How doo you think shinryu stacks up compared to the other ex primals?

[Welsper59]

I find it interesting (and rewarding in a PF) that the last phase is easier than the first phase.

I'd say this is an underappreciated method to long boss fights. Sometimes, it's quite a relief to have difficult fights throw the hardest parts of the fight at you early on, then slightly dumb it down from there. Perhaps even have a DPS check of sorts at the very end, akin to how The Lich King was handled in WoW. Definitely was one of my favorite boss mechanics and I greatly appreciated the quick story driven final phase.