FFXIV Dawntrail reviews are out on Metacritic

[Swordsman]

Dawntrail reviews are out on Metacritic.

Metascore - 79 (Generally Favorable) based on 35 critic reviews from both PC and PS5 (1/5/2025)

Current User Score: 5.3 based on 1,072 user ratings (1/5/2025)
User Score before Metacritic deleted additional user ratings: 6.0 based on 1,265 user ratings (9/15/2024)
User Score after Metacritic undeleted some user ratings - 6.8 (Mixed or Average) based on 794 user ratings (7/9/2024)
User Score after Metacritic deleted some user ratings - 8.0 (Generally Favorable) based on 599 user ratings (7/8/2024)
Initial User Score - 6.5 (Mixed or Average) based on 795 user ratings (7/7/2024)

Steam Reviews - 54% (Mixed) out of 4,341 users (1/5/2025)
Steam Reviews in the last 30 days - 34% (Mostly Negative) out of 120 users (1/5/2025)

Ratings are subject to change as more reviews come in so let's see how it all pans out.

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Initial Reviews (Not all reviews will be listed):

90 Inverse
Jul 9, 2024
I could actually see myself replaying Dawntrail in its entirety just to pore back over this adventure and look for missed details and re-experience the highs and lows. That’s a first for me, nearly a thousand hours in.

90 Noisy Pixel
Jul 9, 2024
Dawntrail may not be as much of a reinvention of the wheel as it was made out to be. However, it also proves that this formula is still capable of featuring incredible stories and taking us to places that can surprise and challenge our understanding of the world, both in and out of the game. It represents a huge step forward in the worldbuilding of...

90 GLHF on Sports Illustrated
Jul 9, 2024
Dawntrail is a strong foundation for Square Enix to build on, one with more opportunities for different kinds of characters and narratives and a better balance between its two often-conflicting pillars of storytelling and action. Sure, a few rough edges could benefit from polish in the upcoming patches, and I hope more opportunities for interactive...

90 Gamer.nl
Jul 7, 2024
Dawntrail is roughly the same game as Endwalker and the previous expansions, with a few minor nuances and differences. You may find that boring, but bottom line this is still the best you can find in the mmorpg field at the moment. In any case, it is more than enough for loyal players who are ready for new content.

89 GAMES.CH
Jul 5, 2024
Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail is a great expansion that has a lot to offer. The graphics update is really good and the Final Fantasy music is still a masterpiece. The main story questline is okay, but unfortunately not as outstanding as players had hoped. Nevertheless, the new world of Dawntrail is worth a look for every MMO fan, as there are new dungeons, new jobs, new decorative items and much more.

85 Jeuxvideo.com
Jul 2, 2024
After the masterful conclusion of Endwalker, Final Fantasy XIV leaves on new foundations with Dawntrail. Carried by its lighter tone and its endearing characters, it is in its second part that the adventure takes off, after a sluggish start and some less interesting passages. But more than anything, it is through its graphical update and its magnificent new areas that the experience wows us. With more exciting boss fights, two new fun jobs to play and plenty of comfort options, Dawntrail is an expansion that continues in the right direction instilled by Naoki Yoshida and his teams for over a decade. Hoping that the course is maintained in the next updates and expansions.

85 PSX Brasil
Jul 9, 2024
Dawntrail is a great expansion with a story with ups and downs, but that sets the stage well for what could become the new Final Fantasy XIV saga. Furthermore, the improvements brought by the graphical update and the new combat mechanics prove that there is still a lot of potential to be explored in the future of the MMORPG.

83 MMORPG.com
Jul 9, 2024
Dawntrail is largely about working through flaws of all kinds, which it certainly has. But it has its highs, too, that I’d argue are worth fighting for—much like the lands of Tural, full of joy, full of better things. I enjoyed this new FFXIV journey thoroughly, but I know where it needs to build from, and any good adventurer knows to pick up that...

80 IGN
Jul 9, 2024
Dawntrail left me floored with a unique sense of self-reflection and stunned by spectacular combat encounters, and to go through that journey with characters I’ve grown to love, both new and old, proves that this experience can only exist in the form that it does. This expansion is a worthy extension of FFXIV, and it leaves a world of fascinating...

80 But Why Tho?
Jul 10, 2024
The Dawntrail MSQ is salient and beautiful in the exact way that has made the Final Fantasy XIV narrative so beloved…It has its hiccups, and the future will determine its staying power, but in the end, it's an expansion that opens Final Fantasy XIV up into something larger and leaves the Warrior of Light with a vast new future to explore.

