Goodbye, Endwalker...

[@Justcallmekai11]

I left this as a comment in a reddit thread, but I think what people fail to see when reviewing Endwalker is the sheer number of non-content changes we saw that take real, significant dev time, some of which won't even be seen until Dawntrail (Graphics overhaul and 2 dye channels). Endwalker provided us with DC travel, pvp overhaul, 1 major overhaul of a pvp map, and one coming in the future, a new pvp mode with 5 maps, duty support through all of msq, trimming of ARR, including an entire overhaul of cape westwind, castrum, prae, and the steps of faith, server upgrades, a whole new data center, and a ton of QoL improvements in the form of various long-requested settings being added. I'm probably forgetting other things too, Endwalker wasn't meant to "rock the boat" in any serious way, it was meant to be a low-key expansion with casual friendly content, while the dev team got to spend the time to do some grunt work behind the scenes. The fact we got as much content as we did is amazing.

[@anteprs7908]

yes that the point a single expantion finally giving casual some content

[@spiswel]

This, this, this, and a thousand times more this.

[@BladRavenYey]

they did so much QoL improvements this expansion its insane. its a big reason i cant seem to agree with so much of the bad rep some people give it

[@sadmiqoxiv]

The qol is good in endwalker, but sadly little of it actually helps veteran players. Base 6.0 was up there with shadowbringers in terms of story, but post patch content was truly a letdown outside of savage and ultimate. Ex trials were a hit and miss, with the exception of barbariccia and golbez actually being at an extreme level, the rest were a joke. Combat content was iterated on with criterion, but sadly lacks any real reason to repeat it, and the reward structure made no sense at all. Alliance raids were fantastic in terms of scale, but fell short on the difficulty compared to previous expansions. Relics grind was... A letdown. Relic content always guided players to interact with previous content, keep that content relevant for the entire expansion. However the relic tombstone just made older content even less relative. Overall endwalker was fine, they experimented and trialed new concepts that didn't pan out well in the long run, and hopefully learned from it.

[@ivankrizanic507]

The same team also completed and shipped FFXVI

[@Drac_Iguro]

Endwalker has felt a bit underwhelming but I feel like we had a bit of a sacrifice this expansion to set up the future of the game. Updating pvp and giving it some new systems, which I’ve loved. Updating the older content and making the new player experience hopefully better. And of course the graphics update and two dye channels are very welcome and not something I saw coming. I liked the new content that we did get this expansion it just felt a bit safe and lacked a bit of longevity that stuff like Eureka and Bojza had. It also felt either super casual or super hard with almost no reason to do the content. Either way I’m super excited for Dwantrail and what it has to offer.

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

I agree with you on your points, it's why I believed that Endwalker did not have a lot of content so new and old players can complete the older expansions' contents

[@AdiHashira]

Epic video Endwalker was my first expansion and even though it wasn't perfect I still loved it. Endwalker was an awesome experience.

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

It is an expansion that I will remember for a long time because it was the first time

[@Inukipachuki]

I audibly laughed at the part where you said "story... who cares". When I usually look at how new content is usually handled, I look at how old content was handled when it was first released and how it was received and the evolution process through that experience. I think the most notable examples would be Diadem 1.0 and Eureka 1.0. While they don't always get it right on the first try, they always build upon what they learn through each experience. Ultimately, what players are experiencing currently is how ideas are developed in-house which later becomes playable content. The players are part of that process after said content is released through feedback and fixes overtime. Diadem 1.0 underwent NUMEROUS iterations until it became the gathering zone that it is now. As well as Eureka 1.0 with it's various zones. The same will happen with Island Sanctuary, where what they learned there will be implemented into Cosmic Exploration. In my honest opinion, Variant Dungeons just need more worthwhile rewards with minor tweaks here and there. Same with the current iterations of PvP and Frontlines (Which I enjoy cuz of the controlled chaos feeling I get each time I daily play). I specifically remembered around the post 6.0 live letter is when Yoshida-san mentioned released dates will be increased from around 3.5 months to 4 months, also taking into account of Japanese work holidays, to keep the worker's health in check. To me, when I heard that, it brought into mind about how in Japan the work/life balance is already incredibly imbalanced (Just look at how things are for Japanese animators in most JP studios). So the 6.x patch release time increase is for the for devs to not work themselves to the bone after what they tirelessly went through the 8-10 years previously. This can also be seen with the "For Hire" opportunities that Yoshida mentioned at the end of various 6.x patch live letters. I saw that as the more senior dev members ALSO taking that extra time to teach new hires how things are done as well as how to work within the unique in-studio engine that FF14 works in. Anyways, sorry for the wall of text. I enjoyed the video for your opinions and thus, it inspired me to share my 2 cents for what it's worth. Hope you have a good day.

