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

[Miminming]

i find it OK, good for mmo standard, but really mediocore for rpg/books/movie standard...

don't like how they suddenly bring up meteion and make her a last boss, i don't even pity her because the time we spend together is pnly a few hour... bit that's all that bugs me

the worst part is how people who like it treat it like a godly story and refuse to disscuss whats good and bad, because to them yoshida and ishikawa is god that can't make any mistake

[kpxmanifesto]

don't like how they suddenly bring up meteion and make her a last boss, i don't even pity her because the time we spend together is pnly a few hour... bit that's all that bugs me

Yeah I think the general consensus is that Meteion was shoehorned in a little too suddenly to be a convincing last boss for the game. Also, dynamis is pretty silly.

[Ryaz]

Yeah I think the general consensus is that Meteion was shoehorned in a little too suddenly to be a convincing last boss for the game. Also, dynamis is pretty silly.

General consensus of the forums anyway. Plenty of others have enjoyed the story and Meteion (who to me wasn't actually the last boss... she was just representative of the whole despair vs hope theme that has been going since day 1). To me, EW was less about saving the world and more about how the characters you've been with since the beginning have grown. If players aren't fond of the Scions, which some have outright stated they dont like, it's not going to land as well.

[KizuyaKatogami]

General consensus of the forums anyway. Plenty of others have enjoyed the story and Meteion (who to me wasn't actually the last boss... she was just representative of the whole despair vs hope theme that has been going since day 1). To me, EW was less about saving the world and more about how the characters you've been with since the beginning have grown. If players aren't fond of the Scions, which some have outright stated they dont like, it's not going to land as well.

Just because it’s the forums that’s talking out about it more doesn’t make it any less relevant though. The main reason it may be spoken about more here is because twitter/reddit is a much more toxic environment to state opinions than an official forum page that is (somewhat) moderated. The problem with EW being “less about saving the word” is that this isn’t how it was advertised or built up at all. Especially if you read up on Yoshi p’s interviews or statements pre expansion. As for the whole scion thing, i think the scions growing thing is a bit hit or miss. For example Yshtola was hardly an afterthought in this entire expansion.

[KariTheFox]

General consensus of the forums anyway.

Given the number of threads that have dozens of pages arguing back and forth about whether or not people liked the story, I don't think you can say there is a "consensus" on the forums either.

[Jybril]

i find it OK, good for mmo standard, but really mediocore for rpg/books/movie standard...

don't like how they suddenly bring up meteion and make her a last boss, i don't even pity her because the time we spend together is pnly a few hour... bit that's all that bugs me

the worst part is how people who like it treat it like a godly story and refuse to disscuss whats good and bad, because to them yoshida and ishikawa is god that can't make any mistake

Players here will maul you the moment you say anything bad about this game.
EW is way less enjoyable, story-wise than SHB to me, I actually put it below SB if you ignore the Ala Mhigo part, which was really badly handled.

EW suffers from terrible pacing issues that should have been told across the entire expansion. I found it hilarious when we had the Forum people in the game say the sky is about to fall, you had a NPC literally ask "How long do we have?" the response, "Soon tm" then that night you choose your lover to come to see you, the next day all hell broke loose but no one really seems like they're in a panic and the rest of Eorzea is chilling.

Pacing, pacing, pacing. I'm still sorely disappointed how Garelmeld was held and the Moon too. Hopefully the next patches redeem itself because EW is not that great to me by any means.
Not to mention Meteion who was shoehorned. Sorry, I did not care about Hermes' love doll going evil or how Zenos had fook all to do with anything. I hope he's gone for good.

I'd say from best to worst in story expansions:
SHB > HW > SB > EW > ARR.
SB was saved for me because Doma/Steppes were actually a really good arcs. To hell with Ala Mhigo lol.

[OhNooo]

Pacing, pacing, pacing. I'm still sorely disappointed how Garelmeld was held and the Moon too. Hopefully the next patches redeem itself because EW is not that great to me by any means.
Not to mention Meteion who was shoehorned. Sorry, I did not care about Hermes' love doll going evil or how Zenos had fook all to do with anything. I hope he's gone for good.

I'd say from best to worst in story expansions:
SHB > HW > SB > EW > ARR.
SB was saved for me because Doma/Steppes were actually a really good arcs. To hell with Ala Mhigo lol.

I actually enjoyed Garlemald. As far as the moon goes...I definitely thought we got there way too easy, but seeing all the souls aimlessly wandering was sad to see. Then it felt like you blinked and we were fighting Zodiark. The pacing after this just didn't make sense to me.

For story I actually put HW slightly over Shb so my story list would be HW > SHB > EW > SB > ARR but for gameplay I'd have to say I had the most fun in Stormblood; I greatly enjoyed Omega, the trials and the Ivalice Raids and had some of the best times I've ever had in this game during that time.

[Rulakir]

I generally don't go into threads of people hating on something I love or ones loving something I hate. Both seem an unproductive and unenjoyable use of my time.

For story I actually put HW slightly over Shb so my story list would be HW > SHB > EW > SB > ARR

This is my ranking too. I think HW was the right balance, not too cheesy or gritty. The villain was understandable, but not so sympathetic and likeable you wanted to be BFFs. The protagonists suffered losses. We were spared most of the Saturday morning cartoon "power of friendship" nonsense, which unfortunately made a reappearance at the end of the two major boss fights in ShB despite it having an overall grimmer theme.

The Ala Mhigan half of SB sinks it and the Doma half alone isn't enough to put it above EW.

I still prefer the art and tone of the original Arslan but the remake did go a bit further than the original on the story

The art style of the Arslan remake is the main reason I haven't made more of an effort to watch it. Most of the character designs were a massive downgrade. I only watched some of Lodoss a long time ago and never finished it.

[Garet]

The art style of the Arslan remake is the main reason I haven't made more of an effort to watch it. Most of the character designs were a massive downgrade. I only watched some of Lodoss a long time ago and never finished it.

Agree. The art style of the Arslan remake seems pointed towards a more younger audience I think. I also almost did not watch it because of that but I really wanted to know the story since the original was too short lived. The Original Arslan has a more mature art style and tone which is very nice and suited more the theme and setting of the story. Hence I hope if they do remake Record of Lodoss War that they maintain the tone of the original OVA even as they try to expand the story.

[OhNooo]

I think HW was the right balance, not too cheesy or gritty. The villain was understandable, but not so sympathetic and likeable you wanted to be BFFs. The protagonists suffered losses. We were spared most of the Saturday morning cartoon "power of friendship" nonsense, which unfortunately made a reappearance at the end of the two major boss fights in ShB despite it having an overall grimmer theme.

Exactly this. HW definitely felt like it had the right balance for me. Although, one thing I did appreciate about SB was the fact that we were beaten as badly as we were. It was kind of nice to see our character not being the strongest for once.