Hydaelyn's History | FFXIV Lore For Beginners

The first of three videos in my Final Fantasy XIV Lore series of videos designed to help new players get into the game, help returning players catch up, and give current players something to refresh themselves with.
I hope you enjoy, so much hard work went into this one!
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#FinalFantasyXIV #History #Lore
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:48 - What is Hydaelyn?
05:47 - Our Star (Geography)
12:35 - The History of Hydaelyn
15:42 - Age of the Allagans
21:11 - War of the Magi
24:22 - Rise of The Empire

[@jessecox]

If you're interested in learning more might I suggest: Astral vs Umbral - kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipnEmXuwgriWopY FFXIV 1.0 Story - kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3bSknqKYt53n8k

[@ivybennett2274]

Jesse: "leave a comment if you want a video abou-" Me: yes jesse, yes we want a video about that, in fact we want 2 videos about that

[@GruntSquad92]

moar! moar!

[@justine11012]

agree lol

[@TheAlderisAstari]

110% This

[@redpandaluver8561]

Fully agree

[@Steve-YT383]

Yes pls on an Astral/Umbral deep dive. We need our Aetherologist Masters.

[@SilverLuna07]

Second this! I would love more of these videos!

[@CrystalPrelude]

I would enjoy an Astral/Umbral deep dive.

[@chabachoo4298]

agreed!

[@KisiroKitsune]

Okay but he has to do it all talking like Urianger.

[@Steve-YT383]

@@KisiroKitsune Don't tempt him😁

[@maxducks2001]

“Let me know if you want a deep dive into Astral/Umbral.” Jesse, I want you to embrace your past as a history teacher and teach me everything you can about this world. I’m a new player, didn’t know what the hell was going on, and now I’m fascinated by it because of this video. PLEASE do a deep dive on it, and literally anything else about the game.

[@ChanceBrunton]

Heartily seconded.

[@yokufo]

PLEASE make a video, I will gladly help with art hahaha :D

[@Lenaleeluna]

Don't know for sure, but wasn't Astral Passive and Umbral Active? The fact that people thought it was reversed came from the whole light good, darkness baaaaaad. But in SHB we learn that Astral energy makes Aether passive. While Umbral makes it active. It is also proved in the Black Mage rotation. Astral fire STOPS MP regen, Umbral ice greatly regens it

[@Lynesth]

@@Lenaleeluna And maybe if you watched the video you wouldn't make spoiler comments ? :)

[@mai88sara]

Same here! ✋

[@VitaeOS]

I'm a long time Final Fantasy fan, but never really got into FFXIV. I just started playing and I'm so thankful that videos like this exist. The community is so nice and welcoming!!

[@martinconway8174]

Jesse: “I’m doing this like a history class!” Me: Has already forgotten his homework

[@KohenChia]

chocobo ate it

[@Slepnair]

wait. we had homework? shit. whos can I copy real quick?

[@Torauth]

This is a FANTASTIC introduction to the lore whilst remaining truthful and not spoiling any of the huge reveals. Excellent work Jesse! Looking forward to more!

[@veraserah]

For a moment, the "4" tripped me up because I was nodding along and did a double take when I didn't hear The Big Baddies being listed haha. When in doubt, blame them :')

[@sniderealism2410]

He also only said 3 in the video, leaving the 4th one out for a good reason.

[@sergel02]

I never realized just how closely tied the Alliance Raids are to the lore and history of the game. It’s really cool to see and I can’t wait to see what Endwalker’s Alliance Raids will show!

[@xalrath]

the Heavensward alliance raids are a big delightful halloween-themed loredump. ARR's is "we really liked FF3 and nobody in America ever played it," Stormblood's is "we haven't put Final Fantasy Tactics in this game yet, we should do that," and then Shadowbringers' is an epilogue to Nier: Automata, because Square-Enix wanted to do a promotional crossover and Yoko Taro feeds on the suffering of people who enjoy his games. (FF3's big deal is that one of the three master sorcerors of the world, Xande, has slightly lost it on learning that he is going to one day die, and is so deciding to flood the world in darkness to stop time so he doesn't have to die. On beating him, you discover that whoops, he's been being puppeted by the Cloud of Darkness ever since he delved a little too greedily and too deep looking for a way to not die. People who have played through Crystal Tower may be entertained to know that the other two master sorcerors of FF3 were Doga and Unei.)

