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

[Garet]

"However, many of those who would bear the burden of continued existence in a world ravaged by Black Rose failed to see this as a viable stratagem. Such responses were consistent with my projections, as it is generally the primary objective of all life-forms to secure their own survival in the here and now.
Many of Master Cid’s followers either refused to cooperate or expressed a desire to leave the Ironworks altogether. Certain former employees went as far as to appropriate equipment and supplies by force before heading into the wilderness to fend for themselves."
"In addition, by presenting their plan as an attempt to save the Warrior of Light rather than a bid to rewrite history, they were able to gain the support from survivors of many different species and subgroups."
In other words, the Ironworks couldn't get people on their side until they began lying about what they were planning to do by using our name.

"The 8th Umbral Calamity spelled an end not only to the civilizations of Eorzea, but also the Garlean Empire. Survivors included Cid Garlond, who continued operating Garlond Ironworks. Inspired to undo the Eighth Ardor, he used the concepts of traversing the rift observed in his encounters with Omega and the time travel theory observed in his encounters with Alexander to work out a way to traverse time and space to reach the First before its Rejoining. The heroism of the Warrior of Light, who perished in the Calamity, inspired many people to lend support to the project, as stories of the legendary hero kept hope alive in these dark days.
The research passed to a descendant of Biggs, who developed the technology required to awaken G'raha Tia within the Crystal Tower two hundred years after the Calamity, as they hoped to use the tower as a vessel. They would travel to a time after the hero's victory in the Dragonsong War, and G'raha, having control over the Crystal Tower, would travel within it to the First.
Because time flows differently between the Source and its shards, G'raha Tia arrived one-hundred years prior to the desired time, but survived under the identity of the Crystal Exarch, protecting the refugees of the devastated First in a city formed around the Crystal Tower, and eventually called the Warrior of Light to the First. The Warrior of Light, under the mantle of "Warrior of Darkness", returned balance to Norvrandt, removing the calamitous potency of Black Rose on the Source (the supply of which was separately destroyed) before it could be employed and preventing the First from being used for the Rejoining, thus averting the Eighth Umbral Calamity altogether. The alternate timeline following the Eighth Umbral Calamity was not erased from existence, but began to rebuild civilization under Garlond Ironworks' descendants and Midgardsormr." -FF wiki

[Theodric]

This is exceptionally condescending Theodric.

You're free to believe as much, though I merely wish for a return to meaningful consequences and actual stakes. Cheap and predictable emotionally manipulative tropes do very little to excite me and I shall not pretend as if they do.

How many times has Y'shtola 'died' by this point? It's clear to me that whenever the Scions are in danger, it is not going to amount to anything and as such the lengthy scenes pretending as if they are equates to the same style of busywork filler as the infamous banquet related errands back in the days of ARR.

[EaraGrace]

You're free to believe as much, though I merely wish for a return to meaningful consequences and actual stakes. Cheap and predictable emotionally manipulative tropes do very little to excite me and I shall not pretend as if they do.

How many times has Y'shtola 'died' by this point? It's clear to me that whenever the Scions are in danger, it is not going to amount to anything and as such the lengthy scenes pretending as if they are equates to the same style of busywork filler as the infamous banquet related errands back in the days of ARR.

You’re allowed your feelings, but the insults and denigrations were and will remain unnecessary.

[Nilroreo]

One difference. The people in the 8th Umbral Calamity determined that their OWN erasure was preferable to living in hell. It was not just Ironworks but the survivors in that timeline banding together to work toward the goal of sending the Tower and G'raha back to avert the Calamity.

If the Ancients had stopped with the second sacrifice, it would be the same situation. But they wanted to sacrifice other new lives after the world was restored to a livable state just to get their own people inside Zodiark back.

U sure about that? How about the sundered shards, did they give their consent to being erased? How about anybody on Etherys who was minding their own business? I highly doubt ironworks was able to unite literally the entire planet for this cause. did they consent? How about any foreign races across the universe that meteion might've missed? did they asked to be erased?

And as I said in another post, I dont hold either of these groups as more or less just than the other. They felt the need to do what they did to ensure that the world they knew survives, a sentiment I'm sure most of us can understand. My point is that the game will go to great lengths to remind us of how awful those ascians are for doing this, meanwhile similar potential atrocities committed by our heroes are brushed aside as a minor footnote. Either both of these scenarios are ok, or none of em are. I'm not going to cherrypick which ones are right or wrong based on who is or isn't on my side.

[OhNooo]

Ultimately, I feel the story ventured too deep into fanservice territory this time around and allowed sentimentality to drive the story in place of logic.

Agreed. Speaking of fan service, even though I do find the ancients interesting, I really don't think they should've had us go back in time to see them at all. It probably would've made more sense to have us use the echo in some way to peer into the unsundered world. But I'm guessing they did that because they knew a lot of people would love it and as soon as I saw those robes with the masks, I knew the rp community was gonna have a field day lol.

And yes, comparing the tone and overall vibe to the storytelling in HW...the fact that to this day when I walk into Ishgard and get this fond little smile and feel like I'm coming home...that says a lot about the impact the expansion has for the whole game. I get so excited when I see new players streaming the game and getting to Ishgard for the first time. There was definitely a more nuanced tone in HW that worked very well, and in my opinion, this more subtle tone turned out to be way more effective for me than the writing style in EW.

