Anyone else feeling disappointed by Endwalker MSQ? MAJOR MSQ SPOILERS!

[Elysidelphi]

1. Zodiark: he was thought to be this huge threat to the entire world, the eldest and strongest primal, but yet we get to fight him and defeat him very early on in the game and it's also quite easy to do so, we don't really struggle that much. For a villain that was written to be this very ancient, very powerful and very dangerous deity, we got rid of him pretty fast and without much risk to us/others, without struggling and suffering just to defeat him. It kind of reminds me of the Night King from Game of Thrones, another villain hyped up to be ancient and powerful, who got destroyed fast and easily. It feels like wasted potential.

2. Anima: I was really disappointed when I found Anima in a dungeon, I expected to find it in a trial and 100% thought that it was deserving of a trial and its own epic music.

3. Zenos's mother: we don't learn anything about her. Is she alive? Dead? Who is/was she? What happened to her? What was her relationship with Zenos like? What was her relationship with Varis like? Etc.

[Elysidelphi]

4. Zenos himself: at first it seemed that he would receive a more in-depth characterisation, and it also seemed that he would go on a sort of redemption journey, which got me excited for all the possibilities (I believe in second chances even for villains and I believe that it's harder to live and make up for your evil deeds than it is to be killed/executed/locked up); however, at the end, that redemption journey is...gone? vague? partial? I don't know. And I also don't know what happened to Zenos. Did he die (what about his Resonant, can he really die so easily? what about Emet-Selch's secret related to Zenos?) Did he live? Did he go back to our world/planet or did he go somewhere else? So many unanswered questions about Zenos. I strongly feel that Zenos deserved more screen time than he got. A lot more. Especially if they wanted to stick with a redemption journey. I feel that Zenos appeared rather sporadically throughout the story and without much development/insight into his mind/soul. Again, wasted potential, in my opinion.

5. Amaurot: quite disappointed we didn't get to see either the real Amaurot from the past or the ruins of the real Amaurot in the present. Instead we got Elpis. Elpis was great, but I would have preferred Amaurot or even both Amaurot and Elpis.

6. The Final Days + The Sound: I certainly didn't expect the way they explained it so the shock factor was there and was enjoyable but it felt a bit...underwhelming. Meteion being the cause of the Final Days just feels...off to me. However, I still think that Meteion's story was very interesting and presented fascinating moral dilemmas so I'm not saying it shouldn't be there at all. I think it should still be there as it is, but maybe not linked to the Final Days or maybe not being the sole/main cause of the Final Days.

7. Emet-Selch: he was great and I loved him, I adored the dungeon with him, and now I'm kinda hoping that he'll become a Trust NPC at some point. However, again, it felt a bit...off. Like he needed more screen time, more development, more interactions with the WoL. More.

[Rin_Kuroi]

7. Emet-Selch: he was great and I loved him, I adored the dungeon with him, and now I'm kinda hoping that he'll become a Trust NPC at some point. However, again, it felt a bit...off. Like he needed more screen time, more development, more interactions with the WoL. More.

this is about the only thing i'll agree with. emet-selch always deserves more screen time. i know he won't get it and that's okay but he always deserves it.

[Elysidelphi]

Zenos' mother died, we learned it from The Hunt Begins. "From the beginning, Zenos was alone. His lady mother succumbed to illness shortly after bringing him into the world, and his lord father was seldom present, occupied as he was with his military campaigns and political maneuvering." Link: https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...s_the_offical/

Anyway, I do not find EW disappointing, I like it more than ShB! I was happy every time Zenos showed up, too bad he didn't have more screentime. That final fight was amazing and I wish I could replay it. A part of me wants him back but an other part thinks he got a satisfying ending.

Other people find Zenos boring but I find his whole being heartbreaking. A force of nature whose only happiness is fighting me because he doesn't know better. He grew up alone, neglected, no one loved him, he was trained to serve the Empire. I admire him for coming back from death and obsessively pursuing that one happy moment just to die again. I think it's beautiful in a sad, twisted way!

I'm not sure if "redemption" would work for Zenos. He doesn't want to become a better person, he just wants to feel that moment of happiness again. I'm glad he decided to help me to get what he wanted and I made him happy in his final moments. But I also wish I could show him that there are many temporary happy moments in life (besides fighting). I wish I could heal his damaged soul. I wish I could go back in time, steal baby Zenos from Varis and raise him with a lot of love. Good night, sweet prince!

Wow! I feel the same about Zenos. I couldn't have said it better than you. I am so, so, SO happy to see that someone else thinks and feels the same as me about Zenos. Do you really think he died?

[Deceptus]

1. Zodiark: he was thought to be this huge threat to the entire world, the eldest and strongest primal, but yet we get to fight him and defeat him very early on in the game and it's also quite easy to do so, we don't really struggle that much. For a villain that was written to be this very ancient, very powerful and very dangerous deity, we got rid of him pretty fast and without much risk to us/others, without struggling and suffering just to defeat him. It kind of reminds me of the Night King from Game of Thrones, another villain hyped up to be ancient and powerful, who got destroyed fast and easily. It feels like wasted potential.
.

The in game lore explained this.

Zodiark was weak because he was incomplete. When the source separated so did Zodiark, every rejoining makes him more whole.