Dawntrail is the first expansion where I started skipping cutscenes. The story is bad

[therpgfanatic]

I never skipped a cutscene.... but by the final zone I was definitely checked out, not emotionally invested, and just wanted it to end sooner rather than later.

That said in the only defense I will give this story, your read on the final zone is wrong.

You don't genocide anyone, all of them are already dead, you are talking to computer driven AI facsimile simulation of people based on their stored data memories. They, like the zone they live in, are not real.

You shut down the nodes to make her vulnerable for a moment when she catches they are shut down, that works. You "hope" she will just stop when she realizes it is pointless and the endless have been deleted.

This is highly debatable considering that in the very last expansion we experienced a civilization that was sentient AI wiped out by the Endsinger

which is what we are dealing with here as well again. That their existence may lack souls doesn't necessarily mean they are not alive. Regardless, we absolutely destroy all the Endless which is genocide in my book.

[heynowjose]

omg same! and i feel so guilty but i was genuinely bored

[Alleluia]

Without Ishikawa, its like the writers forgot how to write an engaging story with compelling characters. The first half of the MsQ is an abomination

I was entirely on board with the msq up through Valigarmanda, personally. Especially the second half of Kozama'uka. It had character development for Wuk Lamat that got her to stop claiming she was invincible when she was scared, which was a good character beat for her. And then you finally cracked Koana's enigmatic shell and he went from a character I was intrigued by but had no opinion on, to a character I really like.

Yak Tel was where the problems started showing, for me.

Like, seriously, there's the WoL being given no dialogue option to at least tell Wuk's dad that he shouldn't hide it from her. They just agree. And stick to that agreement with silence later on when asked directly. And I hated it.

And also, the trial in x'braal was dumb. Not the cooking competition part, that was fine. Learn the people to learn the food is a good way to force contestants to get to know the locals.

The stipulation that only one team of two could get a key stone was dumb. The point of the trials was to teach the candidates in the areas they were lacking. And Gulool seemed to consider all three of his children to have potential. But here you have a contest that will exclude one to two of them, regardless of if they've learned their lessons right. What if Zoraal Ja had done as asked properly and found those banana leaves cus he listened to the people? Or what if Koana had ended up on Bakool's team? And still done well? Or didn't do well b/c of Bakool? That's it, he's done? Keystones being decided by a group project that will necessarily exclude one of the valid contestants on the basis of, all things being equal, if they overcooked their banana leaf pouches, is dumb.

Not to mention the judge's impartiality is in question. .... Though come to think of it, perhaps that's why he didn't want to acknowledge his paternity? If that was it, I wish it had been stated or implied somewhere, cus currently its a leap.

[ReynTime]

You thought Ahm Araeng But More Flat, featuring rubber bullet cowboys was the most original zone?

[Turtledeluxe]

Koana is milquetoast the entire expansion for me. What a boring and unoriginal character.

I refer to him as "discount graha" in game.

[Karkarov]

This is highly debatable considering that in the very last expansion we experienced a civilization that was sentient AI wiped out by the Endsinger

which is what we are dealing with here as well again. That their existence may lack souls doesn't necessarily mean they are not alive. Regardless, we absolutely destroy all the Endless which is genocide in my book.

If I press the power button on a computer terminal do they fade away? They do? Guess what, they aren't alive.

The "sentient AI" you are calling out aren't really AI, they still technically have souls they just decided to move them into mechanical bodies. Turning off a computer console does not cause them to disappear.

[Zaniel]

I wasn't skipping cutscenes, but I was clicking through voiced dialogue, which is something I almost never do.

Especially when it was Wuk's turn to talk. I see the word "peace" and I know I'm not missing anything while she's on screen.

Same, after I got to zone 3 I was regularly clicking voiced dialogue and just quickly reading the text bubble. Not just for Wuk Lamat either but also the other NPCs because most of their dialogue was "something something, we love you Wuk Lamat, you're the bestest, something something peace". CONSTANTLY.

[ryouma17]

i found the first part of the story to be alright, it wasnt amazing but it still kept my attention however i just got to heritage found and the story has done a 180 on me, iam seriously contemplating on whether or not i should just skip the rest of the story or if it gets good at a certain point and i should just rough it out. everyone i seen complaining about the story all seem to hate the first half and liked the 2nd half but for me its the opposite

[genuine_stranger]

i found the first part of the story to be alright, it wasnt amazing but it still kept my attention however i just got to heritage found and the story has done a 180 on me, iam seriously contemplating on whether or not i should just skip the rest of the story or if it gets good at a certain point and i should just rough it out. everyone i seen complaining about the story all seem to hate the first half and liked the 2nd half but for me its the opposite

The soundtrack of S9 is nice. So, there is at least one positive thing you can look towards to.

[ZenoDiogenes]

for me it was zone 4
when we finally get to open the seal and then walk away into another filler zone instead