// Spoiler Warning - up to around end of lv87 dungeon. But trying to be vague //

Not done yet, but overall I found the story quite good. It did have its slow moments, though I didn't really mind it since I enjoy spending time and interacting with the scions.
I think it did quite well with balancing heavy, dark moments (most of garlemald, 2nd part of thavnair) against lighthearted and beautiful moments (bunnies, the place with blue bird).

The heavier parts felt almost suffocating at times, especially garlemald - darker the further the story progressed there. There was one point in the thavnair dungeon (I imagine anyone can figure out which moment) where I just stood still and forgot to fight, cause I felt so sad and didn't want to kill the 'mobs'. (.. sorry to the tank I almost let die ^^')

On the other hand, the lighthearted and comedic moments were a nice counter-balance - even if some of them felt a bit 'too much' in the other direction. Like something made a bit too cute and innocent and sweet, that it almost seemed unreal in contrast to the gritty heavy stuff. The parts in the lands of the blue bird however I found really interesting and engaging, even looking forward to doing some side quests there after I finish the story. The scenery was amazing and I really liked the char interactions there, even though I imagine to many it may feel like a bit of a slog with too much dialogue and not much else.

Though the reveal of what or who the 'antagonist' truly is left me feeling a bit .. empty? Like the cat was out of the bag, but turns out rather than a unspeakable mysterious horror that I sort of expected from the tone of whats happening .. it just ends up being what it is. I think I'd really have prefered if it had been something from out there, even if its a overdone space trope - or an actual natural phenomenon, which would make it much harder to deal with and understand. It just feels too small and too simple to be the big bad of this huge story, even if it is the result of asking the big question and getting a questionable answer. Though I hope the rest of the story will manage to build it up a bit more for a satisfying finale.