Guild Wars 2 Review | SOTO vs Nayos: Where to begin?

This is my review of #gw2 Secrets of the Obscure generally, but diving deeper into the story delivery in Nayos.
I share what I love and loath about the story so far, and my hopes for not only the narrative of the Eparch Midnight King, but the future of Peitha and The Mists too.
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[@SpellboundTutor]

There's something strangely poetic with the fat dragon jade bot mini being out during the scathing criticism of the Eparch intro scene.

[@FornaxTheHerald]

Emotional support dragons ftw

[@trevorhachenberger8600]

I wish we hadn't gone to Nayos so soon. We had (what I consider) an interesting new cast of characters in SoTO but we didn't get to spend a lot of time with them before introducing a whole new set in Nayos. I would have loved to just have had some small scale adventures with Zojja, Frode, Dagda, Isgarren, and Lyhr. Help build them up as characters we are attached to while slowly growing/revealing the threat of Eparch. I didn't even need a new map, heck we could have just traveled around core Tyria adding new events and locations within maps. This may have even lead to legendary armor that required a more comprehensive exploration of PvE content rather than "kill a billion Kryptis".

[@daydev2599]

One of the worst things about Nayos is the constant interruption of the story with these "go complete some events, I dunno" steps. It exacerbates this feeling of the whole thing being just a filler, a hold music of storytelling, as it where.

[@sanguin3]

That thing already exists in IBS story. But it's acceptable bacause you're in a warzone so to proceed to the next checkpoint, of course you have to clear the way there. At least the story gives you an incentive to do so.

[@SamMathias]

2:21 This is my biggest gripe with the core SotO story. I seriously can't fathom why Isgarren being a seer was revealed so early on and in such a casual comment by Lyhr. This is more of a personal wish of mine, but during that cutscene when we disable the wards of the Wizard's Tower and Mabon shows the first signs of being possessed, I would've *loved* if he took off his mask and we got to see the face of a mursaat for the first time. It would've made him being our first ever mursaat ally more significant, and IMO could have made his death feel a bit more impactful, too. (Maybe I just want more stuff with the ancient races.)

[@lukebajada7751]

YES! i was thinking the same! Mabon is such an amazing character, its a shame that they killed him off so early, especially that he has illidan's voice actor too! and considering seeing a mursaat's face for the first time wouldve made such an amazing reveal.

[@JaredSvB]

"We have the Cliff's notes version of the story" is such a great way to describe how I'm feeling about this expac. I'm a vet player of over 15 years, and played Gw1 since factions. They've really dropped the ball when it comes to the storytelling, which I would argue has always been their strong suit.

[@lorkano]

We should not assume there will be any bridge between expansions. Next expansion will be just vastly unrelated as expected of current business model. What I hope for is a decent conclusion of this expansion and for them to do better in the next one. Comparing nayos to last two patches of end of dragons, this is already an improvement

[@FornaxTheHerald]

True, they have ended the living world for a reason.

[@ThatGaudyFox]

ANet said in an article prior to the release of SotO that, while SotO's story will be a self-contained narrative for the most part, there IS going to be a new narrative "throughline" that SotO is setting up that spans multiple expansions, so the reality of it being a multi-expansion ordeal is more or less set in stone. Hopefully they don't renege on that promise, because there's no way in hell that facing off against Eparch NOW at the end of the Nayos arc and killing him is in any way narratively satisfying or deserved. The only way to make his character work well is for him to be the core antagonist for at least another expansion. Killing him now would be a complete waste. Personally, I believe we're going to Janthir for the next expansion. There's a metric FUCKTON of lore books littered about throughout the SotO maps that basically hard-confirm that the Mursaat have their origins in Nayos, and the Mursaat have strong, pre-established ties to the Janthir Isles in previous lore. The Horn of Maguuma is STRIKINGLY close to the northern Maguuma River Delta that the Isles of Janthir are off the coast of, and could mechanically just have those maps added to the Horn of Maguuma when the next xpac drops. Everything points to Janthir at the moment going by little tidbits that have been dropped, so I can only hope ANet doesn't fumble the ball. (This could also be ANet's prime opportunity to close out the arc with Malyck from the Sylvari personal story they had planned back in the Core game, since his tree was stated to have grown somewhere along the northern section of the Maguuma River judging by what direction his pod floated from. The Sylvari having ties to dreams and a demon in Nayos making it a point to mention the Sylvari specifically in an optional bit of dialogue seems like a rather pointed hint towards this direction as well.)

