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

[Kazhar]

Ok how is Shadowbringer's story more nuanced for it being grey? All you do in that expansion is going around killing light wardens because they're killing their world. Oh yeah Vauthry and the people of Eulmore reeeallly had me think long and hard at the ramifications of our actions as the Warrior of Darkness. That expansion was a joke on its premise of being a villain. HECK the Japanese title was literally called "The Jet-Black Villains" yes indeed, we were totally being evil bastards in the First.

When people talk about Shadowbringers being grey, it's in reference to the conflict between the Ascians and the Sundered (which is the actual core of the story), not the Light zombies backdrop.

[Teraq]

When people talk about Shadowbringers being grey, it's in reference to the conflict between the Ascians and the Sundered (which is the actual core of the story), not the Light zombies backdrop.

Though the Light not being good and Darkness not being bad was, as simplistic as it is, more nuanced than Endwalker walking back on this in its rhetoric. (i.e. all the lines about finding the light of hope and fighting back against the darkness of despair…)

It's like Shadowbringers did a 180° from the previously established story, and then Endwalker did a 180° from Shadowbringers. Which means being back exactly where we started. Brilliant!

[Atelier-Bagur]

When people talk about Shadowbringers being grey, it's in reference to the conflict between the Ascians and the Sundered (which is the actual core of the story), not the Light zombies backdrop.

which comes literally at the last bit of main Shb. Isnt that kind of telling that 90% of the majority of Shb was just pointless filler? Yeah it was a neat premise and we learned a lot more about Ardbert but when people talk about Shadowbringer's having a more nuanced story its really just that last bit with the Ascians and the Unsundered. Everything else prior to it was just your typical isekai, monster of the week flavor of jrpg journey, which I dont mind honestly, I enjoy these tropes but its stuff like this that you already seen with back in ARR.

[Kazhar]

Isnt that kind of telling that 90% of the majority of Shb was just pointless filler?

Welcome to Final Fantasy XIV.

[Atelier-Bagur]

Ok here's the thing that I think people just have some weird sense of nostalgia goggles? (dont know the proper term for somebody who's awed at a concept) with Shadowbringer's premise. They literally just switched the good and evil elements with Light being bad and Dark being good and somehow people ate that up as this was a brand new idea that's totally nuanced in its morality. Or heck at least the language people giving off praising ShB feels like they think its story is like that when its just more of the same of what we had before. Its an interesting premise nevertheless and I wont deny Shb of that but at the same time, am I the only one who truly see's Shadowbringers for being more of the same of what we had before and not being that special compared to the other expansions's themes and stories? Again I think people fell in love with the last bit with the Amaurot reveal and finally seeing a glimpse of what the Ascians desperately tried to fight us over and it was indeed very neat and empathic. But that still didnt excuse them for trying to genocide the current population, playing with everyone's lives and orchestrating calamities and destruction just to bring back what they had before. It doesnt justify it at all and at the end of the day I took their plight as just understanding more of why they do what they do, but you pretty much also get the same idea with other villains previously. Gauis wanted to save Eorzea from themselves, Nidhogg wanted revenge for what the Ishgardians did to him and his kin, Zenos wanted to have a fulfilling existence etc. These are all basic tropes in your average jrpg story, Emet-Selch is no different. Therefore Shadowbringers isnt this masterpiece people make it out to be. Its just a good expansion story, just like all the others have been imo.