i mean honestly
i dare you to listen to this music and NOT get FUCKING PUMPED and feel like IT'S TIME TO GO BE A MOTHERFUCKING HERO
IT'S SO GOOD!!! IT'S SO GOOD. ALL OF WORLD OF WARCRAFT'S SOUNDTRACK AIN'T FUCKING S H I T IN COMPARISON.
@InspectorCaracal that is a solid raise
but does gw2 have
a) an opera bug who sings about how rad it is that he's gonna kill everything with his four swords https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV_IP4mNJCI
b) a chill new-age sky whale rave https://youtu.be/shMaev-dSFI
c) muscle furry rockout time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rzBlcl3Cb4
d) and Hot Topic Titty Emo Kid? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHkMfJBDFZM
@wigglytuffitout No, but I'm too busy listening to your Shiryu theme link rn to bring up specific GW2 tracks lmao
the second phase is so fricking anime holy shit
@InspectorCaracal ok ok to actually talk your ear off about why i love the shinryu fight so much
it is The Final Fight of the Stormblood expansion. you've helped one nation successfully rise up against the evil empire; now you've just finished retaking the capitol of the second. shinryu is the Big Bad that kicked all of this off in the first place by being released. and now not only are you fighting the nasty dragon lad, you're fighting...the crown prince of the evil empire.
oh it should indeed be in spoiler tags! ffxiv sb spoilers lol
@InspectorCaracal (incidentally, the same prince who kicked the shit out of you in the start of the xpack.)
he's obsessed with getting stronger and stronger, so he's hijacked the big nasty dragon. that's the theme of his villainy - he *steals* and *takes*. he sees things he wants, and murders people to get them, just because he wants them. he's not interested in being the best thru hard work. he's willing to CHEAT and do so nastily.
oh it should indeed be in spoiler tags! ffxiv sb spoilers lol
@InspectorCaracal and so not only is this your final showdown... but the fight reinforces this theme BRILLIANTLY through mechanics.
every single mechanic the big boss uses... is one that players will have seen before, often on another boss, through the rest of the game.
for example: fire attack? stand in puddles to not get crispy.
ice attack? floor's slippery, don't move.
etc., etc.
ffxiv sb spoilers lol
@InspectorCaracal and this meshes SO WELL with what the final fight IS lore and story wise!
it's someone using STOLEN power. it's someone using these magical abilities that were TAKEN FROM OTHERS.
and how do we know this? because there are NO ORIGINAL MOVES in the mechanics! it's all copied and pasted!
it shows the boss for who he is - a spoiled brat who cries "daddy i want it!", not someone who really has internal power or conviction etc.
ffxiv sb spoilers lol
@InspectorCaracal the mechanics do a great job of the gameplay message of "this is your big damn hero moment - show 'em what you've got, show us all what you've learned", AND the story message of "this dude is ultimately a fraud and a sham. he thinks power is something you can just collect from other people and that if he has the most shinies he gets to win. show him how wrong he is!"
and
it's
FANTASTIC
oh it should indeed be in spoiler tags! ffxiv sb spoilers lol
@InspectorCaracal playing it feels overwhelming at first, and i'm sure it looks that way, but actually... it gives you just one problem at a time. one question to answer, one mechanic.
when you realize that, and realize the pattern, it becomes a very satisfying 'final exam'. it is the ultimate fight because you get to show off that you've LEARNED all of these things, and can recall them.