LogFAQs > #960721267

Aight, so. Not in a mood to write a ton on any one topic so I'm gonna do these rapid-fire.

First off: Endwalker was very good.

Second off: God I wanted to like it so much more than I did.

Zones:
Labyrinthos was super cool conceptually, but it was such a slog in both halves. The pacing was atrocious. Thavnair was significantly better in its two halves.

Garlemald was absolutely incredible and was by far the most consistently powerful zone in the expansion story-wise.

Moon was super cool as an idea but the pacing dragged way too long during the loporrit parts.

Elpis was fantastic strictly because of the characters and how pretty it is. I didn't even care that the pacing was bad (which it was) because I was too enamored seeing the people Hythlodaeus, Emet, and Venat really were before millennia of pain and/or sacrificing themselves changed them. Emet's VA deserves ALL the money.

Ultima Thune was another thing where it was fantastic conceptually, and both Thancred and Estinien's disappearances jolted me. I got numb to it immediately afterward since I knew none of this would stick, and I didn't feel nearly the same connection to my allies as I did throughout Shadowbringers -- except, surprisingly, Estinien. Maybe just because of novelty? The way in which the sacrifices were undone, though? Shocked the hell out of me in the best ways.

Dungeons:
-Zot and Babil had fantastic bosses. Zot looked great but was horrible to play through after the first time, but maybe that's because I'm so bored of generic imperial enemies after grinding through Bozja. Babil was better only because of your non-trust allies (specifically Sadu and Magnai) being so great, and the third area was perfect in its creepiness.
-Vanaspati was Holminster Switch 2.0. Thankfully, Holminster Switch is one of the best dungeons in the entire game, so I was absolutely down for a reprise of it. That one trash pull with the matanga mother and her children fucked me up.
-If you didn't Trust the level 87 dungeon, what the fuck is wrong with you? It's easy as hell but I adore
the aesthetics and concepts.
-Level 89 dungeon was great. Rhitatyn finally got his time in the limelight, however brief. Really wish they hadn't doubled down on the dogshit translation that made Livia's characterization awful back in ARR though.
-The Dead Ends were fascinating conceptually and I want to try it with a bunch of different Trust combos to see how dialogue changes. However, there wasn't nearly the same emotional resonance as the Final Days of Amaurot or even Sohr Khai were.

87 > 89 > 85 > 90 > 83 > 81

Gameplay:
I appreciate that even dungeon bosses are no longer fucking around. You've gotten to this point in the game, you don't get easy-peasy orange circles anymore until shit's about to go off or there's another weird gimmick happening.

Why won't Trusts AoE yet, dear god.

Every single solo duty is fantastic.

Characters:

• All Scions: Not much growth here, but that wasn't the point of the story. Everyone's hit their peaks by now. It does cause less attachment for me, but that's because this isn't an adventure story; this is a disaster movie.
• Urianger: Deserves special mention for somehow still getting better every single xpac and not being a scheming bastard for once.
• Estinien: He didn't grow much on-screen but it was cool seeing how he's changed from when we had him around consistently in HW. I'm impressed they kept him edgy and brooding while still making him snarky and fun. He's so good with Alphy.
• Fandaniel: God damn he sucked until he retroactively got better. Him being Amon did explain a ton, but by the time he got better I was bored of him; he felt different from Hermes, who I liked a ton.
• Hermes: I can appreciate a villain whose main problem is they care about everything around them too much. Everything is ultimately his fault, but he still wasn't evil per se; like I said, it's a disaster movie, and the problem is the disaster itself more than the person who inadvertently caused it for understandable reasons.
• Hythlodaeus: Why is this man so unreasonably pretty? Why is his trolling so amusing?
• Emet: I was terrified that they were going to bring him back after he went out so well in ShB and ruin him as a result. I couldn't possibly have been more wrong; I loved seeing his grouchy true self and how much he genuinely loved his people and friends despite that demeanor.
• Venat / Hydaelyn: Surprised and glad she really was benevolent in the end. She had this shit sorted and knew what she was doing from the start, and I bought it!
• Meteion: Just kind of "whatever" - she's not a character beyond your first meeting her, she's a cute, tragic plot device. That is kind of the point I suppose, but it's hard to get invested in her as the villain compared to all the previous xpac villains whom we came to know somewhat intimately.
• Zenos: I'm gonna break from you all. Zenos was AMAZING this xpac, and it's entirely because of how static he was. He is this constant whimsical menace, and his "ethos" is always consistent. He makes exactly one minor change in his entire mindset that blew me away. The "what if I did have a good reason" speech was incredible. He ties in so well with the true theme of the story, too. The final duty was such a satisfying conclusion to it all - reminded me of Gurren Lagann in the best ways. I am so glad I was wrong about him.
• Fourchenault / The Forum: I was so, so ready for these fuckers to be evil or at least greedy and self-centered with an "only Sharlayan should be saved" mindset, but man am I glad they really were good guys in the end.
• Vrdra: Best dragon. So refreshing to see a leader who truly loves his people from the very start.
• Matanga Head Alchemist (it's 2:30 am and I can't remember her name): Best elephant, I want to hug her forever.

Trials:

• Zodiark: Wow, this one was crazy hard for a first trial. The twisty thing took me longer to understand than I care to admit. It didn't feel very "epic" despite the stakes, but I guess that was the point looking back.
• Hydaelyn: Trust Trial! I loved the callbacks to the Venat solo duty. Not super difficult but tons of fun and great spectacle.
• Endsinger: Not as satisfying early on compared to the other two, mostly because she came out of nowhere by comparison; we only even knew she was a thing starting in level 87. Executed well, not super gripping. The victory lap at the end felt fantastic even if it was trivial. Great callback to End of an Era.

Best part:

• s u p p e r: This is the best solo duty in the entire game bar none. It was so genuinely creepy, between the leadup to it, what would happen if I failed, and then getting stuck in this shitty body where we have to scamper and scavenge and sneak instead of powering through like our usual badass selves.

Conclusion:
The story is quality, the gameplay is great, but the emotional connection never hit me like Heavensward and Shadowbringers -- or even Stormblood patchquests -- did with the exception of the Garlemald portion. I didn't cry once, and I wanted to. Maybe I should have taken my time more? The glue just felt sparse, which made the bad pacing in many parts that much worse. The story bit off way more than it could chew. Good thing what it bit off still tasted great in the end!

ShB > HW > SB patchquests > EW >> SB 4.0 >>> ARR

Edit - epilogue:
Man, remember when Amon was a braindead 3rd boss of a super easy A-raid who was known for having a funny hat and watching newbies die for failing to get behind an ice boulder?

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E come vivo? Vivo!