Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail introduces some of the game’s best dungeons and trials yet alongside a compelling story that, while slow to ramp up, delivers resoundingly in its second act, setting a promising precedent for the future of the MMORPG on all counts.
I genuinely believe that Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail is a phenomenal start to a new story, and that I am very excited to see where the dev team takes us next in the post-expansion patch content. From adding in more EX trials for mounts, new dungeons, raids and more, Final Fantasy XIV fans are feasting with yet more great content from Yoshida-san and the rest of his team.
Its myfavouritexpansion so far. I feel like foronce they tried to write multidimensional characters with motivations and character development. Not allcharactersare perfect, there are cringe moments, but there are also interesting plot twists and voice acting that goes far beyond what I expected (and well above the normal quality).
I feel like people ciritising the expansion either rushed, skipped 1/2 the cutscenes and dialogue, or just hate it because we are no longer forced to stick with the scions (a big positive imo).
It is a very enjoyable story with interesting and likable characters if you give it a fair try without going into it ready to hate it.
In multiple ways, Dawntrail is all about setting up events that will play out across future chapters. The narrative is certainly the most divisive element at the moment, so there’s a lot riding on where the writers go after the revelations and developments in the final act. The battle content is certainly heading in the right direction, but there’s still a question of whether or not the devs can sustain this momentum. There’s reason to be hopeful with what’s been established in Dawntrail, but what comes next will be crucial to Final Fantasy XIV’s outlook for the future.
Dawntrail has the benefit of years of gameplay and graphical improvements, and puts them to great use in designing some of the best dungeons and trials we’ve seen to date. However, its confused story prevents it from reaching its full potential, and will likely bump Dawntrail down to the bottom-to-middle of most player’s tier lists. These issues aren’t enough to ruin the experience though, so it’s still a good time for Final Fantasy XIV players.
Overall, from stunning new locations, exciting new jobs, multi-dimensional characters and heaps of new content that I will be spending the next few weeks on, Dawntrail was the perfect way to introduce the start of a new arc to Final Fantasy XIV and as a result, still has a lot of story to tell.
Dawntrail shoves your character so far into the background of its story you may as well not be there. That said, the vibrancy and personality of Tural is a real breath of fresh air, and the dungeon bosses have never been more satisfying to take down.
I played through the game at a normal pace, and unlike everyone who rushed through in 48 hours, I really enjoyed it. Some advice for players who think they need to be the center of attention in every scene: try the award winning expansion for Real Life called Therapy.
My impressions of Dawntrail at release are as follows:
The most positive aspects would be the game’s music and dungeon / trial design. The more varied mechanics provide a more difficult experience at the higher end but also keeps fights more engaging.
Things which are okay or standard include zone design, side questing, fates, and gathering / crafting. These elements follow the same formula established in the prior expansion Shadowbringers and while some parts, especially when it comes to open-world design, are played very safe to the point of showing their age, they perform their function of adding lore and providing players with a variety of activities to choose from. The graphics update noticeably improved lighting and had noticeable impacts on colour saturation, yet there are still textural detail issues with pixelation on key NPC character jackets in the middle of cutscene close ups, and changes to player character impressions that players may or may not enjoy.
Unfortunately, the weak-point of this expansion is the main story . While the themes are interesting to explore, the way they are executed and put together leaves something to be desired. There is nothing wrong with the idea of our characters taking a more supporting role, yet story pacing drags on in certain moments and feels hasty in others. An example of this is the gratuitous use of recapping or repeating of story points by characters in cutscenes or quests that just tell you to talk to certain NPCs, immediately after said event was completed.
The depths to which serious topics are brought up and explored is shallow, perhaps to appeal to a much younger target audience. This simplification of themes ends up being of detrimental as actions and questing dialogue seem to contradict each other, or plot lines end up proceeding in significantly implausible ways. Also, the disconnect between Dawntrail and prior expansions is jarring, with side characters omitting very relevant fixes / lessons that featured in multiple prior main story expansions. I would’ve expected that references to prior events would be included as they would still need to be played through, assuming that buying full story skips is not the typical player behaviour.
Overall it’s enough to bring down the score to average because I believe that the strength or weakness of the story can strongly determine whether players will feel connected enough and enjoy further exploring the world and its characters in the additional side content.
Edit:
Raids are promising so far. Fun and challenging.
Honestly, I find it difficult to consider Dawntrail as part of FF XIV anymore because it no longer feels like it. Not only are the new characters incredibly cliché and one dimensional, but sadly, the same applies to the Scions and Erenville. The WoL might as well be removed entirely, as their relevance to the main story quest is virtually nonexistent. Every NPC essentially exists only to express how amazing Wuk Lamat is. The ending was also terribly written and ironically makes the WoL seem as out of touch as Emet Selch with his perspective. I'll leave out the specifics due to spoilers, but it’s simply atrocious writing. I was already disappointed with the post patches of Endwalker and generally felt that Endwalker itself seemed rushed, with many aspects handled too quickly and superficially to make room for Dawntrail and the new characters. Honestly, after Dawntrail, I desperately hope that whatever has so negatively impacted the writing style is removed as quickly as possible so the quality can improve again. A game with such a strong focus on story will undoubtedly lose many fans if this current direction continues. Instead of introducing new characters like Wuk or Zero, who couldn't be more cliché, I would personally prefer if they utilized the untapped potential of old characters for future storylines. More about the Ascians, for example, or Zenos, who unfortunately received hardly any story despite his potential, or more about the gods, who were all terribly underused. However, if Enix sticks to this new course, I fear I will no longer find any joy in this game.
SummaryAs hope's light dawns once more, a hero looks to new horizons...
Winds of opportunity bring a visitor from the New World, seeking the Warrior of Light's aid in a rite of succession to determine Tural's next ruler.
Alongside Alphinaud, Alisaie, and Erenville, the Warrior of Light embarks upon a journey across the Indigo Deep. Should rum...