"The Discourse is Dumb and Endwalker is FINE" - Wesk Alber

[Sebazy]

IMO Heavensward was akin to Final Fantasy III/VI whilst Endwalker is akin to Octopath Traveller.

Octopath is objectively the superior game. It's visually leagues ahead, it's better tuned, it's better paced, it has far deeper job kits, it has a whopping amount of side content, it offers the player more freedom right from the title screen.

But yet it it'll never be held in anything like the same regard as FF3/6. It feels comparatively soulless, it's predictable, the story is boring and at times it feels like it's been designed by a spreadsheet algorithm, it's just too formulaic. All the stories follow the same flow, all the paths are a similar length and the freedom of choice quickly evaporates unless you want to get your grinding hat on to overcome the missing exp you need to 'skip' a story.

I imported a copy of FF3 from NA via an importer in Tooting market, it cost me nearly £100 back then and it was worth every single penny. I remember the cool Moogle poster, I remember the wild story and gameplay twists, I remember grinding in the Dinosaur woods to build a Celes with Genji Glove, Offering, Drainer and Atma Sword that could solo pretty much anything. I remember loading out my Terra with the Gem Box and Economiser so that she was similarly devastating.

As for Octopath? I remember switching the trader girl to dancer to feed BP to the mage guy who's name I also can't remember and that's about it. *Edit* oh and the collectors edition stage box was cool. Didn't stop me selling it though.

Likewise, I'll carry memories of HW to my grave. By comparison, EW is utterly forgettable and might as well have been patch 5.6 IMHO.