What hurts is the dichotomy of the final areas of Endwalker and Dawntrail. In Endwalker, the theme started silent, before building bit by bit with the memories of your companions, the emotions they had at their last moments with the party, pushing you to the end. Here, it starts so calming, a full symphony, but, as you go, less and less is heard, before becoming but an echo of the past, as the memories faded and the gentle and relaxing song fades into the void... A full 180 of the themes of Endwalker. I say this so much, but I love this game
In Endwalker we brought hope into a nihilistic hellscape In Dawntrail we turned off the collective hopes of an old civilization Certainly didn't expect such a wild ride already after Endwalker, but I am pleasently surprised.
“Storytime at the old folk’s home and paying as much attention as possible since this could be their last day and nobody else has seen what they have. playing with the arthritic old dog who’s having the time of its life but it hurts you because it’s clearly in pain.” The theme
Listening to this in-game after you finish the MSQ hurts even more, because then it's distorted and echoed, like it's playing in an empty mall, only the memories remain.
@@KillerGryphyn and that's the most masterful thing about it - the way it wholeheartedly relies on nostalgia, the _golden days,_ the memory of a better time, but when you peel all that away there's nothing of substance, only dreams and dust.
The worst part about it is sometimes the song just fades out entirely and then comes back a few seconds later, as if the distant memories faded away for a moment...
It's honestly really great. I don't get why people are shitting on it the way they are. Like if you wanna say you don't like how eerie it is and you don't like it in that type of way that's fair. But people are full blown "I can't believe they are leaving it like this forever why'd they make this decision" 1) there's a 50/50 they don't even and something happens with it in patch/side content because they really can do whatever they want 2) can anyone really honestly tell me they don't want them making decisions like that in the story, that have weight and drop a tragedy in front of us and leave the earth scarred? I'm pretty sure we can say the majority of people want them to be willing to do that. And this isn't even at the scale I'd even think of when saying that either lol. It's a great reminder of the story through visual retelling, yeah it's kinda bland for fate farming but all zones blend together when you're doing that god forsaken grind anyway
Earlier today - my retainers brought back three Sphene Gems. I immediately made them into a ring and earrings and put them in my glam dresser to have FOREVER.
I'd have to say, it takes a lot of balls for the dev team to build possibly one of the most beautiful places in mmo history and give you the option to shut it down forever.
@@shard4155 there could be some kind of restoration questline released later in the patches. I doubt it because it goes against the theme/msg of the zone
this zone really hit harder when you had lost someone from death, i lost my dad when i was on grade school, and my step dad 2 years ago. During MSQ i kept crying every time we made a memories with those endless, and we need to shut down the machine, everything turn to grays. I wish i could have a last goodbye to both of them, like wuk lamat did to namikka, krile to her parents, and erenville to cachiua. If i knew they will gone from my life. Thank you dawntrail, for making me cry :')
I cant listen to this without crying my eye's out but i made my friend cry harder when I pointed out that in a place with a district dedicated to the memories of the valorous and the best fighter's, Otis' memory was enshrined in the place for children and the young at heart and when you think on that it starts to twist the emotional knife.
Do you mean that all knights that died were happiest when they were children, and that's why their form is that way? That is even more sad than I thought it was yes
quite possibly the single most heartwrenching area in the whole of final fantasy xiv. this hurts. this hurts so much. i thought it was a nice slow summer vacation.
man, the sheer gut wrenching dread i felt when i pulled the plug on the first section, fully taking in just how empty it was. now when i go through, it feels so empty, like a mall that shut down with all its stores cleared out. i honestly wasnt sure how cbu3 could top ultima thule, but somehow they took it and slam dunked it. thanks for all the memories, ill cherish them forever.
I saw people run or mount down the ramp from the portal, but I knew what I had to do. Toggled walk and slowly made my way down the spiral steps, walked across the bridge. Seeing my little beloved minion happily trotting along with me was the moment I broke.
I actually likes the tour guide in the first aether current quest. Love his job in life, continue his job after death, then give us one more farewell tour at the end before erased. Why do I care so much for a random NPC 😢
I was a crying mess at the end of Living Memory.. that zone was so rough to play through, even harder than Ultima Thule arguably - atleast there was some hope and payback at the end. But Living Memory just ends and stays somber and melancholic. And even though what we did seems for the benefit of the many, it just doesn't feel right here, we essencially just got caught up in a dilemma.
I dunno about you but I sat around Living Memory for a long time, took in the sights and listened to each person cause I knew it was all gonna disappear, and this nostalgic and sad music really set the tone, I will remember them Kinda sad I cant see Alexandria and Lindblum in its prime tho
You can see Alexandria/Lindblum (or at least, snippets of it) in the Alexandria dungeon - pre-catastrophe is the first part of that dungeon; during the catastrophe is the second part.
The 3:00 marker when the vocals kick up really gets my spine tingling, like everyone there is singing out in the background - then they seemingly fall off at 3:30... like someone just unplugged them.
Best comparison to this place would have been Amarout, recreated by Emet-Selch, but that was a memory with faded ghosts that weren’t fleshed out fully, always repeating. But Living Memory, is quite literally a return of the dead, restoring them at their happiest, where they could make peace with their end and shed any regret they carried, free to frolic in paradise…
Yeah, I felt the same way. Just generally unnerved through the whole experience. Still an incredible one for me personally, as it felt like a mockery of the lessons we've learned up until that point, someone taking a different solution *very* far down a corrupted road. Wonderful experience, heartfelt moments, but still just *wrong*.
I gotta be That Person. This is an oboe. Very close in timbre to a human voice, which makes it a perfect choice for a haunting, melancholic nostalgia. The only choice, really. And oboes are #1 (tied with violins, though) at prying open those tear ducts, that's for sure.
This area really was a gamble narratively speaking Some of my friends hated it, but it worked on me. Same way that they were torn by EW but the expansion that did this to me was ShB
I hope they played this at The Mirage in Los Vegas when they shut it down. An old hotel, notable for having a volcano on the outside, and stages, canals, and a beautiful greenhouse inside.
![Bygone Serenity [Living Memory] - FFXIV Dawntrail OST (Extended)](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
