Dawntrail ups the ante with exhilarating combat experiences and builds a stunning new world, but meandering storytelling highlights the MMO’s flaws.
Dawntrail teases a swashbuckling adventure with newcomer Wuk Lamat, a Hrothgal on a quest to inherit the throne and become Dawnservant in Tural’s Rite of Succession. You’re on the precipice of something fresh and exciting, as you hop off the ship full of beans and raring to go. The first major city, Tuliyollal, gets the blood pumping with bombastic, big band music – kicking the bar high for the expansion’s sweeping score, and thanks to the graphical overhaul, Final Fantasy 14 is the best it’s ever looked. Areas feel densely populated and show-stopping zones play with verticality and scale to stunning effect; the land is vast, full of lush vegetation, and has never felt more alive.
And then: back to reality. There’s nothing quite like landing in a bold and beautiful new world, only to be met with vitriol in chat, players yelling about how awful everything is before giving the expansion a chance to get its groove on, mere hours after early access began.
Appropriately, one of Dawntrail’s most predominant themes is what the weight of expectation does to someone’s spirit, and the consequences of external pressures and perceptions. As I forged a bond with Wuk Lamat, my lalafell tells her, “you can’t measure your worth by the success of others.” It’s ironic, then, that this also directly reflects the division over the game’s new direction and story. Its launch has seen a clash of player expectations, which are largely based on the heights of the prior ten year saga. Dawntrail is a perfect case of expectation versus reality, and measuring its worth against the culmination of an ever-escalating narrative is futile. So let’s take a step back and see if it really is worth getting your knickers in a twist.
First off, its worldbuilding is excellent, acquainting you with Tural and its diverse cultures quickly, while grounding itself within some of our experiences of Eorzea and how they differ. It succeeds in scene-setting and establishing the world state by the game’s midpoint, which is an improvement on A Realm Reborn as a ‘new dawn’ for the MMO.
But what about me? I hear you ask. You are Eorzean Gandalf, a “wise” mentor that pops up occasionally to turn the tide and watch everyone else squirm while drinking a Piña colada. Dawntrail shares some DNA with Stormblood and Heavensward, with the player fulfilling a supportive role to Wuk Lamat. Where the Warrior of Light was developing alongside characters like Alphinaud and Lyse in those stories, here your arc is ostensibly complete. This means that getting through the early hours can feel slow, with minimal action for the player character. I didn’t mind taking the backseat to Wuk Lamat’s journey, and for the most part it was a breath of fresh air. However, moments we could conceivably be more involved in instead lightly tug you out of the experience, and leave you wanting.
Wuk Lamat has quickly become a topic of heated debate. She didn’t get a lot of time in the oven before Dawntrail, and I wasn’t enamoured by her introduction. You can see how Dawntrail tries to address the criticisms levelled at Stormblood’s Lyse, another divisive character in terms of growth, where the player did most of the legwork for the Ala Mhigan Resistance leader. In contrast, Wuk Lamat is given more of an opportunity to grow, is not infallible, and her weaknesses are explored in a way that character moments eventually feel earned – if hammered home more than necessary. If you don’t like classic shonen anime protagonists with big Kingdom Hearts’ Sora energy, you’ll have a harder time in the game’s first half where she’s at her most ‘enthusiastic’. I found myself begging her to discover words other than “happiness” – even if its overuse intends to lean into her Simba-like naivete, as she ‘just can’t wait to be Dawnservant’. She may be Marmite, but I neither love nor hate her. By the end, she becomes a solid addition to the cast.
Critically, I think Wuk Lamat suffers more from being part of an expansion that’s unsure of its direction. Unnecessary filler and shortfalls in quest design become more pronounced when you’re at the start of something new and in a more observant role. The routine of speaking to x, then y, then x again feels more drawn out. You can see where the team has intended to make this loop more interesting, but in doing so inadvertently highlights the lack of player input. For example, in Urqopacha, you are tasked with assisting Wuk Lamat in bartering her way to an item that will help her perform one of the feats in the Rite of Succession. It aims to appear exciting, as icons triumphantly pop to showcase a successful trade after each conversational detour. But there’s no fail state or alternative outcomes, which makes this seem performative and is less satisfying to engage in. Its focus being so heavily weighted on Wuk Lamat also makes Scions, such as Alphinaud and Alisaie, look like cardboard cutouts that the Warrior of Light didn’t want to leave at home – taking up space I’d have liked to see Krile and Erenville occupy more of instead.
