Inconsistencies with the sundering (Spoilers)

[kpxmanifesto]

I might need a road map for a few of these aha.

Nah, I wouldn't be able to give you one because of the amount of mental gymnastics I had to do to come up with those.

[Celine_Aurora]

Wow this is going to piss people off. You're a brave soul.

I don't know about pissing people off, well to be honest I wanted to be a bit provocative... But I also would think most players would recognize there's some truth in that statement. The plot is not badly conceived for what it is, but ultimately, it's still Final Fantasy, still something, I think, whose writing is subservient to delivering cool boss fights and tearjerker moments. I also think there's been a bit of a tonal shift from Shadowbringers and onward, with the story focusing less on teh struggles of nations and ideologies, and more on a main cast that feels a bit like what you could find in most nekketsu manga. Which, sorry, I can't think of as anything else than a slight downgrade.

i get where you're coming from in that if there's less dialogue and exposition that would mean there's less for the player to sift through and digest. But some could say that the lack of nuance and leaving things unspoken can add to the confusion too.

Leaving things unspoken for the spectator to figure out? Yes, absolutely. Showing contradictory elements and leaving the spectator to figure out how to reconcile them? Eh.

[PeaTearGriffin]

I also think there's been a bit of a tonal shift from Shadowbringers and onward, with the story focusing less on teh struggles of nations and ideologies, and more on a main cast that feels a bit like what you could find in most nekketsu manga. Which, sorry, I can't think of as anything else than a slight downgrade.

I've heard more than a few times from other players that shadowbringers was preferred over endwalker and I can't say otherwise myself.

Showing contradictory elements and leaving the spectator to figure out how to reconcile them? Eh.

Agreed. It's like what the forum member above us said about how they can only see endwalker's plot being consistent with shadowbringers': through mental gymnastics.

[ChrisRedfield2]

The story's not over yet, so we'll probably get an answer to that last question by 6.5.

Doesn't look like it at all. We're just going to get 5 scenes of Zero staring at Estinien's abs, some Zeromus scenes, and then the Scions coming back together to prepare for 7.0

[kpxmanifesto]

Doesn't look like it at all. We're just going to get 5 scenes of Zero staring at Estinien's abs, some Zeromus scenes, and then the Scions coming back together to prepare for 7.0

Hey, in absence of any meaningful story, opt for humor, I suppose.

[Kaliesto]

I'm more curious why the Ascians let themselves get trampled on by letting the WoL keep getting stronger.

But I guess because it was Hydaelyn's power that might have made them back off I guess.

[SomeGuy22]

I'm more curious why the Ascians let themselves get trampled on by letting the WoL keep getting stronger.

But I guess because it was Hydaelyn's power that might have made them back off I guess.

In part, imo. The instant Nabriales noticed our blessing was gone back in post-ARR, he became bold and went on the offensive. The next time ascians confronted us was with a Lahabrea and Igheyorm (I think?) double team, in theory more than enough to kill a weakened WoL, but we had already gotten the blessing back at that point.

I believe that other part was just good ol' hubris. To them we were just another one of Hydaelyn's champions, and since they've been dealing with them for a long, long time, they didn't expect our WoL to be a genetic freak, and not normal.

Now the real reason is that being jumped by every ascian at once would kill us for sure and wouldn't make for a very compelling story lol. Suspension of disbelief and all.

[Daliena]

Now the real reason is that being jumped by every ascian at once would kill us for sure and wouldn't make for a very compelling story lol. Suspension of disbelief and all.

Imagine being what, level 10 and just beating that first golem they throw at you, and you feel like a boss

Then Emet shows up, goes "Yeah, nope." and Thanos snaps you out of existence.

[Theodric]

I'd put that down to the writers not being particularly great at writing antagonists intelligently. They always fall back on the same increasingly stale tropes and overly contrived plot devices to the point where even minor characters are clad in ridiculous amounts of plot armour.

The Witcher 3 is but one example of compelling writing on that front as far as I'm concerned. There's two incredibly powerful foes that cannot be confronted directly and instead need to be dealt with through diplomacy or trickery - and even then, they're not killed or overpowered.

FFXIV struggles immensely with the idea of not only allowing the antagonists a meaningful victory every now and then but also not having them conveniently have a breakdown right before they're set to become an opponent to do battle with.

[Zebraoracle]

I'd put that down to the writers not being particularly great at writing antagonists intelligently. They always fall back on the same increasingly stale tropes and overly contrived plot devices to the point where even minor characters are clad in ridiculous amounts of plot armour.

The Witcher 3 is but one example of compelling writing on that front as far as I'm concerned. There's two incredibly powerful foes that cannot be confronted directly and instead need to be dealt with through diplomacy or trickery - and even then, they're not killed or overpowered.

FFXIV struggles immensely with the idea of not only allowing the antagonists a meaningful victory every now and then but also not having them conveniently have a breakdown right before they're set to become an opponent to do battle with.

I'm looking forward to YET ANOTHER "please sympathize with this villain guys seriously look how relatable they are " villain in 7.0. /s
Athena may have been as shallow as a puddle, but she was still a breath of fresh air.