(Obvious spoilers for Endwalker ahead)
In my humble opinion (that people are perfectly free to agree or disagree with), Garlemald is hands down the best area in the entire game story telling wise. I know Endwalker isn’t as good writing wise as Shadowbringers, but Garlemald is proof that Endwalker is at the very least the second best expansion story-wise.
First things first, I think atmosphere and general area feel are probably the main highlights of Garlemald. Like sure, previous areas showcase things like how war and occupation can make the people living there struggle (like Ala Mhigo or Doma). But at least in my mind, there’s this weird disconnect between previous areas and Garlemald in that regard. Like because all these areas up to this point (with one or two exceptions) have all had a fantasy feel to them, and whilst the horrific and terrible things that happen in these areas can make you feel bad for those suffering, since it’s in a fantasy world there’s this weird disconnect that makes you (or at least me) recognize that these areas are in a fantasy world and not our own. But then you get to Garlemald, and you start seeing a level of modernity and a sense of realism that you don’t see in other areas. You see literal CARS in parking lots at train stations, you see your standard city park with an info board on it, you see ruins of a city that feel like it comes straight from a fallout game in it. It's this realistic connection that makes the suffering of the people of Garlemald all the more depressing in my eyes.
Furthermore, when we first arrive to the area, Garlemald is by far the most depressing and hopeless area in the game (challenged probably only be Ultima Thule). Every Garlean we meet is either in a poor state due starvation or freezing in the elements, or are soldiers who are essentially forced to follow the command of a desperate leader who’s last hope for salvation eventually gets destroyed before them. Pairing that with the devastation of the area, it gives me this feeling of dread thinking about how if our society collapsed or had to go through the apocalypse, then it would probably be in some ways similar to what the people of Garlemald have to go through. The utter breakdown of order leaving groups of survivors to fend for themselves while the constant threat of becoming a mindless zombie is ever present, coupled with the remnants of infrastructure that showcase how much better life was before this societal collapse, make Garlemald arguably the most depressed feeling areas in the entire game.
And just from a lore perspective, I can just feel so much for the Garleans. Like sure, their stubbornness to accept our help is counterintuitive to their own lives getting better, but can you really blame them? The ENTIRETY of Garlean history has been dominated by Garleans being massacred and driven out of their homelands (regardless if there were other non-garleans living there or not) and forced into a frozen wasteland to survive. They do eventually manage to create a society that survives in the wastes, but the constant fear of death or enslavement by those who are quite literally biologically more powerful than you (in the sense that other races can use magic and Garleans can't, ik that generally speaking Garleans are physically stronger than other races) causes them to make up for this disability through magitek. It gets to a point where through the actions of bad actors (like Emet-Selch), the Garleans eventually come to the conclusion that the ONLY way they'll be safe from the rest of the world is if they conquered everyone else before they themselves can be conquered. And as decades go by, the Garleans are vilified by the entire world, seen as the great evil on the star that must be opposed and stopped at all costs. Once the empire collapses and the grand company of Eorzea comes into Ilsabard, how can the average Garlean (given everything they know and have been taught) bring themselves to trust them? In their minds, no effort or good deed will ever come without some sort of price tag, whether it be economic (resources and money forcibly taken as repayment, or foreign companies profiting off of the rebuilding like we see in Ala Mhigo) or societal (humiliating the Garleans, forcing them all to be ashamed of the fact that they are Garleans, etc). We see in Stormblood that in places like Ala Mhigo, if you are a Garlean living in the region or a native that collaborated with the Garleans in order to make your own living conditions more bearable, you are absolutely DESPISED. Yes, Ala Mhigans have every right to be angry and mad at the Garlean Empire for conquering their home and causing so much damage. But does that warrant stoning a man to death in public while he tries to protect his own daughter from a mob? Does that warrant an ostracizing and belittling an entire village of people for collaborating just to survive? Regardless, there are many people from the numerous regions that the empire conquered that are so blinded by their rage, they are willing to forsake others who are just trying to survive under the guise of retribution.
And because of that, the Garleans have every reason to be terrified and worried about the Grand Company of Eorzea occupying their lands. Why wouldn't they seek a culture wide punishment or retribution, especially after decades of the Garleans being the bane of their existence and causing so much suffering? And even if the Grand Company would stick to their promises of just trying to help the Garleans, what's preventing a scenario where certain bitter and hateful high ranking officials in the Grand Company just start punishing the Garleans anyways as an "eye for an eye" type situation, getting off scot-free due to their positions? The Garleans are so terrified by this prospect and their history of suffering, that they are at first incapable of believing that the Grand Company is any different than the people who drove them out of their homelands all those years ago. And it comes from this fear of being punished for their government that makes it feel so REAL to me. Obviously, you cannot treat all Garleans as being these terrible monsters that wholeheartedly supported and desired the suffering of those they conquered. Many were just workers trying to survive in the frozen wastes, many were just families trying to make the best of their situation. If the entire world despises the empire and hates it with every fiber of their being, what's preventing that hate from labeling all Garleans as being equally as guilty as those that ran the empire? We even see this sort of thing happening during the Reaper job quests, where exiled Garleans had to hide their racial features from public as a way of avoiding societal stigma and shame. Not every Garlean can be Cid Garlond, not every Garlean is going to be exalted as a hero for going into exile. And it's this sort of hopelessness from the population, as well as all the other factors mentioned in this post, that make Garlemald the best area in the game.
