On the time of writing, Closing Fantasy XIV’s servers are down for upkeep. After they come again up on June 28, gamers will dive into the brand new adventures awaiting in Dawntrail. Which means that the age of Endwalker is over. On the precipice of a brand new starting for the MMO that has been operating for over a decade, I needed to look again on the sport’s uneven, tedious, however finally emotionally resonant finale.
I accomplished Endwalker—checks watch—roughly twelve hours in the past. I didn’t end the newest growth till simply earlier than Dawntrail, quite than within the weeks and months following its 2021 launch, although I began the growth with everybody else. And that has to do with one among Endwalker’s main flaws: pacing.
The stakes of Endwalker had been extremely excessive. It was positioned as the tip of the Hydaelan/Zodiark saga that started in A Actual Reborn. Whereas it wouldn’t be the tip of the MMO, it did sign the tip of an period. Meaning a number of story threads needed to be tied up in Endwalker, and never all of them are carried out so cleanly. Leaping from Previous Sharlayan to Thavnair to Garlemald to the Moon to the previous again to Previous Sharlayanand then to the tip of the universe is a number of mileage in a single growth. Every of those places contains its personal characters and tales that depict how the world is getting ready for the tip instances, however none of them get the room to breathe they so desperately want. Whereas moments in Elpis with Venat and the opposite ancients stand out as a excessive level within the growth, my time within the different places is generally a forgettable blur.
The slog is what held me again from finishing Endwalker till solely just lately. After the excessive of Elpis, gamers are compelled into an intensive marathon in Sharlyan that quantities to essentially the most mundane fetch quests. Elpis ends with a high-adrenaline cascade of story reveals and emotional moments and the participant then has to place that on the shelf to go carry bins. This back-and-forth between partaking design and tedious mundanity makes Endwalker a tough growth to get by—even when it’s a type of excellent encapsulation of FF14.
The top of the world as we all know it
Endwalker boldly tried to subvert gamers’ expectations for a grand finale. Inside the first third of the growth gamers do the unattainable: Defeat Zodiark. The massive unhealthy is gone. However the finish of the world continues to be coming. The remainder of the growth then slowly reveals Meteion because the true villain, a creation of an historic that has spent years changing into disillusioned with life as a result of unending struggling and demise she has witnessed throughout the universe. It turns into a narrative about resilience within the face of the bottom evils of existence. Basically it’s Closing Fantasy XIV’s tackle The Fable of Sisyphus. Yeah, we all know life sort of sucks and all the things ends, however we nonetheless hope and dream that there are higher issues.
One second stands out because the excessive level within the growth: The cutscene after gamers full The Mothercrystal trial. In it, Hydaelyn reveals that to ship gamers to the tip of the universe to face Meteion she’s going to quit her aether, primarily leaving her kids alone for the primary time. “Lengthy after I’ve gone, although not even my souls remaineth,” Hydaelyn says in her ultimate goodbye, “My love will probably be with you without end, my dearest kids.” In that goodbye, we will name her by her true identify, Venat. We will see her as now not a god, however a lady lastly in a position to relaxation relaxed realizing we’re protected in one another’s arms.
Sadly I discover that the Endwalker’s ending is a messier conclusion that fails to succeed in that very same peak. After lastly dealing with down Meteion, gamers have one final battle towards one other villain, Zenos that leaves the participant drained. I genuinely sighed in exasperation once I had accomplished the ultimate dungeon, then the ultimate trial, and needed to face Zenos in an instanced occasion. It’s a letdown in comparison with the operatic encounter with Meteion and it undermines the growth’s final moments.
Endwalker was all the time going to be a tough growth to tug off. It was the follow-up to Shadowbringers, usually thought of the peak of FF14 and the most effective Closing Fantasy tales interval. As well as, it needed to wrap up a decade-long story however not wrap it up so conclusively that the MMO couldn’t proceed in later expansions (similar to Dawntrail). That’s loads to perform and I’m undecided something might have lived as much as gamers’ sky-high expectations. And but throughout the flawed mess of Endwalker is a lot magnificence.
Endwalker’s profitable moments are owed to the years-long relationship gamers have constructed with this world, its characters, and one another. Watching my Warrior of Gentle face down the tip of instances with the Scions of the Seventh Daybreak pulls on the heartstrings in a method no different recreation can. The central battle towards Meteion is an excessive check of their (and my) convictions. As heroes of the realm, our mission has all the time been to search out hope even within the darkest of instances. Endwalker is the acute of that. Do I actually suppose going by all these boring quests is price it to get to the tip of the growth, to avoid wasting the world, to see these characters earn these glad endings? Sure. I do.
I really like Endwalker and all of its flaws as a result of I really like Closing Fantasy 14 and all of its flaws. In that sense, Endwalker epitomizes the MMO I really like. It additionally sends it out on a phenomenal word. When requested what the Warrior of Gentle will do subsequent, my character offers a wry smile and appears to the sky. She’s clearly wanting ahead to the following journey. Even when I by no means noticed her and the Scions once more after this, I’m content material.
With Dawntrail simply across the nook, I’m conflicted. My love for Closing Fantasy 14 has been reaffirmed by Endwalker, however the tales of the characters I really like had been wrapped with such a high-quality bow that I don’t know what else the sport can provide me. I consider Venat’s ultimate phrases about sending her kids out into the world with out her. They don’t want her anymore. I don’t know in the event that they want me, or any participant anymore.
Dawntrail guarantees to pave the way in which for brand spanking new tales to return, solely time will inform if they’re nonetheless price telling.
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