Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail

Summary

Billed as a vacation for our Warrior of Light after all their efforts to save the world, that other world, the whole universe, and everything else in between, Dawntrail seesFinal Fantasy 14’s narrative sail across the salt to the land of Tural, marking the beginning of a new ten-year arc. Final Fantasy 14 peaked with its last expansion, Endwalker, the epic conclusion to a story we’ve been heavily invested in for the past decade, and it was always going to be a tough act for Dawntrail to follow. By the time the credits roll, Dawntrail holds its own, but it takes its time getting there.

As with any Final Fantasy game, narrative is key. The plot will always be one of the most important aspects because we need tofeelthe story and that emotional connection and interest in our WoL, the rest of the cast, and their motivations. As a new start, Dawntrail has to lay the foundations of new characters and set up new stakes, and this means the first half of the expansion falls back into a lull of a slower pace.

The Dawn Of A New Story Arc

WhileI don’t believe we should compare Dawntrail to Endwalker,there wasn’t a perfect solution here. If we jumped in feet-first and maintained the level of action we’ve grown accustomed to, it would have come at the cost of not allowing us time to grow a connection to the characters and plot elements involved. The choice to shift to a lower gear and give us that time to introduce us to Wuk Lamat and Tural was the right one, Yawntrail memes be damned.

The whole Dawnservant succession competition was enjoyable, even if it wasn’t as gripping as going head-to-head with ancients from the past, and we always knew what the outcome would be. Let’s face it, the bad guy was never going to snatch the crown, which whittles down the real prospects of what would happen, and in doing so, the stakes and drama.

But these were never Dawntrail’s true stakes. You reach the midpoint of Dawntrail and after a random but welcome jaunt into a Western-style rootin’-tootin’ area complete with duels and tumbleweeds, the real action starts with a bang.

I didn’t anticipate how much Dawntrail would intertwine with the past. There were so many loose threads left over for Dawntrail to pull at, and it gives us new insights, exciting twists and turns, and just as many questions as it does answers. Dawntrail highlights the parallels between the past and present often, with our WoLs regularly commenting ‘Oh hey, this reminds me of this other thing we did’. But it doesn’t just mirror the past or feel like we’re retreading old ground, instead it feels fresh as it sheds more light on the murky mysteries we have yet to fully understand. It’s very hard to convey just how incredible the narrative gets past this halfway point, and it’s a shame the sluggish start may put some off getting there.

With hindsight, the clue to Dawntrail interweaving its new stakes with the old was always there. We weren’t just heading out in Tural with a new cast of characters, as we had a fair few old comrades at our side, too. Characters are just as important as plot beats in Final Fantasy, and much like the narrative, Dawntrail’s characters have had a mixed reception, or more specifically Wuk Lamat has.

A New Protagonist

Wuk Lamat is the protagonist of Dawntrail, and our WoL and crew are just along for the ride. We’re helping Wuk Lamat prove she deserves to inherit the throne, but other than a couple of token choices or actions from her, for the most part, it feels like we’re doing all the heavy lifting here. Surely we’re just provingwe’rethe capable one? That was my gut reaction, but then someone reminded me of Final Fantasy 10.

You put Wuk Lamat in the role of Yuna and your WoL in the role of Tidus, and you’re basically playing out FF10. It’s our role to lift her up and help her achieve her goals in much the same way. Once this realisation hit me, I felt a lot better about Dawntrail. Until now, the FF14 cast has shared the limelight more evenly, with our WoL taking centre stage, so this change in protagonist has been one for many to adjust to.

Dawntrail draws a lot from FF10 and FF9 in terms of characters, areas, themes, music, and references, which is a delightful treat for any long-term fan of the series.

Wuk Lamat is an overly naive and optimistic character. She’s a cinnamon roll, and some fans will adore her for that. But not me. Given the choice, I would have switched to Koana’s team. Many of Wuk Lamat’s solutions to problems boil down to ‘we can just talk it out’, and that’s not always the case. The latter half of Dawntrail does begin to dig deeper into Wuk Lamat’s character and make her realise you can’t settle everything over a natter, and sometimes you’re forced to make choices that won’t rest easy on your conscience, but I feel there is more character depth we can and will likely dig into for her in future content.

I think some of the old Scions could have had less screen time and didn’t add much to the new narrative (sorry twins, I’m picking on you again), whichmy colleague Ryan Bamsey explores in more depth here. Yet overall, the characters, their development and personal stories shine in Dawntrail. Krile and Erenville’s character arcs in particular are peak FF14, but hilariously, I think the real stamp of character quality comes in the form of the whiplash players received from going from absolutely detesting a character to thirsting over them incessantly.

Duties, Mechanics, And Quality Of Life Tweaks Are A New Peak For FF14

While the community will likely debate the narrative and characters and where they fit into a ranking of the expansions for some time, there is one undeniable aspect of Dawntrail that is a new high for the MMO: the gameplay. The dungeons and trials offer exciting new challenges in mechanics, offering a much-needed refocus on freshening things up after ten years, with some duties drowning you in mechanics to the point of sheer panic,though in a goodway. It keeps you on your toes, and we’ve needed a new challenge for some time. The two post-game dungeons in particular arechef’s kissin both mechanics and overall theme and design.

It’s not just the duties. It’s everything. The quality of life improvements such as the shortcuts in dungeons, the exciting new Viper and Pictomancer roles, the depth of the new areas, and the quirky, heartwarming, and often unforgettable side quests. It’s all incredible. Dawntrail features some of the most interesting and beautiful environments that we’ve seen in FF14, and of course, this is all further enhanced by the new graphics update. Dawntrail has reinvigorated FF14 in more ways than just starting a new storyline for our WoL to follow or giving it an undeniably impressive new look, as it also establishes a new baseline of what to expect from future content.

I went into Dawntrail, convinced I would smash through the Main Scenario Quests, but that plan was short-lived. For the first time for an expansion launch, I found myself immediately broadening my horizons. My Miner levelled up to 100 alongside my Bard, rather than being an afterthought like usual, and I enjoyed mixing things up and dabbling in whatever took my fancy each day. That’s a testament to how great Dawntrail’s content is that I found myself spoiled for choice and pulled between everything I wanted to do.

Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail starts with a slow burn that builds into an emotional, captivating inferno that tackles some deep themes and effectively balances new elements with old beats in more ways than one. Overall, it’s a brilliant first chapter to the new story arc that has left me eager to learn more about what the future holds in new patches and later expansions. I’ve fallen in love with Tural and its characters, and more importantly, Dawntrail has me obsessed on a new level with FF14 in a way the game has never achieved before.