[@TheRaydiation]

I think the material will be different but how can they set up the astral ward and just throw it all completely away after the expansion? Not everyone needs to die but we have all these astral ward people and plot lines to follow. The fractals and their resolution? Sorrow leaving?

[@davidmorris2234]

@@ThatGaudyFox Unfortunately Anet has a track record of dropping the ball on following through with story plot lines and cutting things short. It’s possible that Dagda could replace Eparch as the main protagonist after we kill him in the next chapter of the story. Edit: I meant to type Pietha, not Dagda.

[@marinhrabric6162]

​@@ThatGaudyFoxi really hope you're right

[@mandala3042]

Yeah, the weakness of the narrative seems almost entirely a consequence of the tight budget and shorter timeline. Could they have written a smaller story and "fixed" some of the scale issues to more adequately fit the abridged development timeline? Sure, but I'd rather just see them put a bit more money and time into each expansion. It's not like they're forced into this model. In theory it's something they chose for themselves because they thought it'd be better, but if it's worse, it's safe to say some adjustments are in order. I just hope they don't give us narrative whiplash and pivot to something totally brand new next expac. We started some interesting secondary story threads here with SotO. I hope we get to continue on with some of them in the next story arc. But yes, the bells and whistles of yesteryear are sorely missed.

[@FornaxTheHerald]

I think they could have made up for some of the narrative shortfalls via map story telling.

[@TheRaydiation]

We should have just stayed in Amnytas and the fractals. We could have "went" to each fractal area maybe and resolved it. Maybe we have to settle the new people stuck here and their conflict? Aurene starting a new cycle fucked up some magic balance stuff and maybe more anomalies show up? With the right amount of creativity you can do a lot with very little. They said they wanted to steer away from world ending threats and jumped into a world ending threat ._.

[@shollral]

when ANET announced that they would focus on mini-expacs i said to myself "the only thing i don't want is to see is the story and narrative loses the quality, i don't care about quantity, i care about quality" and well.... we are seeing how the story is going.... playing FFXIV right now

[@NicholasMcdermottNick]

That was something that bothered me. I always had that imagination of Eparch being this menacing figure. But when we finally actually see him. I was disappointed. Same with the queen tbh. But yea I agree that there should have been a cinematic or something when we met the General. Plus maybe have it to where the queen taunts us and are group's. Have it to where at some point in the story she is an unkillable enemy that can at least down the player and defeat are allies too. Instead of what we got

[@FornaxTheHerald]

I’m hopeful resources management for story will be better in the next expansion.

[@NicholasMcdermottNick]

@@FornaxTheHeraldYea

[@acidreins]

@@FornaxTheHerald I've been hopeful but it's just like they found some... easy to release grinding content with limited story in Champions and they've been utilizing the base line since. Gyala Delve, now Nayos. It's almost like they've gotten their money, who cares about the actual end.

[@danielbongiorno9270]

Hello Krytan Herald good to see another one of your videos on GW2 as always…Hope everything is well and that your having a Great/Good start of the week🙂👍🏻😄🤗

[@FornaxTheHerald]

Thank you so much Daniel, I am. 🤗💕

[@danielbongiorno9270]

@@FornaxTheHerald Good 🙏🏻🤗🙏🏻

[@ii7317]

"Oh, here's the super respected and powerful general" - with no army. "Oh, here we go to fight the Queen with our powerful general" - with no army on either side. "Oh, here comes the Eparch" - pops out of nowhere, does nothing, except for saying "Hello. My name is Eparch. You killed my wife. Prepare to die." and disappears, also with no army. Bloody hell, there are more figures on the chess board than in these three "armies", and more drama too. Great concept, great artwork, great story - all this destroyed by the total lack of any meaningful action, scale and theatre. Speaking of not all players like the cutscenes - yeah, but definitely all players enjoy the "go do the events between the story chapters" fillers, at least by Anet's logic.

[@mangoman93]

It's so frustrating. Literally just having a bunch of NPCs fighting in the background would have already made this whole thing a lot better. And there's tons of places where this aleady happens like the Urban Battleground fractal, the final instance of PoF, or the orrian tower anomaly in Jahai Bluffs, so it's not like they can't do it.

[@taelius]

If they turn Peitha into a villain I'll be so upset Also I wonder if eparch has a "final form". Considering the scale of Nourys..

