Am I the only one who found the ShB zones more magical then EW's? *spoilers*

[DynnDiablos]

First, I just want to say I did love Endwalker. It was a beautiful story (despite pacing issues) and I enjoyed how it closed out this arc.

HOWEVER, the new zones really did nothing for me. When I entered the new zones in Shadowbringers, from the purple-tinged landscape in Lakeland to the Crystal Waves in Amh Araeng, I was immediately just filled with wonder. The music, the visuals, there was a magic that just seemed to be missing in the Endwalker zones.

Like I know people like to make fun of the Rak'tika Greatwood due to the lahee song, but I love the music there and will just sit and enjoy it. I can't say any of the zones in Endwalker I really want to hang out in. The moon yes, the music there is nice and I would enjoy spending time in Ultima Thule if the zone reverted back to its normal zone music but the fact is final walk song permanently gets old.

Maybe I am the only one...I don't know I just really felt something special in the Shadowbringer zones that's missing in Endwalker's.

[Quintessa]

I think it has to do with the fact that an entire copy of Eorzea was created and that a giant swell of light was suspended by the Oracle of Light, and the story telling was done by a guy who recreated his home.

EW was back to boring Eorzea + colorful new zones and you know the rest.

[DynnDiablos]

I think it has to do with the fact that an entire copy of Eorzea was created and that a giant swell of light was suspended by the Oracle of Light, and the story telling was done by a guy who recreated his home.

EW was back to boring Eorzea + colorful new zones and you know the rest.

I mean, I get what you are saying BUT I didn't feel that with Heavensward. I really loved the new zones added in HW as well. I don't know why I felt EW so lackluster overall.

[Xaruko_Nexume]

I prefer the setting of Eorzea that we get in EW as opposed to The First. I loved Shb as much as anyone else, but I felt a constant sense of disconnect though. Cut off from the world I knew and protected, even though the WoL can go back and forth anytime he wants. It still felt really out of place, like I was on another world....which I was. Guess I didn't like that. It's a problem I have with the direction other MMOs end up going too.

[NegativeS]

The First was an entirely new world that the story didn't leave with very few exceptions. A new force of nature, a new threat, a new culture, and the most powerful and devout of the Ascians.

Lakeland already stirred the pot with having wildly different visuals and something familiar superimposed on this alien world.

Amh Araeng we get that imposing view of the huge wall of Light looking over us, and the bleak atmosphere fits well.

Il Mheg is something we've never seen before, and has a healthy amount of whimsy.

Kholusia felt like Disneyland almost, and is where a big climax was so automatically gets more points.

The tempest was just a set dressing for Amaurot.

The zones in EW...

Sharlayan and Labyrinthos were talked about for a long, long time in the story, so while the zones are pretty, they feel like they slip by fast.

Thavnair we spend way too little time in.

Garlemald is just bleak and depressing, though felt on-par with ShB.

Mare Lamentorum just felt unfinished to me.

Elpis pretty much matched the feeling I felt in the First, and I would die for an entire expansion in this setting.

Ultima Thule is only really meant to be that endgame 'final sprint for the end' area that a lot of video games have.

[Kyuse]

You're not alone, but to me it just speaks about how good of an expansion ShB was

[bass9020]

Every single new zone does nothing for me, even the city hubs. The stories within were great but the actual layouts were very lackluster. This game is not open world so Id rather have smaller more detailed and lively zones than what we have gotten since HW.

[Duskane]

I think they did better
while ShB has tempest easily the best zone in the game and Il mheg and Lakeland have that nice fantasy feel

Elpis,Mare and Ultima Thule are incredible areas
Elpis giving me Chrono trigger vibe,Mare obviously having the ff4 feeling ,Garlemald as ff6 and Ultima being the "Finale" area
i think they did fantasy setting well it doesn't always have to be castles fairies and forests to be considered magical imho.

[Atreides]

I like the maps just as much as I did the ShB zones with the last zone winning in EW.
The new main hub is pretty cool, Aetherite close to the market board and looks better than Limsa.

[Rhysati]

Elpis giving me Chrono trigger vibe,Mare obviously having the ff4 feeling ,Garlemald as ff6

As someone whose favorite game of all time is FFVI and my second favorite is ChronoTrigger...I really don't see either of those games in those areas. I'm glad they seem to trigger something for you, but I really don't see it at all. Every zone in this expansion is a bore for me and not an area I have any desire to go back to. Garlemald, especially, is a major failure on the part of the developers. They wrote themselves into a corner however and the big bad that was Garlemald and the Empire basically get chucked out the window in favor of all this new insanity that came out of nowhere.