JP Official Forums are also criticizing the Dawntrail MSQ.

[HighlanderClone]

The JP official forums are quite possibly the most positive discussion forum on the Internet over in Japan. 5ch is a dumpster fire (though their burns are pretty sick), so understandably people don't want to use that as the sole barometer.

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/503084

About the impression of the main quest of Golden Legacy (Dawntrail in Japanese)

I completed the main quest without skipping it during early access.
Since there was no place to write my impressions, I will post it here.
Please note that it contains spoilers, so if you have not completed it yet, please do not read it.

What I felt was bad:
The trial part in the first half was only called a trial, and I was made to do errands, and I did not really understand what the trial was, and I felt a flat feeling without any sense of crisis.
Despite it being a new expansion pack, I was made to do endless errands and thought about skipping it several times.

- There was an explanation in advance that it was "a fierce "race for the throne" that divides [the Scions] in two," but when I opened the lid, there was almost no depiction of conflict, and there was no sense of tension or excitement when acting together.


- I could not empathize with Wuk Lamat, and my character felt like an air from beginning to end.

- In the main quest level 92 quest "The Shape of Desired Peace," Wuk Lamat is kidnapped and goes missing just before the new map, and I felt stressed by the [story] flow of having to investigate the same place three times and wait.

- The player feels like a supporting character, there is a lack of motivation for actions, the characters are difficult to empathize with, the pace is slow in the chore quests, and the game makes extensive use of the tailing system, etc. I thought the reunion scene in the final map and the depiction of the inheritance of feelings were good , but the first half was too much of a drag, and in my honest opinion it was the most difficult to play through of all the expansions so far.

[54 likes]

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I have roughly the same impression, but the first half of the story was so focused on food that I ended up snacking several times.
The first half was such a big food-teasing story that it seemed like the story was made for that purpose.

[3 likes]

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I can enjoy anything, so I didn't have any major complaints, but...
I wondered if the scriptwriter really wrote everything he wanted to write.
I also wondered if it would have been better to make the first and second halves into separate packages.
The succession ends at level 95, but for me as a player, it was a little too short to get to know the background of Wuk Lamat and the other siblings.
It felt like they rushed through a princess vs princess story that loved the people, and made Wuk Lamat the princess in a hurry.

I felt like maybe a lot of things were cut out...? After finishing the main quest, I went to Heritage Found and found an aetheryte that hadn't been unlocked.

I went near it in the story, but I don't remember passing by it...
Oh, maybe this was also removed for time reasons...? I'm just assuming that.
Well, maybe they'll use it in a future patch...

I thought the base was very good. However, I didn't get to know the characters in depth, and the character of Galuf wasn't explored much, so I felt it was overall bland.

Shadowbringers and Endwalker had the flavor of A Realm Reborn and Stormblood, and there was the cathartic moment of plot resolution, so it's possible that they were satisfying.
I hope that Dawntrail will also play the role of flavoring the new adventure.

[19 likes]

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I haven't finished the game yet, so I'm sorry for my very personal opinion, but about Wuk Lamat.
When she first appeared in patch 6.55, she was already like that, but when she called the person she was requesting "you" for the first time, I didn't want to be friends with her anymore, and to
be honest, I didn't want to accept her requests, so the main quest in 7.0 is currently in progress and is almost painful.
When I separate from the NPCs and go on an action, I feel disgusted even being paired with Ukramat, so I cut out her voice when I hear it, even though I feel sorry for the person inside.

Since my first impression was the worst, all of her behavior has a negative effect. I feel bad for her selfishness, as she comes to my room when I say "Let's rest at the inn for a while" and even takes me around the town, and her selfishness makes me feel bad, and her
motion sickness, her toughness, and her inner self that usually seems cute make me feel cold. I think that her aggressive personality that creeps into the hearts of others is not tolerable, and the fact that I can't tolerate beastmen in the first place is also spurring this on.
If it had been a Miqo'te or Viera, it might have been different.

This time, the characters were extremes in both appearance and personality, so it can't be helped.
There's nothing I can do about the personality discrepancies, so I'm just putting up with it and moving forward.

[31 likes]

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My personal impressions without giving away any spoilers.
The first half was full of preaching. Wuk Lamat was pure, so I accepted the preaching without hesitation, but I'm a bit twisted, so it was annoying. The second half was interesting, but even though both of them were righteous and there was no such thing as evil, they were constantly told that they were wrong, which I felt was sad. I also felt that it was mean to make the player choose to kill a few to save the lives of the majority. Also, the new character [Gulool Ja] who appears in the second half is the child of that person, but was that child really necessary...? He had little connection to the character and ended up in an important position in the story by chance, but the circumstances of the child's birth are unknown (who is the mother in the first place? Could that race be capable of reproduction? Was he born as a clone or something because of his amazing scientific ability?) I was so left wondering why he was alive that I could only sleep during the day.
The foreshadowing came out all at once in the second half, so I'm looking forward to the future story.

