Minor Update!

Fought my way through Giruvegan and the story portion of the Great Crystal so I could meet the Occurians and get my Treaty Blade from them.

I sort of debate whether the Occurians are the true gods of Ivalice. Like reading some of the mythology presented in the game, it doesn't really sound like them. This being a sword and sorcery type game, it wouldn't surprise me if Ivalice does have true gods spoken of in legend and the Occurians are simply a race of beings that evolved enough to become energy beings, and basically called themselves gods afterwards. It would also make Venat's betrayal make more sense because they would understand that they are not gods, and the actions of their kind are hindering the natural progress of the other Ivalice races. I like the idea of the Occurians, but I also feel the narrative fails to really explain how your actions affect them. Like I get their plan to use Ashe to become a new pawn to keep them in control, but again, we don't really get an explanation how destroying the Sun-Cryst would really stop the Occurians. As far as the player knows, the Sun-Cryst is simply the only leftover tech from their civilization they can offer to make mortals do what they want, but it would make more sense that the Sun-Cryst also maintains their society and is the last tech keeping them connected to Ivalice, so it's destruction either shuts off their ability to communicate with the mortal world, or even more distressful, it may shut down their ability to exist, but Venat still lingers after it's destruction so the latter doesn't seem to be the case, but when you look at the throne room of the Occurians, Venat's statue itself is missing, and I've long suspected those statues are the Occurians original bodies and form. So if Venat transferred it back to the mortal world, either scenario could be true. My issue here with the speculation is that the game gives no real answers or meaningful clues to suggest anything. This and Vayne's character arc are really the two biggest story gripes I have with the game.

I also don't like Shemhazai and her design. Of all the Espers, she feels the most off and kind of looks more stupid than imposing. Not helped that she's another insta-death Esper despite already having Zalera. I get the feeling she was meant to be a re-imagined Odin type deal, but she honestly just looks goofy to me, which is a shame because the redesigns of all the other Espers are pretty badass.

I'm supposed to head back to Balfoheim, but I'm going to stick around the Crystal for a bit and loot the place and fight the two non-Hunt club rare game. One of which has a crazy requirement that involves killing over 255 enemies while in the Crystal without leaving or shutting off the game. Which sounds difficult, but considering a lot of enemies pop up in groups of six or summon other enemies, I was able to easily rack up a hundred kills in no time. I have maybe four items left to acquire, the most important being Excalibur, and the Larva Eater does possess one of the best Daggers in the game as well. Not to mention, if I defeat Ultima while I am here, I will have met the requirements to enter the optional part of the Henne Mines and can square off with Zodiark while getting easy access to all the endgame loot and items. I know a bunch of Mark Hunts also just opened up. So I'll be busy for a bit.