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

Thank you for sharing this info, I usually could not catch the live letters because of the time difference so this was quite eye-opening.

[@Inukipachuki]

@LemonBoy I almost forgot that in 2023 when Western studios are constantly doing layoffs, the FF14 team was hiring people to work on the MMO. The labor laws within (WITHIN being the keyword here) Japan are also pretty strict to help prevent mass layoffs like what is happening in the rest of the gaming studios. This helps the team in the long run because they're able to retain the artists, writers and software engineers over the years which in-turn helps to teach the new generation of potential devs within SE in Japan.

[@evaboeglin5690]

Sam becoming a modbeast is not what I expected

[@SynodicScribe]

This was another awesome video man! My friends and I have all come to the conclusion that Endwalker was just, Mid. It wasn't amazing, but it wasn't bad, it kinda just..... is. As a lore channel I could of course go off on how this expansion has the most continuity errors of any story arks in FFXIV, but most people don't wanna hear about that. So instead I'll say this. I enjoyed Endwalker, but I wish I could have enjoyed it more. I don't know what to blame. Was it FF16? The Pandemic? An internal change in the studio? All of those things? I dunno, it just feels like Endwalker lost that one thing that made me love the previous expansions and stumbled over the finish line instead of staying focused. I'm hoping the missing attention/resources was being used for Dawntrail. Because I'm still very excited to see what FFXIV has to offer in the future!

[@Liendros]

Oh damn hello professor, didn't expect to see you here!

[@SynodicScribe]

@@Liendros I get all over the place!

[@inspirations365]

Tell us more about these continuity errors!

[@SynodicScribe]

​@@inspirations365 Here's the short TLDR list, Powers of the Echo and Blessing of Light were messed up Post MSQ Story Contradicts previous Void lore Inconsistencies with the location/nature of named souls And that's before getting into the Time Travel issues. lol I'd make a video about all these things and more if I didn't already know the FFXIV community would do everything in its power to defend the expansion's writing issues. haha

[@qAxLp]

​@@SynodicScribe I suppose I get your reasoning for not making that video. I am not a content creator obviously, so I can't claim to know what it's like to make a potentially controversial video that might bring some hate even if the critique has merit. I at least would find a video like that interesting, if not necessary to some degree.

[@filipvadas7602]

Endwalker might have been a bit of a content drought, but I'd argue it was one of the best expansions for the game's *overall* health. Keep in mind, throughout Endwalker and its post they made a bunch of QoL changes, trimmed/improved/reworked old content to better reflect the current game (cape westwind for instance is no longer a meme, but an actually awesome solo trial) ,made a bunch of job changes and long requested buffs (like the Living Dead and Blood Weapon reworks for DRK) , added Duty Support to basically all MSQ vital dungeons do that sprouts won't have to spend over an hour waiting for ppl to show up to do old content (speaking from personal experience) and generally improved the starting experience And the thing is, I am 100% fine with Dawntrail being a chill, beach episode expansion for at least the first half. Especially if it means even more improvements to the game in the future (there are still classes like PLD that need a full facelift, the inventory system is needlessly obtuse and the Glamour Dresser is a middleman that ppl have been complaining about for years. And that's just the stuff off the top of my head)

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

Of course, I agree with your points, and I'm honestly glad that they were able to rework and refine older things to better the experience for newer players, it's just bad for the players that are already caught up, and some of the changes and stuff they have released have either been: buggy, half-assed, or made after banning someone who uses a QoL mod. All in all, it was an alright expansion that was a bit fucky because of many different reasons.

