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

[aveyond-dreams]

continued words

Thank you for using a film set whose appearance is entirely based on medieval Europe. You've just defeated your own argument. As far as I'm concerned my conversation with you is over and I've won. For the sake of keeping the thread on topic you have since been added to my ignore list, ending this tangent here and now.

Perhaps a separate thread for discussion of potential future locales would be beneficial? I think things are moving too far from this thread's core premise - which is specifically about the way in which Endwalker's story was handled.

Agreed, still it was admittedly fun getting them to end up where they did with that last post, but anyway. At the moment I still can't feel like I can look back on Endwalker and take the later parts of my adventure seriously. The farewell and sendoff we gave the scions at the end would have been the perfect moment for them to retire.

If after such a pivotal expansion like Endwalker our main party members are still propped up alone by their actions from far too many years ago, what reason do I have to believe that something will happen to make them evolve in the coming patches? With how limited patch MSQ is, I struggle to believe we will see any upgrades to their otherwise stagnant selves, if not suffer more downgrades in the name of fanservice:



Does anyone else remember this guy? You know, the cool sage who could actually be taken seriously as a character? Or the days when our antagonists connected with us on levels far deeper than nebulous throwaway concepts like "ohh hope vs despair struggle" with a party that fundamentally appears unaffected by any strife or despair.

Moving into these patches it doesn't seem like we will be dealing with any one clear antagonist for the time being, but then I reread one of Lauront's earlier comments and recognized the mages in the trailer as the lambs of Dalamud, a cult from so early in ARR that I had completely forgotten about at this point. I don't know much of their faith, but I remember the voidsent they called forth. The next major antagonists being associated with the void is something I am 100% for, and I believe there is great opportunity for future antagonsist along the lines of Cylva to shine.

Like Emet-Selch, I imagine they would want to find a way to restore the world they lost. But if voidsent are perpetually aether starved, could their society not be almost "vampiric" with more humanoid-looking voidsent lying in wait in unexplored parts of the 13th? I apologize in advance for referencing WoW, but it does seem that the vampire faction along with its leader that they introduced in Shadowlands was well received among their playerbase, and I believe that a similar group of highly intelligent and cunning creatures would be an excellent choice for our major antagonists.

They could be monstrous on the inside, but still walk among people as human beings and provide that human connection we had with Emet-Selch, but rather than "bringing back our God and restoring our people," I imagine the conflict could lean more towards, "I will consume your people in order to save my own, and in so doing reclaim the humanity/paradise I had lost."



Alternatively, we could also have encounters with characters with motivations similar to Ardyn who lie closer to the heart of events on the 13th, what if at the cause of it all there was a betrayal so cruel as the one he suffered in FFXV? I cannot be the only one who finished that game feeling awful for the man, who was later revealed to have been a far more noble individual than the first king of Lucis. A well-put together revenge story like his would be a joy to experience again, bonus points if they don't end up transforming into a total monstrosity in the final battle in order to keep an emphasis on the fact that our enemy is a *Person* who hoped, dreamed, and lived. All in all, it would inject some much needed magic into the world that now finds itself lacking in wake of the demise of Hyadelyn and Zodiark.

Neither Ardyn nor Emet-Selch were created so blatantly as a vehicle to preach to us in the way Hermes was, that is the strength that lies in these characters being able to naturally impart their lessons onto people. Also, if your lead writers are already aware and thinking to themselves, "Hmm, this type of character will probably not resonate with people because the message associated with him is being delivered in too blunt of a way, despite my personal affection towards him," possibly, just possibly listen. I too would be shocked if my boss told me I had to somehow manage to justify the convoluted later portions of Endwalker, I cannot imagine the stress that she must have experienced knowing being forced to add in time travel and memory wiping devices would make for a pretty unstable foundation.