Now that all of the patches are done and Dawntrail is on the horizon, we felt it was time to take a long look back at Endwalker as a whole - the good, the bad, the progress, the mistakes - and where it sits at the end of this 10 year journey which started in A Realm Reborn. As we look ahead, will Square Enix embrace change, or play it safe? P.S. Yes that footstep scene was as much of a pain in the butt as you think it is.

The intro is really high effort and appreciated.

When I saw that graph of 2 minute burst DPS, I... motherf... 🤣

A fair and balanced take on the expansion. It was wonderful seeing you get to enjoy your time with Endwalker, and I'm looking forward to enjoying your Dawntrail coverage too!

What an intro! What a review - production was off the scale . WELL DONE EVERYONE!

This was well done. I hope the effort put in is reflected by the engagement. I'd love to see a behind the scenes view of your green screen setup.

Actually, the story element of the trial series was spread across more than just Tataru's, there was some also in that side quest that went into the fiends' backstory, *and* there was more story in the patch MSQ than is typical.

12:50, you knew what you were doing

OH MY GOD I loved this video so damn much. Not only did Preach offer his own fair take on Endwalker, on which most things I agree with, but the attention to details, the intro and the outro were AMAZING. ESPECIALLY the outro, I just LOVED it. Great job team! This was one of the best you've ever done, REALLY can't wait where you guys go next!

I stopped playing after the 6.0 MSQ. I first started back in Heavensward and played pretty much nonstop for the best part of 6 years. Endwalker wrapped up the story so well that it just felt like a natural stopping point for me, a great place to hang up my bard bow and retire from saving the world. It was really fulfilling to walk away from a live service MMO with nothing but fond memories, not feeling burned out, not feeling like the game overstayed its welcome. Now I'm enjoying following your journey through the new story!

I don't think there's really a reason that the number of jobs has to influence the relic grind due to completionists. It would be fairly simple for SE to make a system that made the first jobs you do take a long time, but as you have more jobs completed, the speed you finish the grind at increases. It could be a level/buff thing similar to Bozja resistance levels / the buffs you get from that that just makes killing things quicker, or just a drop rate increase, or whatever. That way, the average player still gets a long relic grind, but the completionists don't have an unrealistic grind for the rest.

Man it really was a journey now wasnt it? I dont know if i would have tried 14 if it wasnt for you tbh but so glad i did. Thank you so much.

I really think lots of players feel the "Endwalker got no reason to log on" specifically because they joined during Shadowbringers. After 2 or so years of playing through all of content that has piled up over 10 years of mmo development these players now reached the point where there is no more old/new-for-them content to go back to during a lull. And FF14 does get new content slowly, at least if you consider that there is no new timegated system to grind each patch. It's like reading a book series that has been going on for decades with an almost endless catalogue you can read through. Even if it feels like you will never catch up with all of the content, if you keep being interested it will happen eventually and then you are suddenly confronted with the drip feed that has been filling up an ocean.

One thing that shouldn't be overlooked is, in addition to FFXVI, there were other behind-the-scenes strains on development resources like: finally integrating Duty Support for all MSQ dungeons (a much bigger task than they expected it to be), the graphics engine update, and the port to Xbox. The good news for Dawntrail is: FFXVI is out, Duty Support is completed, the Xbox port is live, and the graphics engine update will be finished upon the expansion's release. A lot of huge strains on CBU3's workload will be off their plate, and I think that's reason enough to look forward to what's to come.

Wow amazing editing done in this video. Well done guys!

Been waiting sooo long for this that I had honestly given up hope!😅❤ what a wild intro too! S TIER!!!🎉🎉

I think there are definitely things to criticize EW for that previous expansions handled better with story & systems, but I’m also very confident that 5-10 years from now, people who played EW will look back on it fondly for being an expansion that did a lot of boring busy work to update FFXIV into a “modern MMO” standard, and I believe a lot of the systems introduced here will pay off in the future as they are iterated upon. I think EW has been a great jumping-off point for Dawntrail to continue upping the ante for FFXIV - a fitting end to one story and the beginning of a new one.

Endwalker made me buy more and more boxes of tissues. There was a big increase in tissue economy during Endwalker

Beautifully done, Preach and crew. Thank you.

I love this. GOOD JOB. Well Researched and informed. Looking forward to more FF videos!

Eh, i absolutly loved endwalker and how it did things. But im also not one who looks for a forever game anymore. I get my fill and then move on, come back later when there is something new and go away again.

banger of a video. great editing!