[@grygaming5519]

@@SamTheLemonBoy I dont see it as a bad thing. XIV if anything has taught me something I wish happen far earlier in my life. You dont need to be on this game 24/7 to be competitive. Other MMOs created bad habits for myself and honestly 14 broke all these bad habits slowly. I'm enjoying life more, having fun doing things without worrying to log in and do a round of X or i'll be left behind. I found new hobbies, playing games I havent played (just bought), and I rarely get on 14 unless I want to now. I've raided, did ultimate's and now just taking a much needed vacation off the game. I think the only ones actually hurting are content creators themselves whose purpose is to produce content for people to consume.

[@aren_gee]

If Dawntrail becomes a banger expansion like HW and ShB, then EW will become the new StB. Hell, I'd argue that compared to all Expansions of the game, Stormblood was the best of them. Narratively passable but the content was extremely good, its honestly hard to be topped, and yes not even ShB could match it in my opinion.

[@xsteelersx6]

As someone who only got to play most expansions on-and-off to keep up with the story, having more time to play during EW just meant I could go do older content most comfortably and not have the mountain of additional content get taller. Not saying I enjoyed having less EW stuff, just that it worked out for me scheduling wise. Still working on getting solo clears of EO and POTD, and I still have ults to clear. Looking forward to DT for sure tho!

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

Good luck on your goals, dude!

[@venanreviews]

I think you absolutely nailed the expansion on the head. I liked Endwalker, but I feel like it would be unfair to compare it to some of our previous expansions when the game wasn't at a point where it "needed" so many grand adjustments. When ShB hit and we received news about not getting extra side dungeons to unlock and overall reducing the grand total of dungeons for the expansion as a whole, a lot of people were shocked and disappointed. Despite that, ShB endeed up being astounding in many ways because of how every piece of content was just outstanding. I think Endwalker had potential but there was a shift in development during it so that they could prepare an entirely new journey's worth(multiple expansions worth of consideration, not just Dawntrail) with overhauled graphics and mechanics. I think despite how some areas of EW were somewhat lackluster, that the devs were "futureproofing" the game so they could be ready for a whole new series to kick off with. Endwalker was a good expansion, it just wasn't AS good as some of the others we had that had the luxury of being focused on entirely for what it offered.

[@raypol1]

This is a good summary of the expansions. In short its was serviceable but nothing groundbreaking. I hope SE knows what they are doing cause if dawntrail follows the same path as endwalker FF14 might slowly fall into dark times like it happened with wow.

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

I am sure they know exactly what they are doing

[@Omegaphoenix128]

Honestly EW is fine for content and the like. The relic weapon, as an example, was put in place likely to encouragge people to do the manderville quest line (which is fairly extensive foe a side quest). For anyone who already did it, getting the weapons fairly quickly with tomes shoupdve been fine and easy, especially since it essentially alllows you to grind whatever to get it. But people kind of need to consider when EW was undergoing development. The great coughening was well underway at that time, and hindered a lot of studios development time. This makes it so that if people kind of wonder "where the content at", they should atleast give a little repreive to the devs in that regard for turning out what they did given the circumstances. Ill be more discerning with DT cause that should be uninterrupted development, so lets see what comes with that.

[@goestah]

I started playing the game a year ago ish and completed the EW story in about September and I can safely say that I have no idea if EW was good or not cause there's so much content in this game overall that it's hard to even care if EW was good or not

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

Naturally, there is so much to do in the game when you consider all five expansions

[@criminalmatrix6]

You keep mentioning the lack of content but, to be fair.. we know we all want to forget this but... global pandemic during and after launch.... of course the over all things to do will suffer a bit especially when trying to get back to normalcy. Dawntrail will be them playing catch-up from what that incident cost them.

[@chelsthegameruiner8669]

My personal gripe mainly was the lack of any new armor sets. Granted, I'm a trench coat guy, so anything short of that will leave me sad. Its also why I'm excited for the cowboy and steampunk themed zones in DT, maybe I'll at long last have my wish of wanting a duster coat in the game granted

[@SuikodenGR]

As a fellow veteran since 1.0, content drought will always be a thing and feeling dissatisfied. Definitely looking forward when we get to experience Dawntrail

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

100%

[@darksnakex5187]

That good but you do know FFXIV try not to keep you in the game cause everybody who works on FFXIV is gamers and as gamers they want to try new games especially MMO, that why endwalker is know different than the other expansion, which keeps in the game for A limited time before new content, or a new games release, than you FFXIV til the release of the next expansion only to return catch up with the story and content, then boom ready for the new expansion. That why I love that FFXIV don't keep players in like certain MMOs and that it's let you leave come back and don't be punished to much for missing out on everything cause everything is still here and ready for the players.

