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

[SirShady]

The way Zoraal Ja can in the same day say "every citizen is valuable, the rock upon which the nation is built" and in the next breath be talking about limitless war until everyone is so sick of war they stop doing war. I mean what?! Who is writing this on what drugs?

Hahaha! I forgot about this! God that makes no sense. Tearing apart this fan fiction writing is infinitely more fun than actually playing the MSQ. What were they thinking?

Oh, I wanted to throw this out there in case anyone knows the answer.

Why were the people of Erenville's village fine with being abducted from their homeland for 30 years? Nobody seemed to have any qualms about living in a horrific sci-fi electro-dome. Were they brainwashed or just stupid?

Also I hate that it played FF9's Prima Vista when we were talking with Sphere. It didn't fit the setting or tone AT ALL, or at least it shouldn't if the game had any idea what tone to go for.

[Rannie]

Hmm is it wrong that I want my WoL to just chalk all of Dawntrail up as a horrible drunken nightmare/dream he's having after coming close to dying at the end of Endwalker?

[Zaniel]

Hmm is it wrong that I want my WoL to just chalk all of Dawntrail up as a horrible drunken nightmare/dream he's having after coming close to dying at the end of Endwalker?

This is like the end of Mass Effect 3. In the real world we lost the fight against the Endsinger and the despair we now feel is the last flashes of our brain as we die along with the rest of the universe.

[Voidmage]

[B]
Why in the world is this not a solo duty, and why is the tone shift so abrupt? Literally thirty minutes before the attack, we're collecting animal feces and watching cowboys in not-Texas have a duel with rubber bullets so that no one gets hurt! Then civilians are getting freaking double-tapped in the streets and having their souls ripped out?
Why, why isnt the defense of Tuliyollal a solo duty?

Have too quote your post directly.
This is a big complaint from me too. This game was always heavy on cutscenes but this time it’s just ridiculous. There is almost no gameplay and that just makes our nonagency in the story even bigger. We are not a mentor nor an adventurer. We are just there so there is a camera for the story.
A mentor wouldn‘t just stand around while people are killed.
Square really forgot that this is a game first and foremost.
There was always the problem with us just standing around but after jumping into the water in EW to save a baby and our action in the Hildibrand Quests I thought, yes square is figuring something out. Only to take a step back and go back to ARR nodding and being told what to do.

Like you wrote, Zoral Jaa was the biggest offender. We bodied literal gods but let him just walk around for… Wuk Lamat to learn the lesson of loss I guess?

There are scenes between where they show that they can use our status and power like in the scene with Bagool Jaja.
He is so fixated on us being dangerous that we use it to have Thancred blindside him. That was a good use of our power.

[B]"But you cant save them!" We didn't even try! Why didn't I tell Sphene, hey, look we have a CURE for aetheric sicknesses and imbalances past the barrier, like the one you are dealing with, I know you need something specific, but let us, with our knowledge of THREE shards and the backing of almost every major civilization on the planet, try and get a solution. Put everyone in storage, and let's work together.

This ticked me off too. We went to two shards and have two experts in that field with us but no one uses that knowledge.
Spheres world had so much potential but the story goes right over it just to have more friendship is power speeches.
Why even have Graha and Y‘shtola there in the first place?

The story has so much potential and even has glimpses of the good stuff from older expansions but then falls flat just to have more screening of Wuk Lamat.
I actually LIKE the story but the Delivery and pacing is really bad.
I don‘t even fault the writer here because they had a supervisor.

What was the actually problem this time?
Is it a cultural thing and the Japanese love this story telling? Why then forgetting the other parts of the world?

Is it a try on something new? Why take such a big risk at the MSQ, the literal focus of this game?

I don‘t want to sound evil and I want to say this beforehand to the devs.
The zones and dungeons are great, the music is awesome and you have my biggest respect for this.
But please. Control your writing department and actually playtest the story or at least try this approach first in some side content…

[Argasun]

Hmm is it wrong that I want my WoL to just chalk all of Dawntrail up as a horrible drunken nightmare/dream he's having after coming close to dying at the end of Endwalker?

