@Distantpeak I would like to see more rat pictures 
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So I finished EW. Shadowbringers had a much stronger emotional impact on me, but I though EW was pretty good overall.
I did also experience a tonal whiplash, however only one actually was severe enough to pull me out
spoiler
âuwu WHEREâS ALL THE PUDDING? XDDâ after a bloody battle and a heartfelt moment with Jullus was so feckin bad, I couldnât believe it. Do we really need to punctuate a sad moment with a clown honking his nose to lift the mood? Yeah moments of levity are fine, but cmon.
I still maintain my earlier criticism from a few days ago, but Iâm not feeling as strongly about it anymore, because the final zone did make it less clumsy. That final zone also being the highlight of the expansion for me and probably my favorite zone in the entire game, from all perspectives (music, visuals, story, lore, characters) which says a lot because I donât much like the zones in ff.
The dungeons were nice, but none really stuck out to me, bar the first one for its visual design and the last one as a whole. The Thavnair one gets honorable mention for the best monster designs in the game, straight out of Berserk.
Trials were great! Though I liked the last one the most for the visual design, I felt mechanically it was weaker than the other 2.
A bit about Zenos
I feel like they didnât know what to do with Zenos. After Garlemald leveling, he kind of just appears a few times just to sort of remind you that yes, he is indeed here and then they make him help us unnecessarily. It felt like they created a problem at the end of the final dungeon to justify having Zenos be the solution. And then that duel? What an unceremonious way to be done with him. Though, Iâm sure we will see him again as nobody really confirmed the kill.
In summary, it was a heartfelt journey and a good conclusion, well not counting the future patches of course. Not the full list of my likes and dislikes by any means, but thatâs what I can remember right now.
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The cutscene at the end of Youâre Not Alone hit me harder than anything else in the series.
Yes, that includes Shadowbringers (the quest, that is).
Thatâs fair. I do appreciate the walk up there. That was a strong moment.
Also:
Endwalker ending
As much as I adore Zenos, Iâd be OK if that was his death scene. It was powerful and rounded out his arc well.
But I donât think he will die there. There are many questions about him left unanswered (Who is his avatar? Why did he become a Reaper? Why did he dream of the Final Days?) and I think the devs will want to answer them.
Iâm in the same boat. I thought it was pretty good but not incredible. There were plenty of moments where I felt like I entered the generic JRPG zone or felt like I was playing a lesser, more clumsily told SMT or Persona game but overall I thought it was decent enough. I enough enjoyment out of it to warrant my purchase.
Honestly EW didnât make me feel much. All of the attempted emotional moments were kind of comical for me.
EW Spoilers
I thought the walk up to bird girl's nest was completely hilarious and it felt like That's The Way it is if you ordered it from Wish. Half the time I had no idea who the quotes were from so I went up saying "that's... Hien? I think? That was definitely Midgardsomr. Haurchefaunt and... WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?"Didnât like the song either. Feels like every time I go into that zone Iâm forced to hear a rejected Sonic Adventure 2 song.
I liked Thavnair a lot (both times)
Garlemald was great for sure
Moon was great up to the big Z, then itâs hands down the worst zone in the entire game.
Elpis was fan(daniel) fiction. I despised it.
Labyrinthos sucked hard too. I wish Garlemald invaded and destroyed Sharlayan.
UT was very okay. Generic end of JRPG zone with a lot of emotional beats that failed to hit for me. Every subzone had me saying âokay, see you in five minutes.â
I think it peaked at an 8 out of 10 but was mostly a consistent 6. Bird girl we met four hours ago does not deserve her theme, a culmination of all the .0 boss themes.
I donât know, I just didnât think it was that great. Felt like two expansions awkwardly squashed together.
'ate Yshtola
luv Nidhana
simple as
My thoughts (and some ShB and EW spoilers)
Zenos is gonna be either;
- Altima
- Emmeroloth
- Halmarut
- Deudalaphon
who are the other sundered Ascians. Donât think heâll be Pashtarot because I think he was dealt with in the OG FF14.