[@smol27]

Was a fun ride with this expansion, thank God for the Excel Sheet known as Island Sanctuary.

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

oh God...

[@esunaga]

the jiggle at 3:27 is insane. what's your loadout for these physics? since these seem smooth as all hell, and not too exaggerated

[@has9793]

Never thought about some of these points, but overall, great video!

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

Thanks

[@ProphetOfTruth_]

What race is your character? I can’t put my finger on it, face looks more midlander, not sure where the freckles or that hair style come from, but the figure/body looks more highlander

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

Midlander but enhanced

[@warllockmasterasd9142]

Any reason you didn't mention the Deep dungeon under the content we got? or is it because you've not unlocked it yet??

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

I didn't mention it because it slipped my mind, I have done the first 50 floors of Eureka: Orthos, but it's about the same element as the other Deep Dungeons, besides some unique mobs and the obvious unique bosses

[@warllockmasterasd9142]

@@SamTheLemonBoy Well yeah that's how deep dungeons work, though each iteration introduce some manner of new mechanic or old mechanic reworked. Anyhow do the last 50 floors a lot of fun.

[@Smarfton]

Relying on the player base being kept busy with old content, but also simultaneously stripping level and abilities off over leveled jobs for said content makes for, even in the short term, a headache and boring slog even for the new players. It's like getting a new toy for Christmas, but every time you want to play with it in the basement, it's taken away from you because that toy wasn't opened in that room in the first place. Why they just don't fully scale all damage and healing for all abilities acquired for lower content is beyond me. The balancing would be a headache you say? So what, get to work on it. Or, you know, bite the bullet and redo all the classes from the ground up with modern day experience in your game and realign when jobs learn things so you don't get experiences where a SAM have access to just one aoe combo, but have to waste 3 gcd on a single target chain to give both the speed buff, but also the other SEN sticker and do the cast aoe attack. Just, have both aoe ablities damn it and weave upgrades in over levels to improve it's output, BUT GIVE THE BASE ATTACKS EARLIER ON! Do that for every job now.

[@anteprs7908]

most new players are causal not ppl like you who like challanging content you need to remember this most ppl come to enjoy the story and relax and have fun not raids and ew is the perfect expantion for this .

[@SayaKirasaka]

You can clearly see how SE tried some stuff out with the endwalker raids, like bring CC skills back cuz goddamn did p6 and p7 put you to sleep faster than a weirdly fuzzy drink at a bar.

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

They definitely did try some things out for sure, like the changes to gearing and all that, it's a good start, and I hope to see them move into a more favored gearing system

[@FreakStyled]

Hmm the biggest problem i had with the story, was the time traveling. It caused a paradox and that one isnt resolved yet, just suxx.

[@Iymarra]

My main gripe with the end of post patch story is the 'teehee thancred and urianger are sneaking and actively going to compete with or sabotage the WoL to help their own candidate is ????? AFTER EVERYTHING WE'VE BEEN THROUGH? Whaaaaat?

[@nebula8851]

"Endwalker was my first expansion" Endwalker was my fourth. You have NO clue how good you have it, I promise. Heavensward was a dumpster fire for most of the expansion, Stormblood was good overall but the exploration zones sucked until the back end of the expansion, and Shadowbringers was mid until the WoW exodus brought new players in. Eden's Verse for an entire year was painful.

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

I am very much aware of the struggle many people had, I hear the bald man loop about it to this day.

[@millamiqote8827]

Feel like I wanna point out that having more players does indeed not translate directly to more ig things. The subscription goes to the company then the game is allocated a budget, aka, it might indeed be more prominent in Dawntrail assuming the ppl in charge are generous. Only the cash shop sales go straight into the game. Most of all though, this game has never been about keeping ppl playing "forever". It's not what the devs are aiming for.

[@thepeanutter9972]

You can't make this now! The 16 Ifrit trial WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING!!!

