I prefer/cried more with SHB then EW [SPOILERS FOR EW YOU BEEN WARNED]

[NealSnow]

Not to say I did not like EW, but 1 thing that really felt SUPER lackluster was... our Final Days... happens what in two locations? Super underwhelming for an expantion that so heavily advertised it as the end of days!

Only to have it start happening and its terrible for a bit then... "hey lets all just go get some foods and talk as if this big world ending calamity isn't happening!" Just feels so tonally disconnected.

Then theres Meteion... I am starting to feel it was a mistake to conclude all of EW in just the base xpac, purely cause they try to get you to feel for the one you meet, buuuuut for me personally there just wasn't enough time to really get attached plus it was SO easy to tell something would happen to her for me anyways.

Also... trying to pull the "oh no everyones sacrificing themselves in the final zone!" Had like zero impact on me cause what again... it happens so fast for thancred with like really no dwelling in it to know "yeah we will bring em all back so no emotional stuff here"

Now I teared up a few times... but mostly was near the end of the final zone when the music fully kicks in and you are forced to walk, cause it made me think about my entire journey with xiv ever since joining in Gears of Change in HW so not far in arr's life.

And again didn't hate EW, the two final fights I loved a TON just story wise SHB was WAYYYY stronger for me personally since you know, delt with the ascians since arr to shb so it had more payoff then Meteions sisters whom we only really meet once we go to the very final zone.If I had to list the xpacs from fav to least in terms of story it'd be...

SHB
EW
HW
ARR
SB

So still pretty high given my grievances, but again that listing is just for storyline ranking. And no this is not an attack on anyone who did find the story to be perfect :P

[kpxmanifesto]

I have to ask, and this question goes for anyone. Do people judge how good a game's story is by how much it emotionally moves them?

[NealSnow]

I have to ask, and this question goes for anyone. Do people judge how good a game's story is by how much it emotionally moves them?

More so just cause I see people saying all the time how they cried a millions times over EW, so wanted to be a voice for those who weren't as emotionally hit by it.

[GrizzlyTank]

All i can think off is that SHB just managed to have a better dramatic structure/pacing, least for the finale. EW got some really strong points early especially with Garlemald, but ultimately there isn't really any point in endwalkers story that manges to beat the thrill we get when we head off to deal with vauthry and the revelations and twists that follow.

[Ririta]

We had no personal stakes in the Final Days. We didn't lose anything, its mechanics weren't relevant to us. The scions weren't even at the verge of turning. It's not like the Flood of Light where we ourselves could become a Lightwarden, or Graha's plot meant sacrificing himself, or hell, how Graha's plot being ruined by Emet just made everything even more bleak.

It's not like the Dragonsong war where we actually lost dear friends and not even by tragedy, but by their dreams of wanting to end this war so full of hate.

There's a ton of pacing issues, too. All urgency is lost when we take such a long trip to the past, and that whole Labyrinthos section. We kept seeing the dead coming back, over and over. Any possible emotional moment gets lost when we start interacting more with the dead than with regular people who's terrified of the Final Days.

And finally, giving the Final Days a (most punchable) face takes away a lot of its magic, too.

I have to ask, and this question goes for anyone. Do people judge how good a game's story is by how much it emotionally moves them?

A story being emotionally charge, if it hits the player, allows them to just let go and go for a ride.

For example, when you discard Nidhogg's eyes. That was incredibly dumb. But if ending the war, saving Estinien and seeing your dead friends did anything to you, you might have let that pass.

Personally, I thought that the mechanics behind the Final Days was dumb. But I could let it pass during Matsya's scene.

[lisaa]

Gosh Endwalker made me cry so much

Even just in the beginning, Ameliance talking to her children and giving Alphi his father's nouliths. Forming the Ilsabard Contingent and seeing old faces, job trainers from when we were just "adventurers", how far we've come.

Then in Garlemald, the girl in green and her sister, who would rather brave the wilderness rather than be killed or worse by the invaders. The hopelessness of the 1st Legion's last ditch attack on the alliance camp. Garlemald showed us the side of war which Stormblood never did.

