Quote Originally Posted by ThorneDynasty View Post
-Snipped for length-
Exactly. Whatever names or nuance you use, the fact is that the WoL is... barely there. Like, a huge amount of what we 'did' in Dawntrail was not something the Warrior of Light, or even a 'highly skilled warrior' was notably required for, or played that way.

I think part of the reason people like the Zoraal Ja fight but not Valigarmanda (Which I found to be very fun overall, personally) is the buildup to the Zoraal Ja fight is at least there. You've got, outside of Wuk Lamat, an actual emotional buildup and pacing. He feels like a threat. We're *told* Valigarmanda's a threat, that Valigarmanda can kill so many, but we... don't see anything. We don't have a cutscene of Valigarmanda either now or in the past destroying villages, we just hear- over and over- 'Valigarmanda bad!' and then we kill it.

To make the comparison because they're the same sort of creatures: With the Four Lords, we were told that losing yourself to Aramitama is bad, and then we see that with Suzaku and Seiryu. One loses herself and loses track of reality during the fight, acting like we're a long-dead love and clearly delusional. Seiryu surrenders to it voluntarily and becomes audibly more violent and unhinged. Not to a Zenos-level, but clearly off.

...Honestly forgot until I thought about it that Byakko and Genbu were the only two where the plan went right.

We see Valigarmanda in an ice block, we're told Valigarmanda's bad, we run around and follow a... pointy hand... and then we stab it in the face and it dies. It wasn't a Primal that took someone with the Echo to 'safely' combat, it wasn't an Auspice audibly in the throes of Aramatama intoxication, it was just... a big, angry lizard. It felt like a dungeon boss.

Zoraal Ja, meanwhile, felt like a threat. We saw him kill Gulool Ja Ja, who was a solo instance fight. We saw the devastation Alexandrian tech wrought. By the time we fight him, he's a known, powerful, and capable threat- one now drinking himself mad with power.

It's also why the last moment with Wuk is so frustrating. It felt like a return to form, with the boss acknowledging us for the whole darned reason we were sought out- our strength- only for Wuk to magically surpass that as well. Insult to injury was that we didn't get Blessing of Light, or Released Dynamis or some other buff that exists outside of Wonk LeMatt. No, we get Wuk Lamat's buff! Because she can do that now y'know. Because she's the Dawnservant.

I haven't gone back into Queen Eternal. I'm not willing to sit through that cutscene again. It sounds way better in other languages but the damage is done.