end here” thanks to the final moments against emet
We need to get a supercut on RUclips for every time you have said "This has got to be the best dungeon in the game." 🤣
Honestly, for me, it still is.
"there's no way the game can top this"
oh my sweet summer child...
Take a shot every time Endy takes a screenshot
'There's no way a game can top this'
I must beg to differ, my good sir. Keep going ;)
Yep....Shadowbringers is really a once in a lifetime story.
I'll never forget my playthrough, I didn't feel the same as I was going into it!
To this day my favorite trial is still Tsukuyomi, but Hades sure goes HARD. Haven't seen that at min ilvl in so long, I completely forgot about the darkness slowly overtaking the platform. Man.
Also "I pity anyone who skips cutscenes in this game" Yeah! The story is the HEART of this game. It's not worth it missing out on it just to rush to 'endgame'
for me, my favorite is Nidhogg, no trial have 3 bgm even now(
@@hykuet6213 I mean, Tsukuyomi does... And Susano'o as well, technically
I keep going back to one comment I saw on a video for the Phase 2 song, "Invincible"
"This feels like the first time a boss is actually trying to kill us."
A lot of the time, we are the agressors, and the Primals are just defending themselves. Nidhogg was going after us, but he would have destroyed any adventurer who dared stand against him.
Hades is _actively_ trying to kill _specifically us,_ and the music roars that.
@@hykuet6213 Titan has like 5
Endy complained there was no negative comments
so here is my contribution
N E G A T I V E ... C O M M E N T
dont forget to hit that like button
You got what I like to call the magic timing at 40:00, the way the trumpets come in right when trying to break out with it building up to crescendo at the view of Hades.
No way! I thought it was synced like that for everybody. Wow. We really did luck out then!
1) all of the Amaurot/Dying Gasp cutscenes, and really anything in Shb, will hit harder later
2) low-key the most emotional line for me now after many rewatching and replaying this trial, is -- after the active time maneuver - when Emet roars "that Light split the world, and every life upon it!" It enrages him that Hydaeyln's power is still thwarting him, because he sees her as having *literally killed everyone and destroyed the world*. It disgusts him that it's your special power. Really puts you in his POV
3) I love love love love love so much that the final defeat of Emet follows the rules set up for perma-killing an Ascian set out all the way back in those ARR patches that everyone just acts like are yadda yadda. 1) white auracite (melodramatically provided by Thancred), infusion of aether (which the Scions channel from *themselves*, yikes), and the blade of light to finish. Everytime I see WoL preparing to manifest Ardbert's axe, I think of Hydaelyn back in OG Praetorium saying "if thou wouldst pierce the shadows, make thee a blade of light". It's just really rewarding when a fantasy or scifi story is told that's consistent to the rules of the world its built.
This is FFXIV's biggest strength imo; aside from all the neat fights, great music and endearing characters, the story follows the rules it set up for itself, including embracing and addressing implied ones from before a Big Plan even existed. I feel like so much fantasy just expects you to suspend your disbelief "because its fantasy," I appreciate that this team took care to ensure the story made sense 😆
@@Tezasaurus It's the difference between "I ain't gotta explain shit, it's magic" and "Here is a 50 slide spreadsheet as to how this all really works."
Well, _mostly_ consistent. FFXIV does better than any other long-running game I can think of, but they still have some retcons and such that weren't handled particularly well. The Echo / Blessing of Light is the biggest one to me because EW just stomps on everything they'd been building up around the Echo since ARR and especially the development in StB. Continuing below the fold because EW spoilers...
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(you have been warned)
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Remember how the Echo was the power of connection, could manifest in different ways for different people, & Ascians could use it to temporarily fuse? Remember how we had an entire storyline around a guy using it for body-stealing, immortality, and hijacking primals? Yeah, let's just throw all that out the window. It's just your soul remembering bits of pre-Sundering existence now (granted, this was started in the post-expansion ShB stuff, but EW doubled down hard). But we'll keep the guy having a stolen dragon form because it's cool even though it no longer makes any sense.
