Endwalker Main Scenario Commentary & Feedback

[Cleretic]

I think most of my concerns with the story can be summed up by branding it poorly paced, saccharine and needlessly convoluted. Endwalker really needed to be two expansions as originally planned so that every element could be properly expanded upon and given its fair share of time in the spotlight.

See, I've heard the 'it should've been two expansions' argument, and I don't disagree that it felt weirdly compressed at parts, but... where the hell do you split it in a way that doesn't feel terrible for the gap between 6.0 and 7.0? The rough midpoint in terms of story is Vanaspati; certainly bigging that up to a cliffhanger would have some value as a sequel hook for a more conventional series, but for a game that has to continue its storytelling in patches, you kinda rob the End of Days of all urgency as Thavnair 2 presumably transpires over patches, and then 7.0 launches with Elpis, which sounds terrible.

Could you instead expand the early part to the point where Zodiark is the ending of 6.0, with Thavnair, Garlemald and some of Sharlayan as 6.0 being 'vs. the Telophoroi'? Again, that sounds like a strong initial package, but you've got the patches to worry about; certainly the Loporrits are there to be the 6.x equivalent of 5.x's Amaurot, and then it sets up Vanaspati as the 7.0 opener, but do the Loporrits really sound like something that works to carry the years-long span of patch content before 7.0 kicks off the End of Days? (You also lose one of my favorite single moments of the expansion, that revelation of 'wait, how is Zodiark the FIRST trial')

Hell, even the conventional approach of 'the story REALLY ending somewhere in the patch content; presumably that would make the 6.0 finale the Aitiascope followed by Hydaelyn, with the trial 2 spot being filled up by a promoted dungeon boss (Magus Sisters, Anima, Svarbhanu, any could work no problem), and the Endsinger works as well as the Warrior of Light or Nidhogg does. But then... what happens to Ultima Thule? Are we okay with losing that as a setting and trying to spread out its plot points into the existing zones, as would have to happen for the patches? Personally, I'm probably not, I think Ultima Thule is one of the best zone stretches in the game.


I'm not picking on you or anything; again, I've heard this thought a few times before. I just really like interrogating a story and going 'how could you deliver this differently, and would it be better', and how you could make Endwalker longer is simultaneously a very interesting question for that and a really hard one. Because as much as it clearly struggles with fitting everything into its allotted time, it's also a story that makes the most of the fact it is unbroken, better than any part of FFXIV before it, there are no easy 'break points'.