Final Fantasy XIV Hot Takes

[Berteaux_Braumegain]

Hot take: Endwalker's story is fine.

It's not perfect. Even leaving aside debates over whether this or that character is really good or evil or whatever else, there's pacing problems (Garlemald, in particular, felt like it really needed another zone's worth of content to flesh it out and let the story breath). It kinda felt like two expansions' worth of story forced together because they didn't think that just ending the whole war with Garlemald was enough of a pull after years of dragging it out. And our brief stopover on the First felt like it didn't serve much purpose other than to remind us that those characters exist too.

But overall, I still thought it was pretty good.

Agreed. I like it less than Shadowbringers (5.0), but I'd say it's a reasonable second place.

[Anienai]

They should replace lalafells with the Loporrits.

[Seiori]

Story could use some more black and white and less grey.

[Hezzlocks]

Good. I don't want to see any more characters sacrificing themselves for the Warrior of Light.

Yes, just as Alisae made us promise in SB, no heroic sacrifices!

Honestly main character deaths is a very delicate technique to attempt. You absolutely shouldn't just hamfist in someone dying because teh epic storiez, no. It has to be handled very carefully or else the whole thing ends up a colossal waste.

If not properly handled, a death can be severely cheapened by either being obvious said character was going to die (EW would have suffered this as there were main character death red flags everywhere, which is probably why some people were disappointed it never happened), or it ends up being distasteful because it came out of left field, worst case scenario it feels disingenuous because it was a character death purely for the sake of character death, a cheap and unwarranted grab at emotional impact.

Of course, fakeout deaths are often no better, especially when there's so many of them. But at least they don't have permanence. A character actually dying in a poorly conceived way is not just bad storytelling, it's also a colossal waste of that characters potential, because if they are subsequently brought back to try to fix that mistake, that then also cheapens *all* deaths in general.

I'm not gonna say there should never be main character deaths, but one should not *expect* them to happen. They need to be used sparingly and appropriately. Unless a character death is going to be a slam dunk, I'd rather they not try at all.

[KizuyaKatogami]

Yes, just as Alisae made us promise in SB, no heroic sacrifices!

Honestly main character deaths is a very delicate technique to attempt. You absolutely shouldn't just hamfist in someone dying because teh epic storiez, no. It has to be handled very carefully or else the whole thing ends up a colossal waste.

If not properly handled, a death can be severely cheapened by either being obvious said character was going to die (EW would have suffered this as there were main character death red flags everywhere, which is probably why some people were disappointed it never happened), or it ends up being distasteful because it came out of left field, worst case scenario it feels disingenuous because it was a character death purely for the sake of character death, a cheap and unwarranted grab at emotional impact.

Of course, fakeout deaths are often no better, especially when there's so many of them. But at least they don't have permanence. A character actually dying in a poorly conceived way is not just bad storytelling, it's also a colossal waste of that characters potential, because if they are subsequently brought back to try to fix that mistake, that then also cheapens *all* deaths in general.

I'm not gonna say there should never be main character deaths, but one should not *expect* them to happen. They need to be used sparingly and appropriately. Unless a character death is going to be a slam dunk, I'd rather they not try at all.

They havent been used for 3 expansions now. I think resorting to major plot armor and plot holes to keep a character alive is just as bad as killing one off. I think there should be at the very least some consequences depending on the state of the story. For example we just had

a world ending apocalypse but somehow everyone is perfectly fine afterwards,

it really lessens the impact lol

[aveyond-dreams]

The current state of ARR is little more than a visual novel now that all battle content has little to no difficulty, and new players deserve a completely revamped and improved starter experience.

[Conundrum]

The current state of ARR is little more than a visual novel now that all battle content has little to no difficulty, and new players deserve a completely revamped and improved starter experience.

Most new players aren't looking a for a "hard" experience no matter how often the "content should be hard" contingent repeats it.

If people want hard content, it's there...even in ARR.

[aveyond-dreams]

Most new players aren't looking a for a "hard" experience no matter how often the "content should be hard" contingent repeats it.

If people want hard content, it's there...even in ARR.

I'm not even talking about hard, that isn't what I'm asking for. There is quite literally nothing to do in ARR fights except press 1 button and let the other players clear it for you. My starter experience had a learning curve and by the time I hit my first dungeon I had a lot more than just a basic 1-2-3 combo, if even that for some of todays jobs. You would not be able to sell me ARR nowadays-and I'm speaking as someone who started this game day 1 that it launched.

[Allegor]

I'm not even talking about hard, that isn't what I'm asking for. There is quite literally nothing to do in ARR fights except press 1 button and let the other players clear it for you. My starter experience had a learning curve and by the time I hit my first dungeon I had a lot more than just a basic 1-2-3 combo, if even that for some of todays jobs. You would not be able to sell me ARR nowadays-and I'm speaking as someone who started this game day 1 that it launched.

Yeah, this on itself may count as another hot take, but there's a big difference between "hard" and "you literally have to be afk or trolling to fail this" - XIV may be a story-driven game, but it's still a game, not a movie.

[Raoabolic]

I'm not even talking about hard, that isn't what I'm asking for. There is quite literally nothing to do in ARR fights except press 1 button and let the other players clear it for you. My starter experience had a learning curve and by the time I hit my first dungeon I had a lot more than just a basic 1-2-3 combo, if even that for some of todays jobs. You would not be able to sell me ARR nowadays-and I'm speaking as someone who started this game day 1 that it launched.

You don't understand, there was button bloat. :^) /s