More Story like 7.2 Please!

[Cilia]

From reading comments I guess this disconnect comes from me actually enjoying the WoL not being a centre of attention in Dawntrail so I'm not reacting strongly to NPCs focusing on them again now.

I can't speak for anyone else, but it's not so much "We weren't the center of attention" and more "We had virtually no role to play in this story." Heavensward and Stormblood both do not center on the PC; but they do still have a role in the story as the deuteragonist (though an argument for them being the tritagonist in Heavensward can be made). Dawntrail reduces them (after 2 expansions as the protagonist) to just being Wuk Lamat's hanger-on, contributing nothing other than beating up whatever's in her way until the story's only got minutes to midnight (and even then Lamaty'i steals their thunder with seconds on the clock).

7.2 isn't really about the PC; it's about Sphene, but it works better because it's not extended like Wuk Lamat's arc was. The PC is really just a sounding board for her, but because we're already informed about what sort of person she is from her Endless replica it's easier to connect with her (since this is Sphene without the behavioral modifications forcing her to antagonize us).

[Cleretic]

Dawntrail reduces them (after 2 expansions as the protagonist) to just being Wuk Lamat's hanger-on, contributing nothing other than beating up whatever's in her way until the story's only got minutes to midnight (and even then Lamaty'i steals their thunder with seconds on the clock).

Personally I would argue that you're greatly simplifying and tinting this in a negative like, but that this choice is to the story's benefit, because the WoL is an absolute dud of a character as far as... y'know, character goes. That's not necessarily a negative, it's just not what they're designed for, so of course they're bad at it; Link's bad at carrying dramatic scenes too, but we don't really expect him to. Really, the only things they can give the WoL in terms of big character beats and showoff scenes is cool fight moments, and engine limitations mean those don't work well, either.

Hell, I'd say that the single greatest sell of the WoL's power, reputation and energy was actually brought on by Dawntrail: When they just walk slowly towards Bakool Ja Ja, past mercenaries that dare not risk a shot, not even drawing a weapon, and Bakool immediately starts regretting every choice that led to this moment. That one scene, more than anything Shadowbringers or Endwalker tried on much larger scales, sells the WoL as a badass with a history, and it's genuinely a really hard scene to pull off. You fumble the character's reputation, Bakool's response, even just the walking animation, and it doesn't sell. Hell, even just doing that same trick a second time too quickly makes it fall over; Doctor Who learned that one. But done successfully, that scene embodies everything the WoL can and should bring to a story.

[thegreatonemal]

Personally I would argue that you're greatly simplifying and tinting this in a negative like, but that this choice is to the story's benefit, because the WoL is an absolute dud of a character as far as... y'know, character goes. That's not necessarily a negative, it's just not what they're designed for, so of course they're bad at it; Link's bad at carrying dramatic scenes too, but we don't really expect him to. Really, the only things they can give the WoL in terms of big character beats and showoff scenes is cool fight moments, and engine limitations mean those don't work well, either.

Hell, I'd say that the single greatest sell of the WoL's power, reputation and energy was actually brought on by Dawntrail: When they just walk slowly towards Bakool Ja Ja, past mercenaries that dare not risk a shot, not even drawing a weapon, and Bakool immediately starts regretting every choice that led to this moment. That one scene, more than anything Shadowbringers or Endwalker tried on much larger scales, sells the WoL as a badass with a history, and it's genuinely a really hard scene to pull off. You fumble the character's reputation, Bakool's response, even just the walking animation, and it doesn't sell. Hell, even just doing that same trick a second time too quickly makes it fall over; Doctor Who learned that one. But done successfully, that scene embodies everything the WoL can and should bring to a story.

Pretty much. All throughout Dawntrail anybody worth a damn takes one look at us and goes "Watch out for that one. They're different. They aren't like the others. Nobody here knows our story, our legacy but real recognizes real that typical warriors can sense each other type deal.

[VictorSpoils]

The fist clenches seem to have been replaced with off-camera teardrops.

[Cleretic]

Pretty much. All throughout Dawntrail anybody worth a damn takes one look at us and goes "Watch out for that one. They're different. They aren't like the others. Nobody here knows our story, our legacy but real recognizes real that typical warriors can sense each other type deal.

Hell, the only characters that confirmably don't recognize and respect our power are the Passage of the Unbound, which is a strong piece of evidence towards the whole group being egotistical blowhards hiding behind claims of revolution.

If you're actually, genuinely trying to improve Ishgard, you'd recognize the person who killed the heads of both sides of the Dragonsong War, and publicly defeated two enormous dragons on the same bridge. The fact that they don't recognize us is a quiet sign that they're ignorant to the situation they're interfering in.