The Blessing of Light has never really been consistent, but the EW version is just disappointing. It went from an uber-goddess's blessing (ARR through HW) to kind of just a side-effect of the Echo (StB, where we saw even a fake Echo granted the BoL to resist tempering), to just a minor charm in EW.
Post-EW we are apparently stuck in a sorta-kinda-maybe-stable temporal paradox. G'raha in ShB said that time-travel to the past can't actually change the present, and Elidibus in EW itself said we would be unable to interact with past Elpis or change anything we saw. Instead, we not only changed the past, but Venat took actions in the past _because_ of our visit (she states at one point she would never go through with the Hydaelyn/Sundering plan if not for us telling her what was about to happen), and those actions appear to be circular since she accepts us being time-travelers because of the BoL she gave us as a consequence of taking those actions. It's a whole mess of circular causality.
Whatever happened to the "Primals drain the land's aether" plotline? StB left a ton of questions around that when we found out that explanation for the Burn was a lie. Do they actually pose a threat to the world (ie do they actually consume/destroy aether)? We saw in ShB that summoning and destroying primals can be used as a way to mass-aspect aether , which suggests they just kind of accumulate and hold onto it rather than consuming it. Also, what about the two biggest ones, and why would the ancients create Zodiark if that was the case? For that matter, do primals actually have persistent memory across summonings, or are their "memories" just filled in by their summoners?
Oh yeah, remember how the End of Days was caused by "a keening from deep inside the land"? Well, the EW writers didn't. Now it's caused by a guy who flunked first-year Philosophy creating an interstellar bird that blasts the universe with suicidal brainwashing waves. Speaking of which, she needed to go to the edge of the universe and spend a bunch of time gathering up all that negative emotion dynamis to do her "Give up and die" song, but apparently she started the first End of Days soon after our visit to Elpis and her transition to emo mode. Not sure how she gathered all that dynamis that fast, and nobody ever did explain how she makes it stronger or how dynamis works without people (supposedly she was harvesting dynamis from dead worlds). Or negative dynamis turns people into monsters at all.
Those are the biggest ones that annoyed me, but I just didn't like the EW story very much at all. Zodiark and the return of the End of Days are fine. Dynamis is fine as a concept but should not have been used like it was. The moon situation was half-cool (Zodiark's binding) and half-stupid (why does anyone think fleeing on a spaceship will save them from a universe flooded with suicidal brainwashing waves? especially right after we heard how this planet is unique in the universe in having a natural resistance to those waves? and how are the Lops so incompetent that they never bothered getting in direct contact with the people they are supposed to "save"?). Elpis was really cool and really broke the story (see: temporal paradox), except for Hermes and Meteion, who pissed me off by holding the idiot ball for the entire expansion. Sharlayan behaved as any bureaucracy of walking superiority complexes would be expected to behave. Meteion was a painfully ham-fisted allegory for depression, and it was never explained how the last zone even exists since dynamis isn't supposed to be able to interact physically with normal aether-based matter. Also... what the hell was Azem doing during the End of Days?
I was really hoping for a story around reality unraveling, maybe aether/magic turning against its users somehow (a FFVII-ish "immune response" from the planet to the overuse of aether, for instance). I was also hoping Azem would have actually played some part in it. An alternate storyline I sketched out had Azem, anticipating ruin from the Zodiark and Hydaelyn factions fighting, creating his own primal. This primal would actually be embedded in a living body, though. It would live amongst people, absorb aether naturally rather than aggressively draining it, and basically learn about humanity while looking for a solution to the aether-crisis that Zodiark is forcibly stalling. I was thinking of Janus the Gatekeeper for his God of Beginnings and Endings theme. Plus opportunities for gradually unwinding his connection to Azem/us over the story, and even maybe a dual-blade, light-and-dark themed class. But alas, it is not to be.
