
The "kid who takes you to Ivalice" is Ramza, protagonist of FF Tactics. The XIV versions of him and his sister Alma are Garlean citizens. Them, their dad and the Prima Vista crew are a continuation of Cid's story thread that the Empire isn't a big unified monolith and some of its own people are pretty sick of it.
The game is still structured like a classic Final Fantasy title: raids are optional superboss sidequests for better gear. They may or may not impact the MSQ directly, but they certainly have greater implications for the setting, such as time travel in Alexander and how Voidsent used to be people.
The game is still structured like a classic Final Fantasy title: raids are optional superboss sidequests for better gear. They may or may not impact the MSQ directly, but they certainly have greater implications for the setting, such as time travel in Alexander and how Voidsent used to be people.