I thought Dawntrail was going to be a grand adventure surrounded by friends

[SirShady]

I came into this expansion so excited. I knew we weren't getting anything too high stakes, but trusted the writing team would absolutely focus in on this idea of a grand new adventure with new friends.

Finally, Krile was going to have her time to shine! I'm not a big Krile fan, only because she never really gets to do anything. I couldn't wait to see how they would utilize her, and if they would really win me over with her after having her sit on the bench for so long.

Erenville was one of my favorite side characters in Endwalker, and seeing him of all people show up at the start of the Dawntrail trailer blew my mind! Yes! A pragmatic and dry-witted bunny boy with an awesome accent is going to get pulled into our crazy adventure! I can't wait to see how they develop him! I bet he'll have an awesome new dynamic we haven't seen from the scions!

And last we have Wuk Lamat! The humor in her intro didn't really land for me, but I do like her energy and it's always cool seeing a new face! I wonder if she has any ulterior motives for bringing us along to this contest. I'll be she turns out to be much more layered than she initially lets on! Even if she's not the deepest character, I'll bet they'll do some real fun and creative stuff with her!

I couldn't wait! I woke up at 5am and got right into the MSQ! I set out for Tuliyollal and...!

Krile... Sat there... She swung a paint brush in a couple scenes. She occasionally brought up her grandfather. Mostly she just giggled and complimented Wuk Lamat. They gave her one major scene where the screen faded to black before she could say anything of substance.

Erenville... Stood around scolding Wuk Lamat most of the time. He gave her advice. She usually ignored it. He gave us instructions on where to go and how to get there. Nothing ever centered on him. We had one 30 second fireside chat where he talked about how he started being a gleaner. That was it. They gave him one scene toward the end. I didn't feel any emotions.

Wuk Lamat. She hogged every second of the spotlight. Turns out, she was exactly who she was when she was introduced. No underlying complexity, no hidden motives. She's a loud impulsive girl who wants to win the throne. She becomes a loud slightly less impulsive girl who wins the throne. She gets sea sick. She falls down holes. She doesn't like alpacas. She doesn't like heights. She doesn't like lava. She is not interesting enough of a character to be taking up all this screentime. She actively makes every conversation about her. Every scene is about her. All the other characters are set pieces to react to her.

[SirShady]

She goes from mildly annoying but a bit endearing to an absolute blackhole that everything revolves around. A blackhole that sucks up all the potentially interesting writing and churns out childish comedy gags and preachy life lessons like "friends are important" and "understanding others is important" and "be yourself". I go from "I think I'll like Wuk Lamat" to "They must be setting up Wuk Lamat for a more dynamic change later" to "Wuk Lamat is hurting my enjoyment of the story" to "I hate Wuk Lamat's affect on everything I'm experiencing".

I hate it. I can't tell you how disappointed I am. I beat the MSQ last night and I'm still reeling. That's it. The credits rolled. What I experienced was Dawntrail. I don't think my expectations were too high going in, but they were absolutely stomped into the dirt. I'm glad for those of you who are enjoying the story and characters, but for me, this will be the last time I pre-order an expansion. Next time I'll be waiting, because the gameplay sure as hell doesn't carry this game, and neither does the writing anymore apparently. Final Fantasy XIV's characters have made me feel things, even brought me close to tears on a few occasions, and for someone as jaded and hard to impress as I am that's a big deal.

This has been incredibly disheartening.

[Tethan]

Dead on. It is incredibly disappointing after waiting this long.

And if there is one thing I never expected myself to say it is "I wish there was more Krile in the story".

[Verathel]

Honestly it felt like they didn't have time or forgot to or whatever the reason to properly set the stakes. You had the divisions of people who supported their perspective promises....Why not have intrigue surrounding that? I say it because we're not talking about the ruler of a single nation but the ruler of an entire freaking continent. Peace or not....That should be enough to have at least a measure of intrigue regarding the different factions and so forth.

I'm fine being the menacing adventurer on the sidelines but it felt more like a sideline adventure and a babysitting job rather than anything remotely interesting happening. The first two zones were lacking of anything definite either, neither felt fleshed out enough and severely lacked a theme...any proper theme.

A clan of merchants that deal fairly, that's great...Unless you did the side quests afterwards there was nothing in depth about these people beyond that they're merchants and control trade in Tural. There is no side that exploits or manages the environment properly, no side that seeks greater power or influence....It's really bereft of any sort of depth.

I'm still enjoying the expansion and the dungeons and the trials have been great so far. The zones are very beautiful if a little on the generic side and Tuyollal is a beautiful city and the music is awesome. Yet, first expansion I ever played since Heavensward where I'am almost enjoying the side quests more than the MSQ.

[Verathel]

And wanted to add that by theme there was no in depth connection to the story or characters or even the sheer fact of being interesting by itself to distinguish it. I'm speaking of the first three zones, can't speak of the last 3 for haven't done them yet and of the first 3 thematically the third one is the best but not by much.

