What's the point with that quite lackluster story in Endwalker?

[van_arn]

I'll just throw my 2 cents in here. And I would like to say, this is really my personal opinion, nothing else.

I liked the story for what it was meant to do, aka end the Zodiark/Hydaelyn saga.

But outside of that ? It really felt lackluster, rushed and average at best, the pacing was really all over the place. But what ever, I overall got what I paid for.
This has also a lot to do with me really getting tired of this world savior role and I hope that the implications from the story show true that we return to just being a "normal" (as a savior of the universe can be) adventurer.

I

Same; I don't think I'd consider it average though. I'd say it was still an excellent expansion that had every disadvantage thrown at it: it followed Shadowbringers, it was made during an unprecedented pandemic, and it was an ending to a beloved story. Any one of these would make telling a story difficult, but Endwalker had to deal with all three at the same time.

Personally, I can admit it could have used more time to snip away at certain parts. Garlemald might have gotten a little too dark for me, even if the situation is understandably dark. I don't like how I knew (though I appreciated the misdirection) the Sharlayans were working on an "ark" from the first. I think it can't stand on its own without the other expansions (as, say, Heavensward or Shadowbringers can) to give it context. I think the most compelling boss from a gameplay perspective is the second one, though I enjoyed all three and loved the last boss' design.

But even after all of that, I think it's my favorite expansion. Not only because of the spectacle -- which has points unmatched anywhere else in the story -- but because of the smaller moments: quiet time alone with characters we've known for a decade (and I'll go so far as to forgive plot armor in exchange for those moments), ridiculous situations I never thought I'd see in the game (riding Zenos to fight the last boss so we can have one final fight at the edge of the universe) and exploring the new the places added with this expansion (Radz is, by far, my favorite endgame hub along with Thavnair being an absolute delight). Also, Elpis and Ultima Thule are cool as hell. Ea would be an amazing beast tribe, but so would literally everything in Thule.

Above all, I'm excited because I don't know where we go from here. We finally have a clean break in the story; we can finally go anywhere at any time and do anything. We have new mysteries (of Dynamis, Pandaemonium, Emet's sizzlereel of teasers, and the new-old mystery of the Twelve). The closest to this we've had is traveling to the First for Shadowbringers, but even that was hamstrung by its reliance on the current arc. Coming back to the Source after the dealings on the First felt like a bit of a chore to me, but now I'm finally finally excited to be back on the Source.