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

True, actually

[@HyouVizer]

3:23 this stat mod is perfection, its what I wanted the stats to be presented as exactly. Clears up all the useless attributes said job doesnt use and shows the percentage effectiveness too 🤩

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

It really helps a lot to understand what is going on

[@Caerikz]

I liked Endwalker, but I agree with all the criticism. It was very mid. Stormblood was the expansion that felt most similar to me, because of the split narrative problem, but that's where similarity ends. Endwalker felt rushed to close things up, and like they wanted to not dwell too much on some things so they wouldn't need to explain them away later. The post patch content was fine, definitely seeding for the future. A lot of "under the hood" changes happened, but I think that is explained by the FFXVI team being born of the FFXIV team. I'd imagine that meant the people versed mostly in the operation of an MMO weren't borrowed to work on a single player game, giving them a lot of idle time to work on the QoL changes we saw. Between the pandemic, the shifts in work force, and 16's existence? I don't think EW stood a chance to rival Shadowbringers. And this is echoed for me by the sheer amount of content confirmed for Dawntrail already.

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

They still did an alright job for the hassle they had to go through

[@Caerikz]

@@SamTheLemonBoy still hope that EW doesn't become their standard going forward.

[@anteprs7908]

i think if you a causal ew was epic if you midcore it was mid if you a raider it was good

[@daveholechko874]

In all regards I felt that endwalker msq was kinda atrocious. More so speaking it felt like the end times should of just perhaps continued into at least 6.1 seeing that this was suppose to be a catastrophic event similar towards dalamud falling from the sky. But Post msq story felt on the level of shadow bringer with how it was edging yourself closer and closer towards the actual ending. And with the ending of patch 5.5 the knee jerks, and heart felt moments were well deserved.

[@Yurikan]

It's more than just the poor reward structure. The problem is the journey to get the rewards themselves not feeling worthwhile and the new design increased the gap between casual and end game content. They sort of left themselves without a lot of room to adjust fights since so many mechanics are just instant death.

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

The absence of a bridge between casual and hardcore is probably the biggest issue this game has.

[@anteprs7908]

there need to be a gap always god no endgame player and casual dont get alone mixing them togehter is only going to ruin the game we see that with raiders ruining daily dung by trying to speedrun everthing .

[@anteprs7908]

@@SamTheLemonBoy that called midcore and that been lacking this expantion only since it has no exploration zone .

[@kingkraig1974]

Question, you're reaper outfit and weapon; modded or unmodded? Cause i really like it, but am on PS, so wanna know if it's even possible for me to get before trying to make it.

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

It's all available in the base game, just updated to match the character's physique

[@kingkraig1974]

@@SamTheLemonBoyOh sweet as! Sooooo got the names of the stuff? At least the chest piece, love me a good cape.

[@MrSaigon85]

@@SamTheLemonBoy how did you get the third eye? I love that so much !❤

[@anteprs7908]

endwalker was the perfect expantion for the casuals for the first time we got cater to outside msq we had island and relic (finally we can do easy relics took them ages to limit the gatekeepers out) the raider and hardcore seem to be fine it only the midcore player wh osuffered a bit but they s till got there extreme trail,deep dung ,variant and crit dung so it not like they had nothing they only didnt get eureka because se relize what if the 85% casual players could have stuff to do outside msq maybe they sub a month more for it and that what many did .Btw if ppl cry that content such as variant,deep and exploration zone are "casual" content they arent all form of challanging content is midcore since causal is a player who seek to RELAX AND HAVE FUN and while you can have fun you sure cant relax with that kind of content that why island and relics were perfect for casuals but the midcore suffer a bit but then again they got 3 expantion focused on them in post msq it was time for the casuals the ppl who keep the light on in ffxiv to get some content .Also most pp lare here for the story and the rpg part far mor then the mmo part that includes new players.

[@SoeZ-M4]

Ex trials, variant and deepd is as casual content as it can get the pve

[@anteprs7908]

@@SoeZ-M4 the diffcults isnt casual it midcore . any challanging content that beyond the msq that require focusing isnt casual content it midcore and savage,crit savage and ultimate are all hardcore content the rest belongs the and will ALWAYS BELONG to midcore players , causal content is ,island,dailys msq ,housing and depend on the teir or ex ally raids , normal raids but mostly they are midcore too the only content that for all is beside msq is pvp and crafting .

