The best and worst of Endwalker MSQ

[Renalt]

All the friends we did?

Nice.

Sometimes twice.

[VelKallor]

Ultima Thule, obviously. I wish the devs would cease the constant fake-out deaths already.

"Azems magic, you can use it to summon us back..but you mustnt"..Yshtola and the others knew they werent going to die, but would be torn into another plane..it was still a horrific risk, as you can recall at the end, when you are given the choices

"No, I absolutely forbid it"

"Stop. Not one more word"

They never died, which I keep saying ...they were never dead to start with. Their souls were displaced aka the First...also what Emet-Selch said "They need no longer fight their fight", their souls were paving the way, bridge by bridge, only their BODIES were gone, their souls, their will to succeed forged the path for the WoL to each the nest.

Why did Yshtola tell us not to use the crystal? Venat told us the power was limited, finite, doing that would have drained the crystal, leaving us without power to change that outcome. Dynamis is well named, a dimension if you like where reality is malleable, where emotion and will govern and determine outcomes, the antithesis of aether. Their sacrifice, their utter determination to reach Meteion, their unbreakable will to save Eitherys remained, eternal, undying, immortal.

The physical body is not the all of existence, Towa..a lesson i learned a long time ago. Look at the actual definition:

plural dynames -ˌmēz : the state of that which is not yet fully realized A place where what you wish, what you believe, determines what can be, will be, might be.

Why did Meteion do this to each of the Scions? To drag them down, bury them in despair and fear, to freeze them in terror , to prevent them from stopping the Final Days..

"It is hopeless you cant win, give up, give in to sadness and grief..."

To which, as Emet-Selch said

"You will not end our journey., THAT is our answer, the answer of all lives on Eitherys, past and present"

Hythlodaeus: "What form that path takes DEPENDS ON YOU, so focus and envision that which rejects the claim you cannot attain your goal"

Look at that field of Elpis flowers..remember what they do and why.."No more is yours the dominion of despair"....

Towa: death, the physical end of being is not the end at all, a lesson made plain by the fact that in Ultima Thule, reality itself and all around you can be whatever you want it to be.

So, no. There was no "fakeout" as they never died...in one or more senses, death itself has no real meaning.

[Shougun]

Yea... I see what you're putting together, but for me.. also "but no" lol.

I mean by all that logic they knew they couldn't die so long as WoL didn't phone home and ice mage. Near the end it was fairly obvious it didn't really matter, but I think at least a few people like me who were like "meh" to the Scions 'loss' was because it didn't really matter (and imo the presentation of their loss was part of that, there were a few moments but I honestly was expecting snot dribbling balling and pure despair and everyone for the most part was pretty resolute and "prepared to go till the end captain!").

Initially I was like OH SHI--- haha.. haha.. no one gives a flip. And then when they tried to play it off as serious while at the same time laying down lore for a revive, I didn't take that seriously. Scions sacrifice was relatively meaningless to me, I don't mean that as a hyper negative because I loved the zone and the horror elements of the bird girl (she was okay till then but I liked her once I got to Ultima Thule and she kept playing around).

I would have liked the area a lot more if the stakes felt more real, and by that.. someone probably should have died. I don't even care who, but everyone is wearing 10 kabillion ilms of plot armor. Y'shtola might as well be the WoL with her unkillable nature. "oops I just used flow again, don't worry it doesn't mean anything".

Which again I realize makes me sound hyper negative to the story, I still actually enjoyed the whole thing, as a whole, and was happy at the end. I liked a lot of the ideas throughout the whole MSQ (though my feedback earlier remains). Just that my least favorite part of Ultima Thule was the Scions sacrifice because it was relatively 'whatever Alphinaud, stop crying *snaps fingers and puts on sun glasses* I'll see you guys in about 10 minutes'.

[Kickwars]

So, no. There was no "fakeout" as they never died...in one or more senses, death itself has no real meaning.

How can you just dump all those made up quotes without providing the pictures and citations

[VelKallor]

How can you just dump all those made up quotes without providing the pictures and citations

Dont need to.

Quotes are from last part of Endwalker MSQ. If you werent paying attention...thats your problem.

[Arkdra]

Best:
-Garlemald. Not a unique story topic in general but definitely one video games don't tend to tackle. It was a really well-realized zone with strong narrative ideas and In From the Cold was incredible.

-Character moments. So many great interactions with just about everybody. This is very much what carried the expansion in my opinion. Shoutouts to Elpis specifically because I was simultaneously mad that they decided to go the direction they did with the plot, but also was having an amazing time because hanging out with the gang there was so fun and compelling.

-Esthinien just a great straight man for comedy all throughout.

-A powerful hug.

Worst:
-Meteion. I just think it's kinda shit that the big primary antagonist and the culmination of 10ish years of story was a character we weren't introduced to until zone 5 of 6. In terms of the broader themes of the expansion, she fit fine but I don't feel like that's good enough for the end of a 10 year story. Kinda guess it was much too late for them to do anything else since all the important adversaries were dead by 5.3 so I should have seen this coming to be honest, but I still didn't like it.

-The plot is BIG stupid. Despite being the self-proclaimed smartest city-state, Old Sharlayan picks the most idiotic choices at every turn right up until Labyrinthos round 2. Literally none of their decisions make any sense. While Dynamis is fine and fun as a concept, the details surrounding it suck out loud. It comprising like 60% of all energy in the universe yet somehow, nobody ever really decides to do anything with it for 10's of 1,000's of years is incomprehensible.

-The Final Days were WEAK. For a globe annihilating apocalypse, it sure was isolated to Thavnair. Really wish they had bothered to at least change the weather in other zones. Maybe even spawn some random abominations out in the world, just... something. Role quests were inadequate at this since most of them spent their time just wandering around aimlessly.

[Y2K21]

Good:
Everything before the Zodiark trial + Loppritts

Bad:
Everything after the Zodiak trial

[Ardeth]

Good:
Everything before the Zodiark trial + Loppritts

Bad:
Everything after the Zodiak trial

Honestly, what I was going to put. The Loporrits take the plot behind the woodshed if you follow me.

That and the revolving door of antagonists.

[Ath192]

Best: In with the cold. Not ironically, I genuinely felt alive during that quest.

Worst: When everyone turns out to be okay after Ultima Thule. We saved the universe without a single meaningful sacrifice folks. We rode that ship back to find everyone singing Kumbayah and holding hands together too. The world has zero issues now. K thx. Now go play other games.

[Misplaced_Marbles]

The world has zero issues now. K thx. Now go play other games.

Ah, but most of the world isn't part of the republic of Alphinaud yet. Gotta get weapon of light to show them the error of their ways before we call it quits.