[@FornaxTheHerald]

It would be great narratively if he evolved visually, as he consumed the essence of others.

[@taelius]

@@FornaxTheHerald I also absolutely agree with you in that I want Nayos and by extension Peitha Ramses and consorts to be relevant in the world of Tyria from now on. Expanding the universe, the lore. Knowing that, now, there is a demon realm out there with "citizens", a ruler. Not just erasing every lore we establish every expansion, yearly expansions are the opportunity to expand the world of Guild Wars in a way we haven't seen since GW1

[@youreyestell4977]

Wdym *if* they make Peitha the villain? She's not a villain atm but she's also not exactly "good". I totally agree with the Krytan Herald, she gives me the ick. I wouldn't be too surprised if it turns out she had a "secret" plan all along and simply manipulated us with telling fake stories about how she wants to give the Kryptis as a whole a new, better life. It would be kinda predictable but it would also feel a little odd if she turned out to stand true to every word she said so far, considering the stuff she's done so far.

[@GodakDS]

@@FornaxTheHerald Give me a 30-minute cutscene of Eparch feasting at on Kryptis like he's an 80-year-old at a Golden Corral munching on fried chicken, culminating in him going Super Saiyan, and the Nayos arc is salvaged.

[@Sycronn]

They are rushing through story beats and characters with a speed I have come to loathe sadly. I am not given time to learn or grow to care about most if not all of these characters. Zojja - the main character they told us would have narrative progression!! - ascended off-screen with barely any follow-up. As other on various sites have said before, having the Astral Ward and the Wizards as the full narrative of the expansion, slowly leading us into the Kryptis storyline as the next xpac, would have been imo a far more sensible story, giving those parts so much more room to breathe and grow.

[@RonixEnclave]

The story moves at the speed of a Saturday morning cartoon lol

[@FornaxTheHerald]

I hope they give more time for the story to unfold next time.

[@davidmorris2234]

In many KZbin comments for videos about GW2, I've suggested that Anet is under staffed, and should accept help from community volunteers. I would love to see the Krytan Herald accepted as a volunteer consultant to the lore and story divisions of Anet, because she has such a passion for this game, and a great respect for the lore and history of this game and the universe that has been created for all of us to play in. She is spot on when she says that Anet has missed so many opportunities to better develop characters, and plot lines within the story. It's pretty clear that GW2 is supported by mostly a casual gaming community, and less so by the hard core gamers who don't care about the lore and story, and prefer to focus on the competitive game play, or highest level extreme instanced events, or content within the game. I'm not suggesting that one part of the community is more important than the other, but since it is well known that the majority of GW2 players fall into the casual story loving crowd, it makes sense for Anet to continue to nurture this segment of the community, by putting necessary resources into story development, for the financial health of the game in the long run. Accepting help from passionate community members, like the Krytan Herald, and other volunteers, would cost little to nothing (perhaps some in game perks would be enough to incentivize most volunteers), and the contribution to the success of the game could be fantastic! Does anyone else think that this is a good idea?

[@mittenvonscrufflears7233]

Another problem I had with Nayos was the first half with Irka. I feel like his death was supposed to be a big turning point for the commander to be personally invested in winning this war because thats how they played it out to be, but we had only met him like, twice, before he was captured and killed. We spent so little time with him Im not even sure if I'm saying his name right, all I know is it starts with "Ir"... I think. The problem is, as you pointed out, we're not getting enough time to spend with the characters to really be able to care about anything. I was really invested in the first SOTO release, but I just can't even feel anything as I'm playing the latest story. I think they should have cut out the first part of the Nayos story because it changes nothing about the story and get the reader more invested, I don't think the previous events were even mentioned in the most recent patch. I wouldve liked them to cut that out so we can expand on the rest, give the other characters more time to be fleshed out and they could spend more resources on making the rest of it actually fulfilling. That way we can get more time with General Nephus, seeing how menacing the Queen and King are, instead of being introduced to characters that don't advance the plot and die 30 minutes later. If they're really going to be making shorter expansions, they need to plan to make sure that however long their story is going to be, it'll be fully fleshed out and still feel good. I believe they've done well with that in the past, even living world releases where there is much less content, but they are struggling here because it feels like they're trying to put an expansions' worth of story into a mini expansion, and it's hurting instead of helping

[@TheRaydiation]

Irja saddened me but there's no differetiation between the good and bad kruptis. VISUAL STORYTELLING is important also besides words. Make the good ones a slightly different color HOW is that so hard?