[29 likes]

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This is just my personal opinion, but considering the volume, the story was a bit bland, and the race for the throne in the first half felt like I was reading a "Narou novel." [Note: this is something like fanfiction.net] My
expectations were high after "Dawn of the Dark," [Note: 漆黒暁月 means ShB(漆黒)+EW(暁月)] so to be honest, it wasn't that interesting.

[46 likes]

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I found the entrance to the Golden [City] with ID [solo instance] 95, and I thought it would be interesting to finally enter the Golden [City] from here! But I was unexpectedly sent back and a western movie unrelated to the Golden [City] started in the wilderness area, and it became boring all at once.

[42 likes]

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I really enjoyed this episode.

The previous story was centered on saving the world, so I liked that I could feel that this is what a real adventurer is like, and the atmosphere of the field and the BGM were all good. I like seeing people grow and getting to know the humanity of the characters, so I was happy about that.

The only thing that bothered me was [Bakool Ja Ja]'s change of heart.
I'm sure he was originally a kind person, but the developments after the duel seemed too quick and abrupt, and I would have been able to accept him more easily if he had been portrayed as a good guy at heart. Thank you for another wonderful story!
I'm sure there will be many stories that lead to the future, and I'm looking forward to seeing how things develop.

[13 likes]

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After finishing the main story,

Producer/Director Yoshida told me not to have high expectations like he did with Shadowbringers and [Endwalker], so I went into it with the same feeling as I did with A Realm Reborn.
I feel like I'm a guardian (or, to put it bluntly, a supporting character) watching over the growth stories of the people around me, but since I'd always been the main character and hero up until now, I think it was good that it was refreshing in a way.
Also, as someone who has experienced the FF series, I enjoyed the familiar names and BGM, and the linking of thematic symbols of the numbered titles in the series. However, I feel like there were too many new characters introduced and the depth wasn't very deep.
Where they could have explored Erenville and [Krile] in depth, they just used [Wuk Lamat] for everything. It's a waste. [Wuk Lamat] was too much of a gutsy story, so it felt forced overall, and scenes that could have been interesting were diluted.
At the end, the adventurers and warriors of light had a decisive battle, but I thought, "No, why did they force you [Wuk Lamat] to appear there...lol," and that scene was the player, if they were going to entrust the final battle to the player.
If they were going to leave it up to the characters, I think they should have chosen the Trust.
Until now, it was good to leave it up to the player to answer the question "How would you feel?", but it was disappointing that [Wuk Lamat] was the one to take the lead in answering it.


Also, perhaps because it was divided into a first half and a second half, the first half felt lazy, and they ran out of material in the first half! To be honest, the second half could have been a story that could have been heard in each patch, and if they had done that, the reasons for being able to cooperate with that country could have been stronger, and the characters could have been explored more deeply.



And what I really wish they would never do this again was that after I finished playing the game, when the character was doing the narration (about the country's subsequent developments and what happened to the people), the music was neither game music nor background music, but full of J-POP with voices, which ruined the atmosphere. (The narration was hard to hear.)

I know people like this and dislike it, but I don't like that kind of music itself, and it felt like I was being forced to do something like "It's good for everyone to be smiling! Peace is good! Right!"
I don't have any musical knowledge, but for example, like Last ID [solo instance], "A refreshing breeze is passing by, but this breeze is mixed with melancholy and other feelings, making it sad," I feel like game music is about conveying that with sound rather than voice.

I've always wanted to hear that ID, so I immediately ran to the market board.

Shadowbringers and [Endwalker] also had music with voice, but that music enhanced the scene and character, and added excitement without getting in the way of the character. I really wish they'd stop suddenly doing that, especially since it's not music that symbolizes Golden Legacy [Dawntrail] or the characters . The story has hinted at future plot twists and what Akatsuki [Scions] wants to do, so I'm looking forward to it .

[41 likes]

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Since it was [a new arc], I honestly didn't have high expectations, but I think it was "interesting" (I can't say it was all good because there were a lot of things that bothered me, but looking at the whole thing it was OK).

[12 likes]

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You can use a translator to translate the rest of the thread. I'm not going to copy the rest of the pages here since it takes a bit of effort to fix some of the lingering translation issues (mostly jargon). I'll copy some of the highlights from the rest of the thread.

