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

[DevonEllwood]

People have mentioned how Hydaelyn sundering her own people is akin to genocide and I honestly don't care to argue that point. What I want to argue is that she sundered the world, knowing very well that the shards would be kindling for the fire. That makes her no better than the ascians. They wanted to save something, she wanted to save something. She kept her memory and that was the problem. I would have rather fought something I could be sad about, a mercy killing. It's the way the writing presents it that makes seem a certain way and that just feels manipulative. I felt the same way about certain characters such as Hythlodaeus who I found to be one of the most depressing characters in the game. He feels his contribution to the world isn't anything and thus considers his friends' work to be his lifework. He thinks so little of himself that he lives through other people. Painting him as a happy person doesn't change that for me.

As for Hydaelyn's backup plan, the escape to another planet, was also a complete gamble. Even the rabbits had identified only a few suitable planets and even they were not sure if if they would be able to sustain the life they put on it. After you get to such a planet, what then? Are we sure people would get along? That the planets native inhabitants would just be okay with aliens there? Midgardsormr called Hydaelyn(planet) the "last bastion of hope". A giant dragon had already flew through space looking for a place he could bring his eggs. Even after we stayed and defeated Metion and Alphanaud making his speeches about a better tomorrow, that sounds like history is just going to repeat itself. Man will always want world peace, and will always seek a paradise. Absolutely no change.

There were people asking about Ishikawa and I don't remember what interview it was but she will not be returning as a lead writer. I don't know if she will be returning as a writer at all for the game or is just moving on completely. I don't think she's a bad writer at all. I think she has a lot of growing to do in not making "safe" one sided stories. She also had a lot on her plate with Endwalker. She didn't know they were combining the last two expansions into one. That coupled with obvious last minute changes that she had to re-work in, it's no wonder Endwalker ended up in such a mess. I don't know if she made the decision to step down or that it was Yoshi P's decision. If I had to guess it's the former. I've seen it happen to writers put under pressure. So I don't blame her for how Endwalker ended up, I blame Yoshi P. A story made to be unpredictable will start to not make sense. A predictable story is not necessarily a bad thing and it shows that the story has cohesion.

I also don't know what "loose ends" Endwalker was supposed to tie up. We had the origins and deaths of both Hydaelyn and Zodiark, the source of the final days, and I guess the sound? All I got was more questions.

Just to tack on, 5.3 made me feel like crap. Y'shtola said something along the lines that maybe Elidibus's love for his people will reward him. Then they celibrate and have their tea break. I liked the Scions before, 5.3 made me care less about them. They could have died in Endwalker and I would have felt nothing.

For rating wise, I'm putting the second half of Endwalker under ARR. ARR may have been badly paced and plenty of problems, but on paper and if it were created today I feel I would have enjoyed it a lot more than Endwalker.

I also forgot about the age old question, how does the Japanese forums feel about Endwalker?