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Spoilers
I think youâre thinking of Travanchet as the OG ascian.
Please hold.
Summary
Actually very likely.
He appears to be in the ARR cutscene where theyâre all praising Zodiark so he can be ruled out because of that.
Every year my other half makes a calendar using his childhood Teddy, Bert.
This year the rats are featuring too.
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The name of the quest alone, along with the very fact that you said that, made me form a hypothesis of what that cutscene contains.
Iâm probably wrong â I mean, Iâve been wrong before. But weâll see. 
Finally some proper FF9 representation 
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Trust me, at the point you are, thereâs absolutely no way you have even the faintest inkling of what it contains. 
Just you wait, and see.
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[glances at Steam page]
gonna have to wait a while it seems
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âŠWait, whose? Mine?
EW Spoilers
I personally think Zenos is dead dead here. His character arc is fullfilled, got his fight (even if not on his premises lol) and⊠thereâs not much else to keep him around for to be quite honest.
Heâs also apparently quite unpopular with many so that may also play into it, but thatâs speculation on my end.
They are referring to the fact that sale of the game is currently suspended due to server congestion, I imagine.
But that wonât be a problem for you since you have the game already.
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Zenos
Iâd rather they just didnât bring him in at all after we last saw him until itâs time for him to show up in the future patch. Just felt unnecessary. Other than that, yeah, Iâm of the same mind. They arenât done with him yet.
Nah, Iâm not gonna be this harsh. I felt it did a good job and the emotional moments worked, just for me personally they werenât as effective as they were in shb.
long opinions about the zones
Labyrinthos felt like the busywork zone and it was just boring to me. The lore it contributes was nice but as far as stuff we actually do, it was meh. Also, they did it again that on second visit, the high tempo song plays nonstop, like it did in Kholustra top level and it clashes so hard with what weâre actually doing, that being talking with nerds and tasting lemons.
Thavnair was alright, nothing much to say. Vrtra was a good addition to the story and the part with parents trying to run away with the baby was gut wrenching.
Garlemald is great all around, nothing to complain about there (well, the stealth section can fk off)
The moon Iâm torn about, but I didnât have much problem with the post Zodiark half. Iâll concede that I raised my brow when they revealed loporrits (who I donât have much problem with). Perhaps trimming that whole part would have served it better, because it felt like it was overstaying itâs welcome. Iâd lie if I said that I didnât find parts of it humorous.
What exactly is your problem with Elpis, if you donât mind sharing? I felt it fit very well and, although it seemed strange that we even go there, I think eventually it tied itself into the story pretty well, connecting the past and the present. My only real problem is, like I mentioned before, the sudden heel turn of Hermes and Meteion acting like a rogue ai, deciding to bring the end of days, even though itâs not her job. And that ungodly long and insufferably annoying chase quest before the dungeon.
I get that maybe it feels like the devs saw that people liked Emet and decided to milk him a bit more, hence why it felt at times like someoneâs yaoi fanfic about two bottoms, but I wouldnât go as far as to condemn the whole thing. Perhaps Iâm just less cynical?
Ultima Thule is my favorite because it instills in me the feeling of absolute despair and lethargy. Not only through the visuals, but also through the npcs (namely the dragons) and music in the first section. Itâs a personal thing, Iâll admit, because it brings back memories and emotions Iâd rather not have, but also reminds me that Iâm past that.
The song and the ascension is a bit cheesy, but honestly, itâs ff weâre talking about, it has plenty of cheesy moments and I think it fit.
and another thing
What took the wind out of Ultima Thuleâs sails for me was the character deaths. Thatâs where the game shoots itself, because after all the fake out deaths and yshtola âdyingâ in literally every expansion, Iâm sorry, I just donât take it seriously anymore. The only thought I have at that is whether they will be brought back to fight the last fight or after the last fight. This could have worked if they didnât do so many fake out deaths before.
I am tired of renown grind, just need TWO more. 
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