Then on Elpis, seeing Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus again. Learning what Meteion's mission was, and what she found. How lonely she must have felt. And what happened on that platform above the clouds. It was the events of that day which sealed the fate of a thousand peoples for a thousand years to come. If only we were stronger then, if only we could done it differently that fateful day. And oh how strong Venat had to be, to bear that secret, and to condemn man to walk, to cause the children she loves to suffer so.

Returning to Sharlayan and seeing everyone show up. All the people you've touched on your long journey. And Fourchenaut's love for his children. All the while knowing you are heading on a hopeless journey, for how can you possibly defeat dynamis with your aether, how can you defeat despair itself? That you'll probably just be swallowed too, and all those people who placed their hope on you will die.

And the ending, there's too much to even list. When Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus create a field of elpis flowers. You are thinking they will create a staircase of light, or simply attack her, but instead they show her that even in this sea of despair there is still joy. In our darkest times, it can feel like there is nothing but loneliness and despair, we forget how much happiness and joy there is in life. That is just so incredibly well done. But what truly broke me was at the end, Meteion asks one last time, to hear your words, share your feelings, know your thoughts. That after all these millennia, visiting countless stars and finding naught but darkness, she still has that little bit of hope, to ask once more, to find a different answer. It's not seeing your memories that changed her, it's she herself who wants to believe there's a different answer.

Shadowbrings made me cry at the end, seeing the loss and tragedy of Emet-Selch's past and his impossible task. But Endwalker just works on so many levels. There was so much love and sorrow and triumph and despair. It was so wonderful and I can't think of anything like it.

[Garnix]

ShB was superior as a standalone expansion in my opinion. Aside from Amaurot, most of it was basically a side story.
EW on another end, was just a better 'FFXIV story' in my opinion.

You speak about how lackluster the final days were. But...did we need more? We have seen how it was in Amaurot, seen the despair in Thavnair and Garlemald. I think we have seen enough to decide to act on it... (+ I did not do the role quests yet, but I guess they give more on that? If so, I think they took that out of the MSQ because it would probably feel redundant in the same way lightwardens were redundant.)

The pacing was certainly odd at times considering the stakes. But it often is like that in JRPGs to be honest, so I did not mind.

Regarding Meteion, I think people will try comparing her to Emet as a villain. But in a way...isn't she more similar to Vauthry?
In ShB, the main villain was Vauthry, with Emet pulling the strings.
In EW, the main villain was Meteion, but in a way, Hermes was the one pulling the strings.
And I think he had some really good scenes, both as Fandaniel, as Amon and as Hermes.
This aside, there was also something a lot more "philosophical" about Meteion being the final boss. Emet's story in ShB was very sad. But Meteion's story is not really her story, it's a story about humanity as a whole.
It is not as "personal" but more "metaphysical" from my point of view. So it is sad in a very different way.

[Juun]

I wont argue Shadowbringers was fantastic but Endwalker is def up there. Meteion springing to conclusion of despair really hit me a few times. And then the finale with the scions showing that despite despair there is always motivation to go on and Emet-Selch and Hythlodaeus showing up conjuring the field of flowers, literally gave me goosebumps.

Maybe I sound emo for saying this but EW def hit a few notes on me emotionally and maybe it won't really be experienced fully if you never felt a moment of despair yourself.

[Fhaerron]

Soon I'm going to start to feel weird about the fact I've never cried playing this game.


Actually, now that I think about it I've never cried for a single game before and I mainly play RPG, JRPG, TPS & VN's


Same applies for movies really but I primarily watch comedy & horror.

[displayed]

For example, when you discard Nidhogg's eyes. That was incredibly dumb..

Eh, we already knew at that point how badly things can go when you don't discard Nidhogg's eyes.

The one living person who had any practice in maintaining just one of them was in terrible shape.

The disposal site put the eyes in the most remote place any Ishgardian could ever come up with. The plan would have worked perfectly if Ascians weren't able to fly into weather that would kill any mortal.