Disappointed in one Endwalker Aspect [SPOILERS]

[ddwarbird]

[[Warning: Major spoilers for Endwalker, please don't read as I don't want to spoil the story for anyone.

So it really bothers me that Square Enix played it rather "safe" with this story. I came into the story hoping that Hydaelyn was actually going to be the villain of the story all along and we have been doing her bidding because we were "tempered" to her. I think they really did hint at this in Shadowbringers.

But no, she's a good girl all along and I really feel let down with this, feeling Square went for the "safe" option narratively. I think it really could have made this game a masterpiece in the vein of FF7 or FFIX if Hydaelyn had been evil, in an "Overprotective Helicopter Parent" sort of way and we had been forced to serve her the whole way through the game in a very "meta" sort of way as this is an MMO.

I certainly felt like that as I met plenty of characters I was doing stuff for that I simply did not care about (Tataru for example) and I felt the limited narrative choices in the story were hinting that we were under Hydaelyn's control and that's why Ifrit could not temper us.

I kind of feel a bit disappointed with this rather safe story. Its NOT badly told, infact I commend its writing but it just feels a little generic, especially with Metion just turning up from nowhere to be the "big bad".

[sidurgu-12]

there was nothing in the game that hinted that she was.

[Ryaz]

Not exactly sure how they played it "safe" when they literally tackled existential topics like the meaning of life, nihilism, the fermi paradox, and a battle against the very concept of despair itself.

There was no need to make Hydalaen evil, which funnily enough, was the most predictable and safe path they could have taken because everyone was expecting it.

[Theodric]

Whether she is 'good' or 'evil' is in itself a matter of perspective.

Before Endwalker, it was suggested by a handful of posters that there could never be a good reason for a character or faction wiping out a civilisation or race right down to the very last man, woman and child.

It's very curious, then, that Venat is the exception to that rule in the eyes of some of those same individuals after it turned out that the Sundering was very much a deliberate act.

As for 'predictable' tropes, I find it curious that to some the 'evil goddess' trope would be some grave sin in the eyes of a some, but a gaggle of the more stale and overused tropes elsewhere are actively cheered on and encouraged.

Each to their own, I guess. To me, Venat is one of the most sinister villains in a Final Fantasy game to date. Others are free to believe otherwise.

[Ryaz]

Whether she is 'good' or 'evil' is in itself a matter of perspective.

Before Endwalker, it was suggested by a handful of posters that there could never be a good reason for a character or faction wiping out a civilisation or race right down to the very last man, woman and child.

It's very curious, then, that Venat is the exception to that rule in the eyes of some of those same individuals after it turned out that the Sundering was very much a deliberate act.

As for 'predictable' tropes, I find it curious that to some the 'evil goddess' trope would be some grave sin in the eyes of a some, but a gaggle of the more stale and overused tropes elsewhere are actively cheered on and encouraged.

Each to their own, I guess. To me, Venat is one of the most sinister villains in a Final Fantasy game to date. Others are free to believe otherwise.

Yes, she should have stood by and let the Ascians destroy themselves and let Meteion win. That would have solved ALL their problems. I'm not saying what Venat did was "good", but it was more a situation of, if she didn't, then the Ancients, unable to move forward, would continue to sacrifice their people in an attempt to get back their old world. And they would have doomed themselves. The most they were doing was stalling their own demise. Plus, she wasn't alone. In ShB, it was made quite clear she had a lot of supporters who also made sacrifices to give mankind a chance.

Btw, despite all his genocide, people still love Emet Selch because they though they didn't agree with him, they understood him. Just like most people understand Venat's motivations.

[ddwarbird]

Depends on your perspective, is Meteion winning really such a bad thing? Is there any point to saving a planet that has seen countless slaughters and evils from different species living there and will continue to do that even after this threat has been dealt with? Is it really worth it?

[Ryaz]

Depends on your perspective, is Meteion winning really such a bad thing? Is there any point to saving a planet that has seen countless slaughters and evils from different species living there and will continue to do that even after this threat has been dealt with? Is it really worth it?

The whole point of the game is that finding hope in the darkness IS worth fighting for. Those moments of happiness make it all worthwhile.

[Garnetiferous]

Depends on your perspective, is Meteion winning really such a bad thing? Is there any point to saving a planet that has seen countless slaughters and evils from different species living there and will continue to do that even after this threat has been dealt with? Is it really worth it?

Yes because she doesn't have the right to tell us if we should live or die. Why should some random person die because some jerk somewhere else did something evil?

[Cleretic]

Depends on your perspective, is Meteion winning really such a bad thing? Is there any point to saving a planet that has seen countless slaughters and evils from different species living there and will continue to do that even after this threat has been dealt with? Is it really worth it?

Yes, that is actually the moral question at a point. Well, not the way you put it, but rather 'is it right to sunder the planet to fight Meteion rather than let that planet's inhabitants drive themselves to death'. Remember that the Sundering was equal parts about making sure the planet could fight Meteion as it was ensuring that the Ancients would stop the cycle of sacrifices that had now gone from 'sacrificing the Ancients willingly' to 'sacrificing the life of the planet unwillingly'.

Essentially, is it better to live by someone else's standards, or to die by your own? Amaurot was going down the road to a tragic end regardless of Meteion.

[Wiccan026]

Depends on your perspective, is Meteion winning really such a bad thing? Is there any point to saving a planet that has seen countless slaughters and evils from different species living there and will continue to do that even after this threat has been dealt with? Is it really worth it?

First off if Meteoin won there is no game... it wasn't just our star she was going to destroy, it was everything... that was even said by her as we were trying to beat her at the end. Second of all her basis of needing to destroy everything in the first place was built what she witnessed on other places that wasn't etherias... Etherias hadn't done any of those things and had the final days inflicted before we could even know what would happen there.. zodiark was the response to final days and hydelan was the response to ensuring no one else got sacrificed zodiark.