Dawntrail’s Narrative Missteps: Why Natsuko Ishikawa’s Touch Is Sorely Missed

[ScartPearl]

I'm tired of the usual apologists' argument of "It's a new story, it's low-stakes. You can't expect much." For a game so heavily lauded for it's story, I do expect more. There is no reason a new story can't start with some excitement. There is no reason "low-stakes" has to mean "boring." The narrative problems with DT have been well documented and discussed over the last six months, and to dismiss those arguments out-of-hand with "it's a new story, stop complaining," is a little disingenuous, especially when many of those problems have existed for a long time. Any way you look at it, Dawntrail was a poorly written, directed, and executed mess, and it didn't have to be this way.

"Don't worry guys, 8.0 is when it will really get good!" You know, I'm not sure I have the patience to slog through this for another two years.

I completely agree with you. The "it's a new story, give it time" argument feels like a way to dismiss valid concerns. A new story doesn’t have to mean low stakes and boring—it can still start with intrigue, depth, and engaging characters.

Dawntrail’s issues go beyond being a setup expansion. The lack of direction, inconsistent writing, and poorly executed character arcs make it feel disconnected from the standards FFXIV is known for. It’s not about expecting Shadowbringers-level greatness right out of the gate, but expecting something better than what we got isn’t unreasonable.

And honestly, the "8.0 will fix it" sentiment isn’t very comforting when we’re left with such a shaky foundation. If we don’t stay objective, point out the issues, and demand better, the same problems will just carry over into 8.0. Constructive criticism is how the game has improved in the past, and it’s what it needs now.

[ScartPearl]

YOSHI-P about WoW devs: "Do they even play their own game"

My question to that is. "Do YOU play your own game?"

Karma always gets its due. 8.0 here we go

Exactly! How is it possible that in none of the interviews so far he’s acknowledged the mistakes made in the expansion? It feels like he’s blinded by the success. Just because you’ve been successful up until now doesn’t mean it will last forever. I’ve always heard: the higher you climb, the harder you fall...

[CuteBucket]

People bring up Ishikawa a lot but I think we're also missing Banri Oda. He has been the major lore and world building guy since ARR (maybe even before? not sure) and has been a lead writer with Ishikawa for Stormblood, Shadowbringers, and Endwalker. He also is now just a "senior story advisor," same as Ishikawa. She seems to always be either put on a pedestal or denigrated while everyone ignores Oda.

We don't know what went down at SE, but both of them were on the Fanfest circuit while the actual main writers for DT were not, iirc. If all they had to do was look at an outline and sign off on it, well...Dawntrail, on a purely surface level outline, isn't actually a bad story. Think about it: WoL and Co go to a new land and the behest of a new friend, help her on her adventures for the throne where we get to learn more about her brothers who are also competing for the throne, along with another rival who tries to sabotage us along the way, but we win the day, only for disaster to strike after the competition as one of the remaining Shards pierces into the Source with a rogue AI hellbent on our destruction at its head attacks. That doesn't sound like a bad story, it actually sounds pretty cool! It's in the details that Dawntrail falls so flat: Wuk Lamat being a black hole that takes up all the screen time and dialogue with a senseless personality, characters losing their established personalities, characters whose motivations change on a dime, world building that makes little logical sense, pacing that slams the breaks to go stare at a group of NPCs farming while ignoring and failing to flesh out any of the interesting ideas or ask any interesting questions of the setting.

I still think something went awry (what, I have no idea of) during development that caused lots of last-minute script changes and rewrites. No solid proof, but all of the major moments that are unvoiced cutscenes and the general disjointed, unedited feel of the whole thing are my evidence toward this theory.

[Daralii]

Exactly! How is it possible that in none of the interviews so far he’s acknowledged the mistakes made in the expansion? It feels like he’s blinded by the success. Just because you’ve been successful up until now doesn’t mean it will last forever. I’ve always heard: the higher you climb, the harder you fall...

He shouldn't be blinded by success given that XVI was called out as a flop, but maybe that wasn't enough of a wake up call.

[Jeeqbit]

Exactly! How is it possible that in none of the interviews so far he’s acknowledged the mistakes made in the expansion?

He did acknowledge the reception actually.

[ScartPearl]

He did acknowledge the reception actually.

The only thing I remember him addressing was that Wuk Lamat was maybe too naive (I think that’s what he said, though I don’t remember the exact expression he used). But honestly, that doesn’t really tackle the bigger issues with the expansion. It feels like they’re completely avoiding the deeper problems entirely.

[ovIm]

He did acknowledge the reception actually.

Well yes, but actually no. In the last few interviews (that I read), he said he expected the reception to be worse because they are doing a new start to a story, and still believes that this is the case (at least if we take the interviews at face value). In a different one he said that this must have been because the WoL was not the center of the story, or that Wuk Lamat was not confident enough (lol). Nowhere does he repeat and understand the actual objective criticisms from the forums (regardless of language), imho, that does not count as acknowledging the reception. That is "do you guys not have phones" levels deflection of the issue.

Or is there an interview that shows he actually understood the criticisms which I have not yet seen?

[Daralii]

The only thing I remember him addressing was that Wuk Lamat was maybe too naive (I think that’s what he said, though I don’t remember the exact expression he used). But honestly, that doesn’t really tackle the bigger issues with the expansion. It feels like they’re completely avoiding the deeper problems entirely.

He said that she should have been more confident, that she was an amazing character, and that he hoped the patch content would convince us of just how amazing she is. He also said that a lot of things that didn't work were the result of them "experimenting".

[Jeeqbit]

Or is there an interview that shows he actually understood the criticisms which I have not yet seen?

He doesn't necessarily acknowledge every single thing people say but in general.

At the time of those interviews it was hard to make sense of what people's problems were because everyone said different things in my observation. You could ask 10 different people and get 10 completely different answers.

[ovIm]

He doesn't necessarily acknowledge every single thing people say but in general.

At the time of those interviews it was hard to make sense of what people's problems were because everyone said different things in my observation. You could ask 10 different people and get 10 completely different answers.

The last answer Yoshi-P gave about that was at the end of november during an event in Saudi Arabia called "Echoes of Eorzea", parts of the interview can be read on the r/ffxiv Discord translations channel. That was plenty time to get a general consensus, which was definitely not "Wuk Lamat was not confident enough" or "it was a new story", lol.

So the short answer you should have given is: not really, and he has not acknowledged the actual issues.

so, thank you {/thumbsup}

Edited to Add:
just reread that part of the interview, his last comment about it was:

Upcoming updates will introduce more mystery and events that bring the Warrior of Light back to the forefront, returning as the hero of this world. We ask players to look forward to what’s coming in updates 7.2 and 7.3.

One other thing I can take responsibility for is that we wanted to introduce everything gradually to the players. We saw that introducing a new area and new tribes for the first time needed to be done carefully so that players wouldn’t feel overwhelmed. Some people, however, felt bored and wanted things to move faster. So, I’ve learned the lesson, and the next expansion will have less explanation and introduction. These explanatory tasks will be placed in side content to allow the main events to move at a faster pace.

However, it’s important to note that many people enjoyed the expansion, and I want to emphasize that it’s a matter of perspective. We’re learning from everything to be able to build on it for what’s coming next.

so, it at least came down to "he understood some parts", but also right directly backpedals. Yoshi-PR at its finest.