Even though the story had its low and strong points I liked the EW story and the conclusion to the mainplot overall. In my opinion they wrapped up loose plotpoints from previous expansions and ARR just fine. It was also nice to see all our old friends again, like the skypirates or Cid and Nero.

This does of course not mean that the story was perfect or that SE could not have done better. The story definitely had some pacing issues and I was not really much of a fan of some story parts on the moon or in Labyrinthos. They dragged on forever and felt boring at times.

I would have also liked to see more lasting effects of the Final Days. Thavnair does not really look like a zone that was hit with doomsday after the story ends. Garlemald also felt more like a sidestory, but I understand that it was necessary to wrap the empire plot up fast because time to do so was limited in EW. A Garlemald expansion would surely have been the better way to conclude the empire's story, but I am honest, I am rather burnt out with the empire and glad that it is over and that the empire can finally move on. Maybe we will see how that develops when the twins are helping the survivors of Garlemald in the future story.

On the other hand the story of EW had also its good points. I really appreciate how the story fleshed out our friendship with the scions and our old, new friends which made the story way more tragic and emotional for me. I knew of course that we would not really loose the scions when they sacrificed themselfes in Ultima Thule, but the scenes in which they gave their lifes so that we could move forward really hit me strongly. It was like our WoL was failing in the one singular thing that was constant throughout the game and in EW especially: the need to save those that we truly care for.

Since we players know SE's history of bringing back dead characters I feel like this story part only really brings out emotions in the player when you RP your WoL and not just follow the story like a disconnected reader. Therefore I can understand the critique that the sacrifices were kind of pointless because the scions would live either way. But to me that story part was awesome. Poor WoL! He is always going through so much and yet stays strong, I love it.

I also really enjoyed how the story played out in the end with the Endsinger. Meteion and Hermes as tragic villains were great and refreshing. Their story was just so sad and I really did not see it coming that Fandaniel is Amon and Hermes. Loved that plottwist!

That Zodiark was not the real big bad is something I am really glad for, because it made the story far more interesting to me than had SE gone the way with Zenos consuming Zodiark which would have been just boring. It was also fine that Zodiark was dealt with early on in the story because to me the story with the Ancients was far more interesting. I liked that they spend more time on that.

I also loved that Venat had her flaws and was morally rather grey. I spend days reflecting on Venat's moral code and her motives. To me she is a hero because thanks to her the world has a future it would not have without her doings. This does not mean that she is perfect or that I excuse or forgive her way of ensuring that future. Neither does she as she herself admits during the conversation with her in the aetheric sea. And that is something I really appreciate because the story does not paint her as that flawless beeing that is always in the right, like so many other games do with their gods. It felt fitting that she had to sacrifice what she really loved as a punishment for her ways and that she does not get to reincarnate. Venat was just as tragic as Hermes and Emet-Selch. Good at heart but flawed. I love all of them, but maybe I just have a thing for tragic characters and storys

The last story dungeon hit home really hard for me as well due to the reallife parallels. It is by far my favourite dungeon in the whole game. I also liked how well done the expansion was cinematically overall and I just love the EW soundtrack. I could listen to Flow and Footfalls all day.

Even though the expansion has its flaws and could have done better at some points, I am happy with what we got and am looking forward to the WoL's new adventures! Hopefully we may meet our old, new friends one day again (which might not happen, but my WoL can hope).

I also think that the story of EW achieved what it was trying to do, namely to get people thinking not just in black and white, as this thread and others in the lore forum really prove. It is really great to see how the players reflect on the story and its characters. Let us just not forget that every opinion is viable because everyone has different tastes.