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

Of course they will cater to the casuals since they tend to make up the larger percentage of the player base, and moreover the fact that casuals tend to do anything from easiest to hardest pieces of content

[@anteprs7908]

@@SamTheLemonBoy hardest no if you do hard content you aint casual you become midcore by default if you chose to do challanging content you no longer a casual.

[@Jamalboseman]

SHB was my first expansion and lemme tell you it was OG for me like top expansion for me way better than EW respectfully but i finally found a great FC on aether cuz of this expansion i am thankful lol

[@Avrahffxiv]

Just be glad you have a story you can really nitpick issues with. I came from wow where it was just straight up universally hated for like 4 years. And pretty deserving of most of that hate. Not saying you can't criticize but as far as all the stories i've experienced in mmos, this game is a cut above imho. The postpatch was pretty mid though i will agree lol. I also wish this game would loosen up on stuff like when they unlock the raid tier and how many tomes you can get per week.

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

Of course the game's story is better than most MMOs, but it's not about comparing it to other MMOs, it's about comparing it to previous expansion stories and storytelling, the story was great still, but it has it's flaws, as most things made by people

[@antarath517]

I don't know how much of this is just me, but I felt like the 86-90 parts of the MSQ just didn't deliver on the 81-85 parts. The Ancients needed to be displayed perfectly or the vagueness needed to be maintained. Instead, we got Hermes and Venat, who the story goes out of its way to portray as morally gray and morally good respectively, when they both clearly deserve a placement lower. Then, we got extremely forced messaging rather than getting to draw our own conclusions about everything. The msq made a lot of assumptions about the WoL without letting us argue them, which for an mmo is probably the biggest no-no you could do.

[@Avrahffxiv]

believe me you can go play wow and experience bigger nonos lol

[@antarath517]

@@AvrahffxivOh I'm aware. I criticize partially because I want to see ffxiv be the best that it can be, rather than simply better than the other mmos

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

As someone mentioned somewhere in the comments, it was Endwalker trying to wrap up many loose ends of the story overall, but sometimes felt a little too rushed or asked more questions

[@Lyu-Phy]

I think originally Endwalker was meant to be put into two expansions. One expansion was meant to be focused on Garlemald and the second picks off at the end of Garlemald or the Moon (Endwalker level 83-84 quests). I also think the final days were resolved a bit too quick, maybe one more zone with it would have even more impact. It's kinda sad we missed out on more Garlemald, as a huge fan of their story and role but overall I think Shadowbringers and Endwalker feel like one big expansion anyway and are peak.

[@antarath517]

@@Lyu-Phy I feel like some time to work with the plot threads that got left behind (Arenvald/Fordola, the Telopheroi, etc) could have made a wonderful expansion, with the expansion's end being Zodiark's fall. Then the post-patches could have been rebuilding Garlemald, realizing that the Final Days are arriving, and preparing to combat those, with them finally hitting full swing in .55 In my opinion, the time travel part also feels like a really restrictive box the writers locked themselves in. It's just so open to plot holes and unsatisfying convoluted fixes to those plot holes. There were other ways to learn from the Ancients what happened, including going to the Aetherial Sea to hear it from their mouths.

[@c_huvaknunh9138]

All I know, we should rename this expansion to CAKEWALKER! GOD DAMN! DAT GYATT GOT ME ACTIN UP! Link the mod please, for research purposes...

[@shoujoblush3234]

i think it's just bibo+

[@c_huvaknunh9138]

@@shoujoblush3234 thank you

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dZrlylSKjTUT3qZohqHhmuQyhfBmPvm2BkMBZz5KKJg/edit#gid=0 concern

[@PetarBladeStrok]

0:55 I completely disagree. It hits just as much as ShB on many occassions. For example, Venat's walk at the end of Elpis is, in my opinion, the best cutscene ever in gaming. But hey. We're all different.

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

No I agree with you, as I said we have seen some gruesome and raw moments which felt perfect for the setting Endwalker was going for, but there were times that they pulled your leg to feel strong emotions like in Ultima Thule, for example.

[@kecalp2868]

Which hairstyle is that 1:12 ?

[@pumpkingamebox]

Ah, finally, the feels from completing Endwalker are wearing off, and we can agree ShB was the best expansion.

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

True and Real, Brother. (No sarcasm was found, concern)

[@aaronsound]

thanks a lot

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

You are most welcome!

