Quote Originally Posted by AwesomeJr44 View Post
I've made the comparison in the past, and I'll make it again here. Endwalker is very similar to a modern Marvel movie in that it is completely reliant on the audience's ability and willingness to turn their brains off completely and to not think about anything at all. Unlike previous expansions, if you use even a few brain cells to think about it, Endwalker's story completely implodes.
That's an apt description of the situation. There's definitely a less of a conscious effort to cater to different personal tastes in general with the game these days. I know a lot of players who cannot simply 'turn their brain off' on a whim simply on the basis of not being wired that way.

There's also often a cynical bait and switch where promotional footage and developer statements will imply that there's a deep narrative at play but then they grow overly defensive in response to even light push back towards certain characters and conflicting characterisation.

It's not a situation unique to this game, sadly. One only has to look at how Henry Cavill was treated for a genuine interest and investment in the source material a certain Netflix show was working off of.

I never expected FFXIV to have the best storytelling ever, mind you - I just expected a tad more consistency and maturity in a story that decided to embrace some very heavy themes.