This story is really underwhelming - it's opened to mixed reviews.

[ZephyrMenodora]

I finally finished the level 90 quests and just started the 91 quests. So many hours being bored to death.

This is worse than StB. No one I'm hanging out with is interesting. Even Alisaie who out of this cast I'm stuck with might be expected to lend some excitement or personality has been pushed down to irrelevancy.

It doesn't sound like I have a Hien/Yotsuru to even look forward to later in the questline, from what I have read.

This is testing my patience through and through, and I was eager for Dawntrail.

This is going to be hard to get through....I'm actually more bored by this than the early levels of ARR lol.

[Rhysati]

This is going to be hard to get through....I'm actually more bored by this than the early levels of ARR lol.

Having gone through ARR again recently, this is very true. I keep wondering if this is intentional because we are saddled with boring side quests gathering things and talking to people like the first half of ARR.

[ZephyrMenodora]

Having gone through ARR again recently, this is very true. I keep wondering if this is intentional because we are saddled with boring side quests gathering things and talking to people like the first half of ARR.

This is even worse because we aren’t weakling and fledging adventurers. None of the antagonists are intimidating and when one threatens us I am not sure why we just don’t give the smack down and be done with this farce. It’s all so nonsensical - it already feels like our MCs have no real point in being there. Oddly solving all of Wuks boring problems as a foreign savior while she accepts credit and praise.

[HyoMinPark]

It has been a really long time since I’ve posted on here — and I came back to post for the last possible reason I ever thought I would be posting about.

I’m in the level 92 MSQ range right now, and I have never struggled so much to stay interested or engaged in the story. I’ve had mild complaints about just about every expansion FFXIV has had—certain parts dragged or felt too filler-y. I was extremely harsh on the split Ala Mhigo/Doma story for Stormblood (specifically how Ala Mhigo felt like an afterthought), but my mind changed after playing through it again two more times. Now I actually look back on it fondly. But Dawntrail thus far has been a real slog, and I struggle to maintain enthusiasm or focus. The level 90 split felt more like I was doing a Beast Tribe quest chain than something for the MSQ. I’m struggling to connect with the new characters being introduced. I’m actually far more intrigued by Wuk Lamat’s siblings/competitors than her (which is sad, because I was genuinely curious about her going into DT). I find it more appealing to explore the new zones and watch how the environment (e.g., grass and bushes) now move with my character when she runs through them. I’ve seriously been thinking more and more about doing NewGame+ for ANOTHER expansion just to see any graphical improvements done in those zone/experience my character in her new graphical upgrade in an environment or story I enjoyed.

The plot just doesn’t feel like it’s plotting to me. I’m REALLY hoping that it gets better because, despite my criticisms, I have always found something to enjoy about each expansion and FFXIV’s story is my favorite part of the game. But the things I’m hearing from those further along than me don’t sound promising. And I’m really hoping that I can find something in DT to turn my current judgment around. Or, at the very least, improve it just a little bit.

[Isala]

This is even worse because we aren’t weakling and fledging adventurers. None of the antagonists are intimidating and when one threatens us I am not sure why we just don’t give the smack down and be done with this farce. It’s all so nonsensical - it already feels like our MCs have no real point in being there. Oddly solving all of Wuks boring problems as a foreign savior while she accepts credit and praise.

I literally said that to my friends today. Just once, just... ONCE, I would love for us to finally throw our weight around as WoL to all these people.

[KadenLag]

If this was an isolated first time story and not a next step in the mmo I'd say it was pretty good overall, however I have a lot of issues with it as the next instalment.
I didn't go into this with expectations of it doing better or equalling shadowbringer or endwalker, I thought, chill kinda new adventure with new things.
new things we didn't get.

• The beginning was painfully slow and drawn out, first expansion I took more breaks and was less interested in the excitement of pushing forward.
  
• Wuk Lamat I actually disliked so much and by the end she was ok or tolerable
  
• A huge amount of quests on "my DawnTrail holiday/break" adventure was spent doing boring fetch quests for way to long, where was the big hunt and feast from the trailer? I thought this would be a quest somewhere but no.
  
• Zones way to big, too few aetherytes
  
• Cities consisted of super long corridors and windy stairs which was boring, painful and tedious to traverse
  
• Repeated story mechanics, I will avoid spoilers but it felt like a lot of shadowbringers/endwalker was literally copy pasted over this with new characters.
  I knw the previous story was popular, but reusing it feels so safe that its boring, I was expecting something new.
  
• Lots of left unanswered parts throughout the story that should have been if even lightly answered. I know somethings wont be answered so they can be built up later.
  