I have to agree with point 2, I think this line gets slept on a lot. The sheer disgust and hatred Emet feels for the light, for your blessing, for the fact that the light would overcome him and crush the hopes of his people yet again, is just incredible
even if i am not that deep into lore, which makes me forget many story bits and points that get dropped, i still realised that ew kinda half assed its way to the end with manipulating emotion.
i can agree on with every point you made, despite the lack of knowledge.
did i have some very impactful and great scenes? oh heck yes, was the package overall satisfying and worth while? kinda no.@@aeonise
zenos was stupid and not needed, zodiark in connection to fandaniel, even if i adore time paradox nonsense i just hate that they tell you strictly it wont work, and yet we are the cause for every decision, meteon was god awful as the whole reason for the voices and sounds, no consequenses only cheap "deaths" that were resolved after 5 mins etc
1:03:16 Amen to that bro.
My favorite pass time, watching people experience shadowbringers for the first time.
Side note, it does get better.
I'm a simple man. I see Ardbert, I cry.
I bawled
That moment when Emet realizes it's all gone sideways and that you haven't walked into a boss fight, he has.
there's a deeper layer, the whole game has been his stageplay, and a test, and in this moment, you've passed, he wants to win, but he also wants to be proven wrong and for you to overcome him, at least some of the entirety of the Dungeon+Trials is him putting on a show, because after he is hit with the Blade of Light, he purposefully changes the scenery to morning, and Ta-Da he was always just in a robe.
I never thought Emet didnt know who we were. I mean, he summoned the false Amaurot. I think that he always knew but refused to see us at the same level. That is why he seeks you out and puts up with your meddling. He actually wants to reconnect with his old best friend or lover.
I stumbled upon this video and it brought back so many memories of my adventures in shadowbringers. Love to see that you enjoying it man.
Loved the editing in connections from earlier in the MSQ, it was really well done and unique!
51:52 marker - "It can't get any better than this." - Says everyone while playing this part for the first time...
Yoshi-P - "Challenge accepted!"
I am happy you are enjoying/loving your experience in the world of FFXIV. This may be the first video I've seen from you, but I have enjoyed your reactions throughout so it may very well not be the last. Heavensward came out in 2015 and killing Haurchefaunt and the way he dies is something I have never quite forgiven Yoshi-P for, and he sure loves to rub it in - repeatedly!!!
ANYways, keep up the good work and steady yourself as it will only get wilder from here on out ^^
Coming in from a random YT recommendation, appreciated the good editing! Here's my sub, Sir.
That's massively appreciated, thank you! Enjoy your stay :D
What a great video and wonderful community! 🤗
the way the song whispers "one brings shadow one brings light" right at that moment is perfect, gets me every time.
29:22 the glam your team for this fight was.... /chef kiss
Most of the group are folks who've been within my Twitch community for years, so it was *extra* special to experience that moment with them. They'd planned the outfits months beforehand, when I was in Heavensward I think!
I already have a deep love for this game and watching others react, but you're just so handsome and charming I can't help but be overwhelmed by all of the amazing things on my screen while watching. You have a new fan in me. I even went to the twitch to watch the 5.3 reactions because I bawl like a baby for certain parts.
I like to think that Wide-eyed Boy is the reincarnation of Ardbert. 1:00:53
I find it hilarious how he was like, There's no way the game can Top this..... The walk!😢
I absolutely love your reactions Endy! Can't wait for you to start EW 😁
Endy supplying shadows as promised
ardbert walking back to his friends always gets me
oh no the montage at the end caught me by surprise 😭. Once again, great video and editing, Endy!
Amaurot redefined the dungeon experience in MMOs.
"It can't get better than this" yes it can and it will.
Love this video! Got to admit though, seeing the ceruleum tanks and magitek repair materials in your inventory is what got my sub.
