Dawntrail's MSQ story is a disaster and waste of potential. [full spoilers]

[Dulcia]

Even besides that, the questions behind Zoraal Ja's son are countless -- how does he exist? Why does he exist? Why would Zoraal Ja even have a kid in the first place just to abandon him? This is probably set up for post-patches, but if they really wanted to pull a sympathy card when you murder him they should have actually shown some good -- make him an insanely devoted father to the point of obsession to contrast the lack of attention and love from his own father compared to his adopted siblings. He can still be on the warpath to genocide and need putting down, but this would have been more preferable to actually directly expose a flaw and failing of the rest of the royal family in how they couldn't even reach one of their own; how are they going to truly reach the people and other nations?

I got to the point where during the Otis fight quest part of me was rooting for Zoraal, and yet the thing is is that so much of this is very much just me reading between the lines -- or just making shit up to satisfy myself. Even if the end result is the same, there are so many interesting ways to take his character, and all of them were squandered for goddamn Wuk Lamat who is an insufferable, one dimensional cardboard cut out of a character with an "arc". I would have rather seen her killed off alongside Gulool Ja Ja by Zoraal Ja at the lvl95/6 quest mark and have Koana move on in her stead, because her character effectively does jack all after that beyond the same crap she's been doing over and over for the first half of the expansion.

All in all, maybe Zoraal Ja has no depth, but he definitely had potential, and maybe my reasons for liking him aren't really in the text. But ultimately, I like him far more than any of the other characters, and I don't think that was the writer's intentions -- because Wuk Lamat is the awesomest bestest hero ever!

Seriously, this whole expansion's story was a mess. If you want to make a character so central to the narrative they're basically the protagonist, you're going to shoot yourself in a foot because it will all fall flat if your player doesn't care for them, but Dawntrail went the extra mile and made me actively despise Wuk Lamat and her hypocrisy that's never truly addressed. Zoraal Ja's actions obviously weren't right, but I feel the writing utterly fails him and his potential as a character.

I still like him, at the end of the day. A hell of a lot more than most other showings.

Zoraal Ja's son is a plot device. He's there to somehow explain how the Scions get access to things that were exclusive to Zoraal Ja's authority. He is barely a character, he is a macguffin.

[dracosludge]

Zoraal Ja's son is a plot device. He's there to somehow explain how the Scions get access to things that were exclusive to Zoraal Ja's authority. He is barely a character, he is a macguffin.

That's just the issue, ain't it? The characters and plot don't fit organically together so they just do complete 180s on their established personalities to keep things moving forward. But they still want you to feel emotional about his existence and about how evil Zoraal Ja is because he abandoned his own kid and held him in a chokehold, nevermind the question of where the hell said kid even popped out of in the first place. There's so much you could do with the idea, but the game doesn't even do the most basic thing of directly paralelling Zoraal Ja's neglect and abandonment of his son with Gulool Ja Ja's treatment and lack thereof of Zoraak Ja.

But hey, the kid's a character and part of this plot now, so I have to judge what they're trying to sell us. I agree with you that he's just a plot device, maybe post-patches or side content will explain at least a little, but that also just isn't good enough either. It just feels like another wasted, messy decision to add to the pile.

[HighlanderClone]

It just shows that Ishikawa carried FF14's story hard. And without the story, FF14 is a slower, less interactive WoW that only caters to ERPers.

I don't think Ishikawa is the only good writer there. 2.55 was also pretty impressive, but that was a long long time ago. I wish they had more courage to kill off people and go ASOIAF...

[Communion]

Words cannot describe how much I hate Dawntrail. Not only is it godawful bad, it's downright insulting. After a decade long journey with FFXIV, I'm not really sure what to do with my anger. If this is the future of the game, as it most assuredly looks like it is, then my time in Eorzea has come to an end.

[Kaurhz]

This is a long one...

So I finally got around to finishing the story, andit didn't really feel like an adventure...

Why? Simply because I always found my character as a sidepiece to what was arguably Wuk Lamat's adventure. She felt forced in very unnatural ways. First of all, our adventure as a 'main character' should never be centered around the idea of instating a particular body or person in a position of power. Regardless of what that reason might be.

Were her reasons noble? Of course they were, but when we are backing that particular person, it is effectively a pre-determined path. There was essentially very little resistance, and if I am honest, if they were so persistent on maintain this path then I would much have preferred if Zoraal Ja became the dawnservant and not by the obvious nor intended path. The entire outcome just felt very weird, and not only that, whilst they wanted to potentially do something more grounded-by-earth... We ultimately ended up with a mcguffin cup that came from god knows where, in combination with a character (Sphene), who for all intents and purposes is just on the other end of the extreme scale from Endsinger. I legitimately got budget Meteion vibes.