That was a really great video. It looks like a lot of hard work went into it. That made my day. 😊

Dude this video was 10 out of 10! The information, conveyance and OMG the effects with the intro and ending, so GOOD!

Bravo this is one of the best immersive vid ever hot damn well done PG team

Great video. You can tell there's a lot of effort put it, and it really pays off imo. 🎉 I think this arc was a near perfect gaming experience for me personally, and it's something I'll remember for the rest of my life. I never had the expectation that the patch content would meet that level of story telling, though I enjoyed it enough. I'm looking forward to how it comes into play later, for sure. I thoroughly enjoyed both raids and the variant dungeons, and I'm very much looking forward to how the latter progresses in DT. Island Sanctuary was a nice idea, and although mine is fully maxed out and self sustaining at this point, I don't feel like it hit the mark for me overall. I don't always agree with Mike, but I certainly agree with his EW sentiments overall. EW definitely stuck the landing.

Really great production. Thanks for this. You choosing this way really cemented you moving forward

Really great stuff. Thoughtful discussion on both sides. Thanks!

That was awesome! I can tell you guys put a lot of work into it. The outtakes at the end were great xD

13:00 Oh come on Preach, you knew what you were doing there.

WELL DONE PG! Thank you Mike and team ♥

Sick intro. Man’s used a default text on the blender moon foot stamp text. Great vid❤

As someone who start FFXIV in Nov of 2022 after playing WoW since 2005 I LOVED EW the story and everything is so amazing and having a story that is actual cohesive and building and not retconned every 2 expansions felt amazing. I know some veterans dislike parts of it but for me it is a great expansion and i cannot wait to venture into Dawntrail day 1.

Endwalker was good (I wouldn't say 'great,' Shadowbringers is what great looks like) until the most recent 3 or 4 post-MSQ story patches. Then the writing fell off hard; and I hope it was just because they were trying to fill it out with what is basically an elongated intern-written trial series, while the real team worked on Dawntrail. It was the closest I ever came to wanting to skip dialogue just because of how poorly parts of it were written, the stupid decisions, the tell-don't-show they HEAVILY relied upon in the latest additions, and the literal coin-flip of Golbez from bad to good over the course of a 3 line conversation.

This was such a great review, thank you team Preach for all the hard work you put into this!!

Brilliant review and presentation well conducted Chris and Mike :)

I'm going to put myself out there and say: Relics being 'easy' to get is relative in a lot of ways. Something people seem to forget is that most of the relic questlines send you back to old content to gather things. Heavensward relics saw you doing nearly everything 50-59. So the new folks had people in their areas doing the thing. Bozja went in the opposite direction. There are bits and pieces that send you back to old content, but for the most part... it's a new area that no one goes to anymore, making Bozjan relics a real pain to work on for a new player. Enter 'gather 6k tomes'. Which you get from doing old content. Any old content. Every new player has people to play with for as long as we're hunting those relics. And when 7.0 comes out, we're going to have other things we want to spend those tomes on. But the weapons will still be there. Easily attainable for new players, just by clicking to do old content that's new to them, joining new players yet to experience all the story that they've seen. It's honestly *really* effective, and a great design choice looking towards the future.

Holy f*ck... Just the intro, when the music rolls in, gave me the chills. I freaking loved the whole journey it was and, even before watching the video, thanks for making a part of it not just for me but to soo many players out there.

wow that was a really great video, thank you PG

What an amazing video! Great job!

Can always count on Preach to put a lot of effort into the hows and whys and sprinkle in his own personal opinion, rather than simply regurgitating the same tired old lines everyone's throwing around ad nauseam without elaborating. Great video.

preach forgor the biggest game changer new feauture on endwalker... adventure plate/portrait

such a polished video. great work over there!

Awesome video and great review! Well done 👍🏻

I F LOVE IT, I was hooked from second 1 the intro is world class and the content is to die for :D

First can I just say: absolutely incredible editing, graphics, and production values. This video in and of itself is so well-made, and it deserves to be talked about on its own merit. The opening and end sequence tie-ins to the Endwalker trailers was stunning. The bit with the Mothercrystal was excellent, as well. S tier work, fellas. As for the topic at hand, I can only say that I have nothing to say because I 100% totally and unequivocally agree with ALL of your takes. You might as well have taken all of my thoughts, feelings, and overall opinions on the entire expansion straight out of my head. So I can't comment except to say that I agree with you all across the board. Not every piece of new content introduced was a smash hit, but I'm glad they took some risks and tried some new things, and I'm hopeful they will perfect these types of content in the future if they continue to listen to feedback, which they typically do. And while change is scary, so is the thought of having things go stale and become too predictable, so this shake up... trying all the new pieces of content. Things like criterion and such...I'm quite glad they did it in the end.

