This review contains spoilers
The fact that we almost got Stormblood 2 but instead of Doma and Ala Mhigo It would have been Garlemald is so funny. I love how they brought in Ishikawa as a mainstay writer and then shafted the basic war plot that was developing, I have a feeling that she just did not give a flying fuck with the original plot was going to be, I was invested in what was happening in 4.4 and 4.5 but I thought man I don’t think the war against garlemald plotline is ever really going to hit any special buttons for me, even though doing what they did is arguably a bad writing choice I’m so glad they went through with it and made it work anyway and you can totally tell it was a last minute decision because of the success of Shadowbringers. Endwalker took the MSQ story in a whole new direction with for the better.
Fandaniel and The Final Days plot introduced so many new good dynamics to the story, Like going to garlemald and helping the people even though they have treated outsiders like ass, Having to take down the 5G wifi towers, and also adding way more backstory to the Ancients which IMO are the best part about the story and making them way more important to the main plot AND ALSO SEEING THERE FUCKING WORLD. then leading to confronting the idea of Nihilism. While being backed by the end of the world basically happening.
It was indeed a roller coaster ride
I’m going to be upfront, I do love Endwalker but I don’t think it hit as hard as Shadowbringers and if anything it really strengthen a part of Shadowbringers by letting me see Emet in a normal state. ShB covered a way verity of topics that really impacted me emotionally where as EW doubles down and focuses on one or two topics. It did hit personally at the time because sometimes I can really get in my head about the end of humanity and if I have a future or not so there were a few times it made me pretty depressed because of the whole focus on Nihilism and Extinction. The expansion did however leave me with a positive but realistic outlook towards life and the future.
I think Endwalker is immediately engaging past the Zodiark fight. And it has more constant hype peaks throughout compared to shadowbringers, but I still found there to be dull moments thanks to how the MSQ works and I think the system overall better worked in Shadowbringer's favor. But the battle system is honestly so cracked after LV86 I’m scared to see how LV100 will play out lol, EW easily got the best Trials as well.
I think another thing that really tips Shadowbringers over the edge for me was how much the characters were brought to life by the first. None of the Scions really have any major developments or are super well connected to the story. It’s mostly them conversing about what’s happening, but there are some tidbits here and there and the scene before you enter Ultima Thule where they chat about what’s next for themselves is really sweet and their eventual send-off too was a very nice payoff.
Although here's my thoughts on the two new guys to the group.
I thought Estinein REALLY showcased how much he grew since Heavensward. I was underwhelmed with him first, but I realized he wasn’t trying to be this super epic cool dude on a revenge quest like in Heavensward. His struggle was over, and you saw a softer side of him, He has changed since then, but he also has some great moments that showcase his change. At the end of the day, he was still true to himself.
Graha is like… basically the same post 5.3 lol.
I also need to throw this somewhere. I love Fandaniel’s mannerisms and how fucked he was. At the time I wasn’t an emet stan like I am now, Fandaniel was my fav villain going thru the MSQ at that point, He was such a fun villain and his dynamic with Zeno’s was so awful that it was godly. They literally want nothing to do with each other, They don’t give a shit about each other but they have to cooperate. I’ve watched that body swap cutscene way too much, And I liked how he just hyped up Zenos and then betrayed him anyways. And I also love his backstory as Hermes, he was scarily understandable.
All the zones in Endwalker are honestly really really really good, and Garlemald and the entire plot that went down there were godly but my favorite would have to be Elpis, Honestly, I COULD GUSH about Elpis forever. Exploring this new world, Learning the civilization of the ancients was such a sweet treat and easily one of my favorite parts of the MSQ in its entirety. And I think it encapsulates a lot of what I loved about Shadowbringers in 1 zone. It really felt like they wrote this part of the game for me LOL. I love seeing flashback-type shit. It makes something feel so much more complete to me, And I’m so glad they went all out and let you dress as an ancient I had such a field day with this zone it was cracked. I seriously dislike the trust system but I HAD TO DO IT IN KTISIS HYPERBOREA!!! VENAT, HYTHLODEUS, AND EMET ARE MY GOATS AND I WAS ALMOST FREAKING OUT WHEN I SAW YOU COULD DO IT WITH THEM. Obviously, Hermes was Fandaniel and Meteion was gonna be fucked but I didn’t care to be sus of them I just wanted to know how things went so bad, and boy did they deliver. Time travel is such a fucked writing tool that you must be careful with and I can say as of 6.1 they haven’t ruined time traveling yet which I'm so thankful for.
