Power Fantasy [[Spoilers]]

[ReynTime]

Change of lead writing.
Ishikawa is very good at writing sympathetic antagonists and melodrama. But once she took over the power of friendship to do anything vibe definitely took over full force in Shadowbringers onwards.
I think no better example exists that shows the contrast between the grounded and borderline low fantasy depiction of Heavensward and the MCU x Naruto Shippuuden style from Endwalker than how the scene where every named character is conveniently reunited in the same day at the precise time you're returning from the center of the universe from a trip with no set date for returning.

[OhNooo]

Change of lead writing.
Ishikawa is very good at writing sympathetic antagonists and melodrama. But once she took over the power of friendship to do anything vibe definitely took over full force in Shadowbringers onwards.

In my opinion I think she should stick with smaller parts. I enjoyed azim steppe and the drk questline, but not sure her style was the best for wrapping up approximately 10 years of lore. I'm definitely a fan of the low fantasy depiction in HW. Too bad they got rid of role quests because I'd love to continue the drk quest and maybe Ishikawa could work on other role quests. But looks like the devs have decided to get rid of the individual role quests for good.