[@natalyiatimoshenkova1273]

SotO tried to do too much story given the time/resources they had available. The wizard's tower, Isgarren, the Astral Ward, the horrors they've been perpetrating with the fractals, all of that could (and should) have been the entirety of the expansion. SotO doesn't have a protagonist. Zoja gets mindwiped, Isgarren and the Ward are at best amoral monsters, and the Kryptis are (literally) soul-sucking demons. The Wayfinder isn't a protagonist, because we don't have any agency here - we're in total reactive mode following around one character or another trying to pick up the pieces. SotO is the first time I don't feel like I ever need to play any of this story ever again with an alt. The only thing I want from the finale of SotO at this point is closure, so none of these organizations and groups ever darken the screen of my favorite MMO ever again. There's a myriad of questions I have about what happens to Tyria post the end of the Dragon Cycle. I want the game to focus on the world I know and care about, not saving the Kryptis. When we got offered the bargain by Eparch at the end of the last story beat? My attitude was "That works for me." I care about the humans, I care about the sylvari, I care about (most of) the Asura, and at least some of the Charr. Isgarren? The Astral Ward? The Kryptis? I don't care, and nothing that's happened in the story so far encourages me to - quite the opposite. The more I learn, the less I want to have anything to do with any of them.

[@FornaxTheHerald]

Fair. Onwards and upwards.

[@youreyestell4977]

Totally agree with everything you said!!

[@SylvesterAshcroft88]

I'm hoping Epoch's Citadel is going to be good, as the dragon is very underwhelming, although something about the map keeps me coming back, so it seems like it's well designed, but feels like a very shallow effort compared to Heart Of Thorns especially, although protecting the friendly kryptis from tentacles shows there is a lot of love put into these maps, despite them feeling very rushed to get them over the finish line.

[@FornaxTheHerald]

True, there is no question the expansion is a labour of love but I think they over sold the epilogue

[@SpectaKnight]

I loved your take on this story, and I sincerely hope more players get to see this type of quality review or content for GW2 :3 The beginning of the story with Cerus being kind of impossible to kill, and coming towards you constantly as you cannot escape or run away from him, is magnificent. No other enemy had ever implemented that type of mechanic or emotion in the main character. However, when we kill him, it doesn't feel earned; it feels as if this great menacing character has been underpowered for the sake of plot and laziness. I like the fact that Zojja has to make a sacrifice to become what she wants to be, but this is executed in the worst way possible, giving no weight whatsoever to her decision and the impact it should have on the MC. Lastly, Nayos looks and feels amazing. It's dreadful yet beautiful at the same time. Spending so much time there made me miss the old zones, the old world that I was used to, and that is amazing. It's a great feeling to have towards this zone. On the other side, the character design became so dull when we went there. I guess I was hoping to see more of a Diablo-type aesthetic; however, the weird design of characters like Ramses or Nephus made me confused when fighting against regular mobs, since they were really similar to them. Really confused about this DLC, it's a great idea with beautiful designs and a unique take on the world of Guild Wars, but it falls behind on character development, choices in general, and overall decisions on how to tell this story. Anyways, really loved your video, thx :3

[@SteveWray]

Who were the Kryptis at war with, before the breaches into Tyria? They have generals, presumably they have armies. Who were those armies deployed against? What was the threat, the adversary? Was it just internal? Was it just Kryptis vs Kryptis war? Or is there some hidden adversary that we aren't aware of... yet?

[@Paelmoon]

Other worlds I suppose.

[@youreyestell4977]

Since there are multiple houses of demons, it's probably Kryptis vs. Kryptis

[@WordsOfTheTeacher]

About the comms thing, I think the problem is when it ruins immersion in the maps. I guess it makes logical sense for groups like wizards or anyone else in contact with you to have comms, but it really ruins every single new map when I'm trying to just vibe doing map comp and across the entire fucking place there's someone shouting into a phone at me to do shit I don't want to. I tried showing this game to my friends and by far the most jarring, unappealing, disconcerting thing in the several hours of random gameplay I streamed was EVERYWHERE I go, random people are screaming in your ear against your will, it's so hard to just enjoy a region when a meta is ongoing. If you could turn off character dialogue from a huge range it would be nice, or if going forward map meta NPCs only speak audibly to you if you're relatively close. We have notifications all over the place, someone yelling is not needed to tell you that a meta is starting. My friends obviously didn't know those people, they thought my own character was just babbling unprompted, but even I a lore fanatic who knows everyone, am very tired of it and don't want to hear the same thing 100 times when I'm NOT PLAYING IT

[@FornaxTheHerald]

I love the idea of muting our com-link.

