I don't get why people like the Arcadion's story (Spoilers)

[MediocreIndigo]

I've been enjoying the questline overall, but I think Retsarra was unintentionally written as really unsympathetic. He allows his best friend to die because he doesn't want to quit a job that's literally killing him, all because he thinks other jobs are too boring. I feel like that fact got moved on from too quickly.

[DreadCrow]

You're looking at it like it's a serious storyline. That's your problem. It's supposed to be a professional wrestling storyline and being written as one. And that's why I love it so damn much.

Professional wrestling, as a medium, isn't about trying to telling stories with deep theme. It's about having larger-than-life people engage in absurd melodrama while beating the crap out of each other and that's exactly what the story is trying to do. People do stupid things for the sole purpose that it makes for drama. I swear that sometimes, this fanbase doesn't seem to realize there's forms of entertainment outside of Final Fantasy and anime.

I've been enjoying the questline overall, but I think Retsarra was unintentionally written as really unsympathetic. He allows his best friend to die because he doesn't want to quit a job that's literally killing him, all because he thinks other jobs are too boring. I feel like that fact got moved on from too quickly.

I feel this is sort of metacommentary on the fact that the "babyface" (i.e.: good guy in professional wrestling) isn't always a good person in real life. Like, when he was in WWE, Hulk Hogan was presented as someone who represented truth, justice, and the American way. Behind the scenes, he was a racist prick who likely got another wrestler who was trying to unionize fired for snitching to Vince McMahan.

[Iscah]

It was a huge shock that the President didn't care that we wanted to release all the souls or all the other things. In fact, his goals align perfectly with ours, to the point that kidnapping people has no actual purpose.

You would think the President would want to run future tournaments after this one. But no. He only cares about finishing this one, like the WoL does. So our goals align and there's not really an overarching villain after all.

As others have said, I think you're oversimplifying this.

We thought we were secretly going under the President's nose to do something he wouldn't want us to do (i.e. release all the feral souls he requires for his show to function).

Instead, suddenly, he has flipped the table entirely on us. Not only is he aware of what we're doing, he's just kidnapped two people to force us to continue doing what we were doing.

That's not a sign that our goals align; it's a sign that what we thought was our goal is something that an unpredictable enemy is okay with, and we don't know why he is okay with it or whether it's still something we should want to be pursuing, at least without further knowledge of the situation.

[Gwenkatsu]

It's supposed to be a professional wrestling storyline and being written as one... It's about having larger-than-life people engage in absurd melodrama while beating the crap out of each other and that's exactly what the story is trying to do.

Thanks for the summary. I had ignored the Arcadion story line so far (as I really dislike this misplaced mega city with its neon ads and starbucks). And while a wrestling story with absurd melodrama sounds like it befits said city, I don't think I would enjoy any of it.

[Kennar]

I thought the story started out fine (certainly better than DT as a whole), but a little predictable. This second chapter didn't grab me, though. For a character-driven drama, the characters are all pretty weak and don't have much depth, and it's still predictable. I know it's hard to convey a rich, complex storyline within the confines of sidequests, but I think it could have been better. Some of the music choices didn't help.

You're looking at it like it's a serious storyline. That's your problem. It's supposed to be a professional wrestling storyline and being written as one.

No, the writers made it a serious story, with real life-and-death stakes. I've said it before, but they missed a golden opportunity to really lean into the professional wrestling aspects. Ditch all the psychonecrosis stuff, and focus instead on the WoL's rise to stardom. The drama happens with the friends and enemies made behind the scenes. I wanted my character to be introduced as a heel ("I am The Foriegner! I do things differently than you!" and the crowd jeers wildly). I want to do promos with Mean Gene. I want a fun, simple, stand-alone story that doesn't have wider implications for the rest of the world.