This is why I thought Stormblood was good, hearing some of these arguments above. Grounded, full of flawed characters. Lost Papalymo in the run up so Lyse had to grow up, which she did pretty badly. Real, human stakes for folks like Raubahn. The Sultana having to grow up. Fordola and her arc. Zenos as a villain (in that expansion) being terrifying but also fairly real.
In the run up to ShB, Zenos got ressurected, and that's when I felt shit jumped the shark for me. I didn't care for ShB at all. I couldn't care for this random shard other than to get my friends the fuck outta there, none of whom we lost cause I'm so goddamn awesome. Eulmore was like, "fuck these people, let's burn this place to the ground." The Exarch, and his character in general, annoy the ever living fuck out of me - but I'm also a person who can't stand the twins, or Y'shtola's sassy bitch writing, and I prefer the father-daughter dynamic of Thancred/Ryne, or Urangier and his practicality, even if it means concealing things from others. Sin eaters in general were...who the fuck cares. In fact, the whole rise of Zodiark storyline was eyerolling. All of this continued in EW and was just exhausting. I never understood why people suddenly liked Ascians just because of Emet's quirky line delivery. The dude was a monster. Zodiark's cultists were monsters, as were Hydelyn's. Both of those expansions ultimately felt like me (the player) being the adult in the room and having to sort out the shit the tantruming kids (every other character including my own, the WoL) fucked up by being childish. Like, what the fuck was Hermes thinking?
Give me the real stakes of Hien/Gosetsu/Raubahn/Lyse/M'naago any day of the week. Like, holy shit. The Fall of the Empire? Yes please. In fact, the best parts of EW for me was clearing up the remnants of the Empire in Garlemald.