Thank you to the content creators that gave me their time to help create this video. They will all be credited below, and they deserve your support. This wholesome look back at Endwalker doesn’t include much in the way of my opinions, this is about their stories.
I’ve made a Patreon for my long form videos like this, alongside the DSR and TOP retrospectives. You’ll only be charged when one of these videos releases – not monthly. Thank you so much for your support, if you choose to!
Patreon: https://patreon.com/RinonBanana
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rinonbanana
Twitch: https://twitch.tv/rinbanana
The song at the end is @Huskybythegeek ‘s rendition of the Dawntrail Full Theme, and he kindly gave me permission to use it in this video. Thank you so much!
Content Creators in this video:
https://twitter.com/braxophone
https://twitter.com/DeenialVT
https://twitter.com/TheEmmaLlama
https://twitter.com/Misshapenchair
https://twitter.com/Pathra
https://twitter.com/Angelus_Demonus
https://twitter.com/BenRice_PLG
https://twitter.com/Bio_Roxas
https://twitter.com/brianricardos
https://twitter.com/hurricanechiela
https://twitter.com/CiderSpiderr
https://twitter.com/sheepyclarissa
https://twitter.com/EksuPlosionXIV
https://twitter.com/ElinaFFXIV
https://twitter.com/ElitheInanna
https://twitter.com/xfloralis
https://twitter.com/Fr33_Twitch
https://twitter.com/fisherfruity
https://twitter.com/GeraldHartXIV
https://www.youtube.com/@IlyaDalamiq
https://twitter.com/kinrawr
https://twitter.com/king_jeffo
https://twitter.com/llamatodd
https://twitter.com/MaybeMaygi
https://twitter.com/MeoniYouTube
https://twitter.com/mirubuns
https://twitter.com/Mrhappy1227
https://twitter.com/okaymage
https://twitter.com/ThePontoTV
https://twitter.com/RathGames
https://twitter.com/rookuri_
https://twitter.com/RoseEva96
https://twitter.com/samthelemonboy
https://twitter.com/gg_saori
https://twitter.com/SarahJaneAFK
https://twitter.com/sausoftheroll
https://twitter.com/SerenayaCarrin
https://twitter.com/AeroViro
https://twitter.com/Lazerdinger
https://twitter.com/IM4SONIC
https://twitter.com/stalvtuber
https://twitter.com/TiffanyMayCry
https://twitter.com/ViviiVT
https://twitter.com/WeskAlber
https://twitter.com/woops
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Thanks Misshapen Chair for having a based and grounded take as per usual.
I'm not getting too hyped for DT in advance because it has a lot to prove to me both gameplay and storywise and I can't be disappointed if I set my expectations to rock bottom…hopefully.
Imagine if our characters looked as good as thumbnail.i hope the next ff mmo has alot better character creation
For me this expansion really was the most relaxed I've been PVE wise. I stopped raiding, stopped doing ex, and only really cared for BLU since none of the jobs did enough to make me want to do current content. PVE turned to be a hit for me as someone who didn't care for it either way, CC being a great addition and made me log in daily. Island Sanctuary was also a big contributor, as I went ham on that from day 1, grinding to max rank within two days on release, and on every release day thereafter. Unnecessary, sure, but that and all the rewards and island shenanigans were well worth it. Even in Dawntrail, where I'll still probably be a casual tank person for friends and whatnot, these additions and BLU will keep me going, with Beastmaster being promising.
my personal favorite endwalker moment was clearing my first on content savage tier with my static. We started at the end of shadowbringers going through all the Eden raids with full training wheels, no ilvl syncing, as much echo as possible. I was really nervous as to whether or not we had it in us to prog through all the fights without all the crutches we had before, and not only did we succeed, we're still raiding together. While P8S put us through the wringer and was a much harder fight, clearing P4S together was incredibly validating and made us feel like we could tackle just about anything
we haven't done an ultimate together yet, but perhaps that will be our crowning Dawntrail moment
Wonderful video by the way. The community has been pretty down on Endwalker recently and while there is definitely fair criticism to make, its good to remember the positives and joy that it brought us.
