#also included drk 30-50 in the playthrough and that is theme-critical

[ancillaryjurisprudence]

endwalker anni thoughts

I had mixed/positive feelings on first playthrough - as is pointed out by many, endwalker has some absolutely bonkers good sections, but some stuff that didn’t quite gel.  Mostly I was relieved they didn’t undermine the good story themes from previous xpacs, a rare feat compared to a few other franchises ending big storylines around this time frame.

Starting about 8 months ago I did a full end-to-end MSQ+8 man raids playthrough on a fresh character and my overall impression of EW was, happily, much improved!  It still has its weak scenes (compared to the rock-solid ShB MSQ) but on end-to-end play, the headcanons of the long post-5.3 break had faded, and the opening ARR themes sang with Endwalker.  Knowing where Zenos was going eventually made me notice different things (esp with @asleepinawell bringing new insights as we were going through together) as well as some relief at knowing which less-good storylines would drop off.  There was a surprising amount of dialogue I’d glossed over the first time, ESPECIALLY in Endwalker, that on second playthrough I noticed more and led to more pieces falling into place. The episodic nature of 6.0 did not stick out when blasting through the whole thing in one go either, it may as well have been a series of patches for all my brain cared.  

Ultimately the feat of having such a vast story told over so many years with so many writers have SO few retcons or thematic changes is remarkable.  It’s a fun experience!  It felt like the way it was made to be played - and for new players, how it will be from now on.