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

[Cach]

The Pelupelu feel very South America inspired. As is the name of their region "Urqopacha" which sounds Incan. They also ride alpacas, also from South America, and the part of the New World map shown so far is the southern half. The building in the mountainous region also look like they could be inspired from the Andes.

Looks like a mix of both Aztec and Inca stuff from what I have seen. And the Japanese love Peru so I expect some Machu Picchu paralells
I just hope the mainstream press never find out about some Whalaqee being white redheads or they might try to hitpiece the game to death like they tried with XVI

It's hilarious to me that the jokes about watching the Scions eat tacos next ended up ringing true.

We memed that into reality, we're too powerful.

[MikkoAkure]

Looks like a mix of both Aztec and Inca stuff from what I have seen. And the Japanese love Peru so I expect some Machu Picchu paralells
I just hope the mainstream press never find out about some Whalaqee being white redheads or they might try to hitpiece the game to death like they tried with XVI

The Aztec stuff seems to be in Tuliyollal, which is the city in the center of the whole continent, at the border of the thick clouds. Makes sense since that's where Mexico is in our world.

Otherwise, Yok Tural looks like South America, with what is probably Yak Tell looking exactly like the Amazon rainforest and the mountains west of it looking exactly like the Andes. Though it was said there are cenotes in Yak Tell, which are a Meso-American thing instead of a South American thing. The flat-topped mountains in the middle remind me of the tepuis in Venezuela (Mount Roraima/mountains in Up), which might be the neatest looking place in the game if done right.

There's still more of the map to uncover. Northern Tural has thicker clouds than the southern-most bit so maybe it won't come this expansion? I'd guess the northern part is where the Whalaquee are from.

Meracydia has the same cloud style that the southern-most part of Tural has so could it be that both will be uncovered at a later fan fest? Or is this looking too deeply into it?

[Eisi]

Meracydia has the same cloud style that the southern-most part of Tural has so could it be that both will be uncovered at a later fan fest? Or is this looking too deeply into it?

Yeah, no Meracydia this time.

[MikkoAkure]

Yeah, no Meracydia this time.

Well even if it isn't there's still a sneak peak below the clouds:


I just think it's suspicious that the cloud cover is sparse while it's thicker on other parts of the map.

[AwesomeJr44]

Well even if it isn't there's still a sneak peak below the clouds:


I just think it's suspicious that the cloud cover is sparse while it's thicker on other parts of the map.

It might just be an artistic decision or trying to build hype off of people who really wanted Meracydia. It might be revealed later, but I could also see it being saved for a later expansion, especially with how lackluster the worldbuilding was for expansions that split themselves between multiple locations, especially for Endwalker. Oh, who am I kidding? Why would the writers learn any lessons from the past?

It's hilarious to me that the jokes about watching the Scions eat tacos next ended up ringing true.

I am hoping that Graha's consumption of the big fat taco leads to the unleashing of Ultima within his stomach so we can finally be rid of him.

[Vyrerus]

Does this mean we get a G'raha Tia fart joke arc? God, what an amazing direction for the game.

Real talk though, I hope that the people suspecting the Summer Splash Cancun vibes to give way to something morbidly devastating are right.

People do be expecting subversion, what with FFXIV dedicating all of Endwalker to subversion.

[Cach]

Per the recent interview:

Q: Endwalker brought an end to the story we’ve been following since the beginning of FFXIV. Dawntrail starts a whole new story. Do you already have an idea of how vast this story will be and how many more expansions will develop it? – Matúš Štrba, Sektor.sk

Naoki Yoshida: I just wanted to clarify one thing. There was mention about how Endwalker brought an end to the story we’ve been following since the beginning of Final Fantasy XIV. It wasn’t necessarily our intention to write one long continuous story. Of course, we would foreshadow certain elements. We’ve been doing that since A Realm Reborn. As you’ve been noticing, certain clues might open up certain elements, and we try to tie up loose ends throughout the expansions, but that’s always with the mindset of placing it in the hopes we can depict and delver further into it. Every time we do a new expansion, we try to tie those loose ends together. With Dawntrail we’ll do something similar to that – go back to the elements we’ve been foreshadowing and see what we can connect to the new story.

In terms of “will this be as long as the Hydalyn and Zodiark saga?”… I think that depends on our players and whether or not everyone likes the story and wants it to be continued. Of course, we have so many ideas, I think we have enough to fill two full expansions but I can’t tell you what they are.

Right now I’m 50 years old, by the time Dawntrail releases, I’ll be 51… then two expansions, I’d be 57, 58? I might be able to squeeze in three expansions by the time I’m 60.

"I think that depends on our players and whether or not everyone likes the story and wants it to be continued" Mmmm...

[Lauront]

Also just dropping this here, the product of a joint project of some of those of us critical of the story (or to some, 'Zodiark trancers'):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c98qO-wW30A

The remaining parts will be released gradually over the coming couple of weeks, so I'd recommend subscribing to the channel if these catch your fancy.

As ever, a link to the discord for those who'd like to catch up outside the thread remains active here.

The full consolidated series of videos on EW - the individual ones can be found by going on the channel. There's a few more planned in the not too distant future.

[EgilTheStressedMage]

It's hilarious to me that the jokes about watching the Scions eat tacos next ended up ringing true.

They wanted to tell players who started before 2020 to get lost because our money was no longer any good but that would have been too obvious so we got that instead.

[Lunaxia]

I have to ask. Is it strange I still feel really odd about Endwalker?

Like, I've made my peace with it, by and large. I don't feel particularly strongly about it one way or the other, and I don't find myself needing or wanting to talk about it all that much. I see a lot of people still really mad about it and at the game which I sort of get, but at the same time I just don't have that emotion or energy anymore. But I still feel... strange, especially seeing the new Dawntrail trailer, like, huh. That really is it.

I guess it feels weird because I've been here since Heavensward dropped, and the Ascians/ Hydaelyn/ Zodiark etc. saga has been a (admittedly not always entertaining, prior to ShB) part of the story that you always saw panning out at some point in the future, but not only has it been and gone so quickly but with such a whump I still find myself surprised it actually happened and that was what we got. It's oddly difficult to come to terms with (not in a super dramatic way, just like, that's how it ended, after all this time? You know?)

I'm just rambling, but yeah. It's like... I don't know, I still feel like I don't have much closure on it, not so much just that part of the story but what it feels like it also turned FFXIV as I knew it into. I sure as hell know by now the game isn't going to give me any, but it's like a limbo I can't get out of. I just don't play anymore, really, or bother with the community all that much, but after a while I tune into what's happening out of sheer habit, and I don't really know what I'm looking for, lol. I guess it'll just fizzle out eventually, but it's sad.

Yeah. It's sad.

Anyway, I hope everyone else is having a good day.