Is it just me, or are Expansions getting more brutal and depressing every time?

[HyoMinPark]

I don’t think Endwalker was nearly dark enough for what it was trying to portray. I know that the developers had to stay within the confines of the rating, so they couldn’t show too much in terms of the consequences of civil war and the collapse of a society/empire in Garlemald; but there were definitely too many forgiving moments in other parts of the story that I think we could have done without. There was also a lot of missed potential in actually making the Final Days feel more like a global threat versus it only being prevalent in two maps. Role quests don’t really help, in my opinion.

It’s supposed to be “the coming of the end”—the end of our world. But it didn’t really feel like it. Such a high-stakes game didn’t feel all that high-stakes when so many characters were wearing heavy plot armor the entire time.

That said, I liked the exploration of concepts such as the meaning of existence, the meaning of life, accepting balance in terms of both positive and negative emotions, and nihilism; very thought-provoking and I do find myself contemplating it during several moments after completing the MSQ. But my emotional investment in Endwalker was overall lower than it was in the expansions prior. If I had to rank the expansions on the amount of times I felt emotionally involved or emotionally charged, it would be Shadowbringers > Stormblood > Heavensward = Endwalker > ARR. So much of my emotional involvement in EW was limited to very select instances. The end had me really feeling some emotional catharsis up until a certain character showed up to ruin it. But that’s just my opinion there.

I think the pacing of the story also affected my emotional investment. It felt almost like the writers thought they were getting “too heavy” in some spots, and tossed in some random comic relief there that just felt…very jarring and out of place. Plus there were too many periods where the story seemed to ramp up super quickly after a very, very, VERY long drag. Some of those drags I bordered on speed-reading because I was starting to actually fall asleep and lose focus. On my alt, I skipped them entirely. I’ll go back and do it all again a la NG+; maybe I’ll feel differently about it—but we’ll see.


All that said, I’m also someone who actually enjoys darker stories; and I don’t tend to shy away from them. My emotional tolerance for them is quite high.

[Lauront]

If the game is affecting your mental health this badly, if I were you I'd take a break and consider some professional counselling. While EW had some "dark" moments, it is pretty trifling in comparison to many games I've played.

[Vahlnir]

I don't really have a detached, meta minded look at things. Seeing brutally violent acts happening to any living being, whether named or not, is still very disturbing to see.

I don't look at characters are mere pieces or tropes. If I see a character being eaten alive, that's a very brutal and disturbing thing.

I think you need to separate fantasy from reality a little bit. There are certain things that hit me right in the feels because I can relate on some level, but I also know it's just a game. I'm not judging you here, just offering a suggestion.

[BaconBits]

The only thing that actually spooked me was Meteion having her little "episode" on Elpis when she reconnected to the shared consciousness, but that's just because I'm a jumpy mofo.

[Velnora]

Wish they would make this game M rated, so we could have story of actual depth.

[SenorPatty]

Things that should have realistically happened:

-Zenos should've been able to kill at least bare minimum 1 person during that time when he took over your body. At least one.

-The Final Days have all the hallmarks of Final Fantasy Type-0's Tempus Finis and yet it was only restricted to one area. Cmon, Square-Enix, that was a disservice to your fans.

[StriderShinryu]

I think it really depends on the scope of things. I do agree that the actual difficult moments are definitely more difficult. They do get more focused on and more time to breathe than in previous expansions. If you look at the story overall, however, and the bigger picture, I would say that, no, things have actually gotten lighter and more hopeful. Specific moments in EW like with Matsya or Meteion do get very dark, but things like the Final Days don't touch as wide a range as it feels they should. The characters we do lose are not main characters. Etc.

[Batbrat]

New to Final Fantasy games, huh? Might I interest you in perhaps a Mario or Sonic the hedgehog game?
I don't mean to be offensive, but its rather difficult to think of a purely feel good game-mainly because to be a hero, you must overcome obstacles.
And obstacles don't tend to be friendly and wholesome.

[Kansene]

The characters we do lose are not main characters. Etc.

I legitimately, no joke, believe we won't lose any of them literally just because they're just too marketable to write out.
I never for a single second during EW thought any of them would die, despite Yoshi-P teasing with "they're willing to go THAT far?"

I was hoping to be wrong however, In from the Cold got me hoping we'd see people really dear to us die, or at the very least seriously injured, but naw, the whole ordeal was actually without any consequence whatsoever.

[Ath192]

I wish some of the main characters died. The stakes had never been bigger and there was zero sacrifice..... Like, way too many fake deaths... if half of the scions had died in the effort to save the star, including one of the twins, Yshtola, Urianger and Thancred then that would have been a massively believable the world is at stake scenario, and we would have felt the impact of the sacrifice BIG TIME, not to mention the fallout and trauma that follows after such a huge loss. I mean.... They were trying to save the entire world, don't you think there would be a price to pay for this?

Would've made the story a 10/10 instead of a high 7 low 8. Still enjoyed it, but yeah, they play it too safe. Expansions with way less cosmic implications had more characters die to avert smaller disasters (in the grand scheme of things).