The MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV is known and loved for its deep storylines. The latest quests of the game take a drastic turn that has sparked real hatred in MeinMMO author Irina Moritz.
Why do you play video games? I bet the answer to this question for many here is probably “Because I have fun and want to distract myself from everyday life” or at least something similar. I feel the same way. Particularly in FFXIV, I log in regularly because it gives me a good feeling while playing.
You play as the Warrior of Light, who protects the weak and saves the world. The story is not without dark moments and I have shed tears during the cutscenes, but in many cases, there is a happy ending.
However, not in the new quest series from Werlyt. This one is far more brutal than anything that has happened in FFXIV so far. Responsible for that is one NPC who has immediately catapulted to the top of my hated characters.
By no means “The quest series sounds cool!”
This is what the Werlyt quest is about: The quests start with the player being asked for help by an old enemy. Gaius Baelsar contacts us and warns of a new threat: Garlemald has resumed its weapon program and is building new annihilation machines based on the design of the Ultima Weapon.
Of course, our task is to destroy these combat machines before they can cause great harm. I was incredibly excited about the quest series right from the announcement for several reasons:
- The quests revolve around the NPC Gaius (van) Baelsar, whom I find really cool
- The enemies in the quests are Weapons from FFVII, like Ruby or Emerald. And I’m an old FF nerd who enjoys such nostalgia stuff
- The premise of the quests was excitingly set up as it promised the return of many cool elements from the FFXIV lore. For example, the lost heart of Sabik could have reappeared, and we would learn what happened to the shattered VII Legion of Garlemald
All in all, I was very much looking forward to the quests.
The crux of the quests: The starting situation of the quests sounds like a typical Final Fantasy scenario: There are the villains, get rid of them.
Throughout the story, however, you get to know the involved NPCs. They are 5 young Au Ra friends who are all orphans. Their parents died during the conquest of Werlyt by Garlemald and the kids were taken in and raised by the then Legatus Gaius van Baelsar.
These young people are now part of the army and are pilots of the Weapons that are sent against us in battle. And right after the first fight against the Ruby Weapon, we learn that this is not a pretty fate.
The pilot of the Weapon has the option to activate the “Oversoul mode.” It grants the Weapon new powerful abilities and boosts performance. However, the costs are terrible.
The Oversoul mode directly interferes with the soul. The pilot’s consciousness, their entire personality, is “overwritten” and replaced with another one that was preprogrammed in the Weapon.
It is a terrible and agonizing process that also transforms the body into a slimy blue monster that is fused with the machine.
Throughout the quests, one pilot after another activates the Oversoul mode because they hope it will give them a chance in battle against me. In vain.
“I swear, I’ll kill him myself!”
There are two main aspects that make the Werlyt quests so well done for me. The first is clearly Gaius’s kids. The Au Ra pilots sacrifice themselves and endure abuse so that others do not have to take their place.
It hit me even harder when I learned what happens to them when they activate the Oversoul mode of the Weapons. Compared to the many different ways of dying that occur in FFXIV, this is definitely one of the nastiest.
Of course, it did not help to know that the activation of Oversoul is my fault. If they want to confront the mighty Warrior of Light, they must trigger the mode; otherwise, they have absolutely no chance.
This is Valens van Varro: The second aspect is the main antagonist of Werlyt, Legatus of the VII Legion Valens van Varro. The Weapon project and the experiments were resumed on his orders and are conducted under his supervision. And let me tell you, I have never encountered such a bastard in FFXIV until now.
While watching the cutscenes of the quests, I was horrified and couldn’t close my mouth. The psychopath delighted in emotionally abusing and traumatizing children right in front of me, torturing other characters and conducting horrific human experiments.
The one scene that broke me focused on a small family that was kidnapped for experiments. The father was placed in a capsule that was supposed to simulate the Oversoul of the still incomplete Diamond Weapon.
The poor man was promised that his family would be released if he participated in the experiment. And so he entered the capsule, where his soul was torn apart and overwritten with another one.
While he was suffering incredible agony, he screamed to his family, “I love you, I’m sorry!”, while his wife and small daughter watched him become a monster. When the transformation was completed and the experiment failed, he was “disposed of.” But instead of releasing the family, they were next in line for the experiment.
When one of the scientists remarked that Valens had promised to release the family, he started laughing hysterically. That was the moment when I lost it with the “nice Warrior of Light.” I wished Valens all the torture methods I could think of.
One of the people I was in a voice chat with even said, “Wow Irie, you’re really pissed at him.” And “pissed” wasn’t even the right word for it. Valens is indeed one of the very few characters I truly despise.
And I’m sure the developers aimed for exactly that.
It’s over. The damage is done.
“But Irie,” some of you might say, “There have always been cruel moments in FFXIV. Remember how Zenos slaughtered the Ala Mhigo resistance? Or all the people killed by the Sin Eaters?”
And you are right. However, such personal, intimate, and raw cruelty like in Werlyt is rather rare in FFXIV. It works on an emotional level so much better.
- The graphic transformation of Tesleen into a Sin Eater has given half the FFXIV community nightmares
- The moment when Kai-Shirr was ordered by Vauthry to cut off his own arm and none of the present defended him was horrifying
- Almost the entire backstory of Yotsuyu, for which many players did not see her as a monster anymore but felt sorry for her
These short “Holy shit” shock moments are what truly stand out in FFXIV for me. They are always tied to individual characters and are usually sparingly used. The game lulls you into security with the power of friendship and light, only to then hit you with a real nasty awakening.
In Werlyt, these shock moments come thick and fast, and Valens plays a central role. Even though FFXIV has a good number of jerk NPCs like Asahi or Illbert, he really takes it up a notch.
It doesn’t really matter how the quests end. The kids in the cutscenes will carry the emotional trauma with them for a long time, the Au Ra pilots died a terrible death. Even if there are survivors left and one wins in the end, I won’t be able to feel happy about it.
It’s over; the damage cannot be repaired, and I am partially to blame. This gives the Werlyt quests a different, very bitter feeling compared to the at least hopeful “feel-good” story of FFXIV.
What could happen next? As already hinted at in the last cutscenes, we are likely to be fighting against the Diamond Weapon in the next part of the story. However, the important question here is: Who will be at the controls?
Valens himself is out. He is too cowardly and only wants a mindless slave to steer the weapon for him. So the only ones left as candidates are Gaius’s last two kids, Alphons and Allie. Personally, I tend to think Allie will be the last pilot, but it has never been easy to speculate correctly in the quest series so far.
In the next major update 5.5, we will likely see the conclusion of the storyline and find out what happens to the characters.
Until then, I hope that the FFXIV team gives me this satisfaction and lets Valens suffer properly.
