This review contains spoilers
Typing up this review for 6.0, may edit it later!
Endwalker's motifs and themes are stellar and I think it's a great capstone for the arc. Ultima Thule was simply amazing, I loved the progression of music in the zone from the quiet, distorted radio-esque tune that slowly grows into Close In The Distance. So, so, SO good. I get teary just thinking about it again.
The zones and arcs I really liked in Endwalker were some of the highest points in the series for sure, I enjoyed the first trip to Thavnair, Elpis, and of course, Ultima Thule a LOT, like a LOT A LOT, but I felt Garlemald and the moon (sorry, the Lopporrits are cute but they just didn't do it for me) were a bit lacking. I was a bit disappointed that Garlemald didn't have as much weight as it did, and the lack of Cid for that arc definitely stayed in the forefront of my mind. In fact, having him show up at the very end to be like "what, a giant star-crossing ship? That rules!" and do some behind the scenes magic just felt a little odd. But this isn't a review on How Much Cid There Was so I'll move on.
I think Endwalker suffers a bit narratively and its two-pronged approach to its problems reminds me a bit of Stormblood. Zenos is great and the fight at the end with him is a really great send-off to his character and I certainly won't forget about him or his role in the story anytime soon, but was there also really a point to him being amped up as the antagonist in the end? When I think about the progression of the narrative, I mostly just think: Why was he there? It felt like his fight could have been preserved for a later arc, honestly. In fact, all three of the antagonists for this arc kind of felt that way to me. I really enjoyed Hermes/Amon, Meteion, and Zenos, and the thematic importance of their roles within the narrative, but for the narrative itself, none of them fully "clicked" in the way Emet-Selch (or hell even the side villains like Vauthry and Ran'jit) in ShB did for me.
That said, I honestly really loved Hermes and Amon/Fandaniel. Like a lot a lot a lot. I thought watching Hermes navigate Elpis was very interesting. Etheirys was a world that Emet told us was basically perfect and no one was unhappy in. But then Hermes gets crushed under the weight of that utopia. And I liked to watch how that choice eventually culminates with his life as Amon, once again desperate to make his supposed 'perfect empire' a better one, only to succumb to nihilism and, upon regaining the memories of his previous lives of how much he tried and failed again and again, decide to take the world with him. I really love him a lot. Probably about as much as I do Emet, to be honest.
Speaking of Emet, I do love him and seeing him in Endwalker was great, but he really did just kinda feel forced into the narrative because of how popular he is. I almost wish the visiting ancients could have seen Lahabrea and Hythlodaeus instead, given how Lahabrea never really gets anything beyond "I Will Revive Zodiark" before you kill him in ARR. But, despite my Writer's Brain saying that, I fucking love Emet-Selch, so I'm also more than ok with this in the end lol.
Venat is great and I like how she and Zenos ask the WoL the same question about their journeys/lives. I wish we hadn't shattered her soul at the end of the Hydaelyn thing. I wish she could have appeared at the end with Emet and Hyth. On one hand, Venat as an ancient talks about wanting to let go so she can trust that man will find their own path forward, so her disappearing entirely is symbolic of that, but Square kills so many women and frankly I'm just really exhausted by it and YES I'm still bitter over Ysayle.
I think stories that remind us how life is worth living even though it's pockmarked by tragedy are important. And Endwalker really hits that home in a spectacular way.
Basically the tl;dr is that I think Endwalker suffers a lot of the same narrative and pacing problems of Heavensward and Stormblood, but it soars above and beyond Heavensward and Stormblood with its themes and emotional weight. I won't forget it any time soon. It was wholly worth playing everything in XIV to get here.
Endwalker's motifs and themes are stellar and I think it's a great capstone for the arc. Ultima Thule was simply amazing, I loved the progression of music in the zone from the quiet, distorted radio-esque tune that slowly grows into Close In The Distance. So, so, SO good. I get teary just thinking about it again.
The zones and arcs I really liked in Endwalker were some of the highest points in the series for sure, I enjoyed the first trip to Thavnair, Elpis, and of course, Ultima Thule a LOT, like a LOT A LOT, but I felt Garlemald and the moon (sorry, the Lopporrits are cute but they just didn't do it for me) were a bit lacking. I was a bit disappointed that Garlemald didn't have as much weight as it did, and the lack of Cid for that arc definitely stayed in the forefront of my mind. In fact, having him show up at the very end to be like "what, a giant star-crossing ship? That rules!" and do some behind the scenes magic just felt a little odd. But this isn't a review on How Much Cid There Was so I'll move on.
I think Endwalker suffers a bit narratively and its two-pronged approach to its problems reminds me a bit of Stormblood. Zenos is great and the fight at the end with him is a really great send-off to his character and I certainly won't forget about him or his role in the story anytime soon, but was there also really a point to him being amped up as the antagonist in the end? When I think about the progression of the narrative, I mostly just think: Why was he there? It felt like his fight could have been preserved for a later arc, honestly. In fact, all three of the antagonists for this arc kind of felt that way to me. I really enjoyed Hermes/Amon, Meteion, and Zenos, and the thematic importance of their roles within the narrative, but for the narrative itself, none of them fully "clicked" in the way Emet-Selch (or hell even the side villains like Vauthry and Ran'jit) in ShB did for me.
That said, I honestly really loved Hermes and Amon/Fandaniel. Like a lot a lot a lot. I thought watching Hermes navigate Elpis was very interesting. Etheirys was a world that Emet told us was basically perfect and no one was unhappy in. But then Hermes gets crushed under the weight of that utopia. And I liked to watch how that choice eventually culminates with his life as Amon, once again desperate to make his supposed 'perfect empire' a better one, only to succumb to nihilism and, upon regaining the memories of his previous lives of how much he tried and failed again and again, decide to take the world with him. I really love him a lot. Probably about as much as I do Emet, to be honest.
Speaking of Emet, I do love him and seeing him in Endwalker was great, but he really did just kinda feel forced into the narrative because of how popular he is. I almost wish the visiting ancients could have seen Lahabrea and Hythlodaeus instead, given how Lahabrea never really gets anything beyond "I Will Revive Zodiark" before you kill him in ARR. But, despite my Writer's Brain saying that, I fucking love Emet-Selch, so I'm also more than ok with this in the end lol.
Venat is great and I like how she and Zenos ask the WoL the same question about their journeys/lives. I wish we hadn't shattered her soul at the end of the Hydaelyn thing. I wish she could have appeared at the end with Emet and Hyth. On one hand, Venat as an ancient talks about wanting to let go so she can trust that man will find their own path forward, so her disappearing entirely is symbolic of that, but Square kills so many women and frankly I'm just really exhausted by it and YES I'm still bitter over Ysayle.
I think stories that remind us how life is worth living even though it's pockmarked by tragedy are important. And Endwalker really hits that home in a spectacular way.
Basically the tl;dr is that I think Endwalker suffers a lot of the same narrative and pacing problems of Heavensward and Stormblood, but it soars above and beyond Heavensward and Stormblood with its themes and emotional weight. I won't forget it any time soon. It was wholly worth playing everything in XIV to get here.
ranrannerson
2 years ago