What's the point with that quite lackluster story in Endwalker?

[van_arn]

Dunno. A lot of these complaints I see about Zodiark getting offed in the first half seem a little misguided. He's just a loose thread after 5.3, and dropping him in as the first trial is a fantastic surprise. I can't imagine he'd be more interesting as a last boss, and having Fandaniel make good on his wish to kill himself and bring us all with him made their use of Zodiark apropos.

The naivety of Hermes, coupled with bird girl's findings made a fantastic surprise as well. Our ultimate enemy isn't something deep underground or an Other from the depths of space -- both of which were built up in the narrative -- it's "our" own creation (so is despair.) Hermes' half-flip of letting things play out and then wiping his own memory so he would be a defender against the apocalypse was pretty cool as well; they could've easily gone the boring route and just made him a cackling villain right then and there, but they let the passage of time drive him mad. He's actually a solid counterpoint to Emet, in that aspect.

Venat -- I am loathe to say time travel is something I would jump into without hesitation, but I'm willing to exchange that apprehension for what we get in Elpis. Some of my favorite interactions in the entire game are with her, and seeing the lyrics to Answers brought to life is worth the price of admission alone. For me, at least. Seeing the ancients going about their daily lives was also a blast, and the sidequests there are well worth playing through and paying attention.

Zenos? The mistake is they brought him back after Stormblood. I think him being a "bonus" fight at the end of the expansion is the best they could possibly do with him, and I don't think multiple 1v1s with him would've gone over well with a huge chunk of players. For those players, I think an option to abandon him at the end of the universe would've been a nice one to have-- but I also would've wanted an option to immediately accept him (in the vein of "oh heck yes, let's dunk on her and play together after") as soon as he appears in front of the Endsinger.