Amazing video with amazing intro and ending. Thank you.

This is so good! Thanks for all your work Preach!

Such a good video! You really covered the points. There is plenty of room for improvement, but they did take risks, and that is commendable! There's room for the game to keep growing and I hope they can do so. I'm looking forward to Dawntrail and whatever it brings :)

Lol the intro goes so hard, extremely well done editing.

Very well done. So glad you got your studies back

Preach im so happy you are having fun again, i have been fallowing you for many years for wow and watching you get more and more frustrated. Seeing you happy and having fun again has been amazing for me.

The team just gets better and better with every project. Absolutely amazing production from start to finish! And I really appreciate the discussion and perspective given in this video. You guys are one of the few creators whose opinion I trust currently, and for good reason.

it's a shame the Alliance Raids are so under tuned that you have to be a streamer doing minimum item level just to see Nald'thals scales and many other of the bosses full mechanics.

Good video man - I think from what content is set up for DT that they are still listening to us.

The production for this was top tier Preach! You are my #1 favorite content creator because you genuinly give a crap about what you do and the information you put forth. A genuine gamer who loves the games he plays and loves his community! Keep up the awesome work! -Southwest part of the USA

You guys put so much love and effort into this video and it shows

Everyone keeps ignoring the main issue I have with field operations like Eureka or Bozja. When you're arriving late to that content by an order of a few years - it is a lonely god damn ghost town. Those places are pure misery for new players and I did not enjoy grinding Eureka with like 5 people on the whole map or Bozja with maybe 8 people in the entirety of Zadnor. And don't get me started on how joining for Baldesion Archive or Delubrum Reginae Savage requires you to go get a group through specific discords. The content might be great for when it's fresh and new, but for people arriving late is pure dread. I'd like maybe something a little more interresting than what we got for relics this time around, but I'm for sure glad theres not a third god damn instanced zone a new player will have to slog through at some point in time.

Preach, as always, your videos are very clear and well-made. You're amazing. I'm glad to see someone so talented explaining to everyone in a detailed manner the issues with the Endwalker Expansion. You don't sound angry. You don't sound frustrated. You put your opinions in a cohesive manner, unlike most of the community. Cheers to you and your family!

Awesome video. Great job guys

LOVED this piece of content, Preach! Fun to watch and spot on analysis.

I gotta admit, i'm new to your content Preach, You just never really came up on my radar, but my GOD, this video was incredible. So detaled, so deep, and just yeah. I love the breakdown and I'll certainly share this with my FC and friends!

High quality video, Preach!!

Amazing video, really nailed all of the important points while being fair. Let's hope for the best

My issue is value. The game, once you are caught up and playing it patch to patch, just does not offer enough of the content I enjoy for me to pay 15 a month for it.

I personally love it. Best story telling of all the games I've played. I also enjoyed the post patch story and look forward to Zero's return. There are so many good games to play recently that I am thankful for the chance to take a break and play them. Didn't even end my sub. See you all in Dawntrail!

A balanced take on the Endwalker expansion overall, though I personally disagreed with Endwalker's MSQ being all that great. The Scions returning after "sacrificing themselves" made their sacrifice feel meaningless, and having them travel to the far edge of the universe to defeat despair incarnate without suffering any real losses themselves, in a story that is centered around loss and forging ahead, felt like peak irony. I don't think death necessarily makes a story better, and I think the story is nice for how it wrapped up the Ancients-current time saga, but when the main characters remain ever-protected by a thick layer of plot armor, it makes the world feel more benign than the writers try to portray it as. As for the Post-EW content, I think the FF4 references were nice, though the storyline still felt like "the friendship gang defeats evil/depression with kindness". Ultimately, I think Endwalker feels like it's trying to make mature points while being too immature to commit to them. For that reason, I wish some of the main characters would have given themselves up for good, to really hammer in the MSQ's lessons.

