Power Fantasy [[Spoilers]]

[OhNooo]

Change of lead writing.
Ishikawa is very good at writing sympathetic antagonists and melodrama. But once she took over the power of friendship to do anything vibe definitely took over full force in Shadowbringers onwards.

In my opinion I think she should stick with smaller parts. I enjoyed azim steppe and the drk questline, but not sure her style was the best for wrapping up approximately 10 years of lore. I'm definitely a fan of the low fantasy depiction in HW. Too bad they got rid of role quests because I'd love to continue the drk quest and maybe Ishikawa could work on other role quests. But looks like the devs have decided to get rid of the individual role quests for good.

[Jandor]

Is it me or did Endwalker lapse into power fantasy a bit too hard. I mean, I know this game tries to make out that you are the best thing in the whole word but the whole Azem thing is a little ridiculous and completely invalidates the point of making your own character.

Also, now the Hydalean is dead, we should have lost our power as we were "chosen" by her... so can we go back to being just a normal person now because the demi-god stuff is getting old.

This story just completely jumped the shark at the end and invalidated any emotional payoff at all. Do people not enjoy humility and just being a small part of a way larger world?

I wouldn't say I really agree with the demi-god assessment.

I feel the story has always done a decent enough job of portraying us as needing outside help to achieve our goals, and while we are obviously very strong, I've never felt particularly superhuman. More Captain America 'peak human performance' than outright Superman level stuff.

As such, I don't really feel the need to be powered down or anything.

[Juun]

This story just completely jumped the shark at the end and invalidated any emotional payoff at all. Do people not enjoy humility and just being a small part of a way larger world?

You would like WoW's story then. You are just a nameless champion that doesn't actually do anything significant and is just a means for the main characters to tell a narative.

I like FFXIV story because my character is actually part of the story and the main character. Makes me feel more attached to the other main characters I fight with and my own player character too.

[NegativeS]

I feel like it's just a natural progression for MMOs. Level 5, you help a lost kitty, level 90, you kill nihilism because you killed so many gods the ones who remain are all at your beck and call at this point.

Hopefully the end of this story arc marks the end of this specific power creep. Maybe some time away from the action and away from Hydaelyn will diminish our power a bit.

You would like WoW's story then. You are just a nameless champion that doesn't actually do anything significant and is just a means for the main characters to tell a narative.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This only applies to WoW Classic. Current WoW expansions are just as 'chosen one' and 'god killer' as FFXIV is now, the only difference being is that the characters almost never refer to you by name ('champion', 'maw walker' is said about twice as much in WoW to refer to you than 'warrior of light' is in FFXIV), and they still try to distance you from the story in cutscenes, because the WoW writers have an IV drip of everclear.

[Kansene]

I was definitely hoping that we'd lose the blessing of light in the last trial, and canonically become less powerful in post-patch content, having peaked vs Meteion and needing another 10 years to reach similar power again.

Afaik though, losing the blessing isn't a big deal for our power level (I think we even fight Meteion without it since Hydaelyn is dead at that point?) I'm not 100% sure what our macguffin rock is capable of, but it seems it's basically replacing Hydaelyn as a super power source. And I'm leaning more towards thinking the writers will somehow try to up the stakes with an even GREATER universe-ending baddie.

Fingers crossed though.

[BaconBits]

I wouldn't say I really agree with the demi-god assessment.

I feel the story has always done a decent enough job of portraying us as needing outside help to achieve our goals, and while we are obviously very strong, I've never felt particularly superhuman. More Captain America 'peak human performance' than outright Superman level stuff.

As such, I don't really feel the need to be powered down or anything.

If the cinematic trailers are anything to go by, the Warrior of Light is well beyond peak human. Between clashing with Zelidibus hard enough to split the sky, taking hits that send him flying, clashing with a Sin Eater with enough force to cause an explosion, and destroying said Sin Eater as a Dark Knight while also leaving a massive gouge in the ground, the WoL is closer to one of the MCU's hard hitters than Captain America.

Even without taking the trailers into consideration, the WoL is capable of blocking Susano's building sized sword, moving faster than the eye can see as a Monk, outright teleportation as a Reaper or Ninja, and firing laser beams.

You're low-balling yourself if you think the WoL is anything less than superhuman.

[Jandor]

If the cinematic trailers are anything to go by, the Warrior of Light is well beyond peak human. Between clashing with Zelidibus hard enough to split the sky, taking hits that send him flying, clashing with a Sin Eater with enough force to cause an explosion, and destroying said Sin Eater as a Dark Knight while also leaving a massive gouge in the ground, the WoL is closer to one of the MCU's hard hitters than Captain America.

Even without taking the trailers into consideration, the WoL is capable of blocking Susano's building sized sword, moving faster than the eye can see as a Monk, outright teleportation as a Reaper or Ninja, and firing laser beams.

You're low-balling yourself if you think the WoL is anything less than superhuman.

The human baseline is quite a bit higher in FFXIV than it is in reality.

Sure, if you compare the Warrior of Light to me or you then they're definitely superhuman, if you compare the WoL to their peers then I don't think they come across quite so overpowered.

[Lauront]

Change of lead writing.
Ishikawa is very good at writing sympathetic antagonists and melodrama. But once she took over the power of friendship to do anything vibe definitely took over full force in Shadowbringers onwards.
I think no better example exists that shows the contrast between the grounded and borderline low fantasy depiction of Heavensward and the MCU x Naruto Shippuuden style from Endwalker than how the scene where every named character is conveniently reunited in the same day at the precise time you're returning from the center of the universe from a trip with no set date for returning.

I wonder if she'll be staying on as lead writer. I'm hoping for a change of guard.

Is it me or did Endwalker lapse into power fantasy a bit too hard. I mean, I know this game tries to make out that you are the best thing in the whole word but the whole Azem thing is a little ridiculous and completely invalidates the point of making your own character.

Also, now the Hydalean is dead, we should have lost our power as we were "chosen" by her... so can we go back to being just a normal person now because the demi-god stuff is getting old.

This story just completely jumped the shark at the end and invalidated any emotional payoff at all. Do people not enjoy humility and just being a small part of a way larger world?

I sort of agree. They hyped Meteion up so much, regarding absorbing the misery of so many stars, to the point that the final fight just felt comical when she spent half the fight pointlessly flailing about. I'm less bothered about the MC's power at this point, as at this point the Blessing of Light is gone and they aren't really committed to anything with the Azem crystal other than as a circumstantial tool, and more concerned about them having to surpass each previous extreme when it's already bordering on a bit too ridiculous for my liking. Hopefully they're aware of it and will take a more gradual approach for the new story.

Other final fantasies actually had threats for the main cast and killed them off. Final Fantasy 14 hasn’t done that since heavensward lmao.

They're also not MMOs with stories that continue well past them, which is another thing.

[Gameovers]

To be extremely fair, the WOL was always and I mean ALWAYS above human level. She has pretty much always been anime levels of super human. The only thing that changed from ARR to EW is the tools, friends and powers we've learned and have now vs back then. My point being, we the WOL were NEVER a simple normal person. Don't believe me? Explain how we can learn every job in the game to the point where even in ARR we are well above the norm even starting out. Our powerlevel doesn't need to be nerf. The threat and plots just need to be scaled down that's all.

[Kansene]

Explain how we can learn every job in the game6

Job crystals have the souls (or is it memories?) of possibly dozens or hundreds of people in them, transferring knowledge and techniques to the wielder. So it's not as impressive as one would think, though we'd obviously need to be strong to put the skills to good use.