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I'm in the second half of the story and haven't finished it yet, but I'd like to write my thoughts on the story.

1) There are too many cut scenes.
　I get sleepy when I see mundane conversations in cut scenes over and over again. I fell asleep a few times because of that.
　Honestly, I think it would be better to stop using cut scenes without sound, and I think it would be fine to just have simple text and the speaker fade in and out. (I would like them to put that time into improving the gameplay.)
　Speaking of MMORPG gameplay, I think the most important thing is the battle.
　I thought that the main story, which is mostly made up of cut scenes, is a bit of a mismatch for the game. I would like it to be a game with a story, not a novel with a game !

[Note: the red highlight was from the original author]

2) The composition of the main story or some of the settings were poorly crafted.
Although some of the development of the main story was good, most of it was boring. The content of the trial, the story in that area right after the trial was over, and other developments that could happen in real life were 　boring. FF is a fantasy world, so if it had been more fantasy-like, it might have been interesting. 　From the second half onwards, there were some settings and developments that made me want to point them out.

- Is it really okay to use wooden armor for that enemy?
- The cheerful music and production before entering the enemy camp, is that the right music and production for going to war? I could only imagine it as a school trip.
- The tour of the living environment that started immediately after entering the enemy camp really took the tension away and made me laugh. I feel like recent FF games are spending too much time on the story and the quality of the gameplay is steadily declining. This time, it backfired.

[38 likes]

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[Note: IDK how Japanese pronouns work (I only recognize some words and Kanji), but the translator spit out "him" to refer to Wuk Lamat in their comment.]

I'm still on main quest 97, but I really wanted to vent, so

I'm sorry for my impressions so far. This scenario was during Hika-sen's [Warrior of Light] summer vacation, right? I didn't think he was there to be [Wuk Lamat]'s guardian, but...
he's pretty much always with [Wuk Lamat]. Objectively speaking, this scenario places too much emphasis on [Wuk Lamat]. Therefore, I think it depends a lot on whether you like [Wuk Lamat] himself, but I couldn't empathize with him at all... No, when he repeatedly uses immature words like "everyone's smiles" and "you'll fall in love," I think he should do a little more with his vocabulary or his expressions, since this isn't a manga for children. After all, he's going to be king! Even though he kept saying that, he didn't know anything about his own country's culture, so it's a bit of a point to make, and I wish it was a bit more consistent. Also, there were a lot of cut scenes, but [Zoraal Ja] wasn't explored at all, and the trial of the Kings was too quick, with a small problem occurring and then being solved, and the overall distribution of the story was also strange. Just when I thought, "Okay, we finally made it to the Golden [City]!", some kind of western movie started... Wow, that part really dropped my excitement. Also, even though [Bakool Ja Ja] did whatever he wanted, he wasn't even wanted, let alone disqualified, and instead, when [Zoraal Ja] laid hands on him, he was disqualified in one shot, which is a bit of a bias, but if they could have just caught [Bakool Ja Ja], why did they leave [Wuk Lamat] alone and just wait around all this time even though they knew [Bakool Ja Ja] was plotting something? And why were they talking so loudly that they could have been eavesdropped on? Or, "You're over level 90 and you don't even notice that?" Or, "Even if it can't be helped to progress the storyline, huh?" Or "No?" Or "Why?" Or some other rough points that get stuck in my head, I can't get them out of my head. I have so many complaints that I just want to vent, and even though I haven't finished the game yet, it's likely to become a ridiculous amount of text, so I'll just conclude for now. I know that personnel training is important, but if that's the case, then they should properly supervise [story writers on] the understanding of the detailed character settings and the overall flow. Or, like the old Pixar, they should have many people give their opinions on the storyline and properly brush it up and fine-tune the settings.
In other words, after all the cleaning up after the ancients from A Realm Reborn to [Endwalker], I thought it was time to start afresh and go on a new adventure in the new continent! But this...to be honest, I was extremely disappointed.

[57 likes]

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If I were to give it a score, I'd give it about 20 out of 100.

Overall it's a mess. Everything is plot-driven, there's lines they want to say, and it's just extremely redundant.
I was moved by the stories of [Krile] and [Erenville] in the living memory, but everything else was low quality.
Frankly speaking, I think the quality of the script itself is overwhelmingly better in the relatively low-rated Reborn [ARR].

[35 likes]

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I wish they had portrayed each character's personality more.
When [Zoraal Ja] brought the golden alpaca, I felt he had the potential to be a funny guy, but after that there was nothing particularly surprising. I also
wanted [Bakool Ja Ja] to have more of an element to make him more lovable before they made up, or to have a good-natured feeling if he was a good kid at heart.
Other than his sister complex, [Koana] was bland and didn't have any particular quirks or anything to say about it. There were
only textbook-like characters, so it didn't seem like there was much room to consider or imagine their actions and feelings.

