endwalker seen as low point?

[GaiusDrakon]

Its people finally taking the rose tinted goggles off, its quite common amongst the average opinioniated gamer such as ourselves.

Its honestly very annoying and disingenous when people talk about the past tense like "this used to be good" when really its just them trying to twist the narrative to justify their opinions without having a consistent perspective of the product.

They quickly forget the annoyances, the issues, the lack of content and in terms of shadowbringers's plot specifically, the egregious filler and predictability. Really imo I think the only reason people even like Shb is because of two things; Ardbert and Emet-Selch. Theyre arguably the most important characters that carry that narrative very well. But personally I need more than just that in order for the expansion to be a masterpiece.

Frankly as someone who has played numerous jrpgs new and old....I dont think we've had that yet with this game. The only praise I can give is that each expansion has been consistently well, but it doesnt hold a candle to stories like FFX or Chrono Trigger or Dragon Quest VIII or Tales of the Abyss.

My opinions of course but still

Two ShB babies deliberating on whether past expansions were better. Don't make me laugh

[EliaStormblade]

I enjoyed the 6.0 story. I enjoyed Pandaemonium.

6.1 to 6.4 MSQ has been, I dunno.. uneventful. I don't hate it, but it's nothing to write home about. And I know this applies to its sister-expansion Shadowbringers just as well, even though people are quick to overlook (forget) its low points. The thing is that Shadowbringers did work itself up to a spectacular climax in 5.3, whereas 6.0 basically put it all in 6.0 itself and then tried to create and stretch out a new arc. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, and I get that they can't just resolve things instantly, but I'm not expecting 6.5 to be some kind of bombastic, thrilling conclusion either.

And it's a shame, because it's basically putting the rest down with it.

As for the content? Most of it is pretty good, but some of it falls flat, like criterion, which is both overtuned and underwhelming in terms of its reward structure. Now, that can of course be mended, so we'll see about that in 6.45. I do get that people feel the loss of a Bozja keenly. I don't, but I understand that it leaves a rift for a certain type of player that doesn't just want to do savage over and over again for number go up, or cut their teeth on Ultimate prog.

[Batbrat]

I would personally call it a lazy point. Uncreative point, too. Ran out of ideas point. Wanted to play it safe point.
Story had a few moments that could have been impactful, but flopped because theyre too scared to kill anyone anymore. Then they got lazy and shoved us back with the same group immediately after pretending in some heart felt reflection moment that we all broke up and moved on. Then they shoehorn force in the most boring bland beige character I honest to god think I have ever seen in my entire life. I may loathe scrappy doo, but at least he has a personality. Zero just stands there blinking delivering cringe after cringe line and tipping that stupid folded origami hat. Graha Tia confidently piping up every few minutes as if he shouldnt have died an entire expansion ago.

It was a disappointment. Maybe not a LOW point no, they were more successful than they've ever been. But they slacked off, major league and it shows.

[Vahlnir]

For me, it has been bad enough that I have stripped my houses of any desirable furnishings, put them into storage and let my sub lapse. I'll be back later to pick up my gil, and then I'll be gone for a while. It seems like they are always cutting corners, mishandling the launch of major features and the story hasn't exactly been great, in my opinion. Either way, I think I'm done. I feel as though I'm getting increasingly less for my money here. I've tried to be patient, but I can't do this anymore.

[MoofiaBossVal]

There isn't much to do compared to prior expansions, and what gameplay there is, isn't as engaging.

Stormblood had Eureka and Heaven on High. Stormblood era had some challenging solo instances like the level 70 Red Mage duty. Some story trials like King Moogle Mog or Steps of Faith were also difficult and thus kept me on the edge of my seat. Shadowbringers only had Bozja and the game became generally less difficult. Then you have Endwalker where there is nothing to keep me logging back in. There is no Eureka or Bozja to progress through, and the game certainly isn't difficult unless you're talking about raiding, which I do not find to be enjoyable.

