How strong is the Warrior of Light?

[Carin-Eri]

That fight, and the scenes before/after it, had a big impact on me. It really established Zenos as a threat and made me concerned about any time we'd have to face him again. I was worried about how he would react to the other events that happened, particularly in Doma.

Having the player character feel so weak isn't something I really expected out of an MMO or an RPG. I do think it should've been made to be a bigger moment, it felt a bit odd confronting him towards the end of Stormblood since I didn't feel that much stronger. At first I didn't enjoy the experience of being beaten like that, but it did add a good amount of tension to the expansion.

The fact that it hadn't been done before (and hasn't really been done since) was a good thing in my eyes. Much like you, I didn't expect it and (judging by comments here, on social media and reaction videos) it was quite a common feeling/reaction amongst players.

Eitherway - I, personally, don't enjoy stories where the hero always wins. In my view having a Bane (defeated Batman) or a Doomsday (defeated Superman) is character building - sadly, the FFXIV writers dropped the ball there somewhat since, as noted, aside from some sulking and wounded pride we quickly forgot about our defeat.

Also, in the context of previous discussion in this very thread, it was one of the only times we actually fought alone.