Embrace change
Despite not even being a “main character,” few figures in Final Fantasy XIV have left as big an impact on the community as Haurchefant. There are keychains of his iconic shattered shield, and even just uttering his name is enough to bring a tear to any player’s eye. If you want to avoid spoilers for a nearly ten-year-old expansion, here’s your chance to skip out.
Yes, Haurchefant’s is perhaps the most notorious death in FFXIV, not just because of how beloved the character was, but because of how brutal the actual moment is. After spending a dozen hours becoming best friends with Haurchefant, the kindest man in all of Eorzea, he violently takes a projectile straight through the chest to save the Warrior of Light. It’s shocking, and masterfully executed in the context of Heavensward, an expansion about the needless casualties of a ceaseless war fueled by prejudice. Haurchefant’s death meant something, because there were stakes in FFXIV’s story.
The same sentiment applies to Emet Selch in Shadowbringers, a villain so brilliantly integrated into the ideas of the story, that his final stand in the expansion, diametrically opposed to the Warrior of Light, packs the best emotional heft this story has had outside of Haurchefant. Emet Selch’s literal existence runs counter to the player and major main characters; there’s simply no coexistence. Again, the twist with Selch and the Ascians provides real stakes to the overarching narrative, and what the very existence of the MMO’s world means.
As time has gone on, those stakes have started to vanish, with FFXIV veering more into Shonen battle manga territory. That’s not to say that Shonen manga can’t do stakes and death right; many do, but in the case of FFXIV, there are so many beloved characters the developers are clearly worried about touching in the slightest. And that’s a problem.
FFXIV has hit its The Walking Dead point, where characters have clearly gone through their planned arcs, now have nothing to do, and simply appear to be funny and quirky. The longer The Walking Dead went on, the more needless certain characters’ presences became, holding it back from exploring new arcs and concepts. Even the last few seasons with Rick arguably do nothing with his character. There are multiple climactic moments in The Walking Dead, like the bridge explosion of Season 9, that could have served as a good off-ramp for Rick’s character. Instead, it feels like he was kept alive to help set up the spinoff, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.
In FFXIV, nowhere is this more clear than with Estinien, the Dragoon known for being moody and stoic in Heavensward – he now appears to not know how to use money, or hang out for a bit in the Wild West town because he likes it. I say this as someone who deeply loves Estinien, but he has no place in FFXIV’s story anymore.
Part of this problem may be a symptom of kickstarting a new arc after Endwalker’s finale; of course, those big universe-shattering stakes aren’t going to be there. But even looking back at Endwalker, I can’t shake the feeling that one of the Scions should have died there. Of course, there’s a big moment where everyone “sacrifices” themselves for the Warriors of Light, but it’s an obvious RPG power of friendship moment, well-executed but trope-y nonetheless. We faced an enemy that could quite literally destroy reality, and not a single one of my friends came out with a scratch.
It’s a continued problem in these stories that grow outside of their initial plan and end up becoming sort of serialized. FFXIV has transformed into, essentially, a playable anime or soap opera, and shifts in story tone and execution have come along with it. But the crux of what I’m getting at here is that the Scions should be finished. As much as I love them, I don’t know how much more there is to do with Alphinaud and Alisae’s relationship, or G’raha Tia grappling with his past life as the Crystal Exarch, or Thancred’s scoundrel antics. I want new stories and new characters, which is part of why I’m still a big supporter of Wuk Lamat.
Having to lean on this Rolodex of old characters is holding the storytelling back, in many ways outside of each expansion’s main narrative. Even extraneous content, like raids and side quests, sometimes gets relegated to, “Oh, this Scion will figure it out.” For a more gaming-centric comparison, look at what happened with Persona 5 and The Phantom Thieves.
At a certain point, there’s no more water to draw from that well. By the time of Persona 5 Tactica, The Phantom Thieves are just sort of there. They’re basically props to stand up throughout the main story, alongside new characters with actual arcs. That’s exactly what FFXIV feels like with the Scions at this point.
But looping back to Haurchefant, I’m very much of the mind that the best way to go about this is with a tragic death. The best way to establish this story as having stakes again is, yes, to take out Estinien, or take out Thancred, and yeah, make it brutal. Final Fantasy is a series, after all, that has oftentimes been defined by death and loss – from Galuf in Final Fantasy V and Aerith in Final Fantasy VII, to both Final Fantasy XV and XVI literally ending with various forms of death.
Final Fantasy’s stories have proven so enduring because they’re about something, and that includes FFXIV’s over a decade-long run. If you want to make an MMO story serialized and more representative of life in this universe, that has to include loss.
There’s no reason FFXIV has to end anytime soon, but it simply can’t continue in the same way perpetually. Evercold is making sweeping, foundational changes to the gameplay systems, changes that are needed. But more than any other MMO in history, FFXIV has been lauded for its storytelling, and change has to be a part of that as well. But if the Scions are going to retire, they can surely go out with a bang.
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