[@herbaceousboredom9584]

As someone who enjoys story-driven content and dislikes repetitive gameplay and grind (I know, I know, why am I playing an MMO?), I feel like ANet have been on a relentless downhill march since the end of EoD. This is how SoTO (and the end of EoD, Gyala Delves) felt to me: - Characters have become bland, uninteresting, whiny, essentially inter-changeable and definitely forgettable - Story has devolved in to formulaic "here's some exposition", now go do lots of public events, rinse and repeat - Story and characters exist only to deliver narrative, there is very little playing out of events - Kryptis events are trivial and simplistic - A group dance-off as part of a meta event finale, a group dance-off... - At least the art and environments are as beautiful and interesting as ever Sweeping generalisations I know but that's how it felt. It got to the point where I couldn't wait for all the characters to stop making mouth-noises in cut-scenes, I even took to wondering around so I didn't have to hear them. I can't even be bothered to finish the last little bit of SoTO, it's been that drab and unambitious - I just log on briefly to do some daily stuff then go play another game. I think back on all the great (believable, interesting, occasionally antagonistic or straight up annoying, engaging and vibrant) characters we had, engaging and absorbing plot lines, twists and cut-scenes being acted out, and then I think about what we have now and I am dismayed. I hope they return to form soon.

[@FornaxTheHerald]

Fingers crossed!!

[@TheRaydiation]

I'm cool with the meta Yoga time but they should have made it QUICK and EPIC. There's like no sound or music just wait and ._. next button and ._. and one more time ._.

[@craybest]

i was expecting a bit more of cosmic horror and creepy to be honest. I love the zones aesthetically and the story isn't bad imo, but I wanted it to feel a bit like Bjora's level of creepy.

[@canadians1982]

Anet doesn't have the manpower to deliver cut scene at this point. Even for promotions, it is missing.

[@JebroUnity]

YES DWARF! Also dwarf first then the others... I feel like Ive influenced you in the ways of the DWARF! :D EPIC video

[@Drascylla]

I definitely agree with your points regarding the narrative, and if I am being honest I just really haven't felt connected to the characters this expansion as I have with previous expansions. I however really didn't feel the base SOTO experience was good value for the $25. I found the maps to be largely uninspiring and pretty generic with the exception of Nayos which was like some of the most exceptional looking scenery I've ever seen in this game by far, but the piecemeal delivery method of the map which is seemingly a theme of this expansions content that I am vehemently despising. In my mind if I am buying an expansion everything should be there day one, and that has been the case for arguably every other expansion so what changed I have no idea. Even if there could be a case made to say Nayos is its own thing, tying an intracule part of the expansions narrative to it only serves to make it feel like the map was meant to be part of SOTO and the slow rolling out if it feels as just a way to fill the gap between it and the next expansions release, and that's frankly just plan awful especially when coming off the heels of living world. Sorry if I sound quite angry, but this expansion is a real let down for me.

[@dragongoddragneel7106]

It's to give time for the devs to make content yearly. I am also kinda disappointed with the last 2 patches. The first patch was really good after that everything is too little

[@Drascylla]

@@dragongoddragneel7106 I could believe that notion if the scope of the content hadn't been reduced so significantly comparative to other expansions, but it has hence a lower price point. That said my issue is less about the smaller scope and more with respect to the quality of it, also simultaneously the smaller nature of the expansion can't excuse the piecemeal rollout of said content. Going forward they need to deliver a complete package, if they want to release additional content between expansions I'm totally okay with that, but it should be separate from the expansion, like QOL updates and such. It's like paying for a loaf of bread and being told despite paying full price your only going to get half of the loaf at first and then the remaining half in three quarters. Anyways I agree with you that the last two patches have been lets just say.. hardly worth the wait to say the least.

[@TheRaydiation]

The asrtal ward member i began to bond with then they just strip them away and we go to Nayos naked. I do like how they added Galrath but they needed more.

