Launch Review: Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail is an uneven experience

Trying to wrap up a decade of storytelling is quite the ask, and the Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail expansion certainly attempts to make waves.

Its multi-year patches of the previous expansion, Endwalker, while entertaining, did little to convince players that the stakes would be anywhere near as high when it came to kicking off the game’s next ten years of strange sagas and otherworldly quests.

And we’re not going to lead you on by saying that these lofty expectations for Dawntrail were smashed. They were managed. Adequately, in fact. But does that make this new journey a reason to break your promise of ending your time with the once-dead MMO on a high? Probably not.

But it also wholly depends on why you might have considered that in the first place. And if you didn’t… well, you’ve probably already raced through it and come to your own conclusion.

Rather than travelling the seas to talk with smart alecs about the impending apocalypse, going back in time, and even jetting off to the edge of the universe in their bunny-managed spaceship, here you’re going on a relaxing summer holiday. At least, that’s the joke we all made when the first trailer was released.

In reality, Dawntrail has players going out of their way to help one of the game’s warmest characters yet convince her two-headed reptilian dad to give her the throne of his united continent over her half-siblings: a catboy, a single-headed lizard, and another dual-headed scaleyman. Yes, you’re almost strong-arming the government of a neighbouring nation. It’s just another day for Hydaelyn’s chosen champion, and that’s part of what makes this particular jaunt such a joy for the most part.

After proving yourself time and again by becoming a mass murderer of dictators, gods, and ancient ghosts—cementing yourself as the realm’s answer to Goku or Superman—it’s great to see an expansion written with those victories in mind. The number of key cutscenes that have you pull your punches is a breath of fresh air. But it’s also a large part of the game’s common pacing problem.

Dawntrail has more hours of cutscenes than its predecessors, despite having little in the way of decade-old plotlines to harken back to. There’s the expectation that it will set up the next 10 years of content. But that’s not really the case—not to the clear degree we were all likely expecting.

There are plenty of times when the story bobs along at a snail’s pace, padded out with conversations covering topics already discussed and reiterating points you’ve likely already acknowledged, deduced, or downright needn’t even know. Making matters worse is that a good chunk of these cutscenes still aren’t fully voiced. You’re constantly going between walls of text, which can get tiresome when you know you’re still far from an exciting new gameplay moment like a dungeon, boss trial, or eye-opening new region.

“There are plenty of times when the story bobs along at a snail’s pace, padded out with conversations covering topics already discussed and reiterating points you’ve likely already acknowledged, deduced, or downright needn’t even know.”

These moments are particularly bothersome early on while the game attempts to give key context about the new world you find yourself in. You’re there to learn about the people our new hero is attempting to befriend while she figures out what will be required of her, should she ascend to the throne. Most of the denizens are siding with someone else, and she’s essentially canvassing for her candidacy.

Ultimately, it’s necessary to her character. The growth is genuinely endearing, and the message is simple. But when you’re spending what feels like hours doing barely much of anything for yourself, Dawntrail can feel like less of a game and more like an episodic series. Never knowing whether you’ll be reading or listening when the game prompts you to set aside time for cutscenes still feels like a massive disservice to the voice actors who’ve attempted to bring these characters to life for years.

Second to all this is that Dawntrail doesn’t look to be shaking up the game’s ever-predictable content cycle. Group content is every other level at the least, which can discourage playing together with guildies when adult schedules don’t match up. Running the lot with story-tied NPCs for extra context and camaraderie is still appreciated, but there’s still too much fluff between those moments of more active play.

Some zones overstay their welcome, while others feel unfairly glossed over. Which side of this you fall on is a matter of personal preference, but Dawntrail’s multi-arc storyline feels like a bloated Scorsese flick at times: a lengthy narrative that could have been delivered in a tighter package or even spread out between post-game patches.

Where Dawntrail absolutely shines, however (and quite literally) is with its new coat of graphical paint. It’s laughable that two of the game’s races still can’t wear new armour on their noggins, but the new environments have quickly become some of my favourites. Improved shaders, shadows, sharper textures, and smooth reflections give plenty of the landmarks and key visuals that would appear unimpressive in the past a positive sense of realism.

