This story is really underwhelming - it's opened to mixed reviews.

[SirShady]

I'm not sure it's fair to compare them either. Lyse is more a cardboard cutout than a character. She's incredibly bland. Wuk Lamat might be a walking, talking collection of anime tropes, but at least she has a personality. Even if it's one I find grating at times.

I feel the opposite. Lyse's development might have been lacking, and the story didn't really earn the pay-off of her becoming a political leader, but she is far more interesting and fun to be around than Wuk Lamat. I'd rather have Lyse's brashness and occasional airheaded moment than watch Wuk Lamat accidently fall down or cry about something she doesn't like for the sake of "comedy" or give an emboldened speech about the power of peace and friendship for the 30th time in a row. SHE'S JUST SO QUIRKY!

[Raven2014]

I'm not sure it's fair to compare them either. Lyse is more a cardboard cutout than a character. She's incredibly bland. Wuk Lamat might be a walking, talking collection of anime tropes, but at least she has a personality. Even if it's one I find grating at times.

Not saying I agree with your assessment since I think Wuk is worse than Lyse, but even if you're right it shows the problem with over exposition. Even if Wuk had only half the flaw of Lyse, they're being rubbed at our face three times as hard.

Frankly, the story would have been much better off if it was structures differently. Instead of us becoming the exclusive babysiter for Wuk, the scion could have been something like independent observer/adviser to *all* the claimants. Not only it reduces the amount of over the top exposure to Wuk, it would help giving additional insight to the other NPC that I feels still desperately needed in the end.

[Karen_Cerfrumos]

Scions and WoL don't have much to do with the story, it's all Wuk
Second half is just a Shadowbringers rethread but way, way worse
None of the people of Tural have much to do with anything whereas tribes of Eorzea were always at the center of ARR's conflict
FF9 references feel poorly conceived

[Tatiana]

My main complaint is too much talking, not enough showing. With the graphics update they really should have utilized visual storytelling more to introduce you to the zones and factions, and do world building instead of so many conversations that aren't voiced and hard to stay interested in because the new areas are WAY more interesting to look at than previous expansions. I have felt as though the story does start to pick up and get more interesting about halfway through, and I am giving leeway for them to build on the story over time and it's not fair to compare it to the previous saga yet, after all ARR is very boring but lead to incredible stories that built on that foundation in each expansion until it's conclusion, so I am hoping that's what they're doing here albeit in a more condensed fashion.

[Powercow]

I finished the MSQ yesterday and

The first 60% or so is... not good. It's not the worst but it doesn't make a ton of sense and it feels extremely arbitrary -- which is the point, as Gulool Ja Ja says, but it makes everything we do feel pointless. And Wuk, nice and idealistic as her goals are, would make for an *awful* ruler. If not for Zoraal's coup attempt immediately, someone else would depose her simply out of incompetence. Luckily her brother is there to be the brains. Again, I get that's the point, but why wouldn't we encourage her to seek an alliance with him earlier?

And why, if they went through all this trouble to seal off the City of Gold, would Gulool Ja Ja want us to find it?

Post-dome it got better, the stakes felt much more realized and the shifting goals and motivations were at least somewhat interesting. But in the end it did feel like a diet Shadowbringers, except Emet was with us since early in ShB, and we were introduced to him in Stormblood (if just barely.) Beyond that though, the Ascians have been the antagonists since the earliest quests in 1.0. Sphene is introduced at the 2/3 mark, and Alexandria as a whole isn't exactly antagonistic. We'll see more of her but it's a little late for the DT MSQ.

The last couple zones were neat, and we're obviously not done with the FF9 stuff. Here's to hoping for a better story going forward.

Also, unrelated, but I think Wuk's VA was fine in English -- right up to the intermission during the final Trial. Holy hell you couldn't get her to do a second take? Or maybe tell her she's meant to be fighting an interdimensional giant demon robot and not sitting at a table? She sounded so nonchalant it was super jarring and took me completely out of the moment.

[Raim]

It gets good but the problem is it takes until like level 97+ to get to the good parts. Its a complete snoozefest until the 7th task. What makes it even worse is that there are a ridiculous amount of cutscenes. It feels like every single quest is 30 seconds of walking to a location and then a 10 minute cutscene. Like I get you want to be taken seriously as a story driven narrative but there are other ways.

[Garolymar]

It hasn't got much better so far.

Just got done doing quite a bit of the second half now. It was looking up for a bit, but then my worst fears were realized and I'm back to feeling how I was feeling in the 92-95 zones. I really hope Wuk stays in Dawntrail and never leaves. I don't even know if I can deal with her in the patches let alone in an entirely new expansion.

