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

[Ruri]

I played through the original cringefest that was ARR. I played through the whole useLyse part of SB. But man, Wok Lmao is just completely unbearable, even compared to those tragedies of storytelling. This feels like a thirteen year old girl's fanfiction, and the voice acting is just as bad.

Same nothing else compares to this, in all the wrong ways. I never skipped MSQ CS before but now I am half-skipping just spamming through text waiting for something interesting or skipping through wuk's voice

[Seirikka]

Same nothing else compares to this, in all the wrong ways. I never skipped MSQ CS before but now I am half-skipping just spamming through text waiting for something interesting or skipping through wuk's voice

So many people are doing this, and that should be a sign that something is very wrong with this style of storytelling. I'm hoping SE learns for next time.

[AlucaDragonheart]

Why did you have to bring a failed theater director who bankrupted his own company due to how bad his writing is to do the whole MSQ?

That seriously can't be true, can it...?

[Basteala]

I honestly *liked* that Wuk Lamat was kind of inept and out of her league at the start. Although I do agree that she's very overly idealistic to the point that it feels almost Pollyanna. This mostly came up in Urqopacha for me.

I've got nothing against the VA, the overall plot, and I really like the second half of the story and how one character foils Wuk Lamat very well. Wuk Lamat herself is just...well...she has moments I like and moments that get on my nerves. That might be indicative of how high the bar's been set for me, but even so.

I don't know. I need to sort it out.

[Zsolen]

I can't believe Final Fantasy XIV made an entire expansion focused on Jar Jar Binks.

I'd rather have Jar Jar. Jar Jar's actor can act, and Jar Jar's character is far less annoying, since he is at least humble and does not require babying most of the time. As long as we don't give him a say in giving anyone emergency powers, all would be well.

[Loggos]

There is a part at around lvl 96 where you travel without Wuk Lamat just for the sake of a small adventure (of course trouble still finds you). It's so sad but I'm currently enjoying this part so much more than anything that came before because I feel like a proper character again.
My actions are of equal value as those of the characters that keep me company and I'm an active participant in the story.
Even though the stakes are a lot lower I'm having actual fun right now. This is what I wanted DT to be.
I don't know how long this will last but it's really indicative of the story's problem of making our avatar an absolutely irrelevant background emoter in the first half.

[Fortecael]

That seriously can't be true, can it...?

Check this https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/473109

The "life changing event" is what I said about his theater thing. I wonder what the people that were cheering him on in that thread are doing right about now.

[Naoki34]

Well, I'll be back after the first 3 finished zones and...

I have to say it's actually better than I thought. Wuk Lamat is immature, but even the narration assumes it: She's clearly immature at the beginning of Dawntrail.
By one of our answers as an honest opinion about her but No Spoil !

But as the zones and MSQ progress, she gradually matures and more than once, Wuk Lamat surprised me in a good way and she's a class act even with her playful side still intact. As the MSQs go by, I'm up to about level 95 and I like it.

I still don't like the BGM Tuli-Jazz, but that's another matter...


Enjoy discovering Dawntrail at your leisure, I'm still wondering where it's all going.

[Chyro]

What is this bananas take? You just finished talking about bad arguments.

People don't want to skip the story, they don't want to quit the game. They want to play an interesting, well paced story like they have come to love and expect from, I dunno, the last 10 years of content? Since when did asking for a well delivered story become controversial in FF14 of all MMOs?!?!!

That part isn't really an argument and more of a suggestion. They're realistic options of what people that find the character so unbearable can do to deal with it. The story is what it is, the character is what it is. The feedback and complaints certainly won't lead to square enix retro-actively taking out the character and changing the story of dawntrail to please the people that don't like it. It will at most lead to changes in future parts of the story. But if you're so upset with that one character that it ruins the story or the game for you, then yeah - you have the option to skip cutscenes, to not play the game, or to just bear with it. It's not really an argument. Just a realistic take? I personally don't need those options cause I don't have a problem with her. But this topic is full of people that seem to have a big problem with her. Thus the suggestion. Of course people don't want to skip the story or quit the game if they enjoy it overall - if their enjoyment of the game outweighs their dislike for that one character. But the complaints won't change the story of Dawntrail.

[Frida]

For me, Wuk Lamat does not have enough dimensions to be the main character of the story. She also feels a hodge podge of personalities taken from other shounen anime. So, anytime when she takes the lead, it is quite really grating because there is nothing more to it than what she shows.

Wuk Lamat is good in small doses when humor is required, but she lacks the emotional depth and intellect that Final Fantasy characters warrant. Furthermore, this expansion does not have other compelling characters either. In other expansions, we had more than just one character who enriched our experience and journey.

For example, in Heavensward we had Estinien, Ysale, the politics of Ishgard, and the emotional depth of the dragons. One could even potentially sympathize with Nidhogg considering what the Ishgardians did to his sister.

In stormblood we had Yotsuyu, Zenos, Hien, Gosetsu, Asahi, Fordola; all very diverse characters who made us feel the feels. We hated them, loved them, understood them, cried for them, made us think about their decisions.

In shadowbringers we had Ran'jit, Emet-Selch, Exarch, Ardbert, Elidibus, Ryne all of whom who had their reasoning that compelled their actions. Their reasoning could not be unidimensionally classified as good or bad, but rather they did what they felt was right.

In endwalkers, we had the ancients and their quirky banter. We were faced with existential questions throughout the msq that left us drained. It was not just one character, but rather the story pushed us into thinking about multiple worlds and existences through time.

In contrast, Dawntrail does not have compelling characters. Zoraal Ja's motivations are not convincing. Are we supposed to cheer for Wuk Lamat becoming dawn servant? After frequently witnessing her buffoonery? Are we supposed to believe that just because she has good intentions, she is capable of maintaining peace among her people considering how diverse they are which can lead to conflict? It is one thing to help her achieve more personal objectives, but we are supposed to want to see her on the throne because her unique trait is that she wants peace for her people? I don't recall Koana wanting conflict and misery for their people, plus he has a vision for their future. What vision does Wuk Lamat have for the future? Just maintain peace? Bakool Ja Ja is a joke so it is pointless to even consider.

The characters needed more complexity and depth. They come off as caricatures whom we are compelled to support because of plot. As such, this expansion feels like it is dragging us by chains rather than we going along with it.