I do agree that the story is absolute garbage. Goblins? Really? That's what we're going with? One of the most incredible and powerful summons in the Final Fantasy universe is being centered around the most annoying comic relief characters in this game? Come on.

I do not agree on your assessment of Savage difficulty. Performing perfectly under intense pressure (at least before last week anyways. esoteric gear trivialized A1S pretty terribly) is legitimately difficult, and no matter how many people mindlessly regurgitate the worn out "artificial difficulty" phrase, it won't change that it is actually difficult for a lot of people. If it being "artificial" was truly such a bore, I feel like we would be seeing a lot more people with A1S clears, which is very clearly not the case.

Normal mode is... whatever. It's not relevant for anyone who cares about difficulty.