That's fair, I wasn't really expressing myself very clearly (and I was certainly using charged language). To be frank, your "just roll with it" idea is almost certainly the correct one!

I just was never impressed with Jin's motivations or actions in the base game, and had a very strong hunch all of his "all humans should die, Addam shouldn't have left, Indol destroyed Torna" schtick was a thin rationalization to cover up that he was upset Lorna was murdered, and thus went on an unrepentant murder spree with the very same Blade who was actually responsible for destroying Torna etc. The DLC pretty much clinched that feeling. It also was a bit dissonant for the character to end on Lorna's hopeful note before the credits roll, seeing as how Jin spends the next five centuries conveniently ignoring the text and subtext.

Seeing Jin during the Aegis war also makes me confused why Azurda and Mythra thought he was so powerful, or why Mythra was only mildly surprised Jin shrugged off Haze's attack: Jin was clearly a strong blade who could hold his own with Mor Ardain's finest, but nothing we ever saw justified the awe Jin was held in. On the whole, I feel this was a very poorly executed attempt to create a fallen hero, and wish Takahashi had either done a better job of justifying Jin's character, or abandoned the fellating other characters seem compelled to do.

Alrighty, finally finished it.

Man Takahashi knows how to pull on those heartstrings. Milton's death does add some perspective on why Mythra chose to renounce her powers, as well as capping off her arc of going from being ambivalent towards people to learning to care.

Also that zoom through the forest from Lora and co to the advancing Indol army, knowing what happens next, hit hard. Her death was already a moving scene in the base game, but next time I play through it, having gotten to know her better, it's really going to hurt.

I could've done without the final fight with Gort though; while I get its narrative purpose, to illustrate that even with Malos gone, there are evil people and because of them strife will continue, it still felt anticlimactic.

Haze saying she couldn't imagine being the blade of someone as horrible as Amalthus, only to go on to become as such in the main game with no memory of her time with Lora and Jin, not knowing that the former of which, who she so loved, was murdered by her current Driver, was also a poignant moment. Again, adds another dimension to the scene where Jin kills her and says "you're free now".

Finally, the flash forward to Rex that give Mythra the power to vanquish Malos, and the DLC ending with Rex finding Pyra, was a really cool tie-in that I liked a lot.

All in all, liked the expansion quite a bit. Yeah, it does make the Aegis War seem smaller and shorter than the main game seems to imply, but the extra character background and seeing key moments that were only implied in the main game really does deepen the the overall story's emotional impact.

That's probably the best explanation we're ever going to get!

I got Mythra, Pyra, and Pandy to S rank in the base game, Pyra and Mythra were S5, Pandy was S2 or something I think. Will probably get Dromarch and Brighid there when I circle back to do the last few DLC quests and that Shulk mode, would do the same with the Poppis but I recall there's some annoying affinity quests for her that I didn't care enough to complete. I never bothered getting any non story-Blades that far, only used them enough to get their Blade quest. Oh, and I only ever used Blade Nia twice, so she's still E rank I'm sure. 

If I had to describe my RPG playing habits, I'd say I'm a Partial Completionist. I play enough to satisfy myself and give myself a sense of completion, but once I start to get bored I don't force it. So while I get that 100%-ing this game is probably a massive pain, it doesn't really affect my overall impression of it. In this case, getting my favorite characters to S-rank will satisfy me enough to shelf the game for a while, until I get the hankering for more. Don't really have good rationale I guess, I find some nerdy fun in filling out the affinity tables, while just grinding for trust/affinity is boring to me. As much as I love Mythra, anything after getting her to S-rank is just bragging rights.

For the record, I was an A- student in school. 

And...Mythra is at S3. Would have been done faster, except for that one Community member that requires me to beat all the Unique Monsters. Still have to beat the Golden Beasts but eh...that can wait for a future playthrough.

I ended up at 32 hours total, which is pretty meaty for a DLC, especially considering I haven't done all the added stuff in the base game yet. Next goal...swimsuits. *plunges into the abyss*

Except for the Level 75 one, who sometimes feels random, the Golden Beasts are all pushovers. You can easily go up the chain in two hours max.

get lesbian flag Brighid for me.

I still don't get though how Mikhail ended up fighting alongside Malos, the guy responsible for the death of Milton. I mean, the game seems to imply that he basically decided "fuck mankind" after all the evil Amalthus inflicted, and he does save Rex and co at the end, saying they remind him of people he used to know (obviously the Golden Country crew) but still...

I feel it was more Jin and what is her name being there that made him hang around.

I agree.

Mikhail was clearly into the cause for Jin and Patroka.