Endwalker Main Scenario Commentary & Feedback

[Rosenstrauch]

Alright, I am steadily making my way through Zone Five. And so, my thoughts.

Goddamn time travel.

Now that that's out of the way—the characters in Elpis—including Elpis itself—are all very charming. There is a lot of innocence to be had here, and not simply in the form of Meteion. Consider the blasé approach the Ancients take to ending the lives of their creations.

On the same subject, it is a little weird to treat that as anything particularly odd. I mean, if you're a crafter, odds are you've killed thousands of mobs for their drops. And even if you're not, given all the dungeons and quests in this game you're bound to have killed many things simply for being in your way, or on your way to something you wanted to do.

But that said—the innocent way they unmake their creations is reminiscent of the way people are unmade by the effects of the Final Days.

Speaking of Meteion, she is cute as a button and I love her. I'm afraid I've been a bit spoiled regarding her. Just a bit. But I would like to see how this goes. Also neat to see that she's been imbued with the same powers that are later known as the Echo. They kept the 5.2 revelation that this was a natural thing for the Ancients, but it's interesting to see that they can grant an artificial version of it. I just hope she doesn't turn into Zenos. That would be awful.

Emet-Selch describes the process of transformation to be vainglorious. So says the Sorcerer of Eld (tremble before his glory). I can't help but wonder if either of his Hades forms in Shadowbringers are as much an extension of Zodiark's tempering as they are him simply showing off.

The means of altering and erasing memories—it's not surprising that the Ancients would have such a thing. Given that Hermes—rather, Fandaniel—was the one to make it, I can't help but wonder at Amon's cutting off Owen's research... which in part lead to our cure for Tempering. Or his acceptance of our means to shield others from Tempering, preventing their memories (among other things) from being altered by primal energies.

Hermes being such a bleeding heart is such a fantastic shift from his earlier (later?) appearance as Amon and Fandaniel. It makes me wonder if Fancy Dan was lying, even to himself, about the disconnect he felt from the memories of his Ancient self. That rather than having rejected it, he became a person split across two perspectives—the sadistic and cruel Amon and the empathetic and intro/extrospective Hermes—and this coupled with latching onto the views of the Emperor Xande clone is what led to him becoming so intensely nihilistic.

And then I hit a level barrier.

EDIT: Holy hell, talk about an intro. Venat, you are amazing. And it is fascinating to see the trio of friends expand to a quartet, and one that feels as natural as this.

I suppose this confirms that the Blessing of Light is not tempering at all. Which, well, is nice to see confirmed instead of not being discussed at all. It is simply a mark of protection—I imagine it is just a means by which Hydaelyn takes bullets meant for us, so to speak. Which is to say I still don't agree with the aggressive "It's always been the Blessing of Light that protects you" approach from earlier in the story, with no mention of the Echo's protection. But I can see why they stressed that it protects us, at least.

They continue to straddle the line in regards to time travel rules—suggesting that we might change this fellowship's future, but not our own. But as mentioned earlier, the entire reason Elidibus sent us here is because he remembered us being there. Time will tell if this is a closed loop, a split timeline, or some weird thing I have a hard time wrapping my head around...

… oh my God. I was not prepared to have all my criticisms of Hydaelyn's behavior be taken up by Venat herself. I just, I am, I can't... I think I've found my favorite character in this expansion. Thank you, Ishikawa, for actually making me love this woman. Maybe not as much as Ryne or Minfilia, but I'll be damned if my expectations weren't subverted in this best way I could hope for.

EDIT 02: Finished the dungeon. Saw all I needed to see. 10/10 delivery. I am now entirely sold on this character. But holy hell, time travel headaches.

Final Edit: I have finished with the fifth zone, and enjoyed every moment of it—and while I expected to do so, everything about that zone surpassed my expectations.
I will probably get down to finishing tomorrow or the next day.