What a video. Thank you for the content Mike and team see you in Dawntrail o7

I will forever be grateful for this expansion to have been released at the perfect time. No doubt when this was released everybody in the world in one way or another was dealing with hardship in one form or another, and the pandemic certainly did not help. Endwalker most definitely exceeded my expectations with how the FFXIV team wanted to end the Hydaelyn and Zodiark Saga. I'm glad that they managed to stick the landing. To quote of my favorite NPCs in this expansion, "It's been a gripping tale. Unbreakable bonds and noble sacrifice, sprinkled with moments of levity to counterbalance the pathos."

I'd like to add a point regarding the trial series. I don't believe it's not only because people weren't doing them. I think that because the Four Fiends and Golbez are so iconic within the FF community, that there was an expectation that they should have been trials and given their flair. Since they were tied to the MSQ, that's what they decided to go with. It's always important to remember that FFXIV also works on the basis of the expectations that it IS a Final Fantasy theme park before being an MMO

I've been a vigilant fan for a long time, and I can't help but feel nostalgia when looking back at your "History of the Rogue, Paladin, etc.". You've seemed to keep that same energy of how much love and thought you put into your videos. But this time around, you've got a backpack full of experience to give a real treat of a presentation.

Great vid, as always!

This was a really enjoyable review! And I agree with you, the post MSQ storyline has to be a setup for something that comes later. I myself found the (current) conclusion of this ark refreshing, since Zero and Golbez are the ones fighting for *their* world, it's not us intervening... for now. I belong to the camp of people who missed the relic grind a lot - but more than just the relic grind, it was the open field and grindy aspect oft it. I'm curious to see what comes in dawntrail.

The issue is the Post Shadowbringers MSQ was a slight lull in the action but still had us all on the edge of our seats because Endwalker was a direct continuation of that story. Shadowbringers hit so hard and was so much better than what we were used to in a game that it had use stunned and on the ropes. After Endwalker MSQ was completed, it felt like a big sigh. The story was over. We hit a reasonable and well-done conclusion to everything. The Meteion thing was kinda telegraphed but the early Zodiark kill and some of the other elements still very surprising and emotional. Just like the Lead-up to Stormblood was slow and kind of a yawn-fest I was expecting the same from Endwalker post MSQ. I think that the MSQ in Dawntrail can redeem it or make it feel better, but we won't have that perspective until we play Dawntrail. I agree with your thoughts on the relic "grind" the reality is you can never win. People who want shiny items complain it's too hard, and people complain it's too easy when you make it more accessible. Yoshi-P has always said he wants you to enjoy FFXIV but doesn't see a need for you to invest all your free time into one game. That doesn't resonate with a certain section of the gaming audience, but we should accept that any development is going to be done with those lenses. Finally, thank you for doing it justice in your retrospection. I think it's hard to be everything to everyone, but they do a fairly good job adding a lot of content to try to appeal to many folks. I'm glad to see that you can say you still enjoy the game for what it is, because we have enough whiny voices complaining about what it isn't.

Really like the "Not enough content" chapter. Very well done, well explained, fun & mystical. Solid work 👍

Good rundown Preach. I too am hopeful for what Dawntrail will bring us.

Seeing such an optimistic take from Preach is a heartwarming thing. Looking forward to DT with everyone.

The relic issue could've easily been fixed if they made each role require a grind but the rest of the jobs in that role dont require the grind. For example you play as a warrior but want the relic on both drk and war? just finish the warrior grind (get the items required from fates/dungeons/quests/whatever) and then the items you require will be available for purchase on other tank jobs for just tomestones

Production is getting better and better!

I LOVE this level of editing. I am sure it takes a ton of work, but man - does it make watching the video so much more entertaining. Great analysis. Your comment about "untenable" for long grind weapons boils down to the premise: should it be reasonable that one person - can - do everything, or should people be constrained by choice imposed by time. I for one, think there is value in needing to make a choice, even if it gives completionists heartburn...

"It was good, and then it wasn't." That basically sums up my entire expirience with all parts of endwalker.

Yep, Endwalker truly is better than Shadowbringers.

Great video! Really appreciate the nuanced takes. I think it's really important to stress that a lot of Endwalker's design did not benefit people who were looking to play it every single day, whether that be because they really wanted to or it was their job, and that is obviously a detriment to those players...but not to every one. It certainly didn't bother me, and I adore the game. I also think it's really interesting to recognize the way they handled the trial series - integrating the fights into the MSQ - isn't actually new! This isn't a departure, but a return, as 2.X had the new trials integrated into the story for added narrative weight. It has pros and cons, and I'm on the fence about whether I want it to happen in 7.X. But it wasn't some weird departure, it was just returning to something they did before, and it clearly didn't stick the landing given it's somewhat divisive.

