Spoiler, Sploilers, and more Spoilers

[Theox]

There's this genre in literature called picaresque novel, prominent features of which are:
1. Everything that happens to the main protagonist is destined and predetermined.
2. There are higher forces at play, such as gods, rulers, power of nature etc.
3. These forces guide their protagonist through quite random and out of the pocket situations, which change rapidly throughout the story.
4. Concept of time is irrelevant and sometimes 600 pages make up the story of several days despite the fact that within this time protagonist may go through what normal people wouldn't be able to in their whole lives.

Endwalker checked the box on every of these for me and this is the problem. Picaresque novel is a fun silly thing, a relic of time packed with ridiculous stories, over the top characters, linear storytelling (meaning you already know the ending when you start reading), but never it tries to provide you with a deep narrative and it shouldn't. I really expected to get some serious writing packed with psychological and philosophical dilemmas, deep characters and meaningful story. Instead what I got was some poorly made anime from the 80s that doesn't take itself seriously. Well, if they're going this route then I suppose I'll just start skipping every msq dialogue entirely, because it's just not worth the time investment.

[Rhysati]

I also think it jumped the shark and escalated things to a ridiculous degree. I wasn't pleased when WoW did that and I am certainly not pleased with FFXIV going down the same route.

Agreed. Pacing issues were bad enough, but this feels like some weird Kojima-esque fever dream with the power creep of WoW. Where do we even go from here? How do we up the stakes again so that it's even remotely believable? Why did we add in so many things that have never really been mentioned before and why are the scions and everyone around you seemingly totally fine and dandy with finding out their entire existence and everything they thought they knew about the universe was wrong?

This should be world-rattling events and everyone on Eorzea should be flipping the hell out. But everyone seems to be doing just fine. It's so jarring.

[Jadedsins]

How they explained things made sense, and it help add flavor to all we went through. You know it is a good story when you can go back to the older content and be like OOOH so that is why.

Time Travel is done right here, and used in just the right way.
Did they over use the feels moment when you had to give up everyone for a short time? Yes for sure. A good story will always make you feel something, and they did that for sure.


And that ending was perfect. For one brief moment. I was not the warrior of light. I was an adventure, my selfish nature was able to come out and point out zenos was right all along.


This expansion had it all. I mean could they told the story better? Maybe, but one thing for sure. I'm excited to see where they go from here.

[Jandor]

This should be world-rattling events and everyone on Eorzea should be flipping the hell out. But everyone seems to be doing just fine. It's so jarring.

It was a seemingly inexplicable plague that turned anyone who got too sad in to a monster. The revelation, as far as the layman is concerned at least, that it was all caused by a scary monster from outer space actually makes it less world-rattling.

This is after all, the 2nd scary monster from outer space attack in less than a decade.

[Jadedsins]

What i am hoping in the future is things scale back from here. We lose the blessing of light and echo powers, and we have to adjust to new adventures without it. Our power scaling from a story telling sense gets scaled way back, and we go through struggles of an adventurer.

[Lauront]

There's this genre in literature called picaresque novel, prominent features of which are:
1. Everything that happens to the main protagonist is destined and predetermined.
2. There are higher forces at play, such as gods, rulers, power of nature etc.
3. These forces guide their protagonist through quite random and out of the pocket situations, which change rapidly throughout the story.
4. Concept of time is irrelevant and sometimes 600 pages make up the story of several days despite the fact that within this time protagonist may go through what normal people wouldn't be able to in their whole lives.

Endwalker checked the box on every of these for me and this is the problem. Picaresque novel is a fun silly thing, a relic of time packed with ridiculous stories, over the top characters, linear storytelling (meaning you already know the ending when you start reading), but never it tries to provide you with a deep narrative and it shouldn't. I really expected to get some serious writing packed with psychological and philosophical dilemmas, deep characters and meaningful story. Instead what I got was some poorly made anime from the 80s that doesn't take itself seriously. Well, if they're going this route then I suppose I'll just start skipping every msq dialogue entirely, because it's just not worth the time investment.

Agreed. Pacing issues were bad enough, but this feels like some weird Kojima-esque fever dream with the power creep of WoW. Where do we even go from here? How do we up the stakes again so that it's even remotely believable? Why did we add in so many things that have never really been mentioned before and why are the scions and everyone around you seemingly totally fine and dandy with finding out their entire existence and everything they thought they knew about the universe was wrong?

This should be world-rattling events and everyone on Eorzea should be flipping the hell out. But everyone seems to be doing just fine. It's so jarring.

Unfortunately this convoluted mess of a story is why I am simply going to let my sub lapse at this point and be done with the game. I doubt there will be any marked improvement in the future in terms of story content. I don't really like Ishikawa's style much (at least what we've seen of it in SHB and EW), and she's failed to instil any sympathy for Venat's actions, even through this very tortured method of story telling. The game's mechanical aspects are just about mediocre as it is, so there's nothing really holding me to it. I was willing to give it a chance even though 5.3 disappointed me in a similar manner but this was more - and even worse - of the same.

[Xaruko_Nexume]

Agreed. Pacing issues were bad enough, but this feels like some weird Kojima-esque fever dream with the power creep of WoW. Where do we even go from here? How do we up the stakes again so that it's even remotely believable? Why did we add in so many things that have never really been mentioned before and why are the scions and everyone around you seemingly totally fine and dandy with finding out their entire existence and everything they thought they knew about the universe was wrong?

This should be world-rattling events and everyone on Eorzea should be flipping the hell out. But everyone seems to be doing just fine. It's so jarring.

Did Emmet Selch not remind us there is still so much to see and do jut on Etheriys alone?

After reading the thread, Im not sure what some were expecting here. This was one of the best stories Ive ever experienced, and I do think the best in any video game ever in my life. It was fantastic. The comments I see in game constantly align with this as well.

Leave it to the forums to find fault with anything though.

[CKNovel]

The time travel part is the most difficult to accept part.
That and "introduce big villain that turned out to be the big villain behind everything"

The time travel was good but forced. I feel like they originally wanted to remember Azem's memories, but that would've been harder to write with major plot holes with extra crap like establishing Azem and the other Ascien relationship.

The big bad suddenly introduced, I also feel like it was supposed to be a natural event but it was easier to put a face on the cause behind the final days rather than a natural cause.

Both together present Dynamis, Dynamis is clearly introduced but it ties a lot together. From the limit break to Omega who couldn't find the reason why weaker characters are able to defeat impossible foes.
Dynamis was also necessary as how an advanced and godlike civilization couldn't figure about Dynamis but weaker human can?

There is good, there is bad.

[Lily_Skye]

Sorry i have to say it: enemy not at full strengh, time travel, memory erase.

All this is a really, really cheap resource to tell a history.

Is used a lot becouse is easy to fix or manipulate everything.

im dissapointed nothing else.

ok bye .

[Jadedsins]

If I had to nit pick, I would us not losing a scion, As much as some people would not be happy, Losing someone you are close with, would have made the despair part have a bigger impact to stand in the face of it at the end.


I feel like the developers played it safe some with that. Every expansion they have us wondering who is going to die. Now I'm at the point where I don't see that being a huge impact again. Not sure if it is because the developers have grown attached to the scions, and don't got the courage to off one of them, or they worried about back lash.


It really needed to happen though, and it did not.