[@Gyrono]

For the Stormblood one, FF12 is happening concurrently too but with the Garleans being the empire instead FF12s empire

[@thetrin]

The Endwalker Alliance raid has been confirmed to be about the Twelve. I'm excited!

[@borntodie297]

@@xalrath + It gave them a great excuse to hurl the Square Enix office at players XD

[@afrothekobold]

@@xalrath ngl i think the NieR raids are my favorite, at least in part because they let Yoko Taro write it and there are no breaks on Yoko Taro's Wild Ride, only a second gas peddle

[@drewwinter9811]

As a person who has played this game since 2.0, I have to say this is by far the most helpful lore video I have seen. I don't own the encyclopedia but this is way more open and welcoming than any other video. Thank you, you made it way more interesting and entertaining then anything out there. Thanks Jesse! 😁

[@dongster529]

I am surprised with how deep and detailed the lore is, even though I played a few FFs over the decades, I really never understood the lore. Having been a avid wow lore reader since warcraft 3, getting slowly jaded of the poor writing destroying the potential that the old stories had but still impressed by the level of quality of wow content creators. I look forward to having some old creators, test their mettle in this world where the lore seems to be much more fleshed out over the many games and learning the many quirks of each race.

[@shootyoureyeout]

Could not agree more. I've watched pretty much every lore video and series under the sun, and this is so easy to watch and understand.

[@megamage911]

@@dongster529 well, the thing about FF, each game has it's own self contained lore, outside of direct sequels like X-2. At most you'll see references, but it's mainly just stuff like chocobo's moogles and a few recognizable names like Cid and Biggs & Wedge.

[@namegoeshere5220]

More. I need more. The feel of being taught to by someone with passion for the subject and for the profession of teaching is addictive to me.

[@animeyay4]

I'd love a deep dive in to each race/class

[@megamage911]

Yeah Jesse has always been great when it comes to conveying lore in a clear and understandable manner, really looking forward to seeing him going even more into this.

[@Ractrin]

Interesting telling of Bahamut's story. Leaving out just enough detail to not spoil basically anything in heavensward or the coils raid, while simultaneously teasing coils. Also this was a nice refresher on some of the details I had forgotten about, especially the previous umbral/astral eras. I feel the 7th should have been at least been mentioned only to state that's the current one, and mentioning the element involved not really necessary.

[@Disconnected66]

@@gwynlionhart6392 I really wish certain things hadn't been shown regarding primals and showing certain characters that you definitely meet long before you have a clue they're going to be involved in that context... But yakno. I feel like something always gets overlooked.

[@twibz4629]

I actually had to do a double take and thought "wait thats not right" then realized what he was doing and thought "thats genius"

[@alexrothe6197]

Yes please. We need another. As a HUGE fucking Warcraft Lore nerd, seeing the state of WoW and trying to enjoy FF14 just...left me starving for some much lore based context of what I'm doing. I love this, thank you Jesse. We need more!

[@venti9925]

Wow story player???????? Ouf

[@CallaSoreon]

I so appreciate this, I just started this game two weeks ago and it is a little overwhelming.

[@jessecox]

I tried to keep it spoiler free for people like you. There are many twists and turns, and I would hate to ruin that for you

[@skdeathxlife]

@@jessecox Thanks I'm in shadowbringers and I'm still confused about somethings much love

[@kosmosshift2577]

Welcome to the pit kid I’ve been down here for five years and I don’t plan on getting out

[@calus7958]

@@jessecox Ah so that's why, Will you explore The Ancients in a video?

[@chantzgnad88]

Enjoy it...take your time...stick with it! SO so much fun if you dive into the lore of the game! Hope you have lots of fun!

[@Word46]

It's at times like this that we can really see Jesse's teaching background rise up from the depths like Alexander.

[@hostiletwink]

holy shit, there's cleaaarly been times where the story has giving me like serious chills but the fact that i've played through it all and still get the goosebumps and feel like its the first time hearing it from a cliffnotes video on the lore.. ugh the story is so good man.

[@mai88sara]

I have watched this video multiple times .. and shared it with my friends ,,, I wish if you can continue this series ,, thanks a lot for this one ♥

[@TheMetal1471]

This is great. Kinda works as a "what the warrior of light knows at lvl1" tutorial.

