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

[FoxyAreku]

I liked a lot of moments in endwalker, but it sure did have a lot of filler-was more noticeable than any other expansion for me except ARR itself. And it was also very jarring how little actual gameplay there was. Outside of the quota 5 dungeons and 2 trials, I basically never did anything but watch cutscenes. That was lame.

Good story overall but I don't understand people saying it's amazing or the best story ever told, it was just okay for me. Shadowbringers, Heavensward, and Stormblood back when they were current were more fun and resonated with me more (and they all had actual gameplay), but each their own.

[ReynTime]

I liked a lot of moments in endwalker, but it sure did have a lot of filler-was more noticeable than any other expansion for me except ARR itself. And it was also very jarring how little actual gameplay there was. Outside of the quota 5 dungeons and 2 trials, I basically never did anything but watch cutscenes. That was lame.

Good story overall but I don't understand people saying it's amazing or the best story ever told, it was just okay for me. Shadowbringers, Heavensward, and Stormblood back when they were current were more fun and resonated with me more (and they all had actual gameplay), but each their own.

That's also a very good point. Even if you exclude "filler" from it, the pacing was still very bad because even ARR broke the chain of just reading dialogue/watching cutscenes with actual combat far more often than Endwalker... On top of ARR dungeons being simply better designed, bosses aside.

[Cithaerias_pyropina]

I liked a lot of moments in endwalker, but it sure did have a lot of filler-was more noticeable than any other expansion for me except ARR itself. And it was also very jarring how little actual gameplay there was. Outside of the quota 5 dungeons and 2 trials, I basically never did anything but watch cutscenes. That was lame.

Good story overall but I don't understand people saying it's amazing or the best story ever told, it was just okay for me. Shadowbringers, Heavensward, and Stormblood back when they were current were more fun and resonated with me more (and they all had actual gameplay), but each their own.

The devs could cut out all the dungeons and trials and people would say it's the best expansion they've ever played.

[RyuDragnier]

The devs could cut out all the dungeons and trials and people would say it's the best expansion they've ever played.

If you're interested in the story and lore, this is the best expansion to date. Lots of closure on events and characters, subtle nods to previous events that have happened, even multiple cases of Fridge Brilliance when you look at the story from the big perspective. Example of one case of Fridge Brilliance.

Why was there no mass amounts of Terminus or End of Days apocalypse weather in old zones besides coding reasons? Because you've already taken care of the majority of sources of despair over the course of the previous expansions. You've helped Eorzea itself massively, cured Tempering, stopped a war Ishgard had for 1000 years and helped make peace with the dragons along with rebuilding Ishgard itself, freed Ala Mhigo and helped it get back on its feet, freed Doma and given their people a future to look forward to, and that's not including all the side stuff you've canonically done before now which has helped others. So of course the few sources of despair in the regions would be small, you've already dealt with the main issues they had at every location, leaving the small loose ends storywise for the role quests (your mileage may vary on how well they did those though).

[Theodric]

If you're interested in the story and lore, this is the best expansion to date.

I think that's rather subjective. A lot of the people who are discussing and weighing in on the story have been following it enthusiastically for years. Furthermore, not every plot thread or character even goes anywhere - many have been abandoned and never mentioned again. The writers are good at making things fit retroactively for the most part, though by their own admission they don't plan everything out in advance and sometimes change the planned story outright.

It was nice to see some of the secondary characters show up again, though so much time was spent on the Scions that could have otherwise been spent elsewhere. At various points the same conversations are repeated, just with different words used.

Personally my feelings are mixed on the expansion. I really liked some parts, disliked others - which is how I felt about Stormblood. So, overall, it sits around the same point for me and doesn't quite surpass Heavensward or Shadowbringers in my eyes.

[kpxmanifesto]

The devs could cut out all the dungeons and trials and people would say it's the best expansion they've ever played.

Well yeah, fanboys will always defend the game.