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

[Kozh]

Yep. I am trying to be optimistic about the new plot but I don't think they're going to diverge too much from the formula they've now hit upon.

Honestly I hate the fact they feel the need to make the WoL to be as lawful good as much. This results in the Reaper job, which normally should at least be chaotic neutral, to be the "good" faction in the end. Apparently they are the garlean batman/punisher who punished oppressors. It was fine during the start when the reaper guild was a pure garlean mercenaries, but after the WoL joined it turned into "everyone oppressed can join our club now ".

Also, as someone who way prefer Thief over Ninja, I'm still pissed that Rogue turn into NIN because "Thief is evil and we can't have the WoL to be one".

Seriously, does Square enix has a rule where FF main character cannot be morally gray?

[Raoabolic]

Honestly I hate the fact they feel the need to make the WoL to be as lawful good as much. This results in the Reaper job, which normally should at least be chaotic neutral, to be the "good" faction in the end. Apparently they are the garlean batman/punisher who punished oppressors. It was fine during the start when the reaper guild was a pure garlean mercenaries, but after the WoL joined it turned into "everyone oppressed can join our club now ".

Also, as someone who way prefer Thief over Ninja, I'm still pissed that Rogue turn into NIN because "Thief is evil and we can't have the WoL to be one".

Seriously, does Square enix has a rule where FF main character cannot be morally gray?

Square Enix has an "ethics" department. Just putting that out there.

[Theodric]

Square Enix has an "ethics" department. Just putting that out there.

Yeah. Which is unfortunate, given what 'ethics' usually translate to in 'current year'.

As for Hydaelyn/Venat I was very much in the camp of wanting Zodiark and Hydaelyn to work together to defeat a third party that had manipulated the Ancients. I was hoping for some sort of alien parasite burrowing into the planet like Jenova or Lavos rather than what we ended up getting as the cause of the Final Days, though.

I've never liked how Hydaelyn was handled because, conveniently, all the Scions adore her with paper thin reasoning. Even their supposed 'crisis of faith' feels forced and doesn't amount to anything nor does the game even bother to give the player the dignity of calling out the lying and gaslighting that Venat engaged in.

I think the most efficient route would have been to just...make her an antagonist. She ended up becoming one in all but name due to now being tied to every 'bad' thing that happened in the story.

She'd come across as a lot more sympathetic to me if the story wasn't awkwardly trying to defend absolutely everything that she did as a 'necessity'. It's alright for characters to have a lapse in judgement. I think it'd work better if the story simply highlighted that although she meant well, her route wasn't the only route that could have been taken.