I know I'm in the minority here, but I think the big thing that kept me engaged throughout Endwalker is precisely that the relic weapons only required tomestones. Endwalker gave me enough time to become a full-fledged achievement hunter, with countless goals to work towards. I couldn't have kept that level of engagement with the game if the relic weapons had come with their own content like Eureka in Stormblood and Bozja in Shadowbringers. I'm not saying I prefer that the relic weapons were quick and easy this expansion, because of course it would have been nice to have new content to work towards. (Especially for the community as a whole.) What I'm saying is that, for me specifically, the simplistic relic weapons somehow increased my engagement with the game. I'm weird like that.
i love how in-character chair was in his segment, best part of the entire video
My favorite peoples nice to see them all.
Whoops, looks like i stumbled into somethin here, I'll save this and come back when I've finished endwalker
What a beautiful video. I got teary-eyed.
I finally got the chance to watch this video, and as an Endwalker baby, it's been a joy and an honor to make new friends, reignite relationships with old ones, it helped me meet someone amazing that i am honored to call my boyfriend, i got to know a whole new world in Eorzea, and I can definitely say that my crowning moments were clearing uwu as a baby raider with only p1s-p3s under my belt, to clearing p12s on content with a static where i felt like i was not just raiding, but actually hanging out with friends. I remember clearly the relief and pride I felt after clearing uwu a month after my mom passed, and the tears of joy my cohealer and I cried as we watched Athena's clear cutscene play. This game has changed my life, given me an amazing partner as well, and inspired me to make meaningful change and to not give up. i hope i can still play for a long time.
wow, so many people talking about clearing ultimates with friends. sounds like fun. just wish i could do it too
“and of they’ll put back kaite-“ lmao
endwalker was such a special experience for me. i was in a really bad place in life when it released, having been kicked out of my home and recently recovered from being suicidal. i was aimless, not knowing what to do with myself or what i wanted in life.
the endwalker story broke my heart and lovingly sewed it back together. it was exactly what i needed at that time. it gave me a completely different outlook on life. the scene where you talk to venat about adventuring, emet-selch telling you where to travel next, and that last scene with meteion especially had me sobbing. in that moment, i was meteion, looking back over my journey in the game and in my life, realizing what i was here for.
i'm in a much better place now thanks to this game. final fantasy 14 completely changed my life, and i think it's the most meaningful story i've ever taken part in. thank you, yoshi-p.
Man, the moment that really caught me in tears and made me realize why I love this game (despite the MANY issues it has as Rinon has discussed in previous videos, issues that I myself strongly and passionately agree with) is probably when Venat spoke to me on the balcony:
"Has your journey been good? Has it been worthwhile?"
Had me sit back a moment and reminisce about the things I went through to get that far. Exciting battles faced, struggles overcome, self-improvement, challenges completed, chill moments in Limsa… All fantastic. But the by far most important reason why I love FFXIV is the good people of this community and friends that I met on the way. Coming from toxic game communities like Overwatch and League of Legends, entering this game has been such pure pleasure. You can actually talk to people in here without them becoming upset about wasting your time or immediately being hit by "fk u". It is by far one of the best, most respectful communities out of all game communities out there.
Really nice video!
Solid motivation to make more of my videos, thanks!
My most cherished memory from Endwalker was doing the MSQ alongside my sister through Discord, just the two of us. I'm currently abroad, away from home, and the game brought us together like nothing else could have, and no matter what small issues I might have had with the expansion, I'll always remember and treasure Endwalker for that experience I got to share with my big sis.
I'm no content creator, but I want to highlight some of my best memories of Endwalker.
