Endwalker is an excellent ending to Final Fantasy XIV- so much so that it makes me nervous for Dawntrail. But enough about that. The range of emotions it made me feel was second to none. The cast, after four expansions worth of development and time, is engaging. The content is fantastic; Endwalker's dungeons and trials are most welcome after Shadowbringers failed to live up to the standard that Stormblood set so badly, in my opinion. The music is great and the budget is higher than ever. The themes resonate with me, specifically. And the ending... I sincerely cannot even think about the ending without my adrenaline spiking. Truly, Endwalker is Final Fantasy FFXIV at its peak.
This is, up until this point, however, about the base game. As for the patch content? Pretty alright. I was fortunate enough to already be a Final Fantasy IV fan, but I'm not sure how much others will get out of it if they aren't. Beyond the references, it feels very disconnected from everything that had happened beforehand, but that's to be expected, and it's even welcome. It can just feel a bit abrupt, is all. Regardless, the content is still very, very fun. The trials in particular were a welcome surprise. Oh, and Pandæmonium and Myths of the Realm were fine. Certainly not the best that FFXIV's normal raids and alliance raids respectively have to offer in any regard.
I do have some other nitpicks, and they're mostly to do with narrative. The pacing is some of the weirdest I've seen in the game, I have some concerns with how Garlemald is handled in the end, and, although beautiful and more than worth it, the final area of the game really, really seems to drag. That all said, I cannot emphasize enough just how much Endwalker ended up meaning to me. I look forward to the future of this game, cautiously optimistic and, in spite of such, hyped as hell.
This is, up until this point, however, about the base game. As for the patch content? Pretty alright. I was fortunate enough to already be a Final Fantasy IV fan, but I'm not sure how much others will get out of it if they aren't. Beyond the references, it feels very disconnected from everything that had happened beforehand, but that's to be expected, and it's even welcome. It can just feel a bit abrupt, is all. Regardless, the content is still very, very fun. The trials in particular were a welcome surprise. Oh, and Pandæmonium and Myths of the Realm were fine. Certainly not the best that FFXIV's normal raids and alliance raids respectively have to offer in any regard.
I do have some other nitpicks, and they're mostly to do with narrative. The pacing is some of the weirdest I've seen in the game, I have some concerns with how Garlemald is handled in the end, and, although beautiful and more than worth it, the final area of the game really, really seems to drag. That all said, I cannot emphasize enough just how much Endwalker ended up meaning to me. I look forward to the future of this game, cautiously optimistic and, in spite of such, hyped as hell.