I hear what you're saying. I feel the same. I don't think the current writing team has the right to use that phrase.
It is just beyond my comprehension how poor the story is, and while Wuk Lamat is the face of it (since she is in our face 95% of the time), it feels like many events or plots are there just to make excuse for Wuk Lamat to be there, or to experience something regardless of whoever is there with her. WoL rarely reacts to any situation, even when returning to the
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and there are many more examples for this sort of writing that basically throws away any thing related to the particular already established character if it could in any way threaten the spotlight for new leader of Scions of the seventh dawn, considering she is basically leading at some point.Tuliyollal during the attack, we are just observing how place is attacked, not lifting a finger so we won't by accident take the spotlight away from Wuk Lamat
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At the same time this sheltered goofball with "big heart and compassion" is faced with a a person who's doing eugenics experiments with 1% success rate, where we know that there were at least 2 that succeeded, meaning about 198 infants dead and kept in a jars at the bottom of some pit. Do not get me wrong, I do dig the theme and the subject, darkness in a overall cheerful fantasy world.
Wuk Lamat is having a "tantrum" calling it that but she can't really express any other emotion than neutral-happy with voice this flat, when 50 people are killed in Tuliyollal (and her father) promising revenge on her brother.
Soo... going back to at least 200 murdered lizard babies, the Chief of Mamook said sorry, so everything is rainbows now and she's all good with him, since technically those are just some lizard infants, who cares about them... right?
And there are many more instances where weird story choices are made, just to make her into false hero, with no backstory or real moral compass - and everyone around her acts like she is a godsent... why exactly? Not to mention she just took away first place for worst possible leader nation can have, dethroning Lyse.
We explored the void in 2 patches. We explore a new continent in a whole expansion. Both have characters that are weak at the start and are underdogs. One theme is cool and related to FFIV, with proper FF lore. The other is your average Eorzea politics just with new trees and beaches. SE chose the later to be the new expansion.... why?
Also WoL can never have a 'fresh start' when they're always expected to play the role of a super hero. We dueled the king and could've killed him if we wanted to. And the story always puts emphasis of WoL being different and strong. We're super saiyans being put in the world of mere mortals. Enough of the "vacations" if you can't let WoL to relax. "Here is the city of gold for you to explore" "but actually, it's also tied to the throne and politics". That's not really a task for an explorer is it?
I have been playing this game since 1.0 and I have never ever skipped dialog or a cutscene, just because I am invested in this game. But after that part in the 94 questline where Wuk took me somewhere just to flatly scream about peace and being the dawn servant I was over it and skipped most of the rest of the story. The parts I did see made me just keep skipping. I have no regrets. This whole story has been simply awful. 1.0 with all its faults, was still vastly superior to whatever this is.
TO be fair, with how miserable I was at the end of Dawntrail almost any story based on anyone would be better, would it be Zero or Papalymo returning from the dead to haunt me. I just can't understand how someone looked at the storyboard and thought "yeah that's a good idea lets go with that" and do not get me wrong, I do not hate the concept of WoL being a mentor to some NPC, just a combination of poor excuse for a plot and Wuk Lamat was... well enough for me to feel like I am playing... well completely different game, one that just slaps some story at you, whatever it is just to slap it and be done with it. Instead of story that one way or the other was able to capture my attention and like no other game ever make me experience vivid emotions while witnessing story unfold. This time around? I was praying to gods any gods to end my suffering as I was forcing myself to go through the story, reading it or listening, each time kinda hoping it was some sort of bad joke and that it'll end at some point? No. It did not. Not until the very end. And perhaps Wuk Lamat is not so bad, perhaps she is not so annoying... but she was in my face, talking without saying anything for what it seems to be 95% of the screen time.
If SE were to add DT story skips to the mogstation within the next week or so, they'd make out like bandits.
I hate mostly that I understand where the devs wanted to go with this character, but I felt like we skipped some important steps and got shoved in the role of unconditional supporters with waaay too little known about her. The fact that we all, as a crew, act as besties and everyone loves her for being this sort of clumsy ray of sunshine is fine to me personally, but build some foundation for it. As I finished MSQ, I still don't like her, because I felt like it was a given for the writing team that you'd like her from moment zero, so there's no point in taking theyr time in building up this character, which, btw, is basically the mc of this story, while you're just on the side, supporting her, so I think this is ulteriorly a reason why this is bad writing for a central character like her... Not super good at expressing my thoughts about it, but those were bits of it.
A void rift should open up in 7.01 and Wuk Lamat should go on an adventure to learn about the people there.
On their own of course, and the rift should suddenly seal up. Forever.