[@Draeckon]

Mostly. The stuff about Allag and Xande is stuff we don't learn about until level 50 though.

[@Argol228]

@@Draeckon and even then, the stuff about the war of the magi might only be conceivably known by Thaumaturge, conjuror and Arcanist starters.

[@anti-macro]

Holy crap Jesse this is exceptional. I can't imagine how much work this took. Instantly bookmarked it, gonna share with new players

[@smeefman6923]

I love how you explain the entire history of fantasy XIV without spoiling anything and making it make sense to new players honestly I wish I watched this video when I first started playing as it would have given me better insight into things that happen later you are a true treasure

[@gjet35]

As a long-time veteran of this game myself, this was a great refresher course. Can't wait for the other two :3

[@dongster529]

I played 3 different FF games, including FF14 and I had no idea about the depth of the connection on crystals. I should really stop getting distracted by the card games and start reading the text.

[@Kdrman345]

God listening to Jesse talk about a lore of a mmo it takes me back to way back when he used to do WoW lore videos.

[@andrex1456]

Ikr I almost cried when I saw he was doing it for this

[@ArcenKnight]

I was literally just thought about that. He sounds just like he did during his Cata Zone Overviews

[@roman11777]

back when he was called omfgcata lmao

[@sonoskay]

@@roman11777 and the old backronym "one moderately funny gamer"

[@Hazlius]

Damn Jesse I really hope you continue these, I’m just starting now and this makes the lore SO much easier to digest! Love ya dude, excited to finally join you on Jenova!

[@starguardania]

ffxiv lore is like the only history i will actually be willing to sit through a 3 hour seminar or lecture on PLEASE MAKE MORE

[@CallaSoreon]

I hope you do a lore video about the different races- I would love to know more about them.

[@Uldihaa]

OH! That would be awesome.

[@seojaepark]

Definitely feel free to bring it up either here or via his stream. He will definitely cover races since its also a big part of the world including beast tribes and how essential they are especially msot recently

[@gothicshark]

Some one should do deep dives on each of the Races, because there are a lot of strange histories of the Races, and even though we think of them coming from specific cities, many of them are not in fact Native to Eorzea. ie the original player racers Lalafell come from the mysterious southern continent originally, Hyur come from lands to the East, Rogyadyn come from islands far to the north, and Miqo'te come from the New World, meanwhile only Elezen are Native to Eorzea.

[@sir_squeeb]

As someone who's been playing the game for about 7 years, this video is amazing and even clarified some confusion I've had about things for years. Thanks Jesse!

[@DrewS1890]

It's crazy how much has been... cleared up in the coming expansions. You should def make a video clarifying everything we learned now. I also don't understand when or where we started calling our planet/star Hydaelyn, It's actual name is Etheirys, which is cleared up later. You know... when we find out Hydaelyn is a Primal.

[@Riku-Leela]

As someone who's played for years and years but I still love watching these because our world of Eorzea and beyond is the most incredible place of history and lore ever imo (even against LOTR ect ..)

[@3453445isback]

The worst part about this video is how well done it is. That means the next one is really far away. Well done JC.

[@Gat720Dua]

You're doing the Mother Crystal's work.

[@Varizen87]

Been playing since 1.0 Alpha and I am deep into lore and I appreciate this primer as a guide to new folks in the community. Glad you’re part of our community!

[@boothbytcd6011]

What's amazing about this video is the amount of stuff you don't say, in just the right way, to not spoil anything.

[@fredy2041]

Jessie, this is a really good video. A detail that you prob didnt know, and be safe that this is not spoiling anything. During the 5th Astral era, there were originaly 12 city states on Aldenard, but the War of Magi lay to ruin all of them, leaving eventualy only Amdapoar, Nym and Mhach.

[@Vulgarth1]

The War of the Magi included the destruction of Nym and Mhach too.

[@fredy2041]

@@Vulgarth1 Ohh of course, I just tried to said that there were more citys than just 3, but all of them got destroyed during the war, leaving only the cities we know as the last ones still standing on the war, because of how powerfull they were, before the flood came and destroyed them all.

[@seffay6875]

@@fredy2041 Are the names of the other city states known?