[@n1cemaiden879]

We were told over and over how terrifying Eparch is, and yet, Cerus was the one that felt actually terrifyingly portrayed. Eparch is meant to cruel and selfish, so it made his caring of Labris' death feel so out of place. The show not tell issue with Nephus was uninspiring and felt very filler almost. PoF actually does a great job of representing respected leaders of an army with Joko's awakened generals. Even though the commander dunks on them so hard hehe. The whole Nayos arc fell flat so far. It feels so shallow and corners are cut, or so it feels like. Anet 'promised' there wouldn't be a drop in quality with the new xpac model, yet it very much has, excluding the initial release

[@avalokiteshvara113]

Bobby Stein watches your videos apparently! Good sign

[@Ninosai]

I'm worried that the next expansion coming after the end of Nayos is going to keep using the Astral Ward as a central narrative focus and because of that we won't be able to get a strong conclusion to the current story because they'll want to keep as many in the Ward alive, and will worry more about hinting at the next danger, like EoD Hinted at the dangers from outside Tyria with The Void and the Oni in Gyala Delve arc.

[@nielsjensen4185]

The jungle section has Modremoth being dead, it's never that he never awoke it was that he never existed in the first place. There are no Modrem there at all. Since it's only a limited section of the world it's reasonable to assume that there are no dragons at all to eat the magic as the premise is that the magic there that the wildlife has absorbed the magic and mutated. Since that still existed without a dragon he could probably extrapolate from that that us killing Mordremoth would be less instantly fatal and decided to let us cook, especially since we took action to protect the Elder Dragons until we had a solution to the world blowing up. Similar to what happened in the Heart of Magumaa Fractal if the magic could be redirected then it would be non-fatal to the world. This is how science works. You look at what's already there and then you extrapolate that to a hypothesis and then eventually a theory. Isgarren's Fractal experiments are fully unethical and similar to how we would observe something in a microscope. This was badly communicated and I only know this because I know via my education how scientific discovery works, especially the unethical methods that must always be avoided.

[@FiLtheThriL]

I don't want to work with demons. I have a serious problem with how willing I am to ally with an avatar of malice. I'm not THAT pragmatic!

[@TheRaydiation]

I HOPE arenanet sees this and takes to heart your feedback.

[@nielsjensen4185]

Personally, I would rather have one drop with all the story of that section, then have a bunch of smaller content patches with all the new stuff, and then with the last content drop with the last story so it's connected rather than disjointed as it is now. If it SotO had been like that then the only spoiler would have been the bosses in the Convergences and without any context the models make no sense as a spoiler other than, "We're most likely gonna fight them at some point." As for map narrative, there would be the first meta which allowed troops to pass through to Nyadros and then after the second meta there would be a break until you got the story chapters and then you'd finally be able to do the last meta which would be an attack on Eparch's ""Wizard's Tower." I could be wrong and I doubt that there'll be that much to do in the final part of the map if it mirrors the first part of Nayos. There are a few events that go on repeat and then the meta.

[@TheChryseis]

The story just fell flat for me, and I adore all the story of GW2, it's one of the reasons I play. I'm a whore for lore, and Nayos didn't deliver what I needed, what I craved, what I paid for... I also hate this whole "release a part of a map every few months" crap again. Ugh. I love the video, and I 100% agree with you.

[@lukebajada7751]

the story seems all over the place honestly. If i would change something to it, i wouldnt kill mabon this early, Mabon would survive, save isgarren, travel to nayos with peitha, mabon disliking petha, petha still recruits local kyptis, mabon and peitha assult eparch, eparch prepares to finish off peitha but mabon takes a blow instead (finally trusts her) and dies, peitha takes his place as the wizard of strength. i know zojja is finally an ascended wizard but we dont get anything from that, currently there are three missing - Natural,obscure and strength (in which zojja is occupying kinda)

[@TheRaydiation]

thats the infuriating part. A mursaat kicked out of Nayos and could actively help, is an interesting character and adds weight to the narrative and you KILL HIM?! That's when I knew they had no idea what they were doing.

[@acidreins]

I agree with you completely SOTO was great, I loved playing that story. I was a little eye brow raising at just like 'yep, we will help Peitha' in the end. However, the story involving Nayos was lack luster. It's suppose to be this epic war and it does not feel like it. I didn't remember where I even encountered Heitor despite doing that update. I don't feel invested in the story. Eparch's entrance was disappointing. He was this looming threat during ALL of SOTO and then he just.. appears and it's like 'that was anti-climatic'. It's becoming a trend of Arenanet ending their good content with lack luster, anti-climatic, rushed updates. And it makes me very sad. If they are doing the multi-expansion with the set up of SOTO. Because Wayfarer and the new characters and the Wizard stuff kind feels like a set up for rebranding the story all together, I feel that Peitha will be set up as the next villain. For as important as they've made her seem, she hasn't had 'that' much presence in this expansion.

