Wow, Wuk Lamat is really single-handedly ruining the DT story...

[Magma442]

So for the sake of not repeating what's already been said, as all complaints about Wuk Lamat I have have been said elsewhere and far better. something has been bugging me about Turial and Dawntrail for a and I've only recently put my finger on it.
Turial doesn't feel connected to the wider world. it exists as an island both in a literal sense and a story sense. and we are viewing it through the lenses of someone whos native to it but we ourselves are unable to experience it.

Example: For all 20 people who have done blue mage storyline (Hi it me, I'm one of them) a big thing is talking about how Blue Magic comes from the new world, and how its used by the northern tribes...well we get there, and not a single sighting of any hint of blue magic.

This sounds petty but think about how well 14 in the past has teased locations through jobs and clothing and given hints of lore before we even reach those places. Monk and Ninja talked about their origins in Ala Migho and Doma respectivly and have enemies, npcs, and even dungeons dedicated to them. Dancers and the wider Thavnair clothing line were in the game well before endwalker, same goes with gunbreaker and bozjan, Astrologian and Old Sharlaya.

So I'm being picky about jobs why does this matter? even if its added later in a post update the whole expansion has a feeling of being strictly isolated, which is strange because Shadowbringers felt more close to home and that's in a different world. this is exacerbated by the fact were not really exploring Turial, were walking through it while Wuk talks. Even in cases like SB with lyse Doma was still fun to explore and learn about because it provided a fresh new culture for us to directly experience and help free. But all of the conflicts from DT exists because of a hurricane, and an inconstant bad guy wanting to conquer everything and threating erozea when he couldn't get past the cowboys.

Because Turial is experinced through Wuk Lamat and the people aren't in need of adventurers nor is there a NEED for adventure itself I find myself hard to care about the people, the plights, or the weirdly inconsonant naming convention locations. Especially the northern part where we finally get a break were not allowed to learn about the northern people, maybe why Cerlium mining has boomed there, or conflicts it creates with the various tribes, or how blue magic effected the history of the land, or the diseases that the blue mage questline mentioned.

No we gotta focus on the handmaid bracelet and learn more about Wuk Lamat before she dies in the next area. feel sad guys!

It just feels like its a land from a completely different game, at no point have I cared about the people or the cultures because the game didn't let me care or learn.

[Unyqua]

So for the sake of not repeating what's already been said, as all complaints about Wuk Lamat I have have been said elsewhere and far better. something has been bugging me about Turial and Dawntrail for a and I've only recently put my finger on it...

This is what i was thinking about the whole thing spins around Wuk Lamat. If its not important to "her" story its ignored or sidelined. It feels the whole world building is just a background for her so she can talk about the 4 F's Food, Family, Friends, Fiestas.
I generally expected more world building and some connection to the rest of the world, but you are right the whole area lives in a vaccum even more than alexandria ...

[BigBoom550]

This is what i was thinking about the whole thing spins around Wuk Lamat. If its not important to "her" story its ignored or sidelined. It feels the whole world building is just a background for her so she can talk about the 4 F's Food, Family, Friends, Fiestas.
I generally expected more world building and some connection to the rest of the world, but you are right the whole area lives in a vaccum even more than alexandria ...

From a writing angle, it's all backwards.

When other regions were created, the region came first- if even in concept- and that informed the characters. With Wuk, they created her first and then tried to build tje world around her.

That part's classical stage writing. What makes it sting though is in the pursuit of her having a positive, upbeat expac... they erased all teeth the story could have, made everyone around Wuk morons, and gave her wins and screen time where nothing was done.

I'm ambivalent on Stormblood, by the by. It was alright. Not amazing, not terrible either. It was clumsy, but there was an earnestness to a lot of it.

I don't know what in Jibbers Crabst name happened here.

[Vensaval]

From a writing angle, it's all backwards.

When other regions were created, the region came first- if even in concept- and that informed the characters. With Wuk, they created her first and then tried to build tje world around her.

This is true to a depressing degree. What did we actually learn about Urqopacha, Kozama'uka, Yak T'el (to a slightly lesser extent), Shaaloani, or Heritage Found/Yyasulani during our travels? We learned a bit about the cultures that reside in each of the areas, but very little about the areas themselves. We learned absolutely nothing about Erenville's home.

We never got to truly explore any of these areas. We're simply dragged through them by the plot. They're very pretty, yes. But what else is there?

I can't bring myself to care about the new zones past how the look or the music because it really came across as though the developers didn't care either.