[@Yuyu5001]

@@Vulgarth1 technically Mach and Amdapor were destroyed by the Calamity. Realizing that the aetherial balance was amiss, and too weakened to continue fighting anyway, they finally ended the war in a ceasefire, but by that point it was far too late. The Mhachi built the Void Ark to escape, which went... badly, to put it nicely, while the Amdapori (and those of the Mhachi who didn't get on the Ark) fled uphills. There is a boat in the Ala Mhigo part of Abalathia's Spine on top of the mountains that was built by Amdapori refugees and became a big part in Ala Mhigan lore for being THE vessel their ancestors arrived there, guided by their god Rhalgr the Destroyer.

[@Yuyu5001]

@@seffay6875 I can look it up if you give me a couple hours. They might be mentioned in the lorebooks but I just finished lunch break at work and cannot look. But it is said that Amdapor especially kinda became a protector to surrounding nations, making them prosper not having to fear Mhach's expansionist tendencies. They basically conquered all the nations on their side of Aldenard until they came to Amdapor protected land, who had developed White Magic in advance as a protective measure, at which point Mhachi advance came to a halt. The situation continued to spiral out of control for the next decades or centuries until open war broke out. That's what I remember off the top of my head.

[@ryujisama]

As a veteran player who is helping a friend get through the content while explaining it at break-neck speed, this helps out GREATLY. Looking forward to the rest in the series.

[@Raykkie]

Two critics I would make about the video is that it feels like while supposedly aiming at beginners, it does so through the scope of a veteran. It hits to wide to actually be for beginners, and not deep enough to be an actually reminder of how the world of FFXIV is. Also the only other remark I would have to do to not use in-game cutscenes or some lore tidbits, I feel like some use of those were REALLY BIG spoilers for someone already midway in the know. Addendum: 15:06 Going to require a citation for that one. Oldest reference to dragons I know of is the 3rd Astral Era, so should be in-between those 2, unless I'm mistaken. Addendum 2: 23:52 There's multiple other hypothesis as what actually cause the flood. 1.0 also points out to the machinations of the Elementals as being the direct cause for the actual flood.

[@GrandadmiralSeewolf]

Long Time XIV Veteran here. Love that video its really well made and tackles many important details, people might miss, even when they follow the MSQ. Good Shit ;)

[@grantgerman182]

Been playing for 4 years and I couldn't figure out the difference between Eorzea and Aldenard. Great video and it'll be a great series. Keep up the great work Cox!

[@777mobin]

Even as an avid lore nerd, this video helped me clear out a lot of misunderstandings i had!!! Please please PLEASEEEEE MAKE MORE!!

[@duane1023]

If it's ok for me to say this (if it hasn't been addressed, if it has, I apologize) the Bahamut in the orbital station was in fact not the real Bahamut, but a Primal in his image. The real Bahamut was slain in battle with the voidsent and Allag

[@metalmilitia89]

Came here to say this

[@kayda_demonia]

Eventually when you get far enough into the lore, you should *really* go into aetherology. It gets so ridiculously complex that it could take a whole ass 45 minute video to explain

[@john_7000]

It not even complex

[@kayda_demonia]

@@john_7000 If you play through the Bozja questline starting from stormblood, there's a character that gets super deep into it. It gets pretty complex through there

[@Rozonkomo]

It feels like I'm watching classic Jesse the game nerd videos again with this series. I hope you make it as extensive and entertaining as possible because it's always great to watch a video where it's easy to tell how invested you are in the content.

[@TighearnachCathan]

I've been playing since 11. You've truly done it justice, my friend. This is a much needed refresher that even the veterans can enjoy.

[@iratham2567]

Good keep making these. FFXI really lacked anyone doing decent lore videos and this game needs them.

[@hidehide8766]

thank you for this video... i rly crack uped some tears ... its 8 months alrdy since you finished shadowbringers ... how time flies by ~ thank you for this amazing journey.... and a really well use of ingame soundtracks ~ chills everywhere

[@TheDarkmanization]

I appreciate how well you know what can be revealed ahead of time (what some people might consider spoilers) without actually ruining anything. Thanks for the summary, I even learned a couple details I hadn't realized, and I've been here for years! I'm ready for the next class Mr. Cox.

[@Circus0Solstice]

This is WILDLY useful! I've been playing for seven years and always watch the cutscenes, etc., but some of the proper nouns have always been so nebulous until now. I also imagine that a lot of this info was part of the old raids that folks don't necessarily have to dive into, so this is really great for catching up on that lore! I'm so excited to see more of these!