You can look at any zone of any expansion and you can find a sort of theme connecting it with the story, characters, overall arch...something. The zones were gorgeous, the music was great but outside of the electors you could easily have replaced the first two zones especially and players would have never noticed the difference in relation to the story.

[Drkdays]

I'm still working on the MS, so I haven't experienced it all, but I think you might be forgetting something. This is supposed to be the start of a brand-new arc. Not merely a new expansion but an entirely new saga. I think this slow start is an echo (haha, echo) of how ARR began. I fully expect the story to crescendo.

I'm sorry you didn't get the epic adventure you were expecting, but remember that this truly is a new beginning, a foundation of what is to come. Honestly, I felt like Endwalker moved too fast with all the death and carnage smacking you in the face from the get-go, but that was the very end of a decade long ark while this is a much simpler beginning of a brand-new arc that will no doubt go on for several expansions. I'm eager to see where the game and characters go from here.

In short, give it some more time.

[Malthir]

I'm still working on the MS, so I haven't experienced it all, but I think you might be forgetting something. This is supposed to be the start of a brand-new arc. Not merely a new expansion but an entirely new saga. I think this slow start is an echo (haha, echo) of how ARR began. I fully expect the story to crescendo.

I'm sorry you didn't get the epic adventure you were expecting, but remember that this truly is a new beginning, a foundation of what is to come. Honestly, I felt like Endwalker moved too fast with all the death and carnage smacking you in the face from the get-go, but that was the very end of a decade long ark while this is a much simpler beginning of a brand-new arc that will no doubt go on for several expansions. I'm eager to see where the game and characters go from here.

In short, give it some more time.

As someone who has finished the MSQ, you're wrong. I wont spoil it but functionally everything resolved by the end of the story no setup for anything a terribly tied ribbon on the package that is this expac.

This is ARR if ARR was us following around the chocobo carriage NPC while he spoke to the scions, did everything, and then at the end of that version of ARR he defeated all the Ascians and Zodiark and endsinger.

[SirShady]

I'm still working on the MS, so I haven't experienced it all, but I think you might be forgetting something. This is supposed to be the start of a brand-new arc. Not merely a new expansion but an entirely new saga. I think this slow start is an echo (haha, echo) of how ARR began. I fully expect the story to crescendo.

I'm sorry you didn't get the epic adventure you were expecting, but remember that this truly is a new beginning, a foundation of what is to come. Honestly, I felt like Endwalker moved too fast with all the death and carnage smacking you in the face from the get-go, but that was the very end of a decade long ark while this is a much simpler beginning of a brand-new arc that will no doubt go on for several expansions. I'm eager to see where the game and characters go from here.

In short, give it some more time.

No, I did not forget! You and everyone else defending Dawntrail against any criticism keeps dropping that line like it means anything.

"It's the start of a saga, so you shouldn't have any expectations going in." is some of the worst logic and excuse for any criticism. The story DOES crescendo. They wrap up Dawntrail. My experience with Dawntrail SUCKED.

I'm not here to talk about the next expansion. I'm not here to talk about the new story arc. I'm here to talk about Dawntrail. When the other expansions are released I will talk about those.

You don't go "Well that movie sucked, but I can't judge it because it has a sequel in the works". You judge a piece of art as it is. If the rest of the arc is great, then that's GREAT! I hope it is! My experience with Dawntrail would still suck. This is how criticism, media, and the general flow of time works.

[Sonoskay]

As someone who has finished the MSQ, you're wrong. I wont spoil it but functionally everything resolved by the end of the story no setup for anything a terribly tied ribbon on the package that is this expac.

This is ARR if ARR was us following around the chocobo carriage NPC while he spoke to the scions, did everything, and then at the end of that version of ARR he defeated all the Ascians and Zodiark and endsinger.

Stormblood didn't really have a whole lot left to turn into magic. It wasn't till 4.1 they started laying the seeds for what would be SHB. I think the main point of the expac might have been to give the WoL ties to tural, and establish a new character for future plot lines. In an interview with Jesse cox, Yoshi P acknowledged they don't have any Concrete story plans yet and are going to gauge how the player base responds to Dawntrail MSQ. Getting the setting established Seemed to be the priority rather than giving players loose plot threads to speculate on.

[SirShady]

Stormblood didn't really have a whole lot left to turn into magic. It wasn't till 4.1 they started laying the seeds for what would be SHB. I think the main point of the expac might have been to give the WoL ties to tural, and establish a new character for future plot lines. In an interview with Jesse cox, Yoshi P acknowledged they don't have any Concrete story plans yet and are going to gauge how the player base responds to Dawntrail MSQ. Getting the setting established Seemed to be the priority rather than giving players loose plot threads to speculate on.

God this should be a real awakening for them then. I really hope they don't go with the plot threads at the end of Dawntrail. I have no faith in them being able to use them in a coherent and interesting way after seeing how they were thrown into the last 10% of the plot.