Love to see the production value now brotha

endwalker is my fav expansion just because of the story. even shadowbringers doesnt come close to it for me

Not having a bozja endgame grind element in the game completely killed my willingness to keep playing. I need a long term project in 14 if I'm gonna keep playing. I'll be back for dawntrail for the new one and the story of course, however if there's no long term goals the game gives me then dawntrail will be my last expansion

The animations in this video are so good!

Fantastic video!

"Boring." Honestly, farming Bozja relics is more boring than farming tomestones. Skirmishes are fucking boring, except maybe half a dozen of them that only show up once every now and then. The rest are on the level of FATEs. And the critical engagements are just worse alliance raids than all of them except maybe CT and (IMO, though most disagree with me) two of the three YoRHa raids (oooo, slow bullet time, oooooooo, so exciting /s). The thing with tomes is variety... more than you get from either Bozja or Eureka. You can even do PvP to farm tomes if you really want to. The people complaining are just under the illusion that tomes offer less, and that Bozja content was some sort of monumental addition, when the story wasn't all that large, skirmishes are moooostly glorified FATEs, and critical engagements are watered down alliance raids. The only thing that really felt missing was Delubrum, which is fantastic. But it's so hard to get a group for that organically even at peak hours on Aether. You have to LFG of Discord. The story element of Bozja was basically shifted to IS and variant dungeons. Are they as good as Bozja's story? Absolutely not, but I did like IS's and variant stories have potential with refinement in the future. I think the only valid complaint content-wise is that patches came slower and it's a very long time between 6.5 and 7.0. But I kinda get it with the focus adding duty support and on graphical overhauls that CBU3 has been working on.

Ask any FF14 player who has been around since ARR and they will tell you hell no, endwalker was not a failure, heavensward was.

I think you put this all really well. I am excited for Dawn Trail and loved End Walker but I can understand why some people feel the post content is a bit slow.

the production value in this video is amazing but my favourite visual effect is still the...suggestively shaped 2-minute graph on the whiteboard

Nicely done!

Great video, so hyped for Dawntrail and to see where our story goes! I came back to FFXIV when Shadowbringers launched and holy crap, best stories ever told. I have never gotten emotional as many times as I did during these stories. Stories that literally made me stop and think about emotional moments in my life. Very few stories have done that to me, Gladiator comes to mind, Lord of the Rings, and a few others. I had trouble getting "through" the initial stories, but once I thought to myself why am I rushing and not enjoying? Then it became so much more fun.

This is one of the best reviews I have seen. Thank you. I have no problem with people not liking the game or content but at least give it a try before judging it. I hear so many people dump on content they have not even tried and treat their feelings as facts. I say this is a gold standard of reviews. Well thought out and really fair. You made me rethink somethings with your facts and good pints.

What a banger of a video. Preach is a gem.

I made a long post seemingly critical, but want to maker it crystal clear I really appreciate your fair take on the xpac. It felt like most streamers have knee-jerked their takes, whereas you (and your team) took the time to really analyze things!

I think some of the other issues with the 2 minute window (besides dictating raid planning) are: - It means all jobs have the same basic gameplan: stock resources/sync cooldowns to line up with 2 minutes. That makes jobs feel more similar and like there is less gameplay variety across the game as a whole. Paladin had to have a rework mid-expansion because it had a more sustained DPS playstyle that didn't play well into burst windows, so they changed it to be another sync-and-burst job like all the others, actively reducing job variety. - It HEAVILY punishes falling out of sync with your raid. The idea of the 2 minute window was so players don't have to worry about having bad synergy, but now since all jobs synergize by default, they are balanced around that synergy, meaning if you fail to sync your rotation with your raid (which can happen quite easily), you are losing HUGE damage. Particularly because jobs have also been designed so that all their biggest attacks also fall inside these buff windows.

The editing is very crisp, props to chris!

I wasn't a fan of the last zone of the Endwalker MSQ. It had some very good moments but right after that section with Estinien, it became obvious how the story in that zone would unfold. It was obvious as well that none of the sacrifices actually mattered, so the story lost a lot of weight. Also felt like they didn't know what to do with Zenos so they jammed him in at the very end. There's so many great moments during EW's msq, even more than in Shadowbringer, but it was more inconsistent.