Toss an Savage/Ultimate to Yoko Taro...

[Bright-Flower]

I played Nier:Automata after the first raid, because my friends (Yes, I have those) told me I'd get potentially spoiled.
It's a good game but I didn't liked it. Nier Assets in the game? Why not.

But Nier raid was definitely forced into XIV and it did not fit well. The areas were good but the Nier universe was completely disconnected from XIV's universe. You could remove the whole thing it wouldn't change a thing but Crystal Tower or Ivalice have their impact and returning characters.
Hell, the end felt like "My planet needs me I need to go".

And I'm pretty sure this savage would have a crazy load of "In or sides aoe". The 3rd raid was a bit uninspired mechanically wise. It had its surprises but you fall in a trap once and the second time you know it.

Yeah. Instead of like the crystal tower/ivalice raids where the stuff from FF3/XII/Tactics was worked organically into FFXIV's setting, the Nier stuff was no less tacked on than the fanservice crossover events like Noctis and the samurai girl from XI showing up.

In those isolated events it works fine as a fun little thing, but for a story stretched over the entire expansion? No thanks. Some of the dwarf stuff has been interesting, but the actual Nier stuff? Lazily tacked on.

The environments, fights, music, glams (for the most part) etc were all fun and good for me, but the story surrounding them was lazily tacked on. And I don't think it had to be that way. Yes there's a bit of a clash in aesthetics between FFXIV and Nier but considering Omega the idea of advanced mechanical life crashing into the FFXIV world and shenanigans ensuing isn't out of the scope of the game's story. They didn't have to be this lazy with it and the way things wrapped up at the end of the Tower raid etc.

[ItMe]

Sure, no more homages to other Final Fantasy games, you got it.

Honestly, I think that's a good request.
I'm in this camp too.

[MrPresident]

I love collaborations and crossovers but I’d rather they don’t do it as a main piece of content again. Stick to things like the Lightning, DQ or FFXV event.

Shadowbringers has been my favourite expansion so far, and although I didn’t dislike the Nier event, I’m quite disappointed we got that instead of a three part story which could have told us more about Norvrandt.

[LisSquid]

I thought the combat in the raids were a bit bland, tbh. Also, Yoko Taro didn't design the fights iirc. Didn't he also spend a lot of time tanking the floor when he did play the content?

[ItMe]

Didn't he also spend a lot of time tanking the floor when he did play the content?

Yes, and then had the gall to tell them to make it harder haha

[LisSquid]

Yes, and then had the gall to tell them to make it harder haha

I mean... I'm not against that sentiment, but I feel like the nasty E word is going to get thrown at me xD

[Vahlnir]

I mean... I'm not against that sentiment, but I feel like the nasty E word is going to get thrown at me xD

[ItMe]

I mean... I'm not against that sentiment, but I feel like the nasty E word is going to get thrown at me xD

I agree.
I also wish they had been tougher.
I was expecting wipe city day 1 and looking forward to a mess. Instead we went through each raid wiping maybe once. In this last one we cleared almost the whole raid with half of the squad back at base cuz they thought we were gonna wipe, but we never did.
On one hand, the raid design was beautifully intuitive and it was pretty easy to understand mechanics at a glance (though a few tricked me lol), and that's great.
On the other hand... they're basically normal duty difficulty but longer, so I really want a sense of tangible danger to spice things up.

[TaleraRistain]

He said on a live stream once that he doesn't understand how anyone can play FF XIV with how the gameplay is. He just has different preferences when it comes to gameplay, and he's not afraid to talk about it, even as he's doing a crossover for a game he doesn't seem to care for made by the company that employs him. lol

Why the hell did he even do the crossover then? That pathetic story he put out made it clear he doesn't respect the game at all. I don't understand why Yoshi-P would let someone make them all look bad like that.

[Vahlnir]

Why the hell did he even do the crossover then?

SE: "Hey Yoko, do that thing. You know, since we're your bosses and all."

Yoko: "Okay."

I doubt it's any more complicated than that. They pay him, he does what he's supposed to.