• Characters are what you spend most of your time interacting with throughout the game, your skills, combat etc and it feels like absolutely no thought went into this, especially on my run with summoner, lux bahutmut makes no sense in any capacity, it didnt even tie into the story and its skills are basically bahutmut but we get a heal, why as a dps role am i given a heal? searing flash, a upsale of my dmg buff on a 120s cd. nectrotize, upgrade potency of just the single target stack skill and naming makes it feel closer to old summoner which they wanted to move away from, all in all, it makes no sense, it wasnt fun and for something you spending a lot of time on I would love to see more innovation or effort spent on this front. Unimaginably disappointed in character development.
  
• Graphics (max setting) still feels flat. Noticeable on some things like armor close up but when running around zones, levels look super dated. Also I think because ffxiv uses low variance, washed out aesthetic, zones alike, nothing feels unique. We get forest A,B,C, Desert A, B, C. I feel like im burning out on zone design, nothing has a wow factor, new or unique anymore. Dawntrail has the most boring zone and level design.

Overall story ok, it wasnt bad, wasnt great. I'm left hoping the team can internally make better decisions and take more creative risks, feels too safe and directionless atm

[sharknado]

why as a dps role am i given a heal?

Dungeon mechanics can 1-2 shots so maybe due to that But then they just should add rez to more DPS to salvage such situations.

[KadenLag]

we already got the healers striking because everyone has so much sustain xD
but summoner already has rez + phoenix rekindle, physick, radiant aegis and now lux solaris heal, we one rework away from it joining the healers class.

overall on skills, would just like more relevant, more meaningful skills, right now I haven't a clue how the team decides what gets added, it seems way too illogical

[Aldath]

I hope this is a wake up call for CBU3 because they've been getting away with the same lazy formula for years while people claps their hands at everything Yoshida says. The previous expansions were hard carried by the story and instanced content.

If FFXVI taught me anything is that Yoshida can't direct anything out of a formulaic approach; the game structure of XVI is dangerously similar to that of FFXIV, with a semi open world that has absolutely nothing to discover, and the bulk of quests consisting of "go here, talk to someone, go back again, done". I believe in his leadership skills as what he did to save the original XIV and turn it into the success that was ARR is nothing short of commendable, but there's no denying that the studio is focused on saving time and resources over engagement and retention.

It's safe to say that FFXIV has some of the most beautiful maps with the most empty and lifeless gameplay design. The maps limit player mobility and agency in favor of the plot; seeking Aether Currents isn't fun when you're moving at the speed of a tired turtle and Aetherytes place you far between them. I have played cash grab MMOs like Lost Ark that made advancing through a map and doing meaningless chores at least fun, with optional dungeons, minigames, collectibles and secrets sprinkled to keep you searching every nook and cranny. GW2, a game older than this one with a story that at times makes DT look like Oscar winning material, has some of the best approaches to exploration and storytelling any MMO has even done, and that alone helps going through even the worst parts of the plot. Heck, even WoW, that follows a similar map design principle, SOMEHOW manages to make them more fun to explore.

In between story quests we have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do, unless you want to go back to the stuff from the previous expansion. It would be great if we had actually fun, small distractions while we roam the maps and go from point A to point B, but the whole formula has always been "Talk to NPC, walk to the other NPC, avoid engaging in combat to lose time, go to place, go back to NPC", and repeat this for HOURS before you can even ACCESS the first dungeon of each expansion. People were OK with this and even defended it in the past because at least there was something to expect out of the story and they were willing to swallow the boredom of escorting a loporrit through menial activities while epic music plays in the background and the world is ending. Now, there's nothing that makes the pain worth it.

And honestly, for a story oriented game, the dev team has done absolutely nothing to keep older content up to par. New players have to go through the slog that is the first 3/4 parts of ARR, and play through content that hasn't been touched up in AGES; I'm sure it's very fun to hype up Titan, make you run a painfully long chain of menial tasks, and finally have you face a Primal that can't even have his banger of a theme loop ONCE. It's no wonder why many players suddenly arrive to SHB and feel the difficulty is slapping them on the face.

And the story isn't the only problem in this expansion; it's clear that the dye channels were implemented automatically and are essentially a rushed feature, and that there should have been a round or two of testing with players using the new graphics engine because I just see dissapointment left and right. Not to mention, whoever is responsible for naming and explaining abilities should be replaced, because they do know how to make otherwise simple classes like Viper look complicated, with ability descriptions taking half the screen and naming conditions that could just be resumed as "Lets you do X ability".

So, yeah, hope this is a wake up call not only for the team behind the game, but also for the players that stood up with this BS for years and the sunk cost fallacy finally faded from their minds.

[ikarino]

dawntrail is well below I already knew it was very fast this DLC the game has thousands of bows and simply they do something lazy where we are mere, tourist this will be the worst atonement of all in relation to history