Many fans wondered where the story of Final Fantasy XIV would go once the conflict with the Garleans and Ascians was over. Endwalker marked the end of a very long-running saga, and even I had some reservations about how things would progress next.
It didn’t take long to see what Square Enix wanted to do with the story, as the post-Endwalker quests quickly established that the Warrior of Light would continue exploring Eorzea and the continents beyond that, as hinted to by Emet-Selch back in Shadowbringers. FFXIV: Dawntrail is the first chapter of a brand new journey, and while it never quite comes close to the highs of Shadowbringers and Endwalker, it’s clear that there’s still plenty of adventure to be had in this world.
Speak With Wuk Lamat
FFXIV: Dawntrail takes place on an entirely new continent. In this expansion, we go west to visit the city of Tuliyollal and the regions that surround it. It’s a sunny, forested region that’s beautiful and vibrant everywhere you look.
Tuliyollal is bustling with activity; shops and market stalls line its winding streets, stone architecture envelops the city to give it a real sense of majesty, and it’s all tied together with a gorgeous view of the coastline.
The story itself centers around Wuk Lamat, who was introduced in the final post-Endwalker patch. As an old friend of Erenville, she’s come to Eorzea in search of a champion who can assist her in a rite of succession. She’s looking to compete with three other claimants for her father’s throne in Tuliyollal, in hopes of continuing to maintain peace in the land.
Perhaps the biggest shortcoming of Dawntrail is how the story is so centered on Wuk Lamat. Truly, the game’s success and whether it resonates with you will depend on how much you actually like her, and that can be a pretty tough sell, especially considering we really only had half a patch’s worth of content to get to know her before we’re running off to Tuliyollal. She’s the very embodiment of your typical anime protagonist: young and bright-eyed, a bit of a loudmouth and showboat, naive to the ways of the world, and clearly still has a lot to learn. This can make it difficult to latch on to her as a central character, particularly when you contrast her with the more dour tone of the prior two expansions.
It’s also important to recognize that while the Warrior of Light is basically a celebrity in Eorzea at this point, but she’s no one in Tuliyollal. I can see this being off-putting for some players, especially since a big part of FFXIV‘s appeal is how involved the player character is in the story, but I found it very refreshing. After a decade of being the central figure and having to save the world at every turn, it’s nice to finally be able to take the backseat and let someone else have the spotlight for once. Dawntrail is very much Wuk Lamat’s story, and you’re largely just here to support her.
Road to the Golden City
As part of the rite of succession, you’ll need to help Wuk Lamat collect several keystones. This involves visiting the various regions on the continent and completing feats to earn said keystones. After collecting all of them, the claimants are then tasked with finding the fabled Golden City.
Aside from Wuk Lamat, you’re also up against her siblings Koana, Bakool Ja Ja, and Zoraal Ja. While Koana is methodical and level-headed, the other two are much more aggressive and prone to starting conflicts with you. These two serve as the primary antagonists for much of Dawntrail, and I have to say that the lack of a proper central antagonist also hurts the game in the first half.
Bakool Ja Ja is your typical asshole villain who will lie and cheat at every turn to get in your way, though he does get some much-needed character development in the latter half. Zoraal Ja is more calculated, but his motivations are rather uninspired; he seeks to bring war to the land to teach his people the importance of peace. Neither claimant is particularly engaging or intriguing, which can make the first half of Dawntrail a drag.
The good news is that the game does pick up significantly once you reach the second half. Without diving too deep into spoiler territory, there are much more interesting revelations to be had here, including a fantastic redemption arc and even proper character development for Krile, who has been a criminally overlooked Scion for far too long. The bad news is that it just takes a little bit too long for Dawntrail to actually get there.
No More Training Wheels
For all of my complaints with Dawntrail‘s pacing, though, you’ll be glad to know that Square Enix hasn’t lost its touch when it comes to dungeon and encounter design. Final Fantasy XIV has truly come a long way from its ARR days, and with Dawntrail, the team has once again outdone themselves in terms of combat and boss fights.
The new dungeons feel fresh, innovative, and unlike anything else that came before it, and the trials are no slouch either. I was even caught off-guard by the very first trial in the expansion, which wasted no time in throwing some seriously tricky mechanics at the player.
Right off the bat, you’re hit with boss moves that don’t come with a cast bar tells after the first time they’re used, along with moving stack markers that you bounce between players with each cast. Being forced into proper coordination for the very first trial of the game was surprising but also very refreshing, as it’s clear that FFXIV is no longer interested in holding your hand. If you’re playing Dawntrail, the game assumes that you’ve already played through every other encounter prior to this, and you should be able to pick up on these mechanics within your first few tries. That level 93 trial felt very reminiscent of the early Stormblood Shinryu days, and that’s a good thing.
Snakes and Painters
Aside from all of the exciting new story content, I’d be remiss not to at least mention the two new DPS jobs that have been added to the game: Viper and Pictomancer.
Overall verdict? These jobs are kinda meh and don’t really add much to the game, in my opinion. Viper, in particular, is easily my least favorite melee DPS job in a long time, thanks to the game’s need to over-complicate its job actions and descriptions. And once you finally manage to wrap your head around all its different actions, buffs, and debuffs, you’ll quickly realize that Viper isn’t really all that complex at all and plays very similarly to the existing melee DPS jobs that we already have.
Viper is all about positionals and keeping your buffs up in a rotation. There’s nothing new here, and while I was initially excited about the prospect of swapping between single and dual blades, I was disappointed to see that it didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.
I’m a little more partial towards Pictomancer, though this is really just your typical caster job with a few bells and whistles thrown in. You’ll still be casting your usual spells like Aero, Fire, Ice, Thunder, etc, but the difference is that you’ve also got a few other job actions to weave in, and they’re pretty darn cute.
Painting the Pom and Wings or the Hammer will allow you to deal additional damage, while painting the Starry Sky will let you provide a group-wide buff to your party. All of this is tied together by an adorable job gauge that shows you what you have on your canvas at all times. I appreciated that you could prep all three paintings at any given point in time and hold the actual spells themselves so you could choose when to use them.
All in all, the jobs aren’t really anything special, but they’re serviceable. I would’ve much preferred getting a new tank or healer, and I suspect I’m not alone in that, but look, I’ll take what I can get.
What’s Next?
By the time you reach the end of the Dawntrail MSQs, it’s clear that there’s still plenty of life left in our Warrior of Light yet. The endgame loop remains the same: do your dailies and weeklies for gear and Tomestones, wait for the next major patch to drop for the story to continue.
Big picture thoughts: Dawntrail kinda feels like the filler arc as we gear up for bigger and better adventures. It’s rare to get to enjoy a moment of peace, where things don’t feel so doom and gloom all the damn time, and that’s exactly what FFXIV needed after a decade of facing world-ending threats. It won’t land for everyone and that’s okay; there’s always next time.
Verdict: Recommended
Final Fantasy XIV is available to play now.
