Quote Originally Posted by Dikatis View Post
Sure, then. It probably still exists but it definitely isn't the focus of Endwalker because of the expansion of scope. ARR-SB were fights for individual nations and the power dynamics within them. ShB and EW were about a fight for one's very existence in the face of cosmic powers. There's obviously going to be less attention paid to political matters when the storytelling focus is elsewhere.

We COULD have learned more about the nature of bonded and free citizens in Eulmore, but we'd wind up taking away from the sin eater conflict and the nature of the First surviving in a post-apocalyptic environment. We'd also have to take away screentime from Emet-Selch and his idyllic Amaurot, or how he's a multi-faceted character who never lies but is nonetheless an unreliable narrator with rose-tinted glasses born of his love for his people.

Similarly in Endwalker, we could have discussed more about Radz-at-Han's various powerful houses, but that would involve taking away screentime from the meat of the conflict and the storytelling about perservering and the value of life even through the worst of suffering.

I wouldn't say the worldbuilding is weaker so much as the writing has shifted with Ishikawa at the helm versus Maehiro, since she's definitely much bigger on emotions and big philosophical questions than she is on politics. This leads to more focus on contests of ideals versus the shifting of power and the gambits plied by those trying to seize it.

Even in Dawntrail, where the worldbuilding is a bit sparser than past expansions, we still get the picture that Tural is not quite a utopia free of conflict (despite what some people on the Forums would have you believe), but definitely the kind of place where a hero-king made his mark, for better or worse. The focus of the story is more on the weight of memory and legacy and how our interpretaions of both shaped the trajectories of the characters and the nations within it. Gulool Ja Ja isn't perfect or omniscient, but he sets a precedent that encourages his people to live in harmony, resulting in a city-state closest to Minfilia's ideal of people of all shapes living side-by-side in harmony next to G'raha Tia's Crystarium. Even then, we have bandit attacks, reports of corrupt businessmen, dirty cops in the frontiers, and people constant plying the Dawn's Promise for favors in hopes of getting their way.

So while I get your criticisms, I don't really think the worldbuilding is somehow that much weaker that the game has lost its "heart" as the OP put it.
They pretty much admitted that Endwalker was two expansions smashed into one. Thats why the pacing was off and proper time wasnt given to nuance but the main theme. I feel like the worldbuilding has become much weaker bjt I respecr your opinion on it too.