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

[Teraq]

I probably wouldn't say I'd enjoy it a lot more, due to the plot issues we've discussed extensively.

It's true the plot has ... issues. But I think that, as far as I'm concerned at least, there's a bit of self-reinforcing bias in how I see Endwalker: it rubbed me the wrong way therefore I am very willing to look for any inconsistency and articulate exactly how and why it bothered me. I would probably be a lot more forgiving of the damned memory-wiped causal time loop and everything else if I had loved most everything EW threw my way and cried all the way through Ultima Thule.

only at least SB had expectations of future plot development, whereas EW is meant to conclude the current saga.

This is by far the most damning thing about it all in my opinion. I acutely felt it as I was playing through EW actually: even after we got rid of any sort of Ascian/Zodiark plot after level 83, I was still fairly enthusiastic because I wasn't done yet; there was still hope. Level 85? Oh, there is a god after all and he's wearing white hooded robes and a red mask, this is going to get better, THERE IS STILL HOPE! And then the more things went on, the less copium I had left. The deadline of the game's ending was fast approaching and I was faced with the realisation that this was it.