Final Fantasy XIV‘s latest update so Square Enix give serious gamers a new “ultimate” raid to conquer. The last few days have been a whirlwind as groups try to be the first to complete the raid, known as Dragonsong’s Reprise, and new developments regarding the potential resuscitation of a dearly deceased ally have only brought community enthusiasm to a fever level.
Dragonsong’s Reprise revisit towards the skyThe 2015 enlargement, which is still considered a highlight in Final Fantasy XIV history. Among other, towards the sky elevated Haurchefant Greystone, the bastard son of an Ishgardian nobleman who quickly becomes friends with the player, from side character to fan favorite. Tragically, that friendship is broken when Haurchefant protects Warrior of Light from a surprise attack and succumbs to his injuries in one of the game’s most touching intermediate sequences. He is handsome and he is my boyfriend.
When Haurchefant’s death was a decisive moment in towards the sky history, players naturally relive this tragedy during Dragonsong’s Reprise. However, instead of unfolding via the cutscene, the raid depicts Haurchefant’s victim mechanically. He shows up during a deadly hostile attack to protect the party, which can only see while his health bar is depleted to nothing.
But the players are convinced that there is more Haurchefant’s cameo than one can see.
Take, for example, Dragonsong’s Reprise quest text, which speaks of an “alternative conclusion” in which “a dear comrade is spared his tragic fate.” Who else could this mean, the Haurchefant sandmen said to themselves, than the good boy himself?
It felt like almost everyone was convinced that there had to be one something in Dragonsong’s Reprise, which would allow people to recreate the moments that led to Haurchefant’s death. We just had to wait for high level players to get far enough into the raid to learn more.
That dam broke last night when the raid group Thoughts Per Second uploaded mysterious footage from their experiments behind closed doors. At one point, the clip teased, Dragonsong’s Reprise shows a cutscene of a clock winding backwards accompanied by a tale that mentions “a song of imagination that transcends.”
Unlike other groups, the members of Thoughts Per Second do not stream their gameplay, so the spectators were again left to speculate. The leading theory was that reaching a certain point in Dragonsong’s Reprise would turn time back to an earlier battle, giving raid groups another chance to rescue Haurchefant.
Several developments came just over an hour ago thanks to Krile, another leading raid group. After finishing the boss fight in the fourth stage, Krile was treated to the same cutscene Thoughts per second, which was shared yesterday and returned to the moment they were shielded by Haurchefant.
The group’s surprise at this turn was captured live, but when no one knew what to do, they fell back on the strategies they had already learned about the meeting. They beat the boss, saw Haurchefant’s death and were then put back into the normal progression of the raid. What was to be done in the new time loop apparently did not happen.
Again, there are many theories about the correct way to proceed. It was soon pointed out that when if you go back in time, the group’s limit break meter peaks at two shares instead three, indicating that the use of a powerful level three limit break may be required to rescue Haurchefant. Whether that means protecting him with a Tank Limit break or reviving him with a Healer Limit break is still unknown, but saving up on that energy will do phases that players thought they had figured out a lot. harder.
Right now, raid groups are still struggling with Dragonsong’s Reprise. Krile spent some time playing the initial Haurchefant phase to get a clue as to how he could save him a second time, but without success. It seems that people who always have to try and fail through the raid to learn more, and those of us who do not have the skills to try ourselves, stand back and cheer on them.
If you also want to follow, visit Twitch stream MogTalk for a live look at the progress of several groups.
Raids as Dragonsong’s Reprise are literal retellings of past adventures, described to players by an NPC stand-in for Final Fantasy XIV Producer Naoki Yoshida known as The Wandering Minstrel. Despite the fact that you are actually there, this bard often exaggerates your stories, and therefore the revisited fights are much harder than they were the first time. As such, any return of fate is likely to remain wishful thinking rather than a new plot point in the game’s overall story.
Whatever the outcome, it’s just nice to imagine a world where the Haurchefant still exists.