This is where I'm at. I have a massive headache and thinking about the diehard fans who're going to try to convince me this story is profound or that Wuk Lamat and Sphene are good characters is enough to drive me away from playing.

[Vahlnir]

This is where I'm at. I have a massive headache and thinking about the diehard fans who're going to try to convince me this story is profound or that Wuk Lamat and Sphene are good characters is enough to drive me away from playing.

I mean, if people enjoy it, then that's great. I wish I was one of them. There were a few people chatting in one of the zones earlier about how awesome they think the story is, and it was all I could do to avoid raining on their parade. I let them be, but it was hard. The story was such a letdown for me that I ended up starting to skip cutscenes about 2 zones in and haven't stopped since. The instanced content has been great though, in my opinion. I'm mostly looking forward to endgame at this point.

[Naria]

Spoilers for all of DT

[B]

Don't even get me started on being complacent about the practical genocide of the Endless. This is something I did an entire beast tribe about last expansion, that even the facsimiles of actual beings, as long as they have agency, are worth trying to save.

We had multiple confrontations/talks with Sphene or Erenville's mom were I was like "You need a massive energy source? Let me tell you about Dynamis!" Except nope, I couldn't even bring it up to be rejected.

The whole MSQ there seemed like it didn't know what emotions it was trying to evoke every time we talked to any of the residents they were like "I'm so happy and content with my afterlife that I'm fine is I suddenly fade away" even when they don't know that's what you are there to do.

Sphene is so desperate to save the Endless but none of them actually seem to care if they survive? There is no panic or upset when we start shutting of the Terminals. Like they range from neutral on the prospect to agreeing that they are abominations that need to be stopped. And yet, they are still all cheerful and happy?

But the Scions keep talking about its their duty to remember the Endless and their loss and clearly the zone expects you to feel sad each time you turn a Terminal off leaving desolation and silence. Like what even is the message here? The theme? I feel like this was a hollow attempt at coping The Tempest/Amerout without actually understanding the Tempest/Amerout.

I'm not even sure what reason they gave Wuk Lamat to be the last zone, her confrontation with Zoraal Ja was done and reflection-apocalypses is firmly in Scion territory. Yes, I read watched all the CS and even clicked on everyone to read the optional dialogue and I cared so little that whatever reason they gave it didn't stick in my mind. Sphene/Wuk were suppose to be foils, but I wasn't buying it.

[Loggos]

We have plans to go back and fix the 13th's massive issues with the life/death/rebirth cycle. "But you can't save them!" We didn't even try! Why didn't I tell Sphene, hey, look we have a CURE for aetheric sicknesses and imbalances past the barrier, like the one you are dealing with, I know you need something specific, but let us, with our knowledge of THREE shards and the backing of almost every major civilization on the planet, try and get a solution. Put everyone in storage, and let's work together. We'll take you down to the Lifestream maybe, we show you that it's not the end.

I think what bothered me even more is that they wanted to make us believe that

Sphene's world couldn't have dealt with these problems to begin with.

They have electrope, acarne knowledge from the Lalas of the source, they have built an interdimensional gate Y'shtola praises as masterful and vastly beyond her capabilities and they were able to recreate the soul cleansing process of the lifestream.

It sounds like a real stretch that a society so advanced they can literally operate on the level of souls would never have found a cure for their lightning sickness and other problems, while the scions in our comparably "backwards" world can come up with solutions to the toughest problems by doing a little group work.

They made Alexandrians situationally dumb just for the sake of the plot even though it made no sense at all.

[Somnolence]

The way Zoraal Ja can in the same day say "every citizen is valuable, the rock upon which the nation is built" and in the next breath be talking about limitless war until everyone is so sick of war they stop doing war. I mean what?! Who is writing this on what drugs?

Well, Wuk Lamat is Naruto rip-off, so its only natural Zoraal Ja is spouting same motivations as Pain

[Mouthbone]

I need another Dalamud after this MSQ