When does Stormblood get good?[Spoilers?]

[Oichi]

As others said, likes and dislikes are very personal. I could talk for quite a time about what I perceive as flaws and strenghts in SB, but to be short, I'll just point out what comes to my mind right now as most enjoyable:
Story arcs:
The Four Lords (I loved everything about it).
Gosetsu and Yotsuyu.
The Butcher.
Zones:
All the Far East ones: Ruby Sea, Kugane, Yanxia, Azim Steppe.
Characters:
Hien (I really liked his mixture of irony, thoughtfulness, honesty and optimism. All in all, a very solid and versatile character).
Gosetsu (very easy to emphatize with).
Magnai (he cracked me up).
Sadu (she cracked me up too).
The Butcher (well written character, with good entrances and exits).
Everyone that you later encounter in the Doman Enclave Reconstruction (the finished Doman Enclave is one of my top favorite places in the whole game).
Zenos' father (who suddenly gains some depth).
Tribe quests:
The Kojin storyline.
If I remember well, I enjoyed also all the job solo duties, but I usually do everywhere.
Extras:
Rathalos.
And of course, Hildibrand. His arc ends in Kugane, and I can't wait to see him, Godbert, Greg, Nashu and the whole gang reappear in ShB.
I probably forget a ton of other things I enjoyed, but hey, I have a goldfish memory

[Siete]

As others said, likes and dislikes are very personal. I could talk for quite a time about what I perceive as flaws and strenghts in SB, but to be short, I'll just point out what comes to my mind right now as most enjoyable:
Story arcs:
The Four Lords (I loved everything about it).
Gosetsu and Yotsuyu.
The Butcher.
Zones:
All the Far East ones: Ruby Sea, Kugane, Yanxia, Azim Steppe.
Characters:
Hien (I really liked his mixture of irony, thoughtfulness, honesty and optimism. All in all, a very solid and versatile character).
Gosetsu (very easy to emphatize with).
Magnai (he cracked me up).
Saru (she cracked me up too).
The Butcher (well written character, with good entrances and exits).
Everyone that you later encounter in the Doman Enclave Reconstruction (the finished Doman Enclave is one of my top favorite places in the whole game).
Zenos' father (who suddenly gains some depth).
Tribe quests:
The Kojin storyline.
If I remember well, I enjoyed also all the job solo duties, but I usually do everywhere.
Extras:
Rathalos.
And of course, Hildibrand. His arc ends in Kugane, and I can't wait to see him, Godbert, Greg, Nashu and the whole gang reappear in ShB.
I probably forget a ton of other things I enjoyed, but hey, I have a goldfish memory

It's not exactly bad bad, but Lyse destroys the atmosphere completely
The last quests I spent alone with Yugiri were thousands of times better than when I have to deal with Lyse jumping and laughing around. So much for a war orphan fighting for her homeland.

[Oichi]

It's not exactly bad bad, but Lyse destroys the atmosphere completely
The last quests I spent alone with Yugiri were thousands of times better than when I have to deal with Lyse jumping and laughing around. So much for a war orphan fighting for her homeland.

Unfortunately, Lyse was a very flat, shallow character, although she had potential. I didn't dislike that she doubted herself, that was understandable. But she lacked personality, development, expression... and she could get to irritate me too. However, I started enjoying Alisaie during SB and she was a welcome change after Alphinaud, who I never liked at that point -that came later. There again, I never really felt any bond with any of the Scions until ShB, which for me was simply magical in terms of character development.

[Halivel]

But she lacked personality, development, expression...

Tbh, it could be made so intentionally. I mean... she wasn't a person for 5 years after calamity, and wasn't one either in ARR-SB period, because she was her sister. It would be weird to immediately become a whole new person when you barely regained your own name just some time ago.

[Oichi]

Tbh, it could be made so intentionally. I mean... she wasn't a person for 5 years after calamity, and wasn't one either in ARR-SB period, because she was her sister. It would be weird to immediately become a whole new person when you barely regained your own name just some time ago.

That's a very fair point, and I have to admit she does gain some proper identity towards the end. I just wish she had been a bit more compelling a character during the transition, cause the idea was good.

[Siete]

That's a very fair point, and I have to admit she does gain some proper identity towards the end. I just wish she had been a bit more compelling a character during the transition, cause the idea was good.

At least I have Alisaie and Yugiri making sense even through their recklessness.
For now, I've decided to defect to the Empire until my fellow Eorzeans tape Lyse to a lamp post for the rest of the campaign.

[Rhais]

Tbh, it could be made so intentionally. I mean... she wasn't a person for 5 years after calamity, and wasn't one either in ARR-SB period, because she was her sister. It would be weird to immediately become a whole new person when you barely regained your own name just some time ago.

The problem with all this though, is the way she was put into a position of leadership. She was underdeveloped as a character, pretty much one dimensional and what they did portray of her certianly wasn't leadership material. Yet somehow that's Conrad's first choice as a successor? And everyone else is fine with this too? She clearly isn't cut out for the role she was given, which just makes her even more irritating.

[Enla]

The problem with all this though, is the way she was put into a position of leadership. She was underdeveloped as a character, pretty much one dimensional and what they did portray of her certianly wasn't leadership material. Yet somehow that's Conrad's first choice as a successor? And everyone else is fine with this too? She clearly isn't cut out for the role she was given, which just makes her even more irritating.

Spoilers for OP's sake.

I always saw it as nepotism honestly given who her father is. Conrad specifically says that isn't the case but let's be honest 'because you're you' doesn't hold much water either as a reason when up until that point Lyse hasn't done any leading or shown any qualities that would make her seem a good fit for that role. Of course logistically there was likely a good chunk of her character development that had to be cut to make the first part of the expansion an acceptable length, so for all we know there were going to be instances where she did show she was perfect for the job. It's just if they did exist they never made it into the game.

Honestly I really wonder how different SB would have been if they had broken up the story more and had the liberation take place in a later patch. It would have given Lyse the time she desperately needed to be fleshed out because out of all the issues with that expansion, Lyse really is the character with the most wasted potential. Good on paper but the writing just did her no favors at all.

Which is a shame because has she been written competently she'd have been my favorite character in the expansion. The time she spends in the Steppes really shows growth on her part and I was excited to see where it went... And learning that Ishikawa was in charge of the Steppes content for SB I have to wonder if she had some hand in that. Because Lyse basically had a full character reversal once they went back to Ala Mhigo and it was like someone else was writing her again. Which then only got worse when whomever was in charge of her basically gave up by 4.2 because any outstanding character growth she could have had is abandoned by the time we get back to Ala Mhigo again.