Full FFXIV 7.1 thoughts writeup
Full of spoilers and is largely very critical, click at your own risk.
P1: IN TULIYOLLAL
The patch opens with you being sent to eat more tacos, because as we know Fantasy Central America has no other foods /s
The convo with the dad and son has potential, but it feels like the writers STRUGGLED to figure out a way to show Son felt displaced. "I can't light fires" is insane, because making fire is one of humanity's oldest needs - surely in a place with as many advancements as Eorzea, they have ways to ease fire lighting. They really have no matches, no lighters? They have AIRSHIPS (that Koana imported from Sharlayan, which is stupid, but I digress) but no matches? Not even some sort of crystal powered lighter thing?
Funnily enough this recalls that ridiculous end scene in FFXVI with the kid incompetently trying to light a fire so maybe this is just something CBU3 likes lol
The scene segues into being a chance for Wuk Lamat to talk about a good thing she's done, and then when she sits down to eat with your WoL she again talks about how well she's doing as a leader. I would have preferred this be represented more subtly, but it is what it is I guess
Why are the twins representatives for Hannish culture? We have many Radz-at-Han NPCs that could appear here, it feels like they are forcing the twins to have some kind of tenuous connection to the story
"We gotta go to the genocidal maniac's funeral, after all, the people she was gonna do genocide for did love her!" GRAAAHHH DO THE WRITERS NOT HEAR THEMSELVES?
jfc this is only like 20 mins into the patch
Koana mentioning he would "ideally" attend the funeral as well is… insane? He had no attachment or relationship with Sphene like Wuk Lamat, and SHE TRIED TO GENOCIDE THE COUNTRY HE RULES. Can we really not have a character that says "She helped kill people I care about. I couldn't bear to go, so I'm grateful that WL is our representative" - it would have made sense!
P2: IN ALEXANDRIA
Gulool Ja, child king and son of a dictator, saying he's learning about Everkeep's systems and the mechanical soldiers because it's knowledge he needs to "use his authority properly" was so dark and dystopian I had to pause for a moment, and the real insanity is I don't think the writers knew they were writing something deeply fucked up.
tbh why is Gulool Ja wearing a little potato sack that looks nothing like what anyone else is wearing in the country he is ruling over
the uncritical engagement with the regulators is an obvious plot point. A lot of the stuff that goes unaddressed in situations where it would feel normal to address it is usually because the writers want us to ignore it, so it can be used as plot fodder. sigh
everyone standing in neat little rectangles for the funeral looks so bad. Why are there some people just standing BEHIND WALLS? Did they forget to arrange the NPCs in a natural way?
white boy with cornrows jumpscare nooooo
The dialogue about, well, everything so far just seems binary. Alexandrian people: "Remembering dead people sucks!" Turali people: "Remembering dead people is great!" - why is there not a more nuanced approach to this where Wuk Lamat admits that sometimes remembering hurts? Why can't there be people from Alexandria who WANT to remember those they've lost? Are they saving this for some sort of big speech later like it's hugely revelatory?
They remembered Gulool Ja's mother! (cheering) ngl it's mad funny to be like "we've looked everywhere and can't find her!" and then have you contribute to finding her by talking to 3 people
(interlude where I bitch about how much I hate the new AST and want my fun RNG buttons back and how much I miss Plunge on DRK)
When they were like "Zoraal Ja made a lot of mysterious visits to the place where Gulool Ja's mom might be! How mysterious, I wonder why!" i was like… no adult is going to be like "i wonder why" in this context. Come on now. (booty)
tbh there is a lot of standing around and reiterating old information or just repeating what's already said or just adding uneccesary fluff commentary and I am rapidly losing my patience for this
The dungeon was fine. I remember Ruby Weapon mechanics. I liked the spooky atmosphere.
I have nothing super interesting to say about the facility otherwise. It's a plausible location to exist and just reiterates stuff we already knew Zoraal Ja was doing.
Ok this part baffled me, this interlude where they talk about how even if we get the train up and running, the Alexandrian people will still have to walk to get to it - THERE ARE FLYING CARS? You see them flying around the city!! And there are tons of vehicles as set dressing in the settlements outside S9. What in the world is this plot point?!
P3: IN SHAALOANI
Koana's reaction to hearing Hhwato say that he doesn't think anyone from his culture would just abandon their child is very weird. The fact that NO ONE thinks to ask "was there anything that happened around the time of Koana's time as a baby that could have led to him being abandoned?" is just another case of the characters forced to hold the idiot ball so we can drag the story out more. (I literally voiced this question as I was reading the dialog)
Another set of "learn about our culture!" quests which are an absolute bore. Are the writers completely incapable of showing this culture in an organic way in the world?
Koana, 1 hour after meeting a fantasy bison that he did not give a shit about prior, is really like "i will actually die for this creature." He does this with no consideration for the fact that he'd leave Wuk Lamat alone as a ruler, he'd leave his people behind, nothing. bro wtf lol
that one trader NPC that gives us exposition is a babe tho, dayum
"fixing the train" getting multiple cutscenes + a voiced one feels like they just really have NO idea what to write and have no idea how to make low stakes feel engaging.
Speaking of this whole quest chain though, it sits in stark, bizarre contrast to what actually happened with the US Transcontinental Railroad and what it did to America's Indigenous population. If you don't know, you should look it up.
P4: END/ALEXANDRIA/S9
The reveal that Gulool Ja's mom just REALLY wanted Zoraal Ja's double d to the point of doing war crimes is both sad and VERY FUNNY. Also the dramatic B&W cutscene and the zoom in on Gulool Ja's gawping face after made me actually laugh out loud.
In this, the final 10 minutes of the patch, SOMETHING INTERESTING HAPPENS. Please no one tell me this is lazy or goofy, I know, I know, BUT I'M INTERESTED. FINALLY.
Patch ends. I'm free.
