This story is really underwhelming - it's opened to mixed reviews.

[koko-on-da-forumz]

Has anyone got to solution 9? That's my final hope for the story. I'm almost there and have resorted to skipping scenes. I'm now a damn skipper... I'd never thought I'd see the day. I broke after 3 Wuk Lamat fetch quests in a row with no substance. I'm sorry Lyse, you were fine, I was too hard on you.

Yes. It's equally bad but in different ways. With the exception of Zone 6's cutscenes, it's all at least watchable after level 97.

[Loggos]

That's the nature of storytelling; for instance, would you be comfortable if a story unfolded so rapidly that you're left bewildered, or if it omitted details you wished to know?

I never said that and I'm a bit confused that this is what you read in my reply.

I just said that DT doesn't have that normal, healthy gradual beginning and is instead unusually slow. A story needs good pacing and you are right, if it unfolds too rapidly that isn't good. But the opposite is also true. If it unfolds too slowly it's not good either.

I can't speak on Honkai Star Rail as I haven't played it.

[Aldath]

I hope this is a wake up call for CBU3 because they've been getting away with the same lazy formula for years while people claps their hands at everything Yoshida says. The previous expansions were hard carried by the story and instanced content.

If FFXVI taught me anything is that Yoshida can't direct anything out of a formulaic approach; the game structure of XVI is dangerously similar to that of FFXIV, with a semi open world that has absolutely nothing to discover, and the bulk of quests consisting of "go here, talk to someone, go back again, done". I believe in his leadership skills as what he did to save the original XIV and turn it into the success that was ARR is nothing short of commendable, but there's no denying that the studio is focused on saving time and resources over engagement and retention.

It's safe to say that FFXIV has some of the most beautiful maps with the most empty and lifeless gameplay design. The maps limit player mobility and agency in favor of the plot; seeking Aether Currents isn't fun when you're moving at the speed of a tired turtle and Aetherytes place you far between them. I have played cash grab MMOs like Lost Ark that made advancing through a map and doing meaningless chores at least fun, with optional dungeons, minigames, collectibles and secrets sprinkled to keep you searching every nook and cranny. GW2, a game older than this one with a story that at times makes DT look like Oscar winning material, has some of the best approaches to exploration and storytelling any MMO has even done, and that alone helps going through even the worst parts of the plot. Heck, even WoW, that follows a similar map design principle, SOMEHOW manages to make them more fun to explore.

In between story quests we have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do, unless you want to go back to the stuff from the previous expansion. It would be great if we had actually fun, small distractions while we roam the maps and go from point A to point B, but the whole formula has always been "Talk to NPC, walk to the other NPC, avoid engaging in combat to lose time, go to place, go back to NPC", and repeat this for HOURS before you can even ACCESS the first dungeon of each expansion. People were OK with this and even defended it in the past because at least there was something to expect out of the story and they were willing to swallow the boredom of escorting a loporrit through menial activities while epic music plays in the background and the world is ending. Now, there's nothing that makes the pain worth it.

And honestly, for a story oriented game, the dev team has done absolutely nothing to keep older content up to par. New players have to go through the slog that is the first 3/4 parts of ARR, and play through content that hasn't been touched up in AGES; I'm sure it's very fun to hype up Titan, make you run a painfully long chain of menial tasks, and finally have you face a Primal that can't even have his banger of a theme loop ONCE. It's no wonder why many players suddenly arrive to SHB and feel the difficulty is slapping them on the face.

And the story isn't the only problem in this expansion; it's clear that the dye channels were implemented automatically and are essentially a rushed feature, and that there should have been a round or two of testing with players using the new graphics engine because I just see dissapointment left and right. Not to mention, whoever is responsible for naming and explaining abilities should be replaced, because they do know how to make otherwise simple classes like Viper look complicated, with ability descriptions taking half the screen and naming conditions that could just be resumed as "Lets you do X ability".

So, yeah, hope this is a wake up call not only for the team behind the game, but also for the players that stood up with this BS for years and the sunk cost fallacy finally faded from their minds.

[KadenLag]

we already got the healers striking because everyone has so much sustain xD
but summoner already has rez + phoenix rekindle, physick, radiant aegis and now lux solaris heal, we one rework away from it joining the healers class.

overall on skills, would just like more relevant, more meaningful skills, right now I haven't a clue how the team decides what gets added, it seems way too illogical

[xbahax92]

My biggest issue is how often they have to repeat the same thing over and over. I got it, Krile's grandpa went to Tural. Holy damn, do they really need to remind me every 10min about him and his mission?
It's like they're telling a story for children, lol.

[Verathel]

My biggest issue is how often they have to repeat the same thing over and over. I got it, Krile's grandpa went to Tural. Holy damn, do they really need to remind me every 10min about him and his mission?
It's like they're telling a story for children, lol.

I lost track of how many times I heard peace over and over and over again and making everybody happy and so forth...It's definitely fine to say it but they kind of made Tural to be this sort of superficial place. Idk.

[Rhysati]

From all of the post I am reading, there is one thing I want to say

"Shadowbringers just spoil you all badly"

Indeed, lengthy stories often begin at a slow pace and gradually intensify. Many of us are familiar with epics like Star Wars and LOTR

Star Wars: A New Hope is my favorite Star Wars movie and the first Lord of the Rings is my favorite one of those movies.

This story wishes it could even dream of the pittance of a chance to even so much as scratch the level of one of the star wars prequels.

[NekiUno]

That's understandable. Everyone has their own tastes, likes, and dislikes; it's only natural. However, for someone who adores lore, this expansion is raising many questions and generating a lot of excitement for me (Besides the last cutscene of Pandemonium did say something is big coming around the corner).

[Elissar]

The game needed to keep or maintain the momentum it had built in Endwalker. While this would be hard to do it is far from impossible..

It's impossible. You can't replace 10 years of hype in a few months only using decent writing.

Chill.

[Arzalis]

My biggest issue is how often they have to repeat the same thing over and over. I got it, Krile's grandpa went to Tural. Holy damn, do they really need to remind me every 10min about him and his mission?
It's like they're telling a story for children, lol.

Don't forget the sepia colored flashback images to remind you of something in case you have the memory of a goldfish.