Any story needs some kind of conflict; that’s Writing 101. Storytellers may prefer a certain kind of conflict, and that holds true inFinal Fantasy 14, where in addition to the overt struggles present at any given time, there are philosophical arguments being held constantly throughout the narrative, even inDawntrail’s story.
At Gamescom, Game Rant got to sit down withFinal Fantasy 14executive producer Naoki Yoshida, known to fans as Yoshi-P. He discussed, among other things, the ideological debates the game has had with itself over the years, and how that continues withDawntrail’s most prominent characters, Sphene and Wuk Lamat.
A Conflict Reborn
A Realm Reborn
Since the game’s rebirth nearly 11 years ago, this pattern of conflicting ideologies has been a part of its approach. In A Realm Reborn, a central conflict was security (represented by the Garleans and Gaius van Baelsar) against freedom (represented by the Eorzea Alliance). That conflict comes to a head when Baelsar, who believes might makes right, squares off against theWarrior of Light, who believes in Eorzea’s right of self-determination.
Shadowbringers
For Yoshi-P,the prime example comes inShadowbringers, where the ancient Emet-Selch is dreaming of rebuilding his home of Amaurot regardless of who it hurts, while G’raha Tia and the Scions of the Seventh Dawn are doing everything to defend their home from Emet-Selch. Both sides of the conflict just want to go home again.
In terms of the end result, it’s not possible to achieve both of those goals simultaneously. For Emet-Selch, if he wants to bring back the world that he knew, he would have to destroy the current world as it is. And for the Warriors of Light, although we understand Emet-Selch’s goal, we are not prepared to sacrifice our own world. This is what leads to that conflict, and this is a key element inFinal Fantasy 14, which always recurs throughout the main scenario at some point.
Heavensward
InHeavensward, the question is two competing faiths–the followers of Saint Shiva who preach reuniting with dragon kind and the followers of Halone the Fury, who brand the Shivites heretics and push forthe never-ending Dragonsong War’s continuation.Heavenswardeventually shows both sides have twisted history in their own ways fitting their beliefs, where the events that brought about the Dragonsong War were far different than either side knew.
Stormblood
Stormbloodused the characters of Lyse and Fordola to explore the notion of resistance leading to death against the idea of collaborating with the invader to save lives. It also juxtaposed Hien’s often idealistic idea of his homeland of Doma with Yotsuyu’s horrible experiences living in the Doma Hien.
Endwalker
And against thehope-versus-fear story ofEndwalker, in Sharlayan a story unfolds where the Forum is trusting a divine prophecy and preparing to abandon the world to its destruction where the Students of Baldesion want to fight and avert the end of the world–a tale of grim acceptance opposed by hope for another tomorrow.
These conflicts almost never paint the side the player isn’t on as being immoral, in fact it often seeks to inspire empathy with the antagonist.Final Fantasy 14invites an understanding of the mindset of those that the player, ultimately, will fight against. That’s critical to where the world is now, Yoshi-P said.
Dawntrail: Sphene, Wuk Lamat, and Real World Conflict
These ideological conflicts continue in Dawntrail and, as importantly, are influenced by real-world events. It’s become the core conflict of a world seeing more global violence. As Yoshi-P said,
Unfortunately, when we look to the real world, we can see that now the situation after the coronavirus pandemic is quite turbulent, so there are some parts of the world which have become divided and due to differences in history and differences in values, this has led to wars in certain regions… I think this is the direction that the world is currently taking. But I thought that if people would be able to talk together, take the time to understand each other and learn more about each other, then that would lead on to us having a richer and more fulfilled world.
While the narrative ofFinal Fantasy 14is no stranger to war, the discussion of war and peace form a central thrust ofthe narrative in the early part ofDawntrail. The continent of Tural, and the nation of Tuliyollal specifically, have war and strife in living memory, with peace being a blessing given to recent generations. This, in turn, has made many of the youth eager for conflict as either a quest for glory or an engine for Tuliyollal’s economy. The older generations, who remember war first-hand, are staunch advocates for peace.
After the conflict between those groups reaches a head in a major crisis unfolding during the Tuliyollal rite of succession, the central conflict shifts to a related, but different, approach to the value of life juxtaposed with the security of a nation, Yoshi-P explained.
When it comes to Wuk Lamat and Sphene, they are both leaders of their own people, and they both want to protect their people. However, the ways that they want to go about it are different, and they also have different values. As a result of that, they have no other option but to fight each other, and this is the plot which we came up with.
Sometimes, conflict is unavoidable. That’s as true in life as it is inFinal Fantasy 14. How that conflict is navigated, and whether the humanity of the other side is respected, is something everyone has to determine for themselves. For some villains in Etheirys,like Emet-Selchand Gaius van Baelsar, the recognition of their humanity has been a major point in the story. For others, like Ishgard’s King Thordan, their inner darkness wasn’t redeemable. Where that line is drawn is up to the individual.
