Quote Originally Posted by Consurgens View Post
Every other reference I've seen so far, with the exception of some Coil bosses, have been largely accessible to the playerbase: the Warring Triad trials, the Crystal Tower series, Return to Ivalice series, the angelic FFIX Alexander Prime...
Everything in this game is accessible. Even Coil was accessible, it just wasn't given to players on a silver platter to where just turning up was enough to get through it. Funny enough, SE damn near did everything but that by the end of ARR (Echo, nerfed mechanics/damage, easier access to gear upgrades) and yet people still complained about difficulty.

Why is the accessible Normal Kefka so underwhelming,
Welcome to the NM version of Raids. How are you expected to take a boss as a serious, imposing entity when they barely cause you any trouble in beating them in the first place? It's no coincidence that the Coil bosses (Twin, Nael, Bahamut) stand out like they do against those that came after.

having the whole statue and Dancing Mad theme progression going on so well only to abruptly end in it's climax because "dude now clear savage to find out haha"?
What do you mean "abruptly end"? The story is you faced Kefka, you beat him, and that's it. The Savage exclusive content is just that. It has no ties to the narrative.

At least Normal Exdeath felt like a more complete fight.
It's worth considering that, at the time, the general playerbase had no inclination that there was going to be a Neo version - especially the way it played out with it being an actual separate fight. So by the time Sigmascape came, there was already the expectation that there would be a second version of Kefka that would be Savage exclusive. Knowing that would make it hard to approach the Kefka fight in isolation as a 'complete' fight when you know that Savage was going to provide more.