Even though Dawntrail’s themes of discovery remained compelling, I crafted my own adventure during these listless moments, taking time to enjoy exploring and existing in the world that’s been built. The game’s midpoint in Shaaloani, for instance, sticks out like a sore thumb, breaking the illusion of choice so significantly that I felt directly at odds with where the game wanted me to go. By this point, decent momentum had been built, but we’re suddenly reigned back in and sent on a wild bracelet chase across Final Fantasy: Wild West, gathering faeces and all sorts, when we could be investigating the City of Gold. I was promised El Dorado and got an angry Owen Wilson instead. While it eventually makes sense in context, there was no real driver, no tantalising plot pulling me in that direction, and so I wanted to get to the other side as fast as possible. Of course, Final Fantasy 14 is linear, but in recent years the direction hasn’t been quite so contentious. It’s jarring, and felt like one dragged out sidequest from the good old days, leaving a promising zone heavily underutilised and a missed opportunity.
And thus, in making my own fun, I turned to corn. Yes, the foodstuff. I had become nomadic, wandering the beguiling new world of Tural looking for my own sense of purpose. In Tural’s capital, Tuliyollal, I found it. I approached a ‘curious corn’ on the docks and little did I know I was about to embark on the greatest adventure of all time – with a sentient corn cob known as the ‘Cornservant’. Our corn-quest would take us across stunning locales in a brave new world and we’d laugh, cry, and eat popcorn together.
I may be a few kernels short of a cob, but I felt all the better for these breaks to engage with activities beyond the main scenario. Alongside personal long-time favourites such as Hunts and FATEs, the dynamic combat encounters you tackle with other players en masse in the open world, there are some very well written, memorable, and occasionally absurd quests which made me appreciate my journey all the more. These range from Role Quests (five connected quest lines based on your Job’s role) to crafter and gatherer deliveries that give you more insight and appreciation for this rich new land. Though a piece of corn, the world’s worst Sinister Six, and a Moogle job interview probably shouldn’t eclipse parts of the main story.
While I didn’t do the whole story in bitesize chunks, it feels like Dawntrail is intentionally designed to be played this way, featuring more obvious breaks than usual. You’re on holiday, after all! This doesn’t excuse that poor pacing, mind, and at times it can highlight the issue with expectations for expansions such as this – and the question of whether it may be time for a formula shake up. Do we need 100 main quests? Can we trim the fat and have a tighter story? Should there be an increased focus on bringing forward some of the midcore content (challenging ongoing activity, a notch below hardcore raiding) that we’ve been missing since Shadowbringers’ The Bozjan Southern Front?
Thankfully, after my mid-game crisis, things picked up, as the narrative began tickling the lore-buds and slid into a much better groove. It’s a more focused arc that I felt compelled by, with impactful and heartfelt moments you’d expect from Final Fantasy 14. Dawntrail is most arresting in its approach to family, without being too Vin Diesel about it. I was particularly struck and surprised by the exploration of a narcissistic, absentee parent and the importance of found family. I was genuinely invested; impassioned, yelling at the screen and reigning my emotions in as much as possible to retain my Dark Knight street cred. However, it does remain haunted by the ghost of deja vu in some of its story beats, leaning into themes of loss, letting go, and the lengths you might go to, to hold on to the people you love. It’s not ineffective, with some parallels and throwbacks connecting us to unexplored aspects of the world, but it carries an air of Shadowbringers with it – which previously set a very high narrative standard. At times, Dawntrail felt like a tale of two expansions from two different teams – simultaneously connected and disconnected in a paradoxical split. There’s a wealth of potential in its new ideas, characters, and plot threads, but it’s held back from achieving excellence with its reliance on past formulas.