[@NotTheWheel]

gonna stop you there - 2:22 Don't project inner character turmoil unless you site examples of other instances of it for our character, if you mean to critique it for such. Only example of character building you could say the warrior of light has is for Haurchefonts death and maybe merging with Ardbert. You could say our character was concerned about the final days but really it was our friends concern for us and the final days. We're the Warrior of Light. We handle shit - there's no inner turmoil we don't overcome with resolve. Breaking down and worrying about ourselves when you could be helping others isn't our MO. Good video in general but I hate when people critique any story about lacking inner character turmoil as if you want to see a hero sulking for 30 minutes.

[@davidpower5710]

huuh? i dont think that's what he's getting at lmao. He dose not want the mc to sulk or get mega depression but wants them to reflect about all the stuff going on. Because idc who you are but if you experience the FD then time travel to meet your biggest opps only to find they are all extremely nice people. It would make you think and affect your mental . ATM our mc dearly feels effected by anything that happened in ew main msq. Man....i miss the drk quest ;w;.

[@NotTheWheel]

​@@davidpower5710 A hero is someone who is scared and every ugly emotion we have but they keep going. To be brave is not without cowardice, but courage to face challenges even though all sense tells us otherwise, because it would diminish our spirit. Why do you think Haurchefaunt tells us a s Smile better suits a hero? It's not because a hero must bury away how they feel, to never cry or show sadness, not because it doesn't affect their mental state. But because a Hero's greatest quality is self sacrifice, to be selfless. People look to us for hope. When Fordola looks to us and sees our past, all the loss and all the pain. What Meteion feels in us. We take these fragile moments, lose them only to try again. For Those we have Lost. We must be brave. So we can yet save more, potentially. Perhaps there's no meaning to it all. Perhaps there doesn't need to be. We remain bloodied but unbowed. If I could impart on you a poem. "Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. *In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed.* Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Our hero has the mental and emotional strength to take in any issues or problems that face them. Inner or external. That's what makes them heroic.

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

Before commenting on this, I saw the other part that you wrote and I agree with you, but it's nice to see even a hero or a villain be a tangible person, it's not necessarily about sulking or being depressed for a portion of time, but it would be nice to reflect on how quickly one's life can be taken away, we saw the Scions sacrifice themselves to create a path for us in Ultima Thule, we experienced a lot of trials and tribulations and yes we are able to stomach through it, but everyone has a breaking point, and it would've been nice to show that side of humanity from our character for at least a small portion, which pushed them to the whole vacation feel that Dawntrail is headed to. If that makes sense

[@ZurichiVonVorst]

I just wanted more of Endwalker.

[@menkjell]

I'll pretend I've played through this game

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

Thank you

[@lilmemze6318]

I just started endwalker lmao

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

Enjoy!

[@lilmemze6318]

@@SamTheLemonBoy i love your videos man they are super funny they got me into this game and i love it again ur vids are funny and i love em.

[@Gatosan]

Imo post EW was a bit... Empty but i can see the reason why, we got a lot of improvements to old systems, reworks of old duties to try to match todays standards and they likely worked at the same time the improved systems they are going to add in dawntrail, so its understandable once you look at the bigger picture Oh and the relics, the reason why they were so easy its because mother fucking Godbert its funding 95% of the whole operation compared to the help your WoL gets from the previous ones which were next to no help at all

[@JamieBarrington]

Tataru should recruit Godbert as a Scion. For money

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

I didn't think of it that way, Godbert doing all the work. And yes I agree with you, they did a lot of adjustments and improvements to prior expansions for the sake of new players

[@Wastingsometimehere]

The story was fine. I think they had a lot of loose ends to tie up and tried to tie them up in MSQ, ally raids and normal raids. Aside from the story related things, the rest can be very hit or miss.

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

So many questions, and a few answers and some answers asked even more questions, or that might just be my personal skill issue, but yes the story was alright

[@GaudiFanYAY]

Endwalker was a good expansion I think. I don't play more then once or twice a week at the moment, but I still have so much backlog and old content to go through that if they added as much as prevois expansions I'd fucking keel over. I already have choice anxiety from the existing content, I personally don't need more added. That said, if I was done with all the previous content and only had Endwalker content left, I imagine I'd feel pretty starved. All in all though, I think the expansion was great, not to mention it was a fun journey that I could complete, along with a good story, from it's humble beginning to epic end. No cliffhanger with waiting times of up to and over a year. I genuinely think that if I had started playing during stormblood I would have lost interrest when i was done simply just cus the story cliffhanger would have left me wanting and unable to wait.