Obviously, this is all just my opinion. Endwalker's story isn't perfect, but I don't think it's as nonsensical or terrible as I've heard some people say it is. If ya'll have anything to add or have other views on the matter, feel free to share them!
submitted by /u/Reteller79
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In my humble opinion (that people are perfectly free to agree or disagree with), Garlemald is hands down the best area in the entire game story telling wise. I know Endwalker isn’t as good writing wise as Shadowbringers, but Garlemald is proof that Endwalker is at the very least the second best expansion story-wise.
First things first, I think atmosphere and general area feel are probably the main highlights of Garlemald. Like sure, previous areas showcase things like how war and occupation can make the people living there struggle (like Ala Mhigo or Doma). But at least in my mind, there’s this weird disconnect between previous areas and Garlemald in that regard. Like because all these areas up to this point (with one or two exceptions) have all had a fantasy feel to them, and whilst the horrific and terrible things that happen in these areas can make you feel bad for those suffering, since it’s in a fantasy world there’s this weird disconnect that makes you (or at least me) recognize that these areas are in a fantasy world and not our own. But then you get to Garlemald, and you start seeing a level of modernity and a sense of realism that you don’t see in other areas. You see literal CARS in parking lots at train stations, you see your standard city park with an info board on it, you see ruins of a city that feel like it comes straight from a fallout game in it. It's this realistic connection that makes the suffering of the people of Garlemald all the more depressing in my eyes.
Furthermore, when we first arrive to the area, Garlemald is by far the most depressing and hopeless area in the game (challenged probably only be Ultima Thule). Every Garlean we meet is either in a poor state due starvation or freezing in the elements, or are soldiers who are essentially forced to follow the command of a desperate leader who’s last hope for salvation eventually gets destroyed before them. Pairing that with the devastation of the area, it gives me this feeling of dread thinking about how if our society collapsed or had to go through the apocalypse, then it would probably be in some ways similar to what the people of Garlemald have to go through. The utter breakdown of order leaving groups of survivors to fend for themselves while the constant threat of becoming a mindless zombie is ever present, coupled with the remnants of infrastructure that showcase how much better life was before this societal collapse, make Garlemald arguably the most depressed feeling areas in the entire game.
And just from a lore perspective, I can just feel so much for the Garleans. Like sure, their stubbornness to accept our help is counterintuitive to their own lives getting better, but can you really blame them? The ENTIRETY of Garlean history has been dominated by Garleans being massacred and driven out of their homelands (regardless if there were other non-garleans living there or not) and forced into a frozen wasteland to survive. They do eventually manage to create a society that survives in the wastes, but the constant fear of death or enslavement by those who are quite literally biologically more powerful than you (in the sense that other races can use magic and Garleans can't, ik that generally speaking Garleans are physically stronger than other races) causes them to make up for this disability through magitek. It gets to a point where through the actions of bad actors (like Emet-Selch), the Garleans eventually come to the conclusion that the ONLY way they'll be safe from the rest of the world is if they conquered everyone else before they themselves can be conquered. And as decades go by, the Garleans are vilified by the entire world, seen as the great evil on the star that must be opposed and stopped at all costs. Once the empire collapses and the grand company of Eorzea comes into Ilsabard, how can the average Garlean (given everything they know and have been taught) bring themselves to trust them? In their minds, no effort or good deed will ever come without some sort of price tag, whether it be economic (resources and money forcibly taken as repayment, or foreign companies profiting off of the rebuilding like we see in Ala Mhigo) or societal (humiliating the Garleans, forcing them all to be ashamed of the fact that they are Garleans, etc). We see in Stormblood that in places like Ala Mhigo, if you are a Garlean living in the region or a native that collaborated with the Garleans in order to make your own living conditions more bearable, you are absolutely DESPISED. Yes, Ala Mhigans have every right to be angry and mad at the Garlean Empire for conquering their home and causing so much damage. But does that warrant stoning a man to death in public while he tries to protect his own daughter from a mob? Does that warrant an ostracizing and belittling an entire village of people for collaborating just to survive? Regardless, there are many people from the numerous regions that the empire conquered that are so blinded by their rage, they are willing to forsake others who are just trying to survive under the guise of retribution.
And because of that, the Garleans have every reason to be terrified and worried about the Grand Company of Eorzea occupying their lands. Why wouldn't they seek a culture wide punishment or retribution, especially after decades of the Garleans being the bane of their existence and causing so much suffering? And even if the Grand Company would stick to their promises of just trying to help the Garleans, what's preventing a scenario where certain bitter and hateful high ranking officials in the Grand Company just start punishing the Garleans anyways as an "eye for an eye" type situation, getting off scot-free due to their positions? The Garleans are so terrified by this prospect and their history of suffering, that they are at first incapable of believing that the Grand Company is any different than the people who drove them out of their homelands all those years ago. And it comes from this fear of being punished for their government that makes it feel so REAL to me. Obviously, you cannot treat all Garleans as being these terrible monsters that wholeheartedly supported and desired the suffering of those they conquered. Many were just workers trying to survive in the frozen wastes, many were just families trying to make the best of their situation. If the entire world despises the empire and hates it with every fiber of their being, what's preventing that hate from labeling all Garleans as being equally as guilty as those that ran the empire? We even see this sort of thing happening during the Reaper job quests, where exiled Garleans had to hide their racial features from public as a way of avoiding societal stigma and shame. Not every Garlean can be Cid Garlond, not every Garlean is going to be exalted as a hero for going into exile. And it's this sort of hopelessness from the population, as well as all the other factors mentioned in this post, that make Garlemald the best area in the game.
Obviously, this is all just my opinion. Endwalker's story isn't perfect, but I don't think it's as nonsensical or terrible as I've heard some people say it is. If ya'll have anything to add or have other views on the matter, feel free to share them!
submitted by /u/Reteller79
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Continue reading...