The expansion’s new main hub city of Tuliyollal is gorgeous, the pot-like structures used to house the Goblins of Earthenshire actually look like shiny ceramic havens, and the soft glow of the shrouded forests like Yak T’el or the implied warmth of the open-air peaks of Kozumauka are divine.

“The new environments have quickly become some of my favourites. Improved shaders, shadows, sharper textures, and smooth reflections give plenty of the landmarks and key visuals that would appear unimpressive in the past a positive sense of realism.”

There’s an increased sense of scale in some of these areas, too. Although I’m still not convinced players will interact with 99% of the lands introduced here beyond what the story demands, I can appreciate their existence. The improvements also help key story characters stand out, with facial expressions being more of a focus this time around. Though the same can’t be said for scenes with more dynamic motion.

Animations are still painfully stiff outside of moments requiring comic relief. Too many times do characters exit a heavy scene with the same spin, pause, and strut—with an extra pause if they need to walk a corner. Would it kill them to have a bit of spring in their step? Any shred of personality would be a welcome addition, but scenes are still scarily uniform 10 years on from the starting line.

Again, Dawntrail has incredibly large shoes to fill—comically large clown shoes. And while the overdue graphical update wins it some brownie points, given its implications for future expansions, the story is still the main selling point.

You can’t be expected to spend the better part of half a month meandering through the core campaign if it doesn’t grab you. And while it drags a tad at the start, it does stand strong as it approaches the halfway point. Wuk Lamat and the Rite of Succession is a great storyline when it isn’t being used as a lore dump.

But even after that all wraps up, it takes a little too long for the next plot point to simmer to a boil once more. Even in its attempts to link fan-favourite characters to the threat of its second arc to up the stakes, the ultimate payoff struggles to hold a candle to what came before.

Again, despite the talk of excess padding, Dawntrail does attempt to shine the spotlight on two larger stories that perhaps should both have been given more time to breathe. While that would mean elongating some of the excursions that felt long in the tooth, I believe that telling more of those stories through additional combat scenarios would have been just the ticket.

“Again, despite the talk of excess padding, Dawntrail does attempt to shine the spotlight on two larger stories that perhaps should both have been given more time to breathe”

After hours of reading, strolling to the next location, and reading some more, it felt like I hadn’t truly interacted with the game for two nights in a row. Dull escort quests or sneak missions drew things out when the same life lessons instrumental to the story could have come through more engaging content like additional dungeons or trials with NPCs reciting lore and key story beats as you take in the sights of the picturesque new lands introduced throughout.

Despite a rocky start, delectable middle, and conflicting end, it’s the post-game stuff that manages to rescue Dawntrail at the last second. The top-level dungeons have a surprising difficulty curve that mixes up the usual brainless run and gun tactics we’ve employed for years now. Two weeks in and it’s clear the improvements have carried into the first set of post-launch content, too.

The new raid series “The Arcadion” set to play out over the next couple of years doesn’t have the strongest story beat, but the makeshift wrestling matches complete with campy callouts and referee drama mix perfectly with the genre-spanning tracks from the ever-impressive Masayoshi Soken.

Just as we were able to stay sane through the campaign by whistling along to his musings, his talents falling in time with the wacky combat mechanics kept us focused, with the dynamic commentary from the ringmaster locked us in from start to finish.

As a whole, Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail is a stronger start to the next ten years of the game than we expected. But that doesn’t make it immune to key criticisms. The game has come a long way, and there’s only so much you can expect to change again without a full-blown sequel. Even still, the highs and lows felt too much like a literal rollercoaster over the 2+ weeks of evenings it took to power through its story content.

Time will tell whether the next few years of post-game content can solidify it as one of the best of the bunch, but the engaging twists on core combat has us intrigued: even if the story currently does not. Still, with the campaign rush now over for most, we still find ourselves eagerly awaiting the adventures we have yet to go on.

A PC copy of Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail was provided for review by Square Enix. We also purchased a PlayStation 5 copy during the review process.