Quote Originally Posted by van_arn View Post
But where are the eels?
Mother Miounne baked them all into pies.

Quote Originally Posted by RyuDragnier View Post
Everything is foreshadowing future events and knowledge, so it is all important to the plot in the grand scheme of things.
Excellent comment! I'd thought to point out that bit about the Leviathan chapter, but forgot to. Removing content from main-line MSQ and demoting it to "side-quests" means it's no longer established canon. Therefore, they can't really reference concepts in those chapters for future story beats, because they don't know if the player has done it or not. Plus, the quests for those primal battles aren't terribly long in the grand scheme of things, and if players feel like there's already too much "blah blah" without any action, removing combat encounters doesn't seem like a good remedy.

As somebody who's come and gone from the game multiple times over the years since ARR came out, and actually restarted the game from scratch a few times, I totally get the "slog" factor. I felt it a bit this time around at parts. But I remember clearly, the first time I played through post-vanilla Level 50 content, I thought it was incredible! It's so much better and more polished than the ARR leveling quests, there's tons more voiced dialogue, you're wondering where the story is going to go after you've defeated the Garlean occupation efforts. Every little plot thread feels important, like it could be a launchpad for future adventures.

Unpopular opinion, but I actually feel like all the Level 50 dungeons they give you should have been mandatory MSQ content, because they are actually really well made, and fun to do at least once. Also, the Crystal Tower absolutely blew my mind the first time through! To skip that would be a real shame, as it's quite a spectacle.