[@griffino1-99]

Individually I like all the pieces of SoTo but they don't flow together. Skywatch Archipelago feels entirely disconnected from Amnytas, and Amnytas from Nayos. Like we got all the exposition about Peitha potentially demonically killing us and then just nothing.

[@tombocai]

Soto has a lot of good ideas that unfortunately are not very well realised. The short production time really seems to have made them cut a lot of corners, and I think there was some bad management of the limited time/money on their part (I hope they learned from this first experience in this new model). They tried to do too much with too little. One of my main issues with the story is that you don't spend enough time to bond with no one, I felt like Mabon died too soon for it to have impact, and his battle was just to easy. You don't really build a relationship with your alies or with your villains. And they also made some weird decisions, I don't understand why they invested so much in Dagda's battle and not Mabon's. He's a mursat, his final battle deserved to be a hard battle and made into a strike, way more then Dadga's (kinda meaningless to the story) fight. Another weird decision was the reuse of dragon/wyvern models. I don't mind reused assets, but why bring back so many dragons as final bosses just after end of dragons? I understand they have a lot of them through the years, but this was not the time to reuse dragon assests, it undercuts the end of the dragon cicle. Other good things were undercut by the small budget, like the lack of cinematics you mentioned. Another is our allies' models. I like Ramses and they made him interesting, but you can't tell him appart from all the other krytis with the same model... Making different playable species model's is easy for them cause they have a very good model generator, but when you get to other races I imagine they have to do it one by one, so you end up with allies that are equal to foes. Maybe if the kryptis had a more varied color scheme you could at least have Ramses in a different color and that would help a little? Our alies with names should have models that stand out from random map mobs. Cause they don't even have clothes to give them a extra bit of personalized. I don't think they thought about that before making demons so important. That said there are things I like about the expansion and things that were well done. I for once appreciate that after all this time we still don't trust Peitha, not being sure if she will eventually backstab us is an interesting narrative tool, but even that could still be done a bit better. Overall I'd rather things took longer to come out but the end result was better, unfortunately that doesn't fit the pressure from the corporate world.

[@tombocai]

Oops, I wrote so much... 😅

[@mismismism]

SotO, story wise, I liked it, my issues with the base expansion were not story related but Nayos I hate, I have to be honest. I don't like the voice acting/delivery, Peitha talks so slow and breathy, and a lot of the others are overly theatrical for what they are actually doing so it looks cheesy to me. The designs of the Kryptis do not match the characterization. They're supposed to be these scary nightmare demons, they look so alien but they have the same social structure as regular humans. The genders are the same(even though some Kryptis look so alien while all the main ones are just people with horns and shells basically), the titles, the way they act, they might as well have just been another faction of people and not demons at all, there's nothing really different about them or scary or anything which is weird. And the structure of the expansion hurt it all even more since it's broken into tiny, unsatisfying pieces that need to end abruptly, the last patch ended in the most unsatisfying cliffhanger with this guy basically being like "I'm going to make you suffer!!! But not now, maybe in a few months when the next patch comes, just you wait!", it sucks the air out of a storyline that is already not exciting or offering anything different really. And the map and enemies too, there is no variety, the whole map looks the same, all the enemies look the same, it's not it for me. I really dislike Nayos and the Kryptis, at least as they are characterized in the story after the base story.

[@FornaxTheHerald]

Fingers crossed the next story and characters are more to your liking. I myself was not keen on the weapon sets this expax, too meaty for me.

[@slytherben]

Art is incredible. Content and narrative almost non existent. Started ESO. Sad.

[@FornaxTheHerald]

Enjoy, the story is wonderful eso. 💕

[@lorkano]

saying content is not here is hard disagree from me. Map has a lot of events and there are tons of rewards and achievements to go for. Convergences are also pretty fun to do. Content wise there is a lot of to do, except story which is just like Fornax mentioned in the video

[@elocfreidon]

IBS has better cinematography than SotO. This is a problem.

[@Dark_Wizard_of_Mu]

I am kinda disappointed with how they ended the Dragon Saga. Like they could have expanded more about the void and how it corrupted Soo Won. And Aurene leaving us I felt Anet could have done 1 more arc to tie loose ends before doing this new adventure in Wizard towers.

