Endwalker certainly lives up to the depressing implications of it theme and does not hold back.

Final Fantasy XIV has always had dark moments. But despite mostly only doing the MSQ and rushing. It took me until yesterday to complete it, even though I started in Early Access. Because I had to force myself to take breaks at multiple points in the story.

I'm an emotional wreck. Friends and family had had to ask why I look so sad and distraught. And when I tell them it's a video game, they tell me to stop playing it. I think I'm going crazy. I feel really empty and sad a lot in a way I didn't before starting this expansion.

There have always been really dark moments in the story. So I find it hard rationalizing why the brutal moments in Endwalker have been a last straw. I took a break for a couple days at a couple parts in Stormblood and Shadowbringers to feel better. But this has been by far the worst.

I honestly don't feel like I'm thinking straight when I play it. And I've been a complete sad emotional wreck throughout the journey. And not as my most mentally healthy, either.

I really hope this is the last time they get as dark as this somehow. Because this has been a very painful experience.