#cogflox

I do think it was just a flimsy excuse to bring the “core Scions” over to the First, but you’re entirely right in that Tataru, at the very least, should have been there. I would have loved having Lyse but sadly I feel like she has ended her tenure as one of the main characters. :/

Honestly, same. I recognize and understand that she’s now graduated to the same tier as Aymeric, Hien, and the other Eorzean leaders, where she’s a political character who comes in every now and again, but... I miss her. 

But honestly, Tataru should’ve come with us. She would’ve been running circles around the Crystalline Mean. 

@elfyourmother said: 

this always bothered me too (as does the exarch) and I like how you handled it and came to the same conclusion for Gisele’s verse, that he was specifically aiming for Scions. because “people close to WoL’s soul” being the reason for it makes Aymeric and Estinien’s absence total nonsense for the same reason like literally they are married to Gisele lmao (Hien isn’t but is similarly very close to her too)

Yeah same! I realize that it’s more of a blanket statement so that way they can have a story, but it absolutely doesn’t make sense with people who write for their WoLs. Like, the base WoL has a vague personality and whatever bonds the game gives them, so the writers can make some sort of handwavy statements, but it just... Dammit, I have my own story too, and characters that are more important than what XIV dictates. 

“An image from the upcoming Shadowbringers 2020 calendar that blessed...”

@autumnslance you know they tried to sexualize Ryne here that is the only logic I see behind her weird ass proportions

When I showed it to an artist friend, she accused me of trying to hurt her and it being retaliation for something she had sent me once (because that’s what friends do). Also she thought that it seemed like Ryne was an afterthought and not part of the original composition. If they were having difficulty with poses and/or even which version of Ryne to include, I can see that possibility.

It’s like they originally drew her to be diving at the camera, but then someone directed that they had to add her legs so people could see her whole costume (her boots) so her legs got slapped on underneath.

…is Papalymo alive in the first omg

She’s not in the trailer, but from what i heard we got the official info at the orchestra event anyway, which would perfectly fit with what Nomura said some time ago about giving Xion more screentime (and answers about her arc) in the next DLCs. … This would mean that Xion will be playable for more than just one single battle? Maybe yes, maybe no, we will see. 

Lima Lominsa: Arae’sae

1. Arae loves being around water, but doesn’t like being on the open ocean, mostly because he can’t swim. His natural element alignment is water (funny considering he’s from the desert), but he never feels safe.

2. He doesn’t condone it, but smuggling is also slightly how he made some of the fortune he has now. Creating weapons is one thing, but getting them around is another. 

3. Normally, no. He likes to stay close to home, close to where things are familiar, but sometimes curiousity and the desire for knowledge get the best of him and he’ll go wandering.

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Sharlayan: Varaelian

13. Considering Van was taught by tutors to speak Eorzean and learn their customs and rituals for his eventual hubby, he thinks it’s fairly important, but not paramount. His kind don’t receive formal educations because knowledge is passed from generation to generation. His originally came from Allagans but considering its thousands of years old at this point, rather moot. 

14. As secretive as they come. Anything about himself is shrouded in mystery, save his name and his titles. His estate is public record and easy enough to find, but what goes on there, what he does or who he employs remains hush-hush. He’d keep it that way for the rest of his natural life, if given the opportunity. 

15. He’s so fickle. Van doesn’t see it as a bad thing, but man can’t be trusted for shite. Any time they have something shiny or powerful, they go and ruin it by destroying someone else or trying to take over the damn planet. He does see the benefits of healing magics, but he’s always going to be wary. 

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Gridania: Suna 

7. Suna LOVES being around nature. He tends to wander in his primal form and this means spending weeks in areas he has no idea where he is. Nature is where he is free and where he feels safe, like no one can find him. Spoiler Alert: Silene does.

8. From his past experiences, he should be wary, but he’s still open to talking with everyone. It’s the company he keeps that is more suspicious of anyone who isn’t them. 

9. Suna doesn’t keep animals, but he does love to cuddle with Fire Opal, Silene’s carbuncle. She is like a warm hug and keeps him company while Silene works. :D

OH YES I ABSOLUTELY RECOMMEND PLAYING IT-

All in all Tactics Ogre feels uncannily similar to FF Tactics in gameplay and looks but their differences can be really weird coming from one to the other.

 Tactics Ogre’s job system is not as complex, you drop marks with which you can change classes, you level classes individually, if you never had one class before, they will join at lvl 1 even if you yourself are level 20. It’s the least popular gameplay element because it means you will need to carry some useless weight in your party if you want them to level (you don’t need them to participate actively though, unlike fft the classes get their share of xp at the end of the battle and not based on the actions they performed during it)

Tactics Ogre’s gameplay is overall more dense/complex, it seems there just are way more gameplay elements to work with, but imo the game takes it rather slowly and doesn’t introduce or require them all at once so it never felt overwhelming

The maps are WAY bigger. it’s one of the biggest differences in terms of gameplay imo. FFT has tinier maps and the battles are either hit or miss but they go relatively fast, Tactics Ogre’s maps are bigger and the battles longer and rely more on levels of relief. Imo having a good balance between melee, ranged and magic users is a lot more necessary in tactics ogre (archers are overall known to be broken too, they ARE a huge help). 

Tactics Ogre has a mechanic that allows you to come back on your step if you really hecked up during the battle. People often say the game is harder than FFT but I can’t really pronounce myself on that but I think if it werent for this mechanic the game would already be a lot more frustrating. Considering how long the battles are, starting over and over because of a unit loss and not making progress would be way more draining than losing battles in FFT (the game has titles though so if you like 100% completing things, using the wheel system will lose you a title)

The game has a huge replayability factor, it splits in several routes and the game allow you to travel back to anchor points when you finish the game a first time. It has a lot of sidequests and variants. The game has an extensive journal that provides lore and information on character, it has a part titled talks/rumous which is good to check every now and then because it hints toward sidequests/allow to access some new extra stuff on the maps.

Many characters are recruitable but not on all routes. Since there are a lot of variants it’s easy to miss one based on a wrong dialogue choice sometimes so I’d be cautious on that aspect! The characters don’t permanently quiet down when they join the party, bringing some characters along will lead to interesting dialogues during battles (if they know the boss enemy/belong to the same faction)

Spoilers underneath for the 5.01 patch. Read at your own discretion.