Endwalker was "meh" (for reasons other than technical issues)

[Shougun]

I thought the Garlean section was quite nice, how they behaved is exactly how a lot of people behave on many issues (some far minor). The extra touches given the situation were also interesting, like the propaganda music.

Which is one of, many, reasons why I think the story had many gray elements (unlike a post that said it was more light and dark). Bias, propaganda, pride, nationalism, whatever form of fervent emotion that decides self checks and balances are not worth doing anymore because it's impossible to see, feel, or think anything else, stuff that can take good people and make them do bad things or seem really dull when they're really not. With FFXIV often responding with redemption and opportunity to grow, or at worse a relationship of how such things became as they were and not simply "bad is bad", not speaking strictly EW. A message that has generally, but not put in this way before, said many times in this game, imo.