Haha great catch! That inventory is a complete mess so I'm extra impressed that you spied them in there :)
Oh I never knew Urianger ACTUALLY washed up lmfaoo
Ive sen this so many times, and it still give me goosebumps and tears
I don't know how much _"better"_ I would say the game gets after this, but it definitely stays about _as_ good going onward, I'll say that
I'm so glad you do these at min ilvl. You still only caught a glimpse but as he was dying, he was casting Black Cauldron, the moves that the Hades summon does in other game. If it goes off it one shots the raid :3
So glad that youve experienced this. Pls, do upload the patches and ESPECIALLY the Endwalker trailer reaction! o7
Been watching the entire MSQ playthrough on Twitch and it's been great. Trying to catch you live whenever I can, though I'm usually just lurking anyway lol. Coincidentally I also play on Odin and I've seen myself run around in one of your vods which felt weird but kinda cool as well.
Anyways, I wanted to comment about something I hadn't noticed before, though maybe I'm just insanely slow at noticing these kinds of things. You can actually see the light inside you get spent during your fight with Hades! From 40:09 the arena is flooded in light and dims bit by bit as you fight him. the attack he uses is called 'The Dark Devours', even). Figured you'd find it interesting.
That's incredibly surreal to hear; I don't know how I'd feel if I saw me going about my "wizard chores" in the background of somebody elses playthrough - if you see me in-game again gimme a poke or a wave and I'll know it's you!
Also, I never did notice that, even when editing it (where I must've watched the fight a half-dozen times...) that's awesome.
If I could pick one "game" to go back and play and experience for the first time again, it would be Shadowbringers. It's everything.
Same!
haha. yeah.. there's also the part where Minfillia said that even heroes need not fight alone...
I'm glad you enjoyed the story. And I can't wait to see your reaction to 5.x and Endwalker
I will be following you on your journey. Shadowbringers is a masterpiece, but so is Endwalker. Please keep them coming!
I cried as soon as i heard the ARR crystal tower ending theme played in this ending as well. And of course the G’raha Tia quotes
twelve, you really are so good at editing
Man, I miss Shadowbringers so much. Hey Endy, your character looks fantastic in this. 👍
I do enjoy watching other people follow this path, nice to find another to watch. Hope things are fun for you!
That was my reaction too. Everyone had told me Endwalker was even better, but I couldn't believe them.
They were right.
You ask how can it get better, and I promise you that somehow, Endwalker absolutely gets better. You’re in for a wild ride!
So Glad You are doing YT stuff Endy. Twitch is so bad for discoverability (unless you are like a FFXIV directory gremlin like myself). All the best. Hope we can shake hands IRL one day.
We certainly shall! Thanks for the support mate, it means the world. Onwards and upwards!
yeah i had to sub after watching you playthrough that i was sub worthy :) loved it :)
YMMV but there's stuff that is easily as good, and for some players arguably even better, to come. Which at this point is mind-blowingly because 5.0 has one of the most satisfying endings of any game I've ever played, but FFXIV just nails stuff left and right.
I think ShB being a lot of people's "This is my favourite" expansion comes down to the fact that it's a really well told one-shot. It pulls in a lot of the lore and set-up (which make it even better, more impactful and climactic), but you could easily extricate it from the rest of the expansions, add a little bit of pre-roll setup and character introduction material and have a top-tier mainline FF story.
By comparison, EW goes the other way. It's literally built on the bones of what came before, inextricably intertwined, pulling all the threads together and weaving a fantastic finale, paying off pretty much every loose hanging thread and question and "God, wouldn't it be cool if..." moment you've had and more beyond.
Easy to forget that ShB opens up the lore so much and dumps so many extra pieces to fill gaps in the world's backstory that it's easy to think you know what's going on, only for EW to come in swinging like "Oh, no no no no no... not yet, that was just a taste. Put your big boy pants on, shit's about to get wild."
I'd also pity to those FF fans that skipped FF14 all together not knowing it contains the best story in franchise, if not recent all RPG.
I think I'm happy making the comparison between the standalone Final Fantasy games being akin to fantastic standalone novels, in that they tell a great self-contained story front-to-back, whereas FFXIV is a multi-book epic, where each book tells it's own story, but all of them work seamlessly with one another to create one of if not the greatest stories in gaming. Partly due to the nature of an MMO, but mostly because of how well they've woven the narrative across 10~ years of storytelling. It's mindblowing.