I started the game in August 2021, at the end of Shadowbringers, with my wife, in the Chaos DC in Europe. Endwalker was our first real expansion to get into all the content this game has to offer. We wanted to get into Savage raiding, and when we were finally ready, we started to look for a static. It was surprising that we got a group pretty fast, but that group didn't last long. During our first day in P3S, after about an hour of tries, caster (who turned out to be a an elitist) broke his silence and said there were three of us in the group that shouldn't even play Savage, and he left and took half the group with him, the half that had previous experience on Savage while the rest of us were first timers. So, back to recruiting. We managed to get a full static again, and it is still alive. We became so close as friends, that we decided to move into the new Phantom server and establish our own Free Company. We've also met in flesh twice now, and are planning to do it again. This is my best memory in the social side. A failed static led to a static where everyone can be as themselves and where we love to have fun in everything we do in this game, and all the way into a Free Company.
I'm someone who rarely cries while playing game stories, but Final Fantasy XIV, and other Final Fantasies as well, have managed to break me several times. The storytelling is out of this world. Finishing Endwalker story was a moment I will never forget. It gave me a new look on life in general. It was through Endwalker that I finally understood the lyrics of Answers, especially the last verse. "In the same fleeting moment, thou must live, die and know." Now I look and see that our lives really are a fleeting moment, and in that fleeting moment, we must live and die, and in between, know our answer to the question of life.
I'm a Paladin main, and for Paladin to be the mascot job of Endwalker, is something I cherish. I can hardly wait for Dawntrail. I'm excited about the story, about Viper especially and all the new Savage tier and Field Operation… Well to be honest, there's not a thing I don't look forward to in Dawntrail.
Damn no PatStaresAt
I love this so much!! As a new player (playing for about a year) it kinda sucks to see lots of content creators complaining about the game while I am having the time of my life haha. I get that it's different if you've been playing a long time, but it is really cool to see people talking about what they love this time!!! Thank you for making this ❤
Thank you for inviting me to be part of this video, I'm really bad at speaking <3, this is genuinely such a love letter to the game itself
This video was a pleasant surprise for my Friday morning. I got to know who Rinon is, as well as many other content creators I had never heard about, and heard a few familiar ones. 😉 Many many talks for this really cool video! So so many wonderful memories, so many emotional moments, so many tears, so much laughter. Darn it, I need a handkerchief just thinking about it. 🥹 That moment at the Endwalker end credits when I saw my warrior of light name, I cried, because I did it, we did it. We kept our promise. ☺️ Thank you for this video. ❤️ See you on the next one. 👍
My favorite moment was quite recent actually. I was able to clear the whole of Pandaemonium Savage. I never thought I would even think about raiding in this game, but I took the time and effort to say "Hey, I did that," and feel like I came a long way from where I started. Looking forward to Arcadion in Dawntrail!
34:14 The most abrupt transition of all time LMAO 😂😂😂😂
man watching people prog DSR was amazing. seeing woops & his team talk about all that though makes me really miss ferro's presence though.
My answer is right now. I just started DSR and its been my goal to start doing Ultimates since I started playing this game. It was rough going at first as someone with zero experience and I was honestly about to just take a break until Dawntrail. Then I watched your video on DSR and it just lit a fire in me. I went and finished UWU in PF and managed to find a great group of people to do DSR with. Have had more fun in these last couple weeks than the 2 years I've been playing combined. Extremely excited for the future, my DSR clear, and TEA afterwards!
Thank you so much for having me in this video, I can't wait to see what you have in store later down the line of this year! 😀
35:50 — XD XD XD XD XD XD XD
My biggest disappointment was the I couldnt get a ticket for EU Fanfest… That was tragic. I have a hart time connecting normally with people so this was a big bummer for me. That being said, my biggest moments were MSQ related (the whole pay-off after this year long journey, culminating in this finale… yes, its a meme at this point, but, people, just pls dont skip, just… dont ^^°), just the whole thing, it was just packed, and the moments of calm and silence stood even out more (like that coffee with Alisea). The other big thing was raiding, doing savage and clearing all those fights, with all the screams and tears that come with it. Though our static didnt last, it was one hell of a time and the feeling of finally clearing… its catharsis and I loved it ^.^
This is spoilers, the video. SO let me just say this here: the part of the MSQ that stood out to me, and sort of got me teary eyed was that final farewell to Emet and Hythlodaeus. After Elpis, we really became closer than ever before with Emet. We got to know him, walk with him and fully understand who he was and what he wanted, and all I wanted was to give him a hug. The final goodbye was exactly what I expected it to be, I wasn't disappointed. Part of me wishes they could swallow their pride and just continue to exist in the background, and that is fantastic.
