Wow, Wuk Lamat is really single-handedly ruining the DT story...

[AnimaAnimus]

Endwalker should have been two expansions. I will die on this hill.

And on that note Anima should have been the expac big boss like Yoshida said was planned when they were in the planning stages before it was split into two. Anima of all bosses, being wasted as a leveling dungeon boss is just criminal. Magus sisters too, but Anima to a much higher degree. I literally took off my headset, dropped it down on my desk and uttered quite a few obscenities over that. Esp since they took to the time actually reveal the fact she was added during the EW promotion like she was going to be a bigger deal. Hell, Anima would have made more sense than sad bird girl and likely better recieved as the big bad.

[Oizen]

you think you want another stormblood, but you dont.

I like Kugane
I like Gosetsu
I like Yugiri
I like Yotsuyu
I like the Azim Steppe
I̶ l̶i̶k̶e̶ t̶h̶e̶ f̶a̶c̶t̶ t̶h̶a̶t̶ Y̶s̶h̶t̶o̶l̶a̶ i̶s̶ i̶n̶ a̶ c̶o̶m̶a̶ t̶h̶e̶ e̶n̶t̶i̶r̶e̶ e̶x̶p̶a̶n̶s̶i̶o̶n̶
I even like the ending

I cant list that many things I like about Dawntrail

[CuteBucket]

you think you want another stormblood, but you dont.

I do, actually. I really liked Stormblood and don't know why people rag on it so much. I thought it did a good job maturely showing us the reality of living under an oppressive empire without it getting needlessly grimdark about it. It has it's issues (mostly some weird pacing in the Ala Mhigo portions), but it was still overall an enjoyable expansion for me and I liked most of the characters introduced.

[CuteBucket]

And on that note Anima should have been the expac big boss like Yoshida said was planned when they were in the planning stages before it was split into two. Anima of all bosses, being wasted as a leveling dungeon boss is just criminal. Magus sisters too, but Anima to a much higher degree. I literally took off my headset, dropped it down on my desk and uttered quite a few obscenities over that. Esp since they took to the time actually reveal the fact she was added during the EW promotion like she was going to be a bigger deal. Hell, Anima would have made more sense than sad bird girl and likely better recieved as the big bad.

YES!! I was so excited as a FFX fan for Anima, and then they just wasted it as a dungeon boss?! UGH. Yeah, that made me mad. Should have been our big final trial of theoretical Ilsabard expansion. And while I quite like Meteion/Endsinger as a concept quite a lot, she definitely needed more time to cook.

[Awkward]

I had this same thought at numerous points in the story. The scene where Wuk comes to your room all flustered and takes you to the balcony to tell you that she's decided to fight for peace, after umpteen other scenes where she told us the exact same thing, really had me scratching my head re: DT possibly being AI-written.

If you plug in a few random shonen protags you can pretty much create Wuk Lamat in AI, most of them are incredibly similar, Wuk Lamat even has the large appetite too and the repetitive sloganeering(PEACE AND HAPPINESS). If it's not AI the writer is as bad as one and I don't know which is worse.

[lolnotacat]

We got more cultural exposure in the Azim Steppe than all of Tural.

[Fourbestintoner]

you think you want another stormblood, but you dont.

SB was the last time I truly enjoyed the game tbh.

[Raven2014]

you think you want another stormblood, but you dont.

Your point being?

If you tell me my choice is between SB and DT, I'll give you my answer even before you finish asking the question. And it won't be DT. I don't think trashing on SB helps DT's defense in any way. Because the lower you try to put down SB, it doesn't change the fact DT is a tier or two below that.

Even if the story is bad, SB at least has a cast that I found interesting while at the same time, I can't say I care for a single character in DT.

[MoiraTerrwell]

Your point being?

If you tell me my choice is between SB and DT, I'll give you my answer even before you finish asking the question. And it won't be DT. I don't think trashing on SB helps DT's defense in any way. Because the lower you try to put down SB, it doesn't change the fact DT is a tier or two below that.

Even if the story is bad, SB at least has a cast that I found interesting while at the same time, I can't say I care for a single character in DT.

What, not even Erenville?
Or are you specifically talking of characters we got to meet in Dawntrail.
I wanna learn about Koana, who he is when he's not around Wuk Lamat. I think that about sums up who I'm interested in in Dawntrail specific new characters.

[fulminating]

I really did not like the eastern section of stormblood msq, to me it felt like it was just padding and entirely in the way of the more interesting Gyr Abania section. Shinryu and Omega being very dangerous and at risk of falling into the hands of the empire should have been more than enough motive to stay nearby and resolve that. Instead we went halfway around the world just to encounter another beige zone, some impoverished pirates and a windblasted plain. The nadaam instance was pretty cool though and underwater zones are cool so the ruby sea wasn't all bad after diving was unlocked.

Despite disagreeing with which part of stormblood was cool, I still consider it a superior expansion to dawntrail in terms of story. Again I'm of the opinion that the gym badges/dawnservant stuff was an idea with potential that was fumbled and zak tural just a bit of a catastrophe.
Heritage found and living memory both felt like competing "final zones" - possibly a product of the formula™. I quite like how many of the zones can be accessed directly from the tuliyollal big aetheryte, but that also emphasises how HF and LM both feel wrong/alien/separate (maybe intentionally).

All of heritage found felt ...fillery? similar to orthard. A largely visually uninteresting zone with character that didn't particularly engage me all while the story had this conflicting sense of urgency and meandering pace. The ruins of old alexandria felt underutilised, although it could be 5 patches too early to make that judgement. I don't think it's because solution 9 was involved in the marketing so heavily, but that may have played a part too.
Living memory could have been a second floor of the city rather than a dedicated zone, the conflicting messages about how urgent it was to reach sphene really undermined the whole thing. Again comparing with stormblood, both times we're an invading force trying to reach the big boss, both times we've been sneaking about laying the groundwork for our penatrative efforts with the locals, both times the big boss is completely deranged (and also puddling about with souls what a coincidence that it happened twice), the structure, payoff and tone are presented in a more satisfying way in SB. I suspect fordola also helped narritively here, even with the urianger ex machina - the lack of known/named opposition in LM did not do it any favours in my eyes. Not that there was any set up - perhaps suspicious fishman would have worked here if zorol hadn't lethally stabbed him in the back? It'd only have been a short while for him if he'd woken up and come in through the dead baby cave door when it was reopened. As for his motive, who knows?

Broadly what I'm getting at is despite SB msq being the next most flawed, it's a struggle to think of any shared plot elements/themes DT executes in a superior fashion nor any different points that elevate DT above.