The Hydaelyn fight is a personal favourite moment, I have a hard time staying up after 10pm most of the time nowadays, but Bruh I stayed up till like fucking 3 am because of the build up dungeon and the Hydaelyn fight itself and Oh my god doing content when its current is so nice. That fight took me like a fucking hour and When I finished it, Boy was it so rewarding. A highlight moment in FFXIV for me.
Everyone who does Zodiark for the first time is like what the fuck THIS IS NOW??????? And yup that happened with me, Everyone before I got to it was like bruh wait till you get to MSQ LV83 and I was like Oh god. I’ve done the EX to that fight like 11 times at this point, I think the mounts look hella fucking stupid but I don’t really care, I just enjoy doing the fight for the vibes and the nostalgia. Also one of the first EX’s I beat.
Endsinger is great but I don’t think I’m super in love with Ultima Thule like everyone else, I felt like it was one of the most predictable moments in the MSQ post ShB, like yeah they were obviously going to come back and it was kind of just not hitting cuz of that but, I can appreciate the scions “Dying” or putting that much faith into something because its something that they believe even though the outcome could be fucked.
I think theres something to be said about how Meteion and Fandaniel were explained in the final 10 hours of the MSQ but, I feel like there’s a lot more to it. You are fighting a Man who disagrees with his world and asked a Terrible question that fucked up meteion because he was hurt. Then you fight the incarnation of Nihilism with Meteion.
6.1 spoilers
I love this new direction with the story. I beat 6.0 before 6.1 came out, so me being caught up and experiencing 6.1 on release made it special. I really love these characters and I'm always really loud now when I do MSQ, I think I woke up my dad by accident when Estinien came on screen cuz I popped off LMAO. I don't think anything that was happening was insane but I loved the new direction and the teasers in the MSQ. I also I'm SO EXCITED TO SEE HOW AGALIA AND FUCKING PANDAEMONIUM GO DOWN ELIDIBUSSSSS!!!!!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! can't wait for 6.2!
I waited for 6.2 and here's what I thought.
I was hoping that the story for pandae would be more epic but it made lahabrea better for sure also it was pretty cool all around AND THE FUCKING MUSCICCCCICCCC.
MSQ was really great!! I can't wait to see more of the void and Zero. THAT TRIAL WAS AMAZING. easily one of the best normals gameplay-wise in the entire game
6.3 is in a few days…
But yeah, Endwalker is Hella Kino and I’m glad I got to experience it in its full glory while it was fresh. : )
Fandaniel and The Final Days plot introduced so many new good dynamics to the story, Like going to garlemald and helping the people even though they have treated outsiders like ass, Having to take down the 5G wifi towers, and also adding way more backstory to the Ancients which IMO are the best part about the story and making them way more important to the main plot AND ALSO SEEING THERE FUCKING WORLD. then leading to confronting the idea of Nihilism. While being backed by the end of the world basically happening.
It was indeed a roller coaster ride
I’m going to be upfront, I do love Endwalker but I don’t think it hit as hard as Shadowbringers and if anything it really strengthen a part of Shadowbringers by letting me see Emet in a normal state. ShB covered a way verity of topics that really impacted me emotionally where as EW doubles down and focuses on one or two topics. It did hit personally at the time because sometimes I can really get in my head about the end of humanity and if I have a future or not so there were a few times it made me pretty depressed because of the whole focus on Nihilism and Extinction. The expansion did however leave me with a positive but realistic outlook towards life and the future.
I think Endwalker is immediately engaging past the Zodiark fight. And it has more constant hype peaks throughout compared to shadowbringers, but I still found there to be dull moments thanks to how the MSQ works and I think the system overall better worked in Shadowbringer's favor. But the battle system is honestly so cracked after LV86 I’m scared to see how LV100 will play out lol, EW easily got the best Trials as well.
I think another thing that really tips Shadowbringers over the edge for me was how much the characters were brought to life by the first. None of the Scions really have any major developments or are super well connected to the story. It’s mostly them conversing about what’s happening, but there are some tidbits here and there and the scene before you enter Ultima Thule where they chat about what’s next for themselves is really sweet and their eventual send-off too was a very nice payoff.
Although here's my thoughts on the two new guys to the group.