Especially the food challenge! I was expecting some kind of cooking scene to be full of twists and turns when the mysterious duo [Zoraal Ja] and [Bakool Ja Ja] were asked to cook, but suddenly the food appeared and was pointed out [evaluated], and that was the end. I
was left feeling frustrated, thinking, "They've had quite a few jokes in there, but they didn't do anything with this development..."

[49 likes]

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In Shadowbringers and [Endwalker], even if there were some rough spots, I was able to get past them because of the momentum and fun, but this time, even if there were some interesting points, I noticed more things that bothered me.
In particular, there were many developments that betrayed my expectations in a bad way, which was quite annoying.
・You can go to a new area! → Wuk Lamat is kidnapped and held up
・You find the Golden [City]! → You are sent back in front of the entrance
・Let's get on the train! → It's broken and not working → We fixed it! → A mysterious dome appears and you can't get on after all
If you go through these kinds of situations that kill your momentum many times, it also kills your motivation to progress
in the main quest. I was particularly disappointed because I wanted to ride the train (normally)
. Also, I'll just say one thing because it would be too long to go into detail, but I was sad that the use of FF9 elements felt quite sloppy.

[37 likes]

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This is not your story

I was impressed by the interviews with the scenario writers up to Shadowbringers that FF14 was made on the premise that the world moves when the player moves, so it was painful to progress as the player was a mob character [NPC] from start to finish and there was no sense of accomplishment in the adventure.
[G'raha] said, "Just walk wherever you like until you find something at the end of your journey," but in the end the player just followed [Wuk Lamat], becoming a bobbing doll that only nodded to what she said, and it seemed like they couldn't find anything.
At level 100, I finally got Azem's crystal and thought I was becoming more like the main character, but in the end [Wuk Lamat] appeared halfway through and the rest was just the same as before... I was heartbroken and skipped the ending.

[45 likes]

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I would like to write one more thing based on the contents of [Dawntrail].

There were hints scattered throughout the story that we might cross over to another world, so I'll just say this.
I'm very sorry to the person in charge of the [Dawntrail MSQ] scenario, but
I don't want them to be involved in the story of the First World and other areas that are filled with memories up until now, and I don't want them
to touch it.

To be honest, I'm scared that even my memories of the story from A Realm Reborn to [Endwalker] will be destroyed.

[39 likes]

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[Note: the comments on the last few pages just have fewer likes in general cos it's been posted for a shorter period of time].

I was hoping for an adventure in a new continent! I didn't really get that kind of feeling. I wanted to
explore a new world with my own hands, not join a sightseeing tour as the princess's servant. I
want to be the protagonist, even if I'm not a hero.

[25 likes]

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This is just my personal opinion, but to be honest, I was extremely disappointed.
If you enjoyed the story this time, you should not read this one.

I didn't expect [Dawntrail]'s script to be like Shadowbringers or Akatsuki from the beginning, but I didn't expect it to be this boring.
I can't believe it. Seriously.

And isn't this just false advertising? ? They advertise it as summer vacation, but that's not it at all, right?

I don't understand why [Scion] tries to help them. Also, I don't see any conflict between the [Scion] members at all, do you? Suddenly, [Koana] becomes a [sister-con]. [Note: "siscon" is, to put it in the nicest way possible, someone with a crush on their sister]

The story unfolds in a way that makes fun of the player, and the characters just talk nonsense.
Even the excellent maps and dungeons can't make up for the absurdity of the script.

The adventures up to this point have really brought me a lot of excitement and joy. That's why I was so disappointed this time.
In summary, if the scripts from this point on are at this level, I won't be interested in the main story anymore.

I'm sorry for making such unpleasant remarks.

[13 likes]

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It was Estinien's summer vacation.
The end.

[3 likes]

[Shialan]

Holy shit, the circlejerk in this forum is crazy.

Is there stuff to criticize? Absolutely. But the way you guys want to make it look like everything is bad and this was the worst story of all time is actually bordering on mental health issues.

[HighlanderClone]

Holy shit, the circlejerk in this forum is crazy.

Is there stuff to criticize? Absolutely. But the way you guys want to make it look like everything is bad and this was the worst story of all time is actually bordering on mental health issues.

Absolutely. I'm always concerned when people get so obsessed with something they don't like and resort to making fun of it constantly, 24/7. You're absolutely right that it could border on mental health issues. Thank you for speaking out on this incredibly sensitive and important issue. We should all look out for each other and pay attention to signs that someone might be going through a hard time.

