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

[Vyrerus]

Sakaguchi also praised XIII at the time

Did he? All I remember is him saying he thought Final Fantasy was in good hands, speaking well of its director, not of the game itself. But I wasn't as tuned into who was doing what back then.

Also I disagree. There's completely an agenda against the game. It's been generating negative buzz from game journos since its second trailer, or at least well before it actually released. Only part of it that felt derivative to me were the QTEs during the Eidolon battles. And the movie play intro.

It's more of a love letter to A Story of Fire and Ice. Doesn't really have a lot in common with Berserk. I've not seen that levied in my circles.

It only really backs off the bleakness for the main cast, as they become powerful(Clive is Le Chosen One), but at least their powers come at a cost that never fell out of my mind. It certainly wasn't a consequence free apocalypse like in EW for them. I've even seen some folks unconsolably upset at the open ended ending because it read as total downer territory to them (even though it wasn't, though it can't be said that everyone made it out ok).

As far as the combat goes, I felt it was pretty fun. There's a lot you can do and mix up once you have all of the Eikons, and Ongbal found it fun enough to post fights about it to his almost strictly Souls Youtube channel.

Mmmm, did you play it very long or at all? Crystals in the setting are mined. They are held in the hand to perform magic by people who otherwise can't/won't, but they are also put into buckets, at the head of wells, used as refrigerant, and a few other things. Tell me an entry in the series that even goes that far with them outside of this. The only other entry in the series that I'm aware of is XI where you see the crystal just before synthesis animations start. The setting's real lack imo is that there are, "Fallen Ruins" everywhere, but you only get to go through a couple of them. Then you get a steamship, but you don't get to control where it goes, really.

I say the opposite. The game gets as much hate as it's getting, because it has the Final Fantasy name. There's a bunch of Final Fantasy fans that want to hate it, because it's another entry that denies them what they believe Final Fantasy should be, and it probably has the elements that feel vestigial in it, because it can't afford to fully depart from Final Fantasy staples. Though, you can actually do a few nifty builds using the right accessories. There is a strongest meta build and skillset that eclipse everything else that get to weigh up against whacky silly builds that have little to no synergy.

Final Fantasy has been nothing but evolution the whole series run. People take umbrage with it because it eventually departed from the old style. It is the epitome of, "Please try new things! No, not like that!" meme.

[BRVV]

Also I disagree. There's completely an agenda against the game. It's been generating negative buzz from game journos since its second trailer, or at least well before it actually released. Only part of it that felt derivative to me were the QTEs during the Eidolon battles. And the movie play intro.

You mean the lacking diversity? If you look at the big picture FFXVI has a LOT of positive buzz around it. Hyped to no end before release, like it would save gaming or something.

[Absurdity]

You mean the lacking diversity? If you look at the big picture FFXVI has a LOT of positive buzz around it. Hyped to no end before release, like it would save gaming or something.

I actually wouldn't be surprised if the diversity complaints from online gaming rags boosted sales, I call it the "Hogwarts Legacy effect".

[Vyrerus]

I actually wouldn't be surprised if the diversity complaints from online gaming rags boosted sales, I call it the "Hogwarts Legacy effect".

Nah, the game wasn't already out/close enough to being out for people to try and call for boycotts and stuff. The press cycle for 16 was so long, it got to be too long. Whereas Hogwarts Legacy sorta just arrived simultaneously with the call to sperg out against it. (plus, you know, with Japanese creators vs. JK Rowling there wasn't as big of a boogeyman figure to rally against)