[Naria]

I'm having a lot of trouble getting into the idea of the WoL

Level 93 spoilers below

as Wuk Lamat's mentor. Her arc is not learning to be an adventurer, she is learning to be a ruler. The WoL isn't someone who maintains the status quo or a government, they are the person you send when you need to (violently) change the status quo. And lets be clear Wuk Lamat is not the "peace" candidate, she is the status quo candidate. If we needed someone to teach her how to be a queen, we shouldn't have left G'raha back in Sharlayan. At the very least, Alphinaud should be taking point on that.

Maybe this will change later in the story, it is still early, but the reasoning for why my WoL cares about the succession contest has been poorly established. Am I here for a Free Vacation? Adventure (TM)? Something something being a good friend to Krile, who's arc is about her and not who's on the throne? I mean we'd already agreed to support Wuk Lamat, crossed an ocean to do so, prior to the Dad saying that the only way Krile would get her answers is to back the winning candidate. Are we trying to stop an invasion? They can't even build harbors; Eorzea has airships. Maybe whatever Solution Nine/the golden city is will change that but the WoL hasn't seen Dawntrail's marketing. Preventing Bakool Ja Ja from reinstating a caste system? That sucks, but we only heard about Tural in 6.5, why do we care this much?

All of these things are shallow reasons to intervene so deeply in a nation's politics and government.

I'm emotionally checked out at this point. The last time that happened was Stormblood and it wasn't this extreme. I guess the last few expansions have spoiled me.

I've liked the new zones and dungeons though. The environments have definitely benefited from the graphics updates.

EDIT:

Also I'm really missing the Scions, they are there but not really doing anything or having any fun interactions/moments

besides the bit where we rescued Wuk Lamat. How many times have Thancred and Urianger looked at each other, gave a half grin/shrug from some sort of learning moment from Koana, and then just walked off or the scene ends? The twins seem like they are there just to fill out trust slots and Krile occasionally chimes in to remind me that she has a plot line too, I just can't go do it yet. If Dawntrail just had been Scion Summer Vacation: The Search for Krile's Bio Parents, at least I would have interactions with the Scions.

[Larom]

I'm having a lot of trouble getting into the idea of the WoL

Level 93 spoilers below

as Wuk Lamat's mentor. Her arc not learning to be an adventurer, she is learning to be a ruler. The WoL isn't someone who maintains the status quo or a government, they are the person you send when you need to (violently) change the status quo. And lets be clear Wuk Lamat is not the "peace" candidate, she is the status quo candidate. If we needed someone to teach her how to be a queen, we shouldn't have left G'raha back in Sharlayan. At the very least, Alphinaud should be taking point on that.

Maybe this will change later in the story, it is still early, but the reasoning for why my WoL cares about the succession contest has been poorly established. Am I here for a Free Vacation? Adventure (TM)? Something something being a good friend to Krile, who's arc is about her and not who's on the throne? I mean we'd already agreed to support Wuk Lamat, crossed an ocean to do so, prior to the Dad saying that the only way Krile would get her answers is to back the winning candidate. Are trying to stop an invasion? They can't even build harbors; Eorzea has airships. Maybe whatever Solution Nine/the golden city is will change that but the WoL hasn't seen Dawntrail's marketing. Preventing Jakool Ja Ja from reinstating a caste system? That sucks, but we only heard about Tural in 6.5, why do we care this much?

All of these things are shallow reasons to intervene so deeply in a nation's politics and government.

I'm emotionally checked out at this point. The last time that happened was Stormblood and it wasn't this extreme. I guess the last few expansions have spoiled me.

I've liked the new zones and dungeons though. The environments have definitely benefited from the graphics updates.

The zones are about all I care for, im a bit into 99 atm. S9 looks amazing, but that's it for me.

[Loggos]

I've just finished the long intermission after the 6th keystone and am watching the scene with Koana, Thancred and Urianger

having their heartfelt talk while sitting around the campfire

and it's painful how they are so much smarter than my WoL (nothing against Urianger, I know he's a genius and all, but I wish I had at least the same level of common sense).

And it bothers me to no end at this point how Koana

reflects his lacking care for his people's traditions but Wuk never has to reflect her own ignorance in terms of societal advancement and - as the user above me said so fittingly - her single-minded goal maintaining the status quo just for the status quo's sake as the ultimate expression of peace and happiness for her people.

I'm not saying traditions are bad btw, I think you need a healthy mix of both. But whereas Koana learns to understand this, Wuk (so far) remains the perfect and radiant candidate without having to develop this nuanced view.