Endwalker is a masterpiece

[Ririta]

Sorry to hear, mate. I loved the story exactly because of what you describe.

It seems you were expecting something very predictable. Which is not what FF14 has been about since 3.0.

Personally I was at the edge of my seat until the very end, not knowing what to expect - and I love how they tied all the threads together.

There's a line where unpredicable just becomes random. Introducing random things last moment into a story is the easiest thing to do, and one that FFXIV pretty much never did.

All of the previous expansions big bads had been properly developed, some even introduced before the expansion was even released. All of them were reasonably predicable and made perfect sense both in their logic and in their motivations.

[Remilia_Nightfall]

There's a line where unpredicable just becomes random. Introducing random things last moment into a story is the easiest thing to do, and one that FFXIV pretty much never did.

All of the previous expansions big bads had been properly developed, some even introduced before the expansion was even released. All of them were reasonably predicable and made perfect sense both in their logic and in their motivations.

And so it is for Endwalker.

The "Big baddie" was already introduced last expansion in the concept of "The Final Days", which in turn led to the creation of Zodiark and Hydaelyn. Mind you, I see what you mean, but to me it was obvious from the start that Zodiark, or even the Ascians themselves, were not going to be the final threat. CLEARLY whatever killed them all was going to be the focus of Endwalker - and guess what, it was. And the fact that we did not expect to be what it turned out to be is a plus, in my opinion. It was clearly planned beforehand by the story writers, it was not taken out of a hat suddenly.

[Rae88]

To be honest I'm not really into epic plots and things. After a while you read all the epic plots you can have your fill of. WoW is currently in the trap of each plot being more than the last and it's unsustainable. The best parts to me were the quiet character moments, I really like those. The rounding out of certain characters who I won't name because of spoilers. Those have been my favourite parts so far.

I didn't really care for the epic encounters last expansion and I won't care for them this expansion. The best parts of the past expansion for me were the reveals during the fights, and the character interaction post fight 5.3

I know this expansion won't satisfy everyone but I like the character development and quiet moments really quite a lot.

[Ririta]

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

And so it is for Endwalker.

The "Big baddie" was already introduced last expansion in the concept of "The Final Days", which in turn led to the creation of Zodiark and Hydaelyn. Mind you, I see what you mean, but to me it was obvious from the start that Zodiark, or even the Ascians themselves, were not going to be the final threat. CLEARLY whatever killed them all was going to be the focus of Endwalker - and guess what, it was. And the fact that we did not expect to be what it turned out to be is a plus, in my opinion. It was clearly planned beforehand by the story writers, it was not taken out of a hat suddenly.

The concept of the Final Days, as presented in Shadowbringers, is formless, like the Flood of Light. Not an individual, and certainly not "that" individual. As hated as the "space flea out of nowhere" trope is, if we needed a villain with a face, I'd actually respect a last minute, Necron-like deity way more than what we got. Point being: The Final Days is too big to be represented by such an one dimensional, simple life form, and way too grandiose to explain via random newly introduced mechanics. The best way to go with it, imo, would be the same as the Flood of Light. Something that happens, using the laws of nature that we already knew as explanation.

As for the primal: Zodiark himself, while being clear that was not the cause for the Final Days, could very well be the last boss. And its not just him: There were two more characters there to be used, both more developed and deeper than the main villain that we got. Three if you count our Hydaelin, whose goodness was put on check last expansion.

IMO using any of those 4 wouldn't feel like a random pull out of the nethers; that would be doing what FFXIV always did. The way that they actually did it, however, depends on how much you tolerate quite a few things, which includes deus ex machina and a bunch of anime memes.

[Remilia_Nightfall]

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD



The concept of the Final Days, as presented in Shadowbringers, is formless, like the Flood of Light. Not an individual, and certainly not "that" individual. As hated as the "space flea out of nowhere" trope is, if we needed a villain with a face, I'd actually respect a last minute, Necron-like deity way more than what we got. Point being: The Final Days is too big to be represented by such an one dimensional, simple life form, and way too grandiose to explain via random newly introduced mechanics. The best way to go with it, imo, would be the same as the Flood of Light. Something that happens, using the laws of nature that we already knew as explanation.

As for the primal: Zodiark himself, while being clear that was not the cause for the Final Days, could very well be the last boss. And its not just him: There were two more characters there to be used, both more developed and deeper than the main villain that we got. Three if you count our Hydaelin, whose goodness was put on check last expansion.

IMO using any of those 4 wouldn't feel like a random pull out of the nethers; that would be doing what FFXIV always did. The way that they actually did it, however, depends on how much you tolerate quite a few things, which includes deus ex machina and a bunch of anime memes.

I will not deny that the final boss, and its developement, is basically an anime trope - but I also won't deny that I do not mind it, because I think it was well done. You say that it is a one dimensional, simple life form - but not if you take into consideration its creator as well, and I consider "both" of them to be the actual final boss. And, as you know, the moral crisis of a certain Ancient is definitely something that cannot be defined as simple - and the whole final dungeon is nothing to scoff at, in terms of significance.

Yes, sure, if you are an avid Sci-Fi reader this stuff is nothing new, but within the confines of an MMO, this level of depth is unprecedented.

[Purrsnikitty]

I couldn't agree with this more. I was expecting something good, but not better than ShadowBringers, and definitely not this beautiful. Between the beautifully designed and used characters, the music, the art, and the story, this is definitely a masterpiece. What a way to end the Hydaelyn and Zodiark arc. This is now my favorite Final Fantasy title.

[hydralus]

It's not awful, but I definitely have been taken out of the story a lot by the sheer number of "Ohoho that was my plan all along" and "You are too late to stop things, WOL!" that have gone on. I think the towers bit was the most cartoonish example of deflated tension, though.

[AziraSyuren]

There were several parts of it that I felt like dragged on, but it ultimately held my genuine interest more often than any expansion prior. It also had the highest high points in the whole game, as well as the best story trials and some of the best dungeons.

I can see it being divisive, but I liked it even more than Shadowbringers, and I'm sad I'll never get to experience it for the first time again.

Bravo, SE.

[Stormfur]

Since this is turning into a feedback thread, I'll give a couple (I've only hit level 81 in the story)

- I already feel like the escort missions are overdone. It's cool that you have a few of them, but not every time we turn around
- I hate, with every fiber of my being, the scene in Garlemald where you have to get the key and the fuel. If I wanted to play Assassin's Creed, I would. It's just too weird in FFXIV with the camera angles and such.

Otherwise I'm savoring every moment. The music is EPIC.

[Rae88]

- I hate, with every fiber of my being, the scene in Garlemald where you have to get the key and the fuel. If I wanted to play Assassin's Creed, I would. It's just too weird in FFXIV with the camera angles and such.

I was tempted to uninstall there xD It took me 5 or 6 tries because I kept getting lost. But I had to power through it because I hoped it was only going to be a one off