Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail

Quite some time ago, I made the decision to step away from playing Final Fantasy XIV. This was a big deal for me. After all, I have been playing this game for close to fourteen years (thirteen if you take away the time the game was offline between 1.x and 2.0). Well, as I mentioned last month in my post about FFXIV 6.5, the hype surrounding the new expansion Dawntrail hooked me and before I knew it, I was playing again. This begs the question, is Dawntrail going to be good enough to make me want to stay? Well, I’ve spent the last month with this new expansion and I’ve finally completed all of the new content. I have a lot of thoughts to share. So without further delay, let’s get into it.

Before I jump into all of the new content that Dawntrail brings to FFXIV, I want to discuss one of the biggest sources of hype surrounding this expansion, the graphical enhancements. For the first time since the release of FFXIV 2.0, this expansion overhauls the game’s visuals. While the underlying engine to the game remains unchanged, this update brings some modern refinements to the game’s textures, lighting, and filters. For starters, the character models have been redone from the ground up. The same can be said for a majority of the game’s environmental textures. Combine this with changes to lighting and shadows and you have a pretty impressive visual update. But, SE didn’t stop there. This new version of the game also includes changes to things like environmental density and animation (grass, flowers, etc). It also offers support for modern technologies like Nvidia DLSS and AMD FSR2. All of this combined really makes FFXIV look better than ever. These changes aren’t confined to the new areas either. All of the existing maps and models in game benefit from these changes. It’s really quite breathtaking.

Analyzing these things in detail is one thing. But how stark are the changes when you’re actually playing? For me, the updates to the graphics are noticeable but not distractingly so. There’s nothing that looks so radically different that it gave me pause or detracted from my experience. In fact, many of the changes are fairly subtle in passing. But, at the same time, you can’t help but notice how much more fluid and beautiful everything looks. Excellent work from SE on this visual overhaul.

Dawntrail raises the level cap from 90 to 100. Along with this increase comes a huge revamp in existing abilities and a variety of job adjustments. Personally, I don’t really have any issues with these changes. But, any time there’s a major revamp to the job system, there’s always some players that are not going to like the changes. Speaking of jobs, it wouldn’t be an MMO expansion without new playable jobs and races, would it? Dawntrail includes two new jobs for players to enjoy: Pictomancer and Viper. Pictomancer takes a queue from the classic Final Fantasy character, Relm. It’s a ranged-based DPS job that involves using a magic paintbrush to cast art-inspired attacks on your enemies. It sounds a little odd at first, but I found that it actually plays pretty well. Viper is another DPS job. This job involves wielding two blades (that can also be combined into one) to do some pretty intense damage. In some ways, the job is similar to Ninja but a little faster-paced and a tad more complex. I haven’t spent a lot of time with Viper, but it does seem like it would be a blast to play.

When it comes to playable races, Dawntrail doesn’t bring a whole new race to the table. Instead, like Endwalker, it expands an existing race with a new gender option. This time, players are able to create female Hrothgar. Previously, this was a racial option that was restricted to male characters. This means that finally, all races in the game are playable as both male and female. To help celebrate this addition, a new quest has been added to the game that gives every player a free Fantasia potion (an items that allows them to change their race). I took advantage of this potion to restore my character to their original form… That’s right, Kijimuna is back! I’m once again a Lalafell and all is right with the world.

The Endwalker expansion was famous for being the release that finally tied up all the loose ends of the entire FFXIV storyline. So with this in mind, you may be wondering how Dawntrail fits in when it comes to the FFXIV story. Players who paid attention to final cutscene of Endwalker may have picked up on a few clues. One of the characters in that scene mentions “exploring the new world”. And that’s exactly where Dawntrail takes the player.

For the first time, players are able to explore Tural, a continent far to the west of Eorzea. The storyline begins when players visit Tural to participate in a special rite to determine the new ruler of Tural. But, as you might expect, things go south pretty quick. What starts as participating in a simple contest, soon unravels into stopping an epic conquest from a futuristic society.

The theme and culture of Tural is modeled heavily after that of the North American continent. The first area that players explore is heavily based on Central America (with a little Asian flair mixed in). From here, players are introduced to an area that is modeled largely on America’s 1800’s wild west. This portion of the story features cowboys, gunfights, and even a Native American themed culture. Eventually, the players uncover a portal to futuristic dimension. This new area is scientifically advanced and has a very Cyberpunk-like design. Once you cross that threshold in the story, and step from the dusty western environment into the high-tech neon city, the change is quite jarring. Still, I have to admit, I really enjoyed the visuals of the futurist setting.

As always, all of these new areas and the story that goes with them are very well done. The new locations are well designed and really play into the graphical enhancements that come as part of the expansion. Likewise, the new music is exceptional. In fact, I think I enjoy the music from this expansion much more than the music from Endwalker. The problem I did have, however, is that the new main scenario just seemed to drag on and on. So many of the quests included in the new story are nothing more than “go here, talk to this person, walk back, click this spot, go back to the first person talk to them again, etc.” On top of that, the story just never seems to end. Every time I thought I was nearly done with a major plot point, there was always some other step to go through. It felt excessive. Of course, there are new dungeons and trials included in Dawntrail. But there way fewer than you’d probably expect. In fact, two of the new dungeons don’t even unlock until you’ve completed the new main scenario.

As I mentioned above, the quest grind in this new scenario felt excessive to me. This is especially true for the first half of Dawntrail. I hate to admit this, but the new lead character, Wuk Lamat is just insufferable to me. This is the character that players are tasked with assisting during the Rite of Succession. Everything about this character annoyed me. The character’s personality, the voice acting, the way they behave – you name it. On top of that, even though the new areas are absolutely gorgeous to look at, they just weren’t that interesting when you really get down to it. In fact, it wasn’t until the very end of the expansion when Solution 9 (the cyberpunk city) and Living Memory (another futuristic area) were unlocked that I actually took a deep interest in what was happening. It’s not that I have a problem with a Meso-American setting. But the reason for being there just seemed off to me. I would much rather be exploring these rainforests and temples on a treasure hunt instead of embarking on what was essentially a history tour on behalf of a wannabe princess. I can’t quite put my finger on what the problem was. All I know is that a majority of this expansion bored me. I hate to admit it but it’s true.

So where does that leave me? Well, at the time of this writing, I’ve completed Dawntrail and even unlocked some of the post-expansion content that came alongside patch 7.05. But I’ve also once again turned off my subscription. For the first time since the release of FFXIV, I’m not sure that I will be blogging about the major patches as they are released. Time will tell. But, I think I’m once again going to take a break from the game to that I can dedicate my time to focusing on other projects. I guess I was really hoping that this expansion was going to bring some really new and innovative play to FFXIV. But in the end, it ended up being more of same, albeit with a prettier coat of paint.

Still, if you’re an active FFXIV player with a solid group of friends, Dawntrail definitely provides a bunch of new content. However, after fourteen years of playing FFXIV, the lack of new concepts is starting to burn me out. Perhaps, I’ll come back in a few months and find that my mind has been changed.