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

[BokoToloko]

Honestly? I don't think I can't like/dislike Endwalker without doing the same for Shadowbringers. Whether it's narrative resources, pacing or cliches, both expansions commit the same mistakes/achievements (depending on the eye of the beholder) and they win or lose under a single standard. It seems funny to me that people is already having their nostalgia bout in just the next expansion without realizing that the flaws they point out in Endwalker can also be found in the expansion they revere (Shadowbringers). I do like them both. They're fairly cohesive and have their fair share of twists and emotional moments. They're not a 400IQ only story, but they get to draw the player in, which is more than can be said about other MMOs or game stories.

But these kinds of post are hit or miss for me, because cases of disliking the story can easily turn into "it's not my headcanon so it's bad" and there are several instances here to prove it. And I'm one of the few that didn't really think Hydaelyn was or is a villain, or at least, not when compared to her Amaurotian counterparts. Even when she sunders Zodiark, she does seem to understand the guilt of having the sundered be more imperfect and prone to disgraces far more than Amaurotians/Ascians having any regard towards lifes considered inferior to them when they not only aim to sacrifice a whole planet life to reunite with their loved ones once, but twice and with absolutely no remorse. Not to mention many wars and disgraces that take place in the shards and source happen BECAUSE of the ascians. Obviously, any description of her by the Ascian is going to be bad, the same way the tale we tell to Hythlodaeus, Venat and Emet will obviously depict future Emet as a megalomaniacal madman (any sundered would've thought the same). Each one's point of view is bound to influence the narrative they spin. For any Amaurotian, the Ascians mision to restore the unsundered world would make all the sense. For any sundered, some powerful entities genociding millions of their peers will be nothing short of evil, regardless of their purpose (except for Varis, who quickly gets the backlash for it when he spouts his PoV) and stopping them would be completely commendable.

[KizuyaKatogami]

snip

Honestly? I don’t know how people get this so wrong, they just not read dialogue and just focus on the fanservice parts. They were never sacrificing a whole life’s planet to bring back their loved ones during ancient times. The first two sacrifices were for saving the planet and everyone on it as a whole. The 3rd sacrifice also wasn’t going to be all life on the planet, how does that even make sense? As far as Hydaelyn/Venat goes, you realize despite her preaching about feeling bad, she kept secrets from the ancients and didn’t tell them the truth which could have actually saved them in the long run. While people have shared what they wished would have happened, they have also pointed out the massive flaws and contradictions and non-cohesive story elements. It’s funny you bring up the powerful entity genociding millions. Yeah that’s Hydaelyn maam.