[@midnightbloomofeorzea7182]

Yeah, and class/job quests. Lore on the War of the Magi can be found in the White Mage, Black Mage, Red Mage, and Scholar quests, and the Shadow of Mach Alliance Raids (Heavensward 24 man's). Lore on Allag is from the Summoner quests, the Crystal Tower Alliance Raids (which are actually now mandatory to progress through MSQ), and various moments throughout the story in Heavenward and beyond. The New World is mentioned often in the Blue Mage quests, and Meracydia has been teased throughout the game very lightly, though most prominently in moments related to Bahamut and in the last few patches of Shadowbringers. ^_^

[@SpellCheck8]

Wow i love this i need more. We seriously need a good deep dive in to this game's lore that is complete and well narrated and you have gone above and beyond. Please keep going!

[@jbinfa7k]

Hydaelyn must be a very big planet, given that no matter where we go, we are always in the same time zone.

[@Topazzzzzz]

8:12 i love this part the L's in that font are so neat jokes aside, can't wait for the other two parts! totally here for history/lore teacher Jesse!

[@callmebakes]

I started FF14 a couple months ago and I'm about 50-60 hours into it, so this was extremely helpful. Loving it so far. Can't wait for more lore videos!

[@EdgeGilid]

Been playing the game for almost 2yrs now, and this vid really helped me refrresh the story of the game. Honestly bsone if these thing i may have really forgotten or misunderstood back when i encounter them in game. So excited for the next vid

[@giathrixxie5857]

Jesse, you continue to amaze me. I began to play FFXIV a few months back now and took everyone's advice of taking it slow and being in it for the story, but there's just so much lore that even if it's well-developed and explained, sometimes things just.. Feel overwhelming. There's so much to learn all at once and while I do want to learn it, it isn't uncommon for me to look at the dialogue and just be completely lost in what they're talking about at all. While I enjoy the characters and the world, it's hard to get into some of it without reading pages upon pages of Wikipedia articles and posts from fans talking about the general story. This really helps to get a sense of the basics in a format more suited for people like me who learn better by hearing than by reading. You can feel you have an interest in the subject and a gift for teaching it in ways that don't feel like an information dump. I really hope you'll continue with FFXIV lore videos, at least for as long as you find them entertaining and rewarding to make, and I'll certainly continue to watch them and hope they remain as rewarding for you as they are for me c:

[@zeemod1556]

Thank you for using real-world comparisons. Only the way a history buff could do ;) Found it actually quite helpful.

[@jaqenart2653]

>found it maybe ive been playing too much ffxiv but I immediately read that as "confound it"

[@CaptainPrincess]

lmao this whole time I thought hydaelyn was a person that changes some of the conversations my friends have had around me

[@Uldihaa]

Hydaelyn is a person, or at least a personality. The Crystal is alive and aware, and speaks to the WoL occasionally. Adorably, the Japanese VO has a very slight lisp to her Hydaelyn.

[@tonystano3396]

I've been playing this game since release of 2.0 and even I really appreciate this easy to digest video format for a refresher course. I cannot wait for more videos. keep em coming!!

[@leosmith7511]

Thank you for making this video. Putting this all in order makes it SO MUCH EASIER to understand.

[@ValTheMad]

Jesse my dude, this was awesome and I can't wait for the next one

[@TNEQL]

Ditto.

[@bitsents]

as a new player who started getting confused about lore and dropped the game for a bit, seeing this video made me pick it back up again! ty jesse

[@SierusD]

Jesse, my dude. That was FANTASTIC. As a vet from the end of 1.0 and the beginning of 2.0 this even jogged my memory of a few things I'd forgotten. Bravo!

[@Scorch052]

Super nice to have. After a certain point in ARR, I just couldn't take any more reading line after line of exposition. Very happy that later expansions have a lot more voiced scenes.

[@TNEQL]

This is absolutely fabulous. I've been playing for 8 years, and even then I find it hard to remember everything about the worlds lore. I'm also loving the recent focus on scripted content. Please keep these up!

[@Uldihaa]

Same! I was in the closed beta for 2.0 and a lot of this lore was kind of vague for me until now; especially the timeline.

