Endwalker vs shadowbringers story, which did you enjoy more and why? (spoilers)

[KageTokage]

I'd say Shadowbringers, mostly because I feel like Endwalker fell flat on delivering a satisfying conclusion to the Hydaelyn/Zodiark business to me when it really deserved better.

At minimum I was expecting we'd have actually gotten to see the two gods face off against each other in their world-changing conflict, but we didn't get that, and the actual reasoning behind why it all it started felt like a cop-out when it ended up mostly being "Because the future said so", rather then giving more perspective to the elements we were actually aware of back in Shadowbringers.

[LaylaTsarra]

I liked them both. Hard call as to which was better for me. I thought that ShB would be a hard act to follow given it was so good but Endwalker did a great job of following that. I've played through it a few times and still watch all the major cuts on my alts. Have a couple now on the moon and a couple in Elpis.

Hoping the new story line will be good as well can't wait to see what they're going to come up with,

[kpxmanifesto]

Shadowbringers by far. Endwalker was riddled with pacing issues, plot holes, and overall just strange decisions with how the story played out. I thought it was a very disappointing end to the story.

[PawPaw]

Shadowbringers by miles. The more I think about Endwalker the more unhappy I am about Endwalker. It's fine as an EP when you just go along the path that the writers try to push you along but it falls apart like tissue paper the second you stop and look hard at the plot. Very disappointing ending to what had been my favorite story up until this point.

[RyuDragnier]

I thought it would be Shadowbringers but for me Endwalker. Endwalker capitalizes on years and years of storytelling though while Shadowbringers is a stronger self-contained story.

Exactly how I feel too.

[xxmiamorecadenza]

Shadowbringers.

It had a more consistent and touching narrative. Endwalker felt like a bad fever dream after a certain point and didn't really serve as a satisfying conclusion to many of the story arcs that had been in the making for years. Whilst Shadowbringers encouraged players to come to their own conclusions regarding various characters, Endwalker proved to be incredibly tone deaf in many of its assumptions. The entirety of the second phase of the final boss consisting of flailing about was also bitterly disappointing to me. I want a game first and foremost, not a glorified visual novel.

A pity we'll likely only see the proper version of that fight in Extreme. I'm definitely going to do it - but it sucks a good chunk of the playerbase will miss out on it.

[Minarisweet]

I thought it would be Shadowbringers but for me Endwalker. Endwalker capitalizes on years and years of storytelling though while Shadowbringers is a stronger self-contained story.

Reading this kinda makes me realize that yeah of course shb feels better its more of a standalone story that uses elements from past expansions... endwalker was bound to be wonky with how much story it had to wrap up but I still like that it tackles its own set of points like nihilism, the meaning of life and our own morality as heroes.

[DPZ2]

If we're talking about expansions as a whole, it is entirely too soon to make an assessment.

I'd suggest tabling this discussion until the end of the expansion, and then we'll talk.

[TheMightyMollusk]

If I had to pick, Shadowbringers felt more like a coherent story to me. It took more time to let us get to know the characters involved. Lyna, Feo Ul, hell, even Magnus felt more like a fleshed out character, and he's only relevant for about a quarter of a zone. The stakes also felt a lot more personal (I mean, yeah, of course the WoL isn't actually gonna turn into a Lightwarden and effectively die, it's an MMO with a continuing story, but it actually felt pretty horrifying to me).

Endwalker....I dunno. I liked it overall, but it felt like two expansions mashed into one to just get the whole story arc over with. Garlemald in particular needed another zone or two to let the story breath. I feel like everything up to the moon should've been one expansion, the post-Zodiark stuff up to the first blasphemies appearing should've been the patch stories, and from then onward should've been another whole expansion.

[Caurcas]

Stormblood