One of my favorite scenes is when Estinien is recounting his experience of being taken over by Nidhogg; the irony of two beings basically living in each other's minds, and both of them happen to be consumed by the craving for revenge for what each one of their kind did to the other...it's just so incredibly well done in my opinion. On the other hand, when I look at several of the scenes in EW, you have these emotional scenes with sad or inspirational music that may get you excited or get a reaction out of you at the time but then it just feels kind of hollow when it's over.

ETA: For example: the body swap scene. I remember being on the edge of my seat thinking wow things are finally about to start getting real...and then right when I think something is about to go down here comes Fandaniel like nope that's all you get lol and I was left feeling like they had dangled a small taste of something with potential in front of me and left me feeling confused about the whole point of introducing it in the first place. At first I thought it was going to be brought up again later...but nope we never heard about it ever again.

[Theodric]

You’re allowed your feelings, but the insults and denigrations were and will remain unnecessary.

Again, each to their own - I certainly wouldn't consider the post in question to be riddled with insults. It was more of an observation of an established trend!

My posting style isn't going to be everybody's cup of tea though given that tone policing rarely leads to anything beyond perpetually moving goalposts and increasing double standards, I must confess to having very little interest partaking in it.

[TaleraRistain]

U sure about that? How about the sundered shards, did they give their consent to being erased? How about anybody on Etherys who was minding their own business? I highly doubt ironworks was able to unite literally the entire planet for this cause. did they consent? How about any foreign races across the universe that meteion might've missed? did they asked to be erased?

Nope, they didn't. But that doesn't change the fact they were still going to feel the effects of the decision. They were going to disappear potentially as well.

With the third sacrifice, those making the choice were not going to feel the effects of the decision. The proposal wasn't sacrifice some of their own and the new life, but just the new life.

We also didn't exactly ask the planet to let us go destroy Zodiark either. But it was going to affect us just as much as everyone else. We go out and poke things or take action, but we will feel the consequences.

[ApolloGenX]

One thing I did like was fighting Hydaelyn. If nothing else it was a little different than Venat turning into just another mana goddess rolling around in her panties.... although there was plenty of that.

[Lauront]

This. I among many others I'm sure derive my enjoyment from how well everything comes together, as well as my own personal enjoyment of what's happening on screen. my biggest issue with Endwalker is that it didn't quite stick the landing on both fronts and heavily prioritizes the fun aspect of the game's narrative over the practicality of anything that's going on.

To give an example, Heavensward which is my personal favorite expansion has this moment towards the end where Hraesvelgr of his own volition hands us his eye in a historic turning point that calls back to the conclusion of whatever feud the Dravanians and Ishgardians initially had ages ago. Both this conflict and the dragonsong war are ended with Hraesvelgr joining hands with another mortal becoming living symbols of unity between the land and the heavens. the scene also makes sense practically because it's already been long established that dragon eyes are vessels to a near infinite reserve of aether, and azure dragoons are empowered by use of this power. this whole segment is both fun to watch, and it doesn't make you question the logistics of what's going on.

Compare all of that with a scene towards the end of Endwalker where you summon Emet and Hythlodeus to summon a bed of flowers, Meteion gets sad, and Emet says "These Elpis blooms serve as proof that this realm is not utterly devoid of hope. No more can you deny its power. No more is yours the dominion of despair," then suddenly we can just bring everyone back with no repercussions... but why? what's stopping her from just undoing everyone again? What is even going on? I know I'm supposed to feel happy/sad cuz the scene is clearly trying its hardest to illicit an emotion out of me here, but something about this explanation just isn't clicking with me.

Ultimately, I feel the story ventured too deep into fanservice territory this time around and allowed sentimentality to drive the story in place of logic. I mean, I won't lie, they did a damn fine job on that end. If all they wanted to do was give me an adrenaine rush during the last quarter of the final boss, or during the badass fight with Zenos at the edge of the universe etc., then they succeeded. I just wish I could say I loved the expansions story beyond what it had to offer on the surface level.

Well at least you enjoyed that part. I didn't mind the Zenos fight too much. Didn't love it either, but at least it fit his character, alongside all the cheesiness of it. Endsinger meanwhile? All that build up, then a bit over 1/3 of the fight with head flailing and it was over the top to the point that it simply came across as borderline comical to me. Her design and some of the mechanics were decent, and I liked the zone design of Ultima Thule a lot, but the trial wasn't much of a highlight to me. I'll agree that it was very cinematic, though.

One thing I did like was fighting Hydaelyn. If nothing else it was a little different than Venat turning into just another mana goddess rolling around in her panties.... although there was plenty of that.

Yeah, I felt both hers and hijacked Zodiark's were both good trials. Not the most demanding mechanically, but the design was good in both instances.

[OhNooo]

One thing I did like was fighting Hydaelyn...

So I was on discord the first run through that fight. The part where she says something like "Fly, my children, and never look back," I was like "Don't call me that. It's been years hearing your annoying hear feel think in my head and me having painful black outs from the echo. Time for you to go." Everybody was laughing so hard on voice when I said that lol. I was slightly joking but yeah, definitely glad we don't have to be anyone's "servant" anymore. I think my character is gonna go to Garlemald and hang out with Julius for a little while.