[@Witheredleaflet]

I'm super new to the game, just having gone through ARR, and this helped immensely, and was just fun to watch! More please! :)

[@Cervarius_K]

XIV more or less took over my life a few years ago, I've got well over 10k hours of playtime on my main character and I'm kind of elitist about just about everything XIV, be it gameplay optimization, lore, or just what various things are or do within the game. Your video however has absolutely blown my expectations out of the water 1000x over! Absolutely wonderful job conveying everything, Jesse! I look forward to more videos in this same format! P.S.: I really appreciate the attention to detail with the flames engulfing the world turning into the game's logo at the end of the video.

[@ByngerX]

More please. I fully plan on getting into this game at some point and I couldn’t think of anyone better to guide us through than the Big JC.

[@AExorcist]

Jesse can we have a current events lecture for msq. maybe subsection for every 10 levels? I would love a refresher course of everything that we as the player have experienced in game.

[@Chocolate83Bunny]

you are able to go into the hotel rooms and see the story so far, rewatch cutscenes and read summaries of every MSQ, job quest etc. 😊

[@AExorcist]

@@Chocolate83Bunny oh I know about the book. My thinking is if this supposed to be a history class then a current events topic would be cool. Its a common social studies assignment in school where you share and discuss current events. I'm thinking more like an overview with a discussion of importance (ie, a what have we learned so far and why does it matter) rather then actual one by one go through of the entire story. I think it would be interesting especially for players that story skipped or have been playing for a long time. Like for instance i've been playing since ARR phase 3 beta. That's a lot of information fed to players like me that we consumed slowly over 8 years. Anyways just a suggestion.

[@desigirard3310]

this was really good, as a long time player this explained some of the parts of lore i was confused about for the longest time.

[@Blu_Maryze]

This is incredibly good!! As someone who has been playing since 2.0, this helps A TON What a wonderful reminder of what has stablished the world before Endwalker!!

[@tubewatcher68]

Wow, this was awesome, everything makes so much more sense now. It is hard to piece everything of the lore and history together and this is brilliantly done, thank you, looking forward to more!

[@Gaaffro]

I had goosebumps the entire way through this video, man I can't wait for endwalker!

[@brikaro1]

Thank the twelve we got Jesse now. This is the quality lore content we've been needing.

[@KriiiTravelNut]

This is such an amazing video!!! I own all the books and I love lore very deeply and this really sums things up so beautifully and presents it in an easy to digest manner - it’s so clear that you’re a teacher at heart!! I absolutely had to share this with my FC.

[@undacoval3rotha]

I'm so happy to see Jesse popping up in my recommended videos so often again! I recently started playing FFXIV with a couple of friends so your timing with this one couldn't be better!

[@Draylin41]

I've been playing FF14 since 2.0 started and some of this lore about the Calamities feels new to me. I'm sure a lot of it is buried in the game somewhere and I might have even read it at some point and just forgotten. Great video. Hopefully the next will have a few other facts that I didn't realize existed.

[@midnightbloomofeorzea7182]

Old Alliance Raids and job quests. Especially surrounding Allag and the War of the Magi. Scholar, White Mage, Red Mage, Black Mage, and Summoner tie in to a lot of that.

[@Adam.C]

Damn, even as a player of 8 years this was amazing, still learning new things. You're a good teacher, Jesse!

[@linshannon4480]

My son got me into playing FFXIV about a month ago, and he pulled your video up for me to watch. As a writer, I found your 'lecture' particularly well considered, and it added much to my enjoyment of the game. And yet, the game is a little overwhelming in its sophistication and comprehensive world-building. So, I've just watched your video again, and it's more meaningful now. I'm sure it will be again later, too. Thanks very much for putting this together for those of us who love backstory and lore. I was particularly engaged by your timelines.

[@tunasub8097]

This was SO helpful for a sprout like me. I’ve been dying to learn more about the lore but it’s so hard trying to keep myself spoiler free!

[@himeka6246]

Fantastically done Jesse! I've been playing this game for a few years, and even I was vague on some aspects of the early history. This video made a lot of things click, and I appreciate it. Can't wait to see your 1.0 video.

[@Anlace]

This is great, Jesse! Comprehensive FFXIV lore/history videos like this aren't very common, so I'm glad you're doing this. I'm looking forward to more!

[@rahiru860]

this is prime Jessie Cox content right here, reminds me of the zone synopsis vids from Cataclysm beta.

