Disappointed in one Endwalker Aspect [SPOILERS]

[Denishia]

Oh I definitely suspect that the writers may not have expected such an overwhelming response from the players about Emet and may not have intended to bring him back at first. I think there for sure was fan service with that.

My tinfoil hat theory that Emet narrating Endwalker [My actual biggest complaint about the choices in EW on a purely personal, only for me, gripe is that Emet narrating each zone started each new chapter on a sour note, it was one of my biggest fears going into EW. Also the stealth following of children was one side-quest too many] was a change halfway through the development of the game and that the original plan was to have Alphinaud reciting a letter home [the incandescent joy that I felt when the narration finally stopped being Emet and was now Alphie]

[ReynTime]

On the in-game character making physical reactions that I as the player didn't feel- having to WoL reach out distract towards Emet Selch I felt was very unearned, because Shadowbringer nor Endwalker did NOT do anything to reverse my opinion of his personality as not merely unpleasant with negative charisma but an amalgamation of every horrible condescending coworker and boss I've had to suffer through and his motivations as contrary to mine own (I would have loved a joke response to his demand that I tell him info because of his position on the Convocation with a snarky, "My only interaction with the Convocation is murdering them because they kill trying to murder me"). He and Hythlodaeus might have been Azem's good friends- but me-as-the-WoL did not have a positive emotional attachment to them.

To me, Hades is treated far more heroically and sympathetically than I feel justified and that his overwhelming continued presence and treatment inside the game was colored by his popularity outside of it.

I agree that the why the story writes the relationship with Zenos is another were me as the player is emotionally disconnecting from what me-as-the-WoL is written to feel. I don't desire to fight him because I found him boring, both as a character and his actual fights, so if the in-game model was more accurate, it'd be eyerolls instead of clenched fists.

But that is to say- how one reacts to characters is subjective. And after so many complaints about the WoL standing expressionless during cutscenes or only nodding, these later expansions are starting to address those complaints by adding in reactions- which means not all will land.

And XIV isn't an open sandbox game, at least not the MSQ, nor does it have branching paths, so the single path that it does have has clearly defined protagonists and antagonists and supporting cast and one side will be the protagonists' side and the other given the focus needed to make antagonists work for the story.

You're definitely not alone in the lack of empathy towards Emet. I like him as a villain but I definitely do not like the hipocrisy in some of his fanbase.
It's weird how all these people looking for virtue signaling seem to love Emet despite him being directly responsible for a genocide brought upon a continent of people who were just trying to live in peace after fleeing from a star that had just been destroyed by invaders. And, y'know, multiple other genocides. That one just stands out to me as the cruelest.

[Denishia]

I have a felling the 6.1 dungeon will be something like Skalla- we're going on an adventure to assist a local problem with only a few of the Scions as our Avatar options.

[Cilia]

LOL @ this thread proving me right, that at least some discontent around Endwalker is derived from how Hydaelyn wasn't vilified.

Anyway, I don't feel like Hydaelyn having turned out to be secretly evil or having tempered the PC would have really added anything to the story. I think her role as a benevolent but ruthless "Mother Goddess" figure is much better, and she does a very good job of that by not coddling her "children" and giving them the means to go off on their own with her blessing at the very end. She guides and protects them when it's vitally necessary, but otherwise leaves the races of man to their own devices so they can learn and grow.

Having her turn out to be evil or misguided would be just as cliché, in my opinion.

[QT_Melon]

LOL @ this thread proving me right, that at least some discontent around Endwalker is derived from how Hydaelyn wasn't vilified.

Having her turn out to be evil or misguided would be just as cliché, in my opinion.

I guess those that hated Minfilia can regard Hydaelyn as a hero since she outright had her killed to heed her call to lie to us about Zodiark and herself.

outside of development issues - that is probably one of the most screwed up things that came out of this story. It's really hard to get that out of my head even as stated prior I did not like Minfilia.

[Rulakir]

She also wasn't acting alone, she had an entire faction of ancients who agreed with her and were willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of an uncertain future.

There's no evidence for this, in fact, the cutscene in Anyder implies they were not informed of the sundering.

I guess those that hated Minfilia can regard Hydaelyn as a hero since she outright had her kill to heed her call to lie to us about Zodiark and herself.

Hah! You'd think so. I couldn't stand any iteration of Minfilia. I did actually like Venat in Elpis, I just didn't like everything afterward.

[KizuyaKatogami]

My tinfoil hat theory that Emet narrating Endwalker [My actual biggest complaint about the choices in EW on a purely personal, only for me, gripe is that Emet narrating each zone started each new chapter on a sour note, it was one of my biggest fears going into EW. Also the stealth following of children was one side-quest too many] was a change halfway through the development of the game and that the original plan was to have Alphinaud reciting a letter home [the incandescent joy that I felt when the narration finally stopped being Emet and was now Alphie]

See i feel this exact way but with Graha. I think they intended to kill him off in 5.3, what with Yoshi P himself even saying they had 2 different endings for the patch, but decided not to because of how popular we were. So then we got graha x1000 and get the fanservice after fanservice graha in 5.4+

[KizuyaKatogami]

To me at least they pretty clearly laid out Hydealyn as, well, not exactly being good. I get that she was definitely portrayed more "good" than some people liked but it never really felt to me like the game handwaved what she did (and the exact why is always going to be up for debate, just as it was on the other side).

They did kind of handwave the whole her telling lies thing when we bring it up to the watcher. He’s like oh yeah she lied…anyways though… I wouldn’t have minded her getting portrayed as good and benevolent if the same was done for Zodiark. My only problem with it is the apparent bias going on between the two sides which i think a lot of people can agree on.

[Theodric]

I'm not in the habit of giving much weight to the policing of personal tastes. Nobody is obligated to like or support any given character. I don't particularly consider Hermes and his excessive empathy to be especially sympathetic, either - though it is Venat, rather than Hermes, who is responsible for the Sundering.

Before I played FFXIV, I played WoW. Obviously that's a different game, though after seeing Sylvanas getting away with the near destruction of an entire race that I liked I don't feel I'm under any obligation to support a character in FFXIV who is responsible for the complete destruction of an entire race that I like.

Subversive characters generally don't elicit much support or sympathy from me in general, though. Especially if I don't find their reasons or goals to be compelling.

[RyuDragnier]

I'm not in the habit of giving much weight to the policing of personal tastes. Nobody is obligated to like or support any given character. I don't particularly consider Hermes and his excessive empathy to be especially sympathetic, either - though it is Venat, rather than Hermes, who is responsible for the Sundering.

Before I played FFXIV, I played WoW. Obviously that's a different game, though after seeing Sylvanas getting away with the near destruction of an entire race that I liked I don't feel I'm under any obligation to support a character in FFXIV who is responsible for the complete destruction of an entire race that I like.

Subversive characters generally don't elicit much support or sympathy from me in general, though. Especially if I don't find their reasons or goals to be compelling.

Except it was to save other races. Which is worse, destroying a single race, or destroying multiple? Both are horrible, even Venat acknowledges the horrors of what she did when we met with her inside the planet. Venat had a good reason to save the other races, just as how the Convocation had a good reason to save their own.

There is no clear cut villain here, just shades of gray everywhere. Even Meteion's evil through despair was caused by Hermes innocently wanting the answer to the meaning of life. All we're left with are souls who were so badly damaged by their own circumstances that it rippled and made things worse for others.