#2minbuffwindowstrike


Manifesto:


WE don't want it. Git gud Square!

So, people out there having fun healing and you guys are mad about that.

Enough said about this strike.

Oh boy, it's time for another strike!

#giveus1buttoncombosstrike

So, how is the healer strike going?

Oh wait, it doesn't even start until the official launch. Crazy.

I'm going to enjoy the hyper instant dungeon invites with my healer because this forum tells me that everyone will participate in the strike.

The strike didn't even happen yet. Also, I guarantee you that the only people bothering with this are you here in the forum. 99% of the playerbase doesn't care about this shit. Especially since this forum is so much doom posting and trolling.

[sindriiisgaming]

I just unlocked solution nine and did a bunch quests in it. The story does get better once you enter heritage found. But the story before it is painful. I hope they keep on the same path. But the first half was unacceptably empty. The lack of voiced cutscenes had me loosing focus or falling asleep on the story a lot. I know many will try to shut down criticism and protect the game at any cost

But jeez the story being that bad in its opening act is completely unacceptable. If you can't hook someone in at the start you may loose them for good

[CaptainLagbeard]

Shaaloani is where the story starts getting good... But then wuk comes back.

[Shialan]

Absolutely. I'm always concerned when people get so obsessed with something they don't like and resort to making fun of it constantly, 24/7. You're absolutely right that it could border on mental health issues. Thank you for speaking out on this incredibly sensitive and important issue. We should all look out for each other and pay attention to signs that someone might be going through a hard time.

Wow. Crazy. You know how to look up old posts.

I mean, if that makes you look better to your forum friends, be my guest.

[Folsom]

This is not your story

I was impressed by the interviews with the scenario writers up to Shadowbringers that FF14 was made on the premise that the world moves when the player moves, so it was painful to progress as the player was a mob character [NPC] from start to finish and there was no sense of accomplishment in the adventure.
[G'raha] said, "Just walk wherever you like until you find something at the end of your journey," but in the end the player just followed [Wuk Lamat], becoming a bobbing doll that only nodded to what she said, and it seemed like they couldn't find anything.
At level 100, I finally got Azem's crystal and thought I was becoming more like the main character, but in the end [Wuk Lamat] appeared halfway through and the rest was just the same as before... I was heartbroken and skipped the ending.

[45 likes]

The whole story has been like this for me. The Warrior of Light had no business being involved. Krile and Erenville could have gone off and done this by themselves and given us a brief synopsis when they got back while we went and actually had our vacation somewhere else. We should have told Wuk Lamat "no," since unlike every other "Warrior of Light enjoys helping the powerless" quest, Wuk Lamat wasn't even that. She was a literal princess with no actual problems, all the resources she needed at her disposal, who ended up somehow always having the right answer despite her naivety. She literally went across the ocean to turn the world's most powerful hero into a show poodle so she could skip around the continent with us sitting patiently on a leash by her side like a status symbol.

[EorzeaWanderer]

Thanks for drawing attention to this thread on the JP forums, which will carry a lot more legitimacy I believe for the developers than the venting found on various anonymous sites.

I read/speak Japanese and continued on into the thread, and I found it reassuring to see the JP players describing in great detail the same kinds of feelings I’ve been getting from XIV lately. Story, story, story presentation at the expense of all else, with gameplay and role-playing in this so-called “role-playing game” becoming some kind of vestigial attachment to 40 hours of watching cutscenes.

[CaptainLagbeard]

Having lots of story isn't bad in itself, but as a game you kind of have to include the player into the story. DT doesn't do that. The majority of the story I felt I was just dragged along by wuk to fulfill her main character syndrome.
Getting to Shaaloani was the first time I felt like I had an actual role in the MSQ for DT and wasn't just sitting in the back twiddling my thumbs waiting to be needed for a dungeon by the plot.

I most dearly hope wuk doesn't make a return in the 7.x MSQs, or if she does that they have at very least replaced most of the writing staff...

[Sotaris]

Holy shit, the circlejerk in this forum is crazy.

Is there stuff to criticize? Absolutely. But the way you guys want to make it look like everything is bad and this was the worst story of all time is actually bordering on mental health issues.

This. I haven't finished it yet but made it to

cowboy place

and while she havent' been my favorite character, the story been fine so far. I honestly don't understand all the push back unless something drastic happens next in the MSQ. My impression thus far is people came in with high expectations despite was told this is going to be a chill story.

Wow. Crazy. You know how to look up old posts.

I mean, if that makes you look better to your forum friends, be my guest.

People like OP are weird to me. Have to stalk people's post history to make fun of them. What are you, 5?