Regarding the primal: I just have so many problems with this thing.
1). Tupsimati still has "great power", and yet the sealing spell takes up all of the caster's aether? Well, Tupsimati's "great power" must count for utter shit, then. The way the dialogue is written, it's implied that all of the caster's aether is used up no matter what the scale of the spell is, so what is the point of this Chekhov's gun if it doesn't even seem to matter as a plot device?
2). You need hours to gather the aether? THERE IS A PRIMAL RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, A BEING MADE OUT OF WISHFUL THINKING AND AETHER. YOU HAVE AETHER. What, did the primal just call dibs on all the ambient aether in the air and using that would just be impolite?
And the thing is that there has to be a shitload of loose, ambient aether around the primal that isn't being used, that COULD be used for the spell. Because if there isn't, then what in God's name is the primal absorbing to take shape!? And if said primal isn't using any ambient aether and is instead using the aether from the Eyes of Nidhogg, then why is it taking so long to form? Shiva (who didn't even need the Eyes), King Thordan, and Corrupted Estinien didn't take twenty minutes to take shape, they more or less formed instantaneously, so why is this thing suddenly special? Are there suddenly special rules for primal summoning? Was this primal busy trying to get its forms through the Department of Primal Formations so that it could take shape on Eorzea?
3). I'm the Warrior of fucking Light! Who cares if there's a primal being summoned when I've schooled like nine of these fuckers practically singlehandedly? Why should I waste time running away, when you Scion twats are just going to make me run all the way back and kill this primal when it eventually gets released anyway?
And for Baelsar's Wall, I just don't get it. How do a couple hundred unorganised wahoos take on what should be the most fortified border in the empire? Eorzea as a region more or less crippled two entire legions, so how is the wall not the most fortified border in the Empire? You idiots have tried twice, twice to conquer this piddly little region of Aldenard with superweapons, and utterly failed both times. Guess what? You managed to completely conquer Ala Mhigo with traditional Garlean arms and tactics. Have you maybe thought about using that again before the Eorzeans summon another demigod to kick your ass?
As a side note, I finally figured out what makes every MSQ so exhausting to get through.
The dialogue is so needlessly wordy and verbose. What should be very simple ideas to convey--such as "yes", "no", "good to see you again", "I disagree", and "I will go there now"--gets stretched out to three, four, sometimes five long sentences written in their standard early modern English style.
This isn't particularly a problem when only a few characters do it--Urianger's verbosity is a notable exception, although what his archaic speaking style is supposed to convey about him I'm not entirely sure considering no one else in the game besides the dragons talk like him--but when everyone constantly takes thirty seconds of speech to say something that should really only take five seconds to say, it gets incredibly draining. There's a difference between writing dialogue to make characters distinct, and writing dialogue to waste my time.
I think my complaint about this extends to most of the game's dialogue in general. It's why I still haven't managed to chew through Hildibrand or the Scholasticate. It's like eating a bucket of paint remover with a pair of chopsticks.
1). Tupsimati still has "great power", and yet the sealing spell takes up all of the caster's aether? Well, Tupsimati's "great power" must count for utter shit, then. The way the dialogue is written, it's implied that all of the caster's aether is used up no matter what the scale of the spell is, so what is the point of this Chekhov's gun if it doesn't even seem to matter as a plot device?
2). You need hours to gather the aether? THERE IS A PRIMAL RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, A BEING MADE OUT OF WISHFUL THINKING AND AETHER. YOU HAVE AETHER. What, did the primal just call dibs on all the ambient aether in the air and using that would just be impolite?
And the thing is that there has to be a shitload of loose, ambient aether around the primal that isn't being used, that COULD be used for the spell. Because if there isn't, then what in God's name is the primal absorbing to take shape!? And if said primal isn't using any ambient aether and is instead using the aether from the Eyes of Nidhogg, then why is it taking so long to form? Shiva (who didn't even need the Eyes), King Thordan, and Corrupted Estinien didn't take twenty minutes to take shape, they more or less formed instantaneously, so why is this thing suddenly special? Are there suddenly special rules for primal summoning? Was this primal busy trying to get its forms through the Department of Primal Formations so that it could take shape on Eorzea?
3). I'm the Warrior of fucking Light! Who cares if there's a primal being summoned when I've schooled like nine of these fuckers practically singlehandedly? Why should I waste time running away, when you Scion twats are just going to make me run all the way back and kill this primal when it eventually gets released anyway?
And for Baelsar's Wall, I just don't get it. How do a couple hundred unorganised wahoos take on what should be the most fortified border in the empire? Eorzea as a region more or less crippled two entire legions, so how is the wall not the most fortified border in the Empire? You idiots have tried twice, twice to conquer this piddly little region of Aldenard with superweapons, and utterly failed both times. Guess what? You managed to completely conquer Ala Mhigo with traditional Garlean arms and tactics. Have you maybe thought about using that again before the Eorzeans summon another demigod to kick your ass?
As a side note, I finally figured out what makes every MSQ so exhausting to get through.
The dialogue is so needlessly wordy and verbose. What should be very simple ideas to convey--such as "yes", "no", "good to see you again", "I disagree", and "I will go there now"--gets stretched out to three, four, sometimes five long sentences written in their standard early modern English style.
This isn't particularly a problem when only a few characters do it--Urianger's verbosity is a notable exception, although what his archaic speaking style is supposed to convey about him I'm not entirely sure considering no one else in the game besides the dragons talk like him--but when everyone constantly takes thirty seconds of speech to say something that should really only take five seconds to say, it gets incredibly draining. There's a difference between writing dialogue to make characters distinct, and writing dialogue to waste my time.
I think my complaint about this extends to most of the game's dialogue in general. It's why I still haven't managed to chew through Hildibrand or the Scholasticate. It's like eating a bucket of paint remover with a pair of chopsticks.