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

Then my quotation here: "They didn't implement massive amounts of content simply because there are so many new players that can do prior expansions' contents" makes sense, it is a good idea to polish the old instead of serving the new, especially to attract new people in before they drop a bigger project in the future.

[@karelposedi]

Nice video

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

Thank you

[@soldierorsomething]

The team having to work on 2 games at the same time was a death sentence to EW

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

Just about so

[@LuniNightwind]

Okay after you saying there's no content, I'm gonna ask.... you done the relic quests of previous expansions? you done eureka? you done Bonza? you don't island santuary? you done gold saucer? you don't palace of the dead or other varients?

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

Firstly, I never said there's no content, I only said it once as a joke. I have done some parts of other relics, yes, eventually I will take on at least one of the Anima relics. I have not finished Eureka but I am in Hydatos. I hate Bozja but I still made it to Zadnor. My Island is level 18. I go to the Golden Saucer at least a few times a week. And I am farming Aetherpool for PoTD, and I have done the first 50 floors of EO, I haven't done HoH yet.

[@IuSuShy]

What is that character XD

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

One of a kind

[@reachinghigher4259]

It was covid. Endwalker was being developed during covid and it fucked the whole thing. They were originally saying EW was going to be as huge as ARR but they basically ended up giving us something smaller than ShB.

[@kohlicoide2258]

About the Relic Grind i guess SE want to try something different, sure many people complain about the "just buy it with tomestones lol!" But there are also people (as always) that complaining about "its to grindy!" Back then I finish 2 Relic Weapons in Shadowbringers and it was enough for me, maybe SE try to find that "sweetspot" (what is enough grind?) and use the opportunity to spare manpower for other part of the game. About the raids the first Pandaemonium Raidtier was awesome but the second? Tbh i also enjoy P8S.. kinda.. P2 was cool but P6S and P7S was so terrible that i quit FFXIV for half a year because WoW Dragonflight was more fun for me. Endwalker was not "hot garbage" or the Dead of FF14 (yeah i look to you Lynx) it was.. "okay" it is one of this Mediocre MMO AddOns that have some fun moments but i dont think people will say in 5-10 Years "Man i miss Endwalker!"

[@anteprs7908]

many complain but they arent a mayority they are a irellavant number compaired the the casuals who loved relics .

[@kohlicoide2258]

@@anteprs7908 Yeah tbh people are also complaining about "No Bozja" but there was also people back then in ShB that really dont like Bozja.. and dont forget the PvP Overhaul it literally Revives the PvP

[@Geekezf]

@@kohlicoide2258What i hatre from Bojza was the drop rate of certain item in delubrum reginae. Specially the early rise haircut. The content itself was very good and enjoyable. But god damn..i did 98 times Reginae. And in the end, it was all for nothing because They added the possibility to buy it with some Bojzian currency i forgot the name.. The icing on the cake with that loot was that i earn enough gil to buy a hundred of those with crafting with a quarter of the time needed to do 10 Delubrum reginae.

[@anteprs7908]

@@kohlicoide2258 yes that true .

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

Of course you can't please everyone in that field (the relics) but it would've been awesome if they changed some small aspect of the relic, if no grind then maybe more customizability or something, it would be really cool. And yeah the Raid tier was a rollercoaster, wasn't it?

[@BlastingBigLoads2]

Story was a 6/10 for me tbh. Felt there was too much filler

[@drguthrie7621]

MSQ was good sorry not sorry

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

I never said it was bad, it just missed at some points and developed some more paradoxes to wrap the whole story up, overall still enjoyable

[@senso992]

Lol i couldnt agree more about the Story, who gives a shit. This game has to much dialog and cutscene. All i care for is gameplay, everything else is trash to me

[@mni892]

First

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

70th

[@mni892]

@@SamTheLemonBoy lol

[@pumpkinheadx3715]

endalker could done more, i feel like some of was rush and short

[@SamTheLemonBoy]

It sometimes does feel that way, but it was alright