I thought Estinein REALLY showcased how much he grew since Heavensward. I was underwhelmed with him first, but I realized he wasn’t trying to be this super epic cool dude on a revenge quest like in Heavensward. His struggle was over, and you saw a softer side of him, He has changed since then, but he also has some great moments that showcase his change. At the end of the day, he was still true to himself.
Graha is like… basically the same post 5.3 lol.
I also need to throw this somewhere. I love Fandaniel’s mannerisms and how fucked he was. At the time I wasn’t an emet stan like I am now, Fandaniel was my fav villain going thru the MSQ at that point, He was such a fun villain and his dynamic with Zeno’s was so awful that it was godly. They literally want nothing to do with each other, They don’t give a shit about each other but they have to cooperate. I’ve watched that body swap cutscene way too much, And I liked how he just hyped up Zenos and then betrayed him anyways. And I also love his backstory as Hermes, he was scarily understandable.
All the zones in Endwalker are honestly really really really good, and Garlemald and the entire plot that went down there were godly but my favorite would have to be Elpis, Honestly, I COULD GUSH about Elpis forever. Exploring this new world, Learning the civilization of the ancients was such a sweet treat and easily one of my favorite parts of the MSQ in its entirety. And I think it encapsulates a lot of what I loved about Shadowbringers in 1 zone. It really felt like they wrote this part of the game for me LOL. I love seeing flashback-type shit. It makes something feel so much more complete to me, And I’m so glad they went all out and let you dress as an ancient I had such a field day with this zone it was cracked. I seriously dislike the trust system but I HAD TO DO IT IN KTISIS HYPERBOREA!!! VENAT, HYTHLODEUS, AND EMET ARE MY GOATS AND I WAS ALMOST FREAKING OUT WHEN I SAW YOU COULD DO IT WITH THEM. Obviously, Hermes was Fandaniel and Meteion was gonna be fucked but I didn’t care to be sus of them I just wanted to know how things went so bad, and boy did they deliver. Time travel is such a fucked writing tool that you must be careful with and I can say as of 6.1 they haven’t ruined time traveling yet which I'm so thankful for.
The Hydaelyn fight is a personal favourite moment, I have a hard time staying up after 10pm most of the time nowadays, but Bruh I stayed up till like fucking 3 am because of the build up dungeon and the Hydaelyn fight itself and Oh my god doing content when its current is so nice. That fight took me like a fucking hour and When I finished it, Boy was it so rewarding. A highlight moment in FFXIV for me.
Everyone who does Zodiark for the first time is like what the fuck THIS IS NOW??????? And yup that happened with me, Everyone before I got to it was like bruh wait till you get to MSQ LV83 and I was like Oh god. I’ve done the EX to that fight like 11 times at this point, I think the mounts look hella fucking stupid but I don’t really care, I just enjoy doing the fight for the vibes and the nostalgia. Also one of the first EX’s I beat.
Endsinger is great but I don’t think I’m super in love with Ultima Thule like everyone else, I felt like it was one of the most predictable moments in the MSQ post ShB, like yeah they were obviously going to come back and it was kind of just not hitting cuz of that but, I can appreciate the scions “Dying” or putting that much faith into something because its something that they believe even though the outcome could be fucked.
I think theres something to be said about how Meteion and Fandaniel were explained in the final 10 hours of the MSQ but, I feel like there’s a lot more to it. You are fighting a Man who disagrees with his world and asked a Terrible question that fucked up meteion because he was hurt. Then you fight the incarnation of Nihilism with Meteion.
6.1 spoilers
I love this new direction with the story. I beat 6.0 before 6.1 came out, so me being caught up and experiencing 6.1 on release made it special. I really love these characters and I'm always really loud now when I do MSQ, I think I woke up my dad by accident when Estinien came on screen cuz I popped off LMAO. I don't think anything that was happening was insane but I loved the new direction and the teasers in the MSQ. I also I'm SO EXCITED TO SEE HOW AGALIA AND FUCKING PANDAEMONIUM GO DOWN ELIDIBUSSSSS!!!!!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !! can't wait for 6.2!
I waited for 6.2 and here's what I thought.
I was hoping that the story for pandae would be more epic but it made lahabrea better for sure also it was pretty cool all around AND THE FUCKING MUSCICCCCICCCC.
MSQ was really great!! I can't wait to see more of the void and Zero. THAT TRIAL WAS AMAZING. easily one of the best normals gameplay-wise in the entire game
6.3 is in a few days…
But yeah, Endwalker is Hella Kino and I’m glad I got to experience it in its full glory while it was fresh. : )