What is going on with Square Enix and the 14 team?

[IkaraGreydancer]

Did you miss the part where Y'shtola had a magical girl anime sequence and the fact that each patch we are regularly pushed into pseudocrush scenes with G'raha Tia against our will, much like in the style of early visual novel games from the 2000s where that is how they introduce the romance options? Right up there with games like Date Warp and Spirited Heart Deluxe.

The animation budget was blown on putting Estinien's boot on a balcony and somehow Endwalker launched without us getting to see the fight between Hydaelyn and Zodiark. For an expansion set against the backdrop of the literal end of the world, there should have been far more fighting and action sequences than there were. And with 6.1 being the start of a new story, we should have had something a lot better than Y'shtola nearly turning into Sailor Moon.

Meanwhile, us battle content players are desperate to have some long-lasting, repeatable content with good rewards. Cutting deep dungeon from Shadowbringers was the miscalculation of the century overshadowed only by the re-introduction of genderlocked races. Bozja learned from most of Eureka's mistakes and I had lots of fun with it, but it came too late and is ridden with bottleneck duties that I just don't have the time to hunt down parties for so I can push through it on my alts. Our classes are also in crisis mode now since if they are capable of removing an ability like Kaiten then it feels like nothing is actually safe. Except Black Mage, probably.

Yeah because those things are STRICTLY limited to visual novels. You must not watch or consume any Japanese media outside of xiv to have a view that off. "Oh my God Ysh's cutscene reminds me of Sailor Moon. Burn down the game". And psuedocrush? Graha is our biggest fan dude. But ik you hate the guy as any chance you get here you bring him up, you do like clockwork. Please stop dude...

And you're mad we didn't get a Hyd vs Zodi fight when that was never even hinted at to begin with? And I felt there was plenty of action in EW more than any expac prior actually BUT opinions ofc. 6.1 getting into the 13th is a damn good direction but ALSO opinions. You then can't complain that a piece of content you CHOOSE not to do when current is harder to do later. That's a you problem. But I digress. As always I've seen you say nothing positive of the game and I'd recommend if you Avent already to unsub cause it's clear you aren't happy. Save yourself some money man

[aveyond-dreams]

words

Y'shtola has barely done anything to warrant a random Sailor Moon sequence being thrown into the alleged start of Season 2. I didn't come here for scenes pulled straight out of a cartoon show intended for a pre-teen female audience. I came because it is a Final Fantasy game. G'raha can be a fan as much as he wants from a distance and needs to stop acting weird around the player character. It is a nuisance when we do not reciprocate his obsessions.

And yeah, of course I'm mad that we didn't get to see what felt like the most obvious thing to include in Endwalker, instead we ended up with a scene that half the playerbase doesn't understand wasn't indicative of actual events and only serves to make Venat look all the more unfavorable. If not for the risk of being reported and likely banned for doing so, I'd love to pose the models for both gods and make the scene myself, given that it is now common knowledge that such tools exist. Outside of the Thavnair and disjointed battles in Garlemald, Endwalker's action was too far stretched out. The pacing was all over the place and it felt like most of the time that there was no apparent danger at all.

6.1 teasing the Void was one of the sole good decisions this patch. I am interested in seeing what they do with this story moving forward over there but the levels of hype I had at the end of Shadowbringers is all but evaporated. Now this game has to put up a fight to keep my attention, and will especially have to once Forspoken and FFXVI release. They mismanaged a significant amount of material. If they had not turned Summoner into a Summoner-as incomplete as it is and missing most of the summons and abilities it should have by level 90-I probably would be unsubbed and playing FFXI. PVP was a surprise success that I didn't see coming, but if not for my own list of glamours/mounts to hunt down for each of my alts I would be sorely pressed for content to do.

It just wasn't like this back in the Stormblood and Heavensward days. It wasn't.

[Vahlnir]

Y'shtola has barely done anything to warrant a random Sailor Moon sequence being thrown into the alleged start of Season 2. I didn't come here for scenes pulled straight out of a cartoon show intended for a pre-teen female audience. I came because it is a Final Fantasy game. G'raha can be a fan as much as he wants from a distance and needs to stop acting weird around the player character. It is a nuisance when we do not reciprocate his obsessions.

Honestly, this is an anime style JRPG game rated T for Teen. Sometimes it goes full anime. It happens. lol To expect anything less is foolish, in my opinion.

[TaleraRistain]

It just wasn't like this back in the Stormblood and Heavensward days. It wasn't.

Stormblood was one giant seinen anime. The anime trappings have always been there. People derisively call this a weeb game but they're not far off the mark.

[AziraSyuren]

Stormblood was one giant seinen anime. The anime trappings have always been there. People derisively call this a weeb game but they're not far off the mark.

The funny thing is that a lot of these tropes were featured in FF before (or around the same time as) anime became infamous for them.

FFXIV's story had all the trappings of a standard Final Fantasy game for as long as I've been playing. The closest thing to an exception we've ever gotten was Shadowbringers and that's mostly because FF stories generally aren't written with that level of nuance to their characters. FFIX had transformation sequences as limit breaks and the series as a whole has had ridiculous summoning animations that wouldn't be out of place in a late 1990's to early 2010's Super Robot anime ever since VII. The Power of Friendship (and Love) has been a major theme to the series ever since IV.

HW in particular was pretty much the platonic ideal of FF stories until EW came along. Gods bad, religion bad, dragons cool but also sometimes bad, Moogles, you name it.

It's just really jarring because ShB was meaningfully different in a lot of ways. Even the fights lacked much of the dramatic flair (to their detriment imo) until the patches came along.

[TaleraRistain]

The funny thing is that a lot of these tropes were featured in FF before (or around the same time as) anime became infamous for them.

They predate FF. Manga existed before the 50s but started reaching its heyday in Japanese culture then and anime starting taking off in the 60s. So it's no surprise to see the ideals reflected in the FF series since they were known in Japanese society.

[KizuyaKatogami]

Honestly, this is an anime style JRPG game rated T for Teen. Sometimes it goes full anime. It happens. lol To expect anything less is foolish, in my opinion.

I mean it’s also a final fantasy game. And outside of like, the women dominated games i don’t recall magical girl or anime moments like this but it’s been awhile since i’ve played a few of them.

[Vahlnir]

I mean it’s also a final fantasy game. And outside of like, the women dominated games i don’t recall magical girl or anime moments like this but it’s been awhile since i’ve played a few of them.

It is an FF game, yeah, but they've added a good bit of anime flair to this one in places. Clearly they have slightly different plans for FF XIV in regards to how it presents itself. Good or bad, it is what it is.

And yet there are no small amount of games rated T that showcase more effective storytelling without having to constantly resort to tired tropes in such a predictable manner each patch.

You are 100% correct. And that is basically every other FF game on the market past and present. However, FF XIV hits and feels different because it is different in this regard. They've never tried to hide it, but they've definitely leaned into it more recently. Endwalker's story felt like a pretty cheesy anime at points. And by "at points" I mean most points. I enjoyed certain portions of the story, sure, but I wasn't oblivious to what was staring me right in the face.

[aveyond-dreams]

And yet there are no small amount of games rated T that showcase more effective storytelling without having to constantly resort to tired tropes in such a predictable manner each patch.

[IkaraGreydancer]

And yet there are no small amount of games rated T that showcase more effective storytelling without having to constantly resort to tired tropes in such a predictable manner each patch.

Then I have to ask...why not take your time and spend it there instead of complaining about the same thing here everyday? I'll never understand why folks spend so much time around things they don't like. You want xiv to change, you've said as such 100 times now. Move on to greener pastures