*Spoilers* Anyone feel joining Emet would have been better

[EaraGrace]

If you read the quest log annotation for Ysayle, her minion dialogue, or the reactions the characters have to her throughout the story and upon her death, she couldn't be more different to Venat. All of them are neutral or acknowledge that, even though she ultimately did something heroic, she was a complicated character. They do not straight up tell you she is a hero. I understand that if you were comfortable with the story of EW to begin with you might not have gone trawling around looking for this stuff to check whether or not you've gone crazy for disliking it, but it really does feel like night and day.

And yet repeatedly the game gives justifications for Ysayles less just actions, going as far as to have her appear heroically multiple times in our moments of need. Estinien, the man meant to be her foil, named his armor after her and lives on in her memory. There’s no moral ambiguity or confusion. And this applies to others as well. Yotsuyu was never portrayed as anything but evil for what she did, however tragic her backstory was. With Tsuyu however, the game clearly states what it’s moral position is, and makes clear that she was indeed innocent. Fordola as well was given a clear moral arc, especially now after the role quest. There’s moral ambiguity in the questions these figures represent, but that game never minced words in taking sides. Only now do people find it frustrating.

And I resent the idea that I haven’t gone looking for these things. My enjoyment of the story didn’t lull me into shutting my brain off. I’ve watched cutscenes, looked for quest text, reread the encyclopedias after Endwalkers end. It’s unfair to believe that if I enjoyed things then that means I haven’t thought about it. I’ve seen many others in this thread and in other ones say the exact same thing, and it’s just not true.

As for Y'shtola, I didn't mean her comment in the cutscene, but rather what she says if you speak with her afterwards. She says (paraphrasing) that though Venat might have thought of herself as cruel person, she just couldn't see how much good she'd truly done for the world. Again, in terms of what the story wants you to feel, it comes across as about as subtle as a sack of bricks.

The game always did that. How do you think I felt when several characters straight up say, “Id do the same” in regards to Emet? It’s baffling to me that people have a problem with it now.

I've said this before, but I earnestly don't dislike Venat's character in isolation. She's very charming in Elpis, and if you ignore the framing of the game, you can read the Sundering as a coldly utilitarian act, or as an fallible ideological decision that framed strength and embracing suffering as pivotal to the expense of all else - I could go on.

The issue isn't with her, it's with the game itself. My strong impression is that it doesn't want me to think she's interesting or analyze her actions critically, it wants me to love her and think of her as a savior and also my mom. I find that really uncomfortable.

I disagree entirely. The game made clear that I should make up my own mind.