The ending to Stormblood...

[Jandor]

It was ok...

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My three problems with it are, the setup feels off. Alliance vs. Empire is a stalemate at the moment, apparently, although that in itself feels rather forced to me to be honest, but whatever.
The stalemate is presumably why we feel like we can go off searching for the Scions, but whether that works is really going to depend on how the transition to the 1st pans out in ShB. The current holding of the line at Ala Mhigo feels way too fragile for us to just voluntarily take ourselves out of the equation and go an otherworldly adventure.

Frankly, the reason why we decided to disappear in the middle of a war and sail off to the other side of this world was one of my least favourite bits of Stormblood. Deciding now is the perfect time to go off gallivanting on a different world altogether currently feels a bit ridiculous to be honest.

Still, this might be a complaint due to lack of info, a lot depends on how exactly things play out at the start of ShB.

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Secondly, feel like we've left some decent plot threads just dangling with no resolution, especially in Gyr Abania.
Off top of my head I'm left wondering what exactly happened with the Ananta and their constant attempts to temper Ala Mhigans and summon their god?
Also, what happened to Fordola? Where did she go? Evil eastern lady got a full story arc, but evil western lady feels like she was forgotten.

I want endings to this stuff, but I also don't want it dragging on into ShB. Would have been nice to wrap some of the loose ends up before 5.0.

Edit: Actually a lack of resolution to things is an issue with Stormblood overall, it doesn't really feel like Stormblood itself got a true ending.
We started the 4.X series fighting the Empire in Gyr Abania, and we have ended 4.X series with us still fighting the Empire in Gyr Abania.

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Third problem is, I really want to see that Estinien vs. AscianZenos fight.

Azure Dragoon, held onto a dragon eye for ages, had two dragon eyes at one point, got possessed by said dragon eyes, even got turned into a dragon. This guy has got to be absolutely juiced up on funky dragon magic at this point, that fight had major epic cutscene potential and we got to see exactly none of it.

[CarnivalNights]

You know, I've been encouraged by everyone I know who plays to pay attention to the story, so I rewatched every cutscene and asked questions to lore I didn't know and was ready for this final sequence.

I don't think I could've watched a more disappointing and mundane lead up to ShB.

[Kallera]

You know, I've been encouraged by everyone I know who plays to pay attention to the story, so I rewatched every cutscene and asked questions to lore I didn't know and was ready for this final sequence.

I don't think I could've watched a more disappointing and mundane lead up to ShB.

I kept waiting for that one possible moment that would have wowed me.
A garlean victory,

Seeing the purple crystal,

Elezenos making a grand entrance,

The black rose's deployment,

Someone's death...

Instead, I'm pretty convinced now that I won't be enjoying shadowbringers.

[KageTokage]

I'm pretty darn sure they said we'd be getting a lot of answers from the end of the MSQ, yet we ended up getting absolutely nothing.

We scarcely even got anything to speculate about, so it's hard for me to feel very excited for what's coming next for the time being.

[kyomaZZ]

expectaions: epic trial fight with the ascian behind zenos

reality: a boring solo duty vs zenos who use the same mechanics as in 4.0
oh and yes we can control Hien who can use 3 different skills, ... the leader of Doma
bravo SE

[Kazhim]

borinnnnng to do

i rushed all the sb part to discover the end with my rerol char

and here what i get after 5h? just 10 min of scene.

really i didnt ask a complet story but something more longer and deeper, i was just intrigued by the voice, all we know is we will go to the alternate world
maybe the only thing entertaining in sb story which was kinda boring all along.

it just killed my envy to play it for a moment.

[Teraluna]

HW for me has been the best expansion to date. I think SE realise this and keep slotting in iconic characters/scenes from HW.
Hopefully SHB will get near those levels. Even close would be good.

[Kennar]

I, too, was a little underwhelmed. I don't think the ending was terrible, it just wasn't very impactful. Going by the trailer, with the WoL wandering an empty wasteland alone and bereft of succor, I was expecting (or, hoping for) Really Bad Things at the end of this patch, for example:

the WoL did not get to Hien and company in time, and they were killed by AsciZenos, who was finally destroyed for good when the WoL went Super Saiyan in a fit of rage and despair (yeah, very cliche, but it would be satisfying). Now the WoL has to go through Shadowbringers carrying that weight; the guilt of, for the first time, being too late.

This goes right back to what I said ages ago about the ending to HW, when Thordan looks at us and sees a profound darkness. Fordola even sees it, when her articifial Echo gives her a glimpse into all the terrible things we have seen and done, and she asks how we can stand there, unbroken. It is a side of the WoL that I have been wanting to explore for a long time, and maybe ShB will do that, but I thought the end of SB would have a been a perfect time to bring that back. We need something to turn us into the Warrior of Darkness other than the usual "it's the right thing to do and someone has to do it" reasoning that defines most of our actions. I still want to see my character as a man with doubts and fears, as someone who on occasion needs the comfort of a friend, instead of always being that comfort.

I'm still psyched about Shadowbringers. After all, none of us knows how the story will play out.

[Derio]

I feel like SHB will have the longest series of MSQ before we actually get to the new areas out of all the expansions we’ve had. HW had foreshadowing of course but it had an actual ending in the last patch.

However for many ppl myself included think that overall SB storyline was rushed.

[Tharne]

I feel like SHB will have the longest series of MSQ before we actually get to the new areas out of all the expansions we’ve had.

Maybe they did that because they decided to make a solo duty not long after/before arriving to the First. So they kept some story to dilute the flow of people going into the duty to avoid Raubahn 2.0, some people will rush without reading, some will read without waiting for voice acting, some will wait until all voice over is done, etc...

Weird but could be one of the reason.