Narratively, I was drawn into FFXIV by it's focus on a geopolitical conflict, like the Suikoden series, Warcraft, and early Trails. FFXIV's narrative then shifts into becoming about ancient superbeings and light vs darkness and the fate of the cosmos... and I'm just not really interested in it. That's not what drew me in. Then the massive war with the Empire that the story had been building up for 400+ hours never happens. You never get to explore the Empire and it is unceremoniously dumped offscreen. Also, by this point there is no longer any semblance of stakes. None of the main characters will die, no one will have lasting hard feelings. Everything will always turn out okay. So it's hard for me to care about what's going on, and since there is so little gameplay compared to the bloated visual novel, I find myself increasingly disinterested in playing.

Aesthetically I am not fond of the game's gradual shift from a fantasy world, to mimicing our modern world with more and more T-shirts and hoodies and stuff being added. Also not fond of how the soundtrack has become increasingly laden with obnoxious pop music.

Only reason why I am still subbed to FFXIV is because I have a house, and because of the FOMO seasonal event items, but I am caring less and less about that. 7.0 is going to make or break my interest in FFXIV. I am currently playing WoW again. I have many grievances with the game, but I find the combat more enjoyable, zone exploration more enjoyable, prefer that game's aesthetic, and I like the PvP. I don't think it will keep me interested enough to resub to it permanently. GW2 has been in a downward spiral for the past 5 years and I think the next expansion is going to make or break my interest in that game as well. With Greg Street's departure from Riot games, I am doubtful the League of Legends/Runeterra MMO will be good. Overall the MMORPG genre (and high production value RPG genre) is in a sorry state. I might find another hobby.

[Zairava]

I wouldn't call it the lowest point in the game's history, that goes to 1.0 by a mile.

I started just barely before or on Stormblood launch, and endwalker so far is definitely the lowest point in my time playing the game. Largely due to job design being turned so simple with normal mode content so easy i could train my cat to play the game plus extended content lulls for what I'm interested in

[Mansion]

My position is that "veteran" players can't really judge. I'm sure people starting FFXIV now or just before EW have a blast.
Now for players who are seeing EW follow through the same patch cycle than all other expansions... Maybe not a low point because I'm sure the quality of what we are given gameplay wise is at least equal to what we had before. But I started hopping off and on in 5.1 and EW had me quit before the first patch. I usually play around a patch release for a week or two, get bored and drop my sub after that (and most of my friends have left).
I've dropped Savage because I didn't care for it anymore, I didn't feel like the gear it gave me made a real difference in the rest of the game. I can't really tolerate 2 dungeons on a roulette expected to be done daily for tomes. I don't have a reason to "grind" relics. Don't care that much about PotD 3.0.The criterion dungeon was fun for a week then there were no incentives to actually run it for me. Island Sanctuary is bland.
The only things I am happy about in EW are Sage, and the two Ultimate fights (and I don't even do these raids, I just enjoy the idea of them being around).

But if people enjoy Endwalker, I'm thrilled for them! I have been frustrated for so long because of how I wanted the game to be keeping up to my standards and expectations during most of ShB, and now I'm happy to be unphased. I play what I want to play for one month of sub and that's fine.

[kpxmanifesto]

I wouldn't' say its the lowest point. ARR takes that title by a mile. EW probably rivals Stormblood in disappointment.

[Derio]

I would rate them

S- Shadowbringers and Heavensward
A- Stormblood
B- Endwalker
C- ARR

S being both story and post launch content and performance at the highest level.

Stormblood was good post launch content wise but the the MSQ lacked a tad bit. If SB didnt have such great post launch content it would be a B or C.
Endwalker is a solid B. The story is lackluster and rushed for the main 6.0 patch and you can tell in the pacing. We have had 1 game breaking bug every patch so far in the 6.X series and the post launch content is probably the worst it has ever been considering the relic is simply just turn in tomes.

[R041]

If you're gonna grade all expacs, you need to separate their Content from their MSQ, and by Launch and their Post-Launch.