Endwalker was "meh" (for reasons other than technical issues)

[Tsukino]

I think the Final Days were also underused. It affected two zones and…that was it. I really would have liked to have seen it in all the zones. Kind of like the Everlasting Light, and maybe it gets extinguished after we succeed in Ultima Thule. But, nope. It was kind of one-two-done thing. Disappointing. The writers even threw in two scenes of people being affected in Ala Mhigo and Ishgard by the despair that turns them into blasphemies….and then nothing became of that. It wasn’t mentioned or revisited. It felt almost as if something was planned for the other regions/city-states, and then cut.

Do the role quests, they follow up on this happening in both of those places as well as Limsa Lominsa, Gridania, and Doma. I totally disagree with everyone saying the "Final Days" weren't there for long enough though, when we had one of only six dungeons devoted to it (two would have been horrible, especially considering we already did Amaurot) and the part that I thought dragged on the second most (next to Labyrinthos) in Thavnair chasing Matsya around for like an hour. It more than served its purpose of saying "it's going down right now, so make some decisions" in the scheme of the story.

Though, I was also disappointed that Zodiark mostly ended up being a chump after we spent so much time building him up as this Big Bad. Just another disappointment and lost potential in the story.

I also don't get this one at all. Zodiark is only half complete. All the ascians who really cared about bringing him back and were capable of doing so are already gone. Fandaniel's entire plan is to have Zodiark be destroyed to resume the calamity. None of this leads to Zodiark as the final boss; that ship sailed during Shadowbringers quite obviously.


I mostly agree with the rest that I didn't quote though. Pacing wasn't any worse than any of the other expansions (why does no one remember how awful the miners in Shadowbringers were, at the exact same point in the story as Labyrinthos no less?) but it's definitely not ideal either. Zenos sucks and contributes nothing to the story as usual. I don't hate the Scions' sacrifice scenes for the same reason as everyone else, but it definitely feels like they've gone through all the development they need and those scenes makes it obvious. And yeah, their sense of comedic timing overall is not great, though it did make a Hythlodaeus line particularly funny by accident; I'd prefer if they just kept that stuff to big side stories like Hildebrand/Gilgamesh/etc.

Heavensward sucked though, I will never understand how anyone rates it higher than anything.

[HyoMinPark]

Do the role quests, they follow up on this happening in both of those places as well as Limsa Lominsa, Gridania, and Doma. I totally disagree with everyone saying the "Final Days" weren't there for long enough though, when we had one of only six dungeons devoted to it (two would have been horrible, especially considering we already did Amaurot) and the part that I thought dragged on the second most (next to Labyrinthos) in Thavnair chasing Matsya around for like an hour. It more than served its purpose of saying "it's going down right now, so make some decisions" in the scheme of the story.

Somehow I doubt the role quests will really fulfill what I was talking about here: the Final Days were built up through 5.4 and 5.5, through all the trailers, the PLLs—there was a lot of build up for something that, honestly, occurred fairly late in the story (level 84/85), and only affected two zones DESPITE the writers deliberately showing its effects in both Ishgard and Ala Mhigo. But the latter two locations were just completely dropped in terms of MSQ—and, as I said, it gave me the impression that more had been planned for the Final Days than what actually made the final cut.

If you want to bring up dungeons, though—compare to Shadowbringers: we had 5 dungeons that existed to purge the Everlasting Light from Norvrandt. 5 that existed to deal with sin eaters and Lightwardens. We get one in Endwalker to deal with the end of our world. As I said, feels like more was planned and then dropped for the sake of completing the story by the end of 6.0. And that just added to why I said it felt rushed and underused.

I also don't get this one at all. Zodiark is only half complete. All the ascians who really cared about bringing him back and were capable of doing so are already gone. Fandaniel's entire plan is to have Zodiark be destroyed to resume the calamity. None of this leads to Zodiark as the final boss; that ship sailed during Shadowbringers quite obviously.

I never said I expected him to be the final boss. That doesn’t mean I wanted him to be forgettable though—because, quite frankly, he is. We’ve spent years hearing about the guy, and incomplete or no, we whack at him for a few minutes and then he poofs. And we basically just move on and barely discuss him from that point.

Heavensward sucked though, I will never understand how anyone rates it higher than anything.

I mean, you’re entitled to your opinion—though I’d definitely say you’re in a minority here with it. But I fail to see what this little quip has to do with the rest of my post.

[Tsukino]

Somehow I doubt the role quests will really fulfill what I was talking about here: the Final Days were built up through 5.4 and 5.5, through all the trailers, the PLLs—there was a lot of build up for something that, honestly, occurred fairly late in the story (level 84/85), and only affected two zones DESPITE the writers deliberately showing its effects in both Ishgard and Ala Mhigo. But the latter two locations were just completely dropped—and, as I said, it gave me the impression that more had been planned for the Final Days that what actually made the final cut.

Oh, no, they won't change your mind, I don't think they're very good really. I was just pointing out that the ones in Ala Mhigo and Ishgard aren't dropped, they're in the role quests. I didn't mean to suggest that those role quests are good.

As for Zodiark, that's fair, I just don't know what they could have done with him so weakened and devoid of ascian support as he was at this point. Like I said above, hopefully more information on Elidibus might give more insight into Zodiark than the story allowed for.

The thing about Heavensward was just my not-funny way of finalizing all the things I listed about your full opinion, it doesn't mean anything except I thought Heavensward was dumb.

[HyoMinPark]

Oh, no, they won't change your mind, I don't think they're very good really. I was just pointing out that the ones in Ala Mhigo and Ishgard aren't dropped, they're in the role quests. I didn't mean to suggest that those role quests are good.

I elaborated a bit more to mention how they were kind of dropped out of the MSQ. Idk. I guess it was meant to be a role quest teaser, but it felt a bit hollow. Tbh, I forgot about the role quests since they were also brought up so late. Kind of also seemed like an afterthought, but maybe because they’re less integrated in the backstory compared to the ones in ShB with the Cardinal Virtues.

As for Zodiark, that's fair, I just don't know what they could have done with him so weakened and devoid of ascian support as he was at this point. Like I said above, hopefully more information on Elidibus might give more insight into Zodiark than the story allowed for.

I do hope we get more, since I feel like we were more so fighting Fandaniel during the trial versus Zodiark himself. And I just didn’t like how forgettable he ended up feeling, being that he was built up for so long as a main antagonist to our character and their cause. I’d like him to have more to him, so maybe I’ll get that from Pandaemonium.

The thing about Heavensward was just my not-funny way of finalizing all the things I listed about your full opinion, it doesn't mean anything except I thought Heavensward was dumb.

Ah. I suppose we’ll just have to agree to disagree on that, since I really enjoyed Heavensward and the Dragonsong War. It may also be because of when I started playing and nostalgia blah blah, but I’ve always enjoyed the story. To be honest, the only main story I can give a below average rating to is ARR—if only because it is so full of filler, even after the condensing. Some filler is fine and necessary to an extent, but ARR tests my patience a lot lol.