One wanted to end all life because of apathy and deeming life meaningless, and the other (Sphene), essentially wanted to end all life (even if not explicitly stated) for the purpose of what? Keeping her people eternal? What is with these character extremities one after another, after another?

Going back to Wuk Lamat for a second, and iterating that she felt forced, it is to the point where the expansion arguably could have been sold as: FINAL FANTASY XIV: Wuk's Adventure. - I don't mean this in a ironic manner either, I am being very serious. - I probably wouldn't have minded it, but she simply didn't have substantive enough character development to justify all the other characters that were just sidepieces. Including our own. Which the purpose for this story was to embark on a new adventure -- Not play lapdog to the lost kitty.

I don't mean this in a bad way, but please, for the love of all that is good in the world. Can we deviate from this story. Lyse was bad but this is just taking the cake. It's so aggressive, that it's obnoxious, and seriously, what is with the whole "Is she losing control of her power and tearing a hole in the fabric of reality" mid-trial shenanigans? Take a break - We couldn't get a single trial without her being the center of attention.

Finally, what's with that last zone (Living Memory)? It was impeccable, like all zones are, but single-handedly the zone was ruined, and then thrown in the trash and reduced to an utter wasteland of a zone. Why do this? What is the purpose? So we could get more soul shenanigans? Seriously, why can't you keep the story more grounded? I don't even mind that it's a reflection, but to go as far to essentially give that civilization to essentially replicate what the lifestream does? This in and of itself just raises too many questions, which we will likely never get the answer to.

For as bad as I found the voice acting in Shaaloani it was actually one of the very very few instances where we had something that even remotely resembles an adventure for us.

It feels like the only person that actually got an adventure out of this was Wuk Lamat and Estinien, and definitely not us

[Folicanis]

Man am I glad I'm a fan of the game with an open mind and undying love for the efforts of Yoship and CBU3. This expansion was a change of pace XIV needed and I'm glad we got to watch character growth and development whilst being able to kick it back a notch. I hope we get more expansions in which we can see such impacting characters and plot. The recent reviews have also been improving too which is nice to see, still have yet to be let down with this game haha

[HighlanderClone]

This is a long one...

So I finally got around to finishing the story, andit didn't really feel like an adventure...

...

What is with these character extremities one after another, after another?

...

It's so aggressive, that it's obnoxious, and seriously, what is with the whole "Is she losing control of her power and tearing a hole in the fabric of reality" mid-trial shenanigans? Take a break - We couldn't get a single trial without her being the center of attention.

Finally, what's with that last zone (Living Memory)? It was impeccable, like all zones are, but single-handedly the zone was ruined, and then thrown in the trash and reduced to an utter wasteland of a zone. Why do this? What is the purpose? So we could get more soul shenanigans? Seriously, why can't you keep the story more grounded? I don't even mind that it's a reflection, but to go as far to essentially give that civilization to essentially replicate what the lifestream does? This in and of itself just raises too many questions, which we will likely never get the answer to.

Your comment made me think... Ironically the second arc suffers from building up too much stakes without giving it the oxygen to breathe and develop.

Also agreed on this xpac not feeling like an adventure at all. I desperately wish I lived in an alternate universe where they made the first arc be an adventure of us finding Galuf's history and the Golden City with Krile and Erenville. Put the claimant battle in the background...

[HighlanderClone]

Man am I glad I'm a fan of the game with an open mind and undying love for the efforts of Yoship and CBU3. This expansion was a change of pace XIV needed and I'm glad we got to watch character growth and development whilst being able to kick it back a notch. I hope we get more expansions in which we can see such impacting characters and plot. The recent reviews have also been improving too which is nice to see, still have yet to be let down with this game haha

I'm not even trying to be rude but whenever I see a comment like this I have to wonder if you just have low standards or never experienced actual quality writing.

It's just so bizarre how you were satisfied with the paper thin character growth and development in the story.

And of course most of the comments of your ilk never go into details. Just a generic "I love this"... So who even knows.

[Mcg55ss]

I'm not even trying to be rude but whenever I see a comment like this I have to wonder if you just have low standards or never experienced actual quality writing.

It's just so bizarre how you were satisfied with the paper thin character growth and development in the story.

And of course most of the comments of your ilk never go into details. Just a generic "I love this"... So who even knows.

Sounds like you just don't like there is no the big looming threat a entire expansion or the fact the WoL is not the main character. We are the side characters; this expansion is about Wuk Lamat, her people and her journey to being the leader they deserve we are just their as support. People need to understand Warrior of Light story is over...we do not have to be the main character going forward and im fine with that.

[HighlanderClone]

Sounds like you just don't like there is no the big looming threat a entire expansion or the fact the WoL is not the main character. We are the side characters; this expansion is about Wuk Lamat, her people and her journey to being the leader they deserve we are just their as support. People need to understand Warrior of Light story is over...we do not have to be the main character going forward and im fine with that.

Sounds like you didn't even bother reading the OP.