To those of you that have actually gotten to play EW, what do you think so far?

[Xylira]

I'm about 60% of the way through the story so far, I think. To be brutally honest, so far I'm pretty disappointed in the MSQ. It started out fine, but the pacing and tone feels all over the place the more I play through it. Certain sections of the story fly by way too quickly, while others drag on needlessly. It also feels like they're being far too heavy handed trying to force certain reactions for the players. A particular plot sequence in the MSQ felt extremely contrived and unnecessary, to the point where it jarred me out of the story and made me dislike the writers for making it happen. I have never before in all my time playing FFXIV felt so put off by the story where I wanted to log out of the game in disgust at the plot design, and yet that happened during the Endwalker MSQ.

Compared to Shadowbringers, Endwalker story has been a big 'meh' so far. I really hope it improves, but so far it feels like a massive step backwards in story telling compared to the masterpiece that Shadowbringers was.

The gameplay, dungeons, combat, etc so far are perfectly fine and enjoyable. The MSQ has just been a flop for me so far, which is concerning given the main draw of the game is supposed to be the story.

[Skivvy]

I feel bad saying this, but I've not overly enjoyed the MSQ so far. :X I really loved me some ShB, and I was hooked on the story fairly early on...but I'm still waiting for that moment with EW. I'm assuming I still have quite a bit to go with the story, I'm currently on the moon, but I'm getting a wee bit worried it just won't hit that same high with me. I'm still hopeful though. :X

Outside of the story itself, the dungeons and trials that I have done were really fun and actually caught me off as a healer which was a nice change from how I've felt with past dungeons when they were new.

They did go a bit heavy-handed with escort quests. I think the idea itself was a bit interesting, but now it just seems like "You get an escort quest! And YOU get an escort quest! And youuuu get an escort quest!....". It's a lot @.@ Just be forewarned. lol.

[Velnora]

I'm about 60% of the way through the story so far, I think. To be brutally honest, so far I'm pretty disappointed in the MSQ. It started out fine, but the pacing and tone feels all over the place the more I play through it. Certain sections of the story fly by way too quickly, while others drag on needlessly. It also feels like they're being far too heavy handed trying to force certain reactions for the players. A particular plot sequence in the MSQ felt extremely contrived and unnecessary, to the point where it jarred me out of the story and made me dislike the writers for making it happen. I have never before in all my time playing FFXIV felt so put off by the story where I wanted to log out of the game in disgust at the plot design, and yet that happened during the Endwalker MSQ.

Compared to Shadowbringers, Endwalker story has been a big 'meh' so far. I really hope it improves, but so far it feels like a massive step backwards in story telling compared to the masterpiece that Shadowbringers was.

The gameplay, dungeons, combat, etc so far are perfectly fine and enjoyable. The MSQ has just been a flop for me so far, which is concerning given the main draw of the game is supposed to be the story.

Majority of ShB recognition comes from the last half, so I am optimistic.