This being said, Dawntrail ups the ante in all other conceivable ways. There are several user experience improvements that, alone, may seem insignificant but make a huge difference combined. Arguably, the best feature is the ability to hide players when approaching and interacting with quest NPCs, helping maintain immersion as you part the sea of players ‘Moses-style’ and have your conversation in peace. This continues through to minutiae, such as having quest emotes as a button, map indicators for gathering delivery quests, all the way down to the satisfying mount tilt when changing direction. The updated dye system, which now offers two dye channels (colour inputs), is great for glamour enthusiasts, especially with the strength of Dawntrail’s new gear options.
Dawntrail’s phenomenal battle instances, known as Duties, are the star of the show. Just when I wonder how encounters can be developed further, they knock it out of the park and then some. Dungeons and Trials require more consideration than ever before, with multiple mechanics stacking frequently – no sleep tanking for me! Look forward to Tankbusters becoming safe zones, stack markers going on the move, balancing levitation with Takeshi’s castle, and battling it out on a spooky teacups ride. These playful twists and iterations add complexity, while being highly readable – the clearer telegraphs, alerts, and unique visual cues allow the significantly raised skill floor in normal activities to be challenging, without being insurmountable. Most importantly, they are consistently exhilarating and fill me with genuine excitement rather than dread in Duty Roulette, with the current Expert Roulette featuring two dungeons that instantly became all-timers.
Of the two new Jobs, Viper is the most accessible, even without the upcoming changes Creative Studio III is looking to make to its alleged busyness by easing positionals – which didn’t strike me as a concern. Viper is a fast-paced and frenetic dual wielder, with the fluidity and debuff management of Reaper. In its current state, it’s a streamlined job with a consolidated 1-2-3 combo to reduce hotbar bloat – making it an ideal choice for console players, or those looking to start their journey in Dawntrail.
Pictomancer, meanwhile, is a unique caster with the power of art, and takes home the Turner Prize for the expansion’s best new Job. It may be more complex than Viper, but is just as efficient. Like Summoner you have ‘summons’ that take the form of Motifs, images you bring to life by painting them on a canvas. Each Motif offers different advantages in any given combat scenario and allows for rotation flexibility. It’s visually spectacular, as stylish flourishes and animations pop while you paint, summoning happy little hammers to crush your enemies. Pictomancer also adds a layer of complexity that Summoner lost in Endwalker, requiring the player to pay keen attention to positioning, while not being on Black Mage levels of immobile – let’s not forget those sweet caster sliders, moves that allow for movement while casting, which feel especially satisfying here.
A major crux of releasing two DPS jobs at once has created a bottleneck for those keen to experience them. Bozja, for instance, is an absolute state with no healers in sight – making the once recommended levelling zone a painful grind. You’ll also be faced with long duty queues, as everyone and their mum takes up one of the new jobs.
Current Jobs are yet to see major changes across the board, but Pictomancer and Viper suggest we’re looking at a more streamlined future – with some jobs like Astrologian suffering in the short-term. As a Dark Knight main, the loss of Plunge, an effective gap-closer, has left a gaping void in my rotation, but I do appreciate how much more powerful Dark Knight feels, with new combos and an appropriately gothic end-game skill. Its increased survivability with Shadowed Vigil is also a welcome addition. A bigger issue has been the DPS imbalance as tanks struggle to hold enmity, but a patch has already arrived to target this, and the hope is it’ll level out going forward.
Peaks and troughs is the only way to describe the overall experience of pre-patch Dawntrail. In those troughs, though, there are kernels of greatness to be found, be it journeying with the Cornservant or taking up artistic pursuits with Pictomancer. It scratches the exploration itch, and adventure awaits if you take initiative to find it. Dawntrail’s legacy will lie with its invigorating encounters, which have injected the most enthusiasm I’ve had for a raid series and upcoming Bozja-like content in a long time, as we stand on the precipice of what looks to be an unparalleled patch cycle. Much like the Rite of Succession, Dawntrail rides on a promise of a bold new future – and I still have faith in that, even with some lingering trepidations over its narrative direction. I don’t think the best of Final Fantasy 14 is behind us – not by a long shot.
A copy of Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail was provided for review by Square Enix.
Review updated 16th July to note the patch which has arrived to address the issue with DPS imbalance.