Then there's the fight with Zenos, his whole story-arc was very sad; it felt right just leaving him there, the mad dog, birthed from an empire bread for world domination and corruption. But I couldn't help pitying him, I think that was fantastic! Just the pit in my stomach that was left afterwards, I feel bad for him and hate him all at the same time. Would duel again anytime 😉
Rinon, thank you for including me in this video, it's very touching to hear all of the different things people are passionate about in FF14.
There were so many moments I could have talked about, but I've got the heart of a raider so those are always closest to me, especially being there to help others clear.
This is a wonderful video full of amazing people and we wouldn't have had this opportunity without the support of the 14 community, so thank you all for watching and supporting. I'll see you again in DawnTrail (especially for Eden Ultimate)!
See you all in dawntrail!! I'll be hitting those gathering nodes and hopping on early patch crafting/gathering as soon as I can, myself
what i can say for me
I love FF14 for Music, Grafik i like the how it looks~ i like my midlander hyur >.3, i like to help peoples in PF for Ultimates fights or Savage fights. The Ultimate Fights inself are the best since Stormblood. Story all stuff u can do so much, but u can also just dont log in for some days weeks months and u lose nothing on Progress, not like other MMOS ^.^
I'm a relatively new player (a little bit over a year and just starting EW), and I love seeing the love of the community for the game as well as the support they give to each other in videos like this. 😀 I hope that someday, I'd be able to do the high difficulty Raids.
can't wait to have a 3 month bender in dawntrail
What a great idea for a video! Seeing all these amazing people who make content I love for this game that has become very special to me over the last year, I couldn't help but cry a little. This is the perfect counterbalance to so many negative videos about Endwalker that have been popular of late. Endwalker was my first expansion, and it will always be special to me for that.
My moment was hearing Welcome to Our Town in Bestways Burrow, the home of the Loporrits. FFIV was the first RPG I ever played, and it blew my little mind. I never imagined almost thirty years later I would hear it in another Final Fantasy game I love. I felt 8-years-old again for the briefest of moments. It was like my whole life came full circle.
all fired up again for more XIV – thanks rinon, and all creators still capable of seeing good things
I've struggled with depression, so the Endsinger's song of oblivion resonated with me, but at the same time there was a light in me that knew to push through because life did have a meaning, despite or even because of the pain. So when I saw Venat stumbling though the darkness, covered in blood and trembling in pain, fighting still for hope everlasting… I had to log off in the midst of the Endless Queue. I needed to sit with my feelings for the rest of the day before I could continue.
So when I saw Venat again, one look in the eye was enough for me. We both knew the Answer deep in our hearts.
Wait, Braxophone?? Pogggggg
walking up those steps in ultima thule was such a genuinely beautiful experience
i hate farming casuality :*(
The highlight ofthe expansion was definitely raiding with friends, joining communities, and meeting my now Fiancée. We're both looking forward to being able to play Dawntrail in the same room together as it comes out shortly before our IRL wedding. I'm looking forward to many more adventures to come!
So thank you so much for this masterful video Rinon and everyone who took part of this wonderful walk to the end and the dawning of our next journey together 🥲
Gerald waiting on Femhroth, based AF ❤
Great video! Loved all the emotions put into this from you and other creators. Definitely the most wonderful moment was going through Endwalker with my wife who literally caught up right before it came out. Reacting together, watching the conclusion of many stories and seeing her grow to love the game I started years ago was just super exciting.
Wonderful video full of a ton of memories to cherish before going into Dawntrail. Thank you. <3
Rinon lowkey been making banger vids
As always, a true banger.
I know they don't need my approval but god the 2d character filter thing is so creepy