Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail is the much-anticipated expansion for the popular MMORPG. The previous two expansions have become critical darlings in the franchise, cementing its place as one of the most popular MMOs on the market. Dawntrail looks to blaze new stories that will keep players captivated for the next decade. While its dungeon designs are some of the most fun I have had in this game, unfortunately, the story is not as strong as its previous expansions.
Together, We Can Go Out West
Where can you go after Endwalker’s events? After saving the world, the only thing left to do is to go on vacation! You are recruited by a warrior named Wuk Lamat to assist her in her quest to become the next Dawnservant, the ruler of Tural. You venture across the ocean, eager for a new adventure and to help Wuk Lamat. To achieve Wuk Lamat’s goals, you help her find a lost city of gold. The story’s first half takes you across the different parts of Tural, where Wuk Lamat meets other people and gathers clues about the golden city. Unfortunately, this usually translates into fetch quests or just standing around and watching Wuk Lamat talk to people instead of being on some grand adventure.
Other characters are involved in the quest to find the golden city. There is Zoraal Ja, who wants to become Dawnservant and take over the world. Koana wants to become Dawnservant to bring technology from other parts of the world to Tural. There is also Bakool Ja Ja, who is a jerk. These are the main characters you interact with during Dawntrail; unfortunately, they are very one-dimensional. Your character and the friends that have accompanied you fade into the background, which is a feeling that persisted with me throughout the entire expansion.
The World of Tural
The gorgeous environments of Tural draw heavy inspiration from Latin American topography with sprawling forests and expansive deserts. One of the main cities, Tuliyollal, is nestled in the hills with a fantastic coastal view. The new graphics update enhances the new settings and makes them pop. While I won’t get into specifics about the later areas of the game, I was impressed with them, too. The only downside is the final area of the expansion changes at a certain point, and the changed area is far worse than before.
The best part of this expansion is the dungeons and trials. These dungeons are a step up in difficulty compared to Endwalker, but not in a frustrating way. I’ve enjoyed figuring out how each dungeon works and how to solve the mechanics. Some of the later bosses feel like information overload, and the last boss has a mechanic that is horrendous on the eyes. Overall, these are some of my favorite dungeons that I have experienced in the game.
When You’re Here, You’re Family
The biggest gripe I have is with the main story quest. My biggest problem is that your character is not the main character. It’s a story that centers around Wuk Lamat. Which, in theory, isn’t bad because it emphasizes the greater world that your character occupies. Wuk Lamat is not a great character to follow for the entire story. Your character, who has saved the world, has been relegated to helping Wuk Lamat do the equivalent of trading a toy car until they get an actual vehicle or reassemble a parade for another village. I think some players will like this direction; however, for other players who want a story focused on their player character, it’s morbing time.
The story also felt predictable from the jump. Wuk Lamat is an optimist to a fault, Zoraal Ja is a warmonger, and Koana is hell-bent on foreign technology. I could feel how these characters would evolve throughout the story, leaving little room to surprise me. In particular, Wuk Lamat started as an optimist before a sudden tonal shift turned her into Dominic Toretto from the Fast and Furious franchise. Everyone is part of the family, even those who have wronged her. It felt inconsistent and overlooked some crucial elements of the story to force character growth.
Bob Ross and Darth Maul Walk Into A Bar
Dawntrail introduced two new classes to the game, Viper and Pictomancer. Viper is a melee DPS class focused on fast attacks and stance changes between dual-wielding swords and a twin blade. Pictomancer is a caster DPS class painting spells to deal damage. Of the two, I enjoyed Viper more. Viper is fast, constantly attacking, and has flashy animations, making it one of my favorite classes. Its kit reminds me of playing the reaper. Fans of black mage will undoubtedly want to give Pictomancer a chance. This class has some of my favorite casting animations in the entire game. Each spell pops with color, and cycling through the different spells is fun to watch. It is also an insanely powerful class, as it outputs a lot of damage while providing buffs to the party. So I am sure it will be excellent in endgame content.
All Quiet on the Western Front
Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail is a tale of two halves. On the story front, it might be one of the weaker stories for the MMO. Wuk Lamat is an overbearing main character who is illogical at times. None of the other new characters stand out, and fan favorites from previous expansions don’t significantly impact the story. On the other hand, the dungeons and trials are some of the most fun I’ve had in the game. Both new classes are a blast, and the graphics update adds a nice touch to the game. Fans of the story might be disappointed, especially after Endwalker and Shadowbringers. This expansion delivers on all fronts for players looking to grind new content.
It’s really no shocker that square enix continues to make mediocre content for their mediocre game. I gave this game a shot but the first dungeon I went into with randos had the dumbest healer. The dude didn’t even heal any of us and was just attacking enemies the whole time. They were lucky that a mmo veteran such as myself instantly grasped the dungeon mechanics and basically soloed it for them.