[@ZeepZerp]

This was really well done. You weren't telling me anything I haven't learned playing the game. But you did concisely remind me of all the stuff I've forgotten while playing the game. :)

[@AdamG3691]

I really hope you continue this series past the planned videos, one thing the FFXIV community has sorely lacked is a high quality lore series, a deep dive on things like Astral and Umbral, the lifestream etc would be incredible. Sure there's Anonymoose, absolute lore god that he is, but he tends to stick to the forums and occasional guest appearances on Aetheryte Radio's sporadic Lore Train episodes rather than creating content. Oh, and something I learned yesterday that may be useful if you're going to talk about the Ascians and the Void at some point: in one of the Guildhests (the one with the blue fire), there's a throwaway line that clarifies a LOT about the nature of the void and why Iggy's failure was SO catastrophic: "the blue flames are left behind by slain voidsent bodies and souls. For some reason, the lifestream rejects Voidsent."

[@thelaughingrouge]

This reminds me of the old "Lore in a minute" videos... man I miss that channel.

[@uba754]

Incredibly well done thank you Jesse! I've completed msq over the course of the last few months and this was great clarification.

[@AminoA81]

Amazing work, I love it. Previously my ffxiv lore is just a group of floating abstract thoughts, but due to your video everything clicks for me. Definitely looking forward to more videos like this!

[@Zergqueen377]

I started.. Halfway through Heavensward, and I'm a pretty avid lore nerd myself.. But there is just so much that its easy to forget and get it all mixed together. So this video is a great thing! And I can't wait for the next in the series. Also helps that I have 4-5 friends who recently started the game, and wanna know the lore!

[@tinybee7780]

Really love the worldbuilding of most FF games, I wonder if XVI's world will borrow heavily from XIV? This is definitely a great primer for those interested in how everything started. I really hope Jessie introduces us to an Economics teacher/XIV player to tackle the ins and outs of the Teleport Taxation. That is some pretty important stuff when talking about lore.

[@Riku-Leela]

YESSSSSS more deep diving, please never stop making these and go more and more in depth ❤️

[@AnimGhost]

amazing video great research, can't wait for the next ones! I have been playing this game for more than 5 years and you just teached me so much in 30min haha

[@alkinkt]

Watched this as was downloading the game, it has me hyped as I loveee being absorbed into a world that is immersive. Great stuff, good format and easy to digest.

[@Kerran_Lionward]

You got my like for the changes to ‘Garlemand’ & ‘Gridaynia’ 😂👍🏼 But for real though, I learned stuff I knew little about so thank you for this in-depth history lesson. 🙏🏼

[@cherrymeraki]

You are the best at explaining things in the simplest terms. Please give us MORE!

[@retroriven9740]

The amount of detail in this video is insane. Great job, would definitely like to see more lore videos please!

[@AraliaSpinosa]

As someone who made this mistake of skipping a lot of cutscenes early on, thank you so much for this.

[@AlchemicSoul]

New Game+ is good for that. It's a feature you can unlock in Vesper bay and it'll let you replay just about any story moment in the game. I didn't realize how powerful that feature was until recently.

[@PowerArmorV113]

At least you're repaying your sin now... And yes, pick up NG+ to see what you missed.

[@MegaAndyGG]

The story is amazing. Don't miss anything!

[@That.guyjono]

This video is well worth the wait! I am loving this so far, Well done Jesse :D

[@phylliphuett4292]

This. Love it so much! Been playing a really long time and have *skipped* enough to get confused by things. This was a fantastic way to give an explanation to the timelines.

[@robertomachado6363]

Please do more of these~ This is truly amazing stuff

[@BytheCaye]

Ahh I just started playing last month! This is excellent, going in blind was interesting and fun but having more context puts the whole kinda thing in a better scope. Thanks Jesse :)

[@zavi3rz]

This… is simply amazing. You are my favourite kind of history teacher, where history was told as a cohesive story with a beginning and end. This video would be my go to recommendation for any of my friends who needs some extra credit on understand FF14 lore 😆

[@catherinegilbert5160]

Wow! This video was SO informative and delightfully animated! Thank you so much! Really appreciating the elements of your experience as a history teacher being used here!

[@loganbowman20]

I've played this forever and I LOVE how you ended it. Well done thank you!