This is a game that makes you feel ALL the feels. I love these reactions so I dont feel like a dork when I get emotional playing this game. Subbing because.
i LOVE how you took screenshots along the way xD i did the same thing
I love looking through them now over a year later! If you ever find the time, watch the the first 10 or so minutes of my Endwalker finale video and you’ll see how I put those screenshots to good use :)
8:33 Endy is about to be canceled like Logan Paul taking video of suicide corpses
That being said, congrats on finishing 5.0! I love that you put effort into reading the duty descriptions. So under appreciated, but they are usually top notch writing
Excellent entertainment! Look forward to your further adventures, WoL.
We all thought the same thing when we played Shadowbringers the first time. That it wasnt toppable. And then, somehow, it was.
I was wonderful watching it live, and it was wonderful watching here too. 🥔
Well there's some flavor text somewhere, don't remember where in side quests or something....but they talk about the different jobs each one of the convocation oversee, and emet selch was the overseer of the aetherial sea...so...kinda makes sense he's hades lol
I'm glad you're doing it all min. Ilvl, otherwise these fights are over in two seconds and it doesn't carry any of the weight it did to us on release.
Also, keep in mind: in order for us to destroy an ascian, we had to trap the ascian in the white auracite and THEN break it. We didnt kill him. He deemed us worthy and so he let himself return to the aetherial sea on his own. Really important but slightly underplayed detail of this that i love.
thats a highly debated theory with no confirmation. I dont see Emet doing less than his very best to destroy us to bring back his people. Letting us win isnt part of that.
Great vid loved watching your reaction to it all. You say it can't get better... I'll look forward to you finishing 5.3😊
I'm working on an archive of all the quests and the optional dialogue responses. I've had to hit the ellipses responses for that and, every time, it feels wrong lol.
Amaraut dungeon.. the only times ive seen final fights fail is if 1 or 2 ppl dont know what there doing.
and then there has been other times i as the tank managed to save it by standing on the last broken side block to avoid the main blast, then quickly move into that blast before the cracked rock breaks completely.
"no notes, 10/10"
FFXIV: "hold my beer"
51:50
*Curb Your Enthusiasm intro plays*
Truly one of the hypest moments in game history.
Was the Ardbert scene changed to add that flashback or was that cut into the video?
Cut in! In that moment it’s where my mind went to and I figured it’d be a nice call back 😄
"The land buckled; the cities burned; the waters ran red with blood..."
My WoL : AND THE PROM'S TOMORROW!
Emet : "... Ok nevermind, I'm just killing you now."
Oh it will..it will get better ! Even if the barr is already at maximum!
51:51 yeah.... we all thought the same 😉
2:25 Think is, Endy. Emmet **CAN** see the color of the WoL's soul. Nearly every exposition he had alone with the WoL, and sometimes blatantly upfront, alludes to this. He'd recount a beloved memory, with a few liberties, then look at the WoL And say something along the lines of either. "Do you remember?" Or "You're an incomplete being, of course you don't remember."
Edit: I'm bad at grammar.
It was after a similar musing we had with him in Kholusia, shortly before riding the lift for the first time, that made me theorise as to not only “who” we are, but if Ardbert is linked to us due to sharing a fragment of whoever’s soul it was we possessed. I likely missed loads of other clues, but that one was the standout for me in this play through.
@@EndyD20 In my circle of friends, I've ended up the "Story theory-crafter" And most of them have been spot on. Even ones that I made years before the relevant expansions came out. I even went toe-to-toe with Nier Automata's writing, and nailed most of that as well. I love story crafting, catching small details, asking questions no one else is asking... And it's SO very gratifying when I'm right. XD
Regardless, good thinking outside the box. That's where a lot of FF14's best stories await. :)
One fun thing most people don't notice is how similar what happens to us is to a rejoining.
Which only proves... there was another way. The Ascians didn't have to do what they did.
I need the next video to all this! haha
And when the music kicks in after the axe offer....