[@Dark_Wizard_of_Mu]

It is up to Krytan and Anet partners to share our disappointment feedback to Anet we need a better product from them.

[@Dark_Wizard_of_Mu]

And now GW3 is in development I hope they listen to the fans who critic not on the fans who are azkizers.

[@sanguin3]

I'm also kinda dissapointed with the voice direction which ANet gave Jennifer Hale (Fem Sylvari) in this expansion. Her voice tone went from the expressive Commander Shepard to a soft-spoken, depressed war veteran (which is exactly the opposite of what the story are trying to portray: a commander who can't wait to get back into action).

[@ginster458]

I‘ve been playing since launch and gw1 before that, and I‘ve always enjoyed the story even in its arguably weaker parts. I can’t say I DONT enjoy Soto, mostly I just feel like I don’t know what‘s going on. It feels like a rushed season recap of a season 3 of a show you have not watched yet and only peripheral knowledge of. I don’t feel like a character in this story, I feel like a spectator- other people are calling the shots, not me. And it all goes by so fast, I barely know these people? Why are we vouching for Peitha so early on? We just had a story in Gyala where we CANT trust the voices in our head; then the commander turns around and immediately trusts the nww voice in their head? It feels unearned, and I feel like I missed a whole lws before Soto to fill in and build the story. Who are these people???

[@thanksnaitsir7734]

Im also extremly disappointed from Nayos. Im a big fan of the worlds and horrors Lovecraft has written and now going to another plane of existence that is based on it? Hell yeah! Im in! Or am I? I was promised horrific creatures, a world of nightmares and things beyond my undertanding... Why do all important Kryptis look so human? Even Rick and Morty said "Look at that thing! It doesnt make any sense! How can it actually be alive?" and showed a more demonic thing than what we got here. The world looks ok, but also feel way to empty. Only few interresting places. When I got to the HoT maps the first time i wanted to explore and see every corner of them. Here Im just going from one event to the next or the story opening. And the story...WHY THE FCK ARE WE CUDDLING LITERAL DEMONS??? A world of demons and horrors... And the story we get in it is about a powerhungry king, his queen and generals, a crushed fearfull underclass and an outstander coming in and safing them. Im so tired of this kind of story. This feels so the same and like I heard it hundreds of times before...because I did. They had the chance do tell a story like never before. It doesnt event need to make full sense because thats part of eldrich horror but no we have to help the poor people of Nayos and free them from their awfull king. These are not some bandits in the woods. Kryptis are supposed to be creatures that you shoot on sight until they stop moving and asking questions afterwards. I hope Peitha will at least betray us and show the multiverse that we are the idiot the thought "Not all interdimentinal horrors are bad! Yes they eat your emotions and swarm the multiverse for several hundred years and killed millions of people during that time, but thats not their fault! Everybody makes mistakes!"

[@ColdMystery]

Storywise Soto disappointed me so far. Act 1 was really good Act 2 felt already disconnected to Act 1 Act 3 is a fiasco of fillers, even more disconnect and worse than that IMO the loss of the premature buildup. They built Eparch as such a good villain. However all that kinda feels lost from the current narrative already AND we know Soto is going to conclude with the next patch in 3 months. We kinda know that we'll just kill Eparch and it will feel lame af.

[@WaripoloW]

As Mukluk said, where is Nephus army? Nephus is a powerful general with loyal soldiers but when we have to fight the queens army we are 2 guys and the super strong Labris forces is made of 10 people XD. They made a wonderful job with the Astral Ward characters (specially Mabon :c and Zojja) to just throw them away ._. The Nayos part of the story seems week to me, like rushed. And Eparch is a total disappointment for me, I wanted an epic villian, not just another generic kryptis humanoid with that awful and usless light leggins made of... flesh?

[@australienski6687]

Arthas did nothing wrong.

[@datboi04]

I don't have a problem with them winding down GW2 to small expansions yearly, the game is clearly in its twilight years and ArenaNets priorities are somewhere else, but they've got to narrow down the scope too. The expansion launch itself, up until the end and the "let's go to Nayos" reveal, was good. Nayos and the a civil war about feelings and good demons that we are supposed to care about after meeting five minutes ago, it's crap. Like really crap. I don't know who any of the characters are, we're in "wars" where all you see is one general and five enemies at a time. Again, they come out swinging, and fail at the halfway point.

[@bolt6572]

nayos so boring

[@gb342002]

wtf is this voice lmao