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

[Arillyn]

Snip

I agree with you on all of this. I personally enjoyed the story. It ended the whole arc I've been playing since 1.0 pretty well. I'm satisfied. I went into this expansion expecting it to not be as good as Shadowbringers because to me, that was near on perfection as you can get for an MMO story. I was actually surprised that he was the first trial though and I think it worked, for reasons you stated.

I also like that going forward, looks like I'm going back to my adventurer roots and I love that. I do feel my character is an adventurer first. That is what makes her tick (I'm sure that's what made Azem tick too based on everything we know about them).

As for Zenos, I was over him when he died at the end of Stormblood and one who wasn't happy they brought him back. I know some people love him. I do not, and I was really concerned with how he would be dealt with in EW. I actually was happy with what they did with him. I could live with all of it and I actually found myself enjoying the battle at the end. It made sense to me. This is all he wanted and my character... well happy to oblige at that point once the danger to the world was dealt with and finish him off once and for good.

[Maxilor]

One of my favorite things I read about the story is when someone compared Meteion to one of those Self-Learning AI Programs that they tried to introduce to the internet.

Except instead of becoming Genocidal, the AI in real life just became a giant racist.

[Ryaz]

95% of the FFXIV players.... Endwalker is awesome!

The other 5%... We're gonna live on the official forums!

[Anvaire]

If im honest i was let down by Zodiark not because i wanted him as a final boss but because i didnt want to fight him at all. I wanted to see the kind of god / saviour he was. I wanted to see what he truly looked like at his full power and i wanted there to be meaning behind the choice to free him. Instead we were baited into the idea of giving a choice. I understand why they made him souless and weak, but i dunno, i think it would have been cool to see and understand who and what Zodiark really was. Instead we got this gimped version controlled by a phychopath. I guess its because of elidibus, but i would have liked to see a zodiark and elidibus combined and seen them help us face meteon.

I'll respect the Devs that this was their vision, but i think they squandered a lot of what they have spent years building. Zodiark's closure was disappointing and meteion's inclusion, felt a little shoehorned in, while meaning to be a twist.

But the overall biggest complaint is the level of plot armour and fake-out deaths that were present in the last zone. I honestly understand the intention but by undoing the deaths it robbed the experience of meaning. Far better for Alisae to have turned in the second half of Thavnair and had to have been killed. It would have been much more impactful (I say Alisae because she seemed the most likely IMO to turn)

[ddwarbird]

[[Spoilers Ahead]]

I am very bored of this "End of the World" anime crap... FFXIV used to have a mature story with inter-state politics playing a primary role, skilfully crafting allusions to real life. The Garlean Empire was made out in the end to be a straight out "bad guy", rather then the rich contextualisation they received in both ARR and Heavensward. It was a mature, gritty story where BOTH sides were doing evil things and played well with the dynamic of the beast tribes, displaced from their lands and desperately relying on their primals to bring them deliverance from poverty.

This story was boring and boiled down to "Hermes's love doll got sad and tried to blow up the Universe".

[Ryaz]

If im honest i was let down by Zodiark not because i wanted him as a final boss but because i didnt want to fight him at all. I wanted to see the kind of god / saviour he was. I wanted to see what he truly looked like at his full power and i wanted there to be meaning behind the choice to free him. Instead we were baited into the idea of giving a choice. I understand why they made him souless and weak, but i dunno, i think it would have been cool to see and understand who and what Zodiark really was. Instead we got this gimped version controlled by a phychopath. I guess its because of elidibus, but i would have liked to see a zodiark and elidibus combined and seen them help us face meteon.

I'll respect the Devs that this was their vision, but i think they squandered a lot of what they have spent years building. Zodiark's closure was disappointing and meteion's inclusion, felt a little shoehorned in, while meaning to be a twist.

But the overall biggest complaint is the level of plot armour and fake-out deaths that were present in the last zone. I honestly understand the intention but by undoing the deaths it robbed the experience of meaning. Far better for Alisae to have turned in the second half of Thavnair and had to have been killed. It would have been much more impactful (I say Alisae because she seemed the most likely IMO to turn)

He wouldn't have been much. He was created to be a tool to stop the Final Days and without Elidibus as his heart, he was basically just a mindless zombie.

[MagiusNecros]

Zodiark in FFXII is a huge feathered bird monster.

Meteion is a huge feathered bird monster.

Technically the final boss is still Zodiark in all but name.

[ddwarbird]

They did this in Final Fantasy X as well, the game revelled in objectifying Rikku. Its not xenophobic to point out a pattern here.

[Ryaz]

They did this in Final Fantasy X as well, the game revelled in objectifying Rikku. Its not xenophobic to point out a pattern here.

Except they're not objectifying of Meteion in the game? There was nothing remotely sexual about her.

[ddwarbird]

Her voice is really creepy, her personality is the same "pathetic girl" trope you see in a lot of animes/games (Colette from Tales of Symphonia springs to mind). As soon as I saw her, I thought... Yeah, this girl is going to be a villain. They may not being objectifying but why have a character like that in the game at all? I found her creepy and rather annoying in Elpis. Her plot arc is essentially "becoming an emo because the universe isn't what you want it to be". Its really shallow if I'm honest... plus she isn't wearing any trousers.