80 PC Gamer
Jul 10, 2024
A rich world and amazing dungeon design more than make up for dips in the story.

80 Everyeye.it
Jul 10, 2024
Dawntrail marks the beginning of a major new story arc for the Warrior of Light and his band of heroes. An often didactic story with a sometimes staid rhythm is accompanied by some of the best gameplay innovations introduced in the saga. The two new classes are fun and perform at the right point, but the older jobs have not yet been balanced at...

80 GamingTrend
Jul 9, 2024
Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail is very messy, but still greatly enjoyable. Wuk Lamat is a lovable character who I hope sticks around, with a satisfying character arc tying in with the expansion’s themes. Viper is a blast to play, and every dungeon or trial holds something new and unique. While the expansion isn’t the best FFXIV has to offer, it has so...

80 Multiplayer.it
Jul 3, 2024
Dawntrail is by far the most complex expansion that Final Fantasy 14 has ever had to tackle: after concluding a ten-year-long story, it had to lay completely new narrative foundations, a goal it has only partially achieved. Similar to what happened with Stormblood, it suffers from much weaker writing compared to the usual standards and is particularly marked by significant pacing issues; however, it compensates with an exceptional "Battle Content" design, promising tons of satisfying encounters.

70 TheGamer
Jul 10, 2024
Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail starts with a slow burn that builds into an emotional, captivating inferno that tackles some deep themes and effectively balances new elements with old beats in more ways than one. Overall, it’s a brilliant first chapter to the new story arc that has left me eager to learn more about what the future holds in new patches and later...

70 GAMINGbible
Jul 10, 2024
Overall, from stunning new locations, exciting new jobs, multi-dimensional characters and heaps of new content that I will be spending the next few weeks on, Dawntrail was the perfect way to introduce the start of a new arc to Final Fantasy XIV and as a result, still has a lot of story to tell.

70 GRYOnline.pl
Jul 5, 2024
If you wanted more of the same ol' same ol' online Final Fantasy, this is what you'll get. But I wanted something more. If Dawntrail is to be a new chapter, a potential start of a new saga, it needed a better opening, not this boring thing. Time will tell what will become of this.

60 We Got This Covered
Jul 2, 2024
Dawntrail shoves your character so far into the background of its story you may as well not be there. That said, the vibrancy and personality of Tural is a real breath of fresh air, and the dungeon bosses have never been more satisfying to take down.

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For comparison, here are the Metascores for all other expansions:

Endwalker 92
Shadowbringers 90
Stormblood 87
Heavensward 86
A Realm Reborn 86


And the User Scores for all other expansions:

EW: 8.9
ShB: 9.1
SB: 9.0
HW: 8.7
ARR: 7.8

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Source: https://www.metacritic.com/game/fina...xiv-dawntrail/

/r/ffxivdiscussion thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxivdiscus...rrently_76_at/

Link to /r/ffxivdiscussion thread "Dawntrail has reached "Mostly Negative" reviews on Steam": https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxivdiscus...ve_reviews_on/

Scores will be continuously updated as more reviews come out. Feel free to discuss below. Cheers.

[Mostly_Raxus]

I would rather trust audience scores, companies are not above paying for favorable reviews, or threatening to limit access to "perks" in the future (looking at you disney)

granted in your defense you didn't just show positive reviews. but some of these scores are up there with legendary games that are considered foundation to the gaming market, and we all know that is a bit of a stretch for DT given its initial perception.

[TTB-Kun]

4 rushed reviews. LOL, why are you even talking about it.

[Themarvin]

Well FFXIV is first of all a Themepark and most people only like 1 or 2 other FF games and hate the rest, which leaves most of the actual Final Fantasy fans out of in general or bound to hate 50% of the expansions, which is a pity, the game offers good value.

[CaptainLagbeard]

The critic score is entirely irrelevant, but a 7.1 userscore? I dunno... The fights weren't entirely bad, and we had some amazing tracks... But the story had more issues than good parts.

[Bonoki]

Several media outlets have stated on Twitter that they won't publish their reviews until the raids are released, and they are currently inclined to give high scores based on their initial impressions.

[Nucah]

A user score of 7.1 is telling. That's worse than ARR and highlights how divided the community is on this expansion. I also feel like I see both sides review bombing both positively and negatively.

[Isala]

I'm just waiting for the inevitable "To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Wuk Lamat..." copypasta. Because that's almost what it feels like whenever anyone defends her. Like we're too stupid to understand the well written, subtle things that make her somehow not a completely unbearable character.

[Aelin_Ashryver]

Really can't put much stock in the user reviews either honestly when people are rating the entire expansion a 0 for their character not having the exact same face after the graphics update. Some are also rating positively due to story but reading further it's clear they have not even finished the story given their comments.

As ever, who cares about what other people think. Try it yourself and see if you like it. Always my way with any game. If I am not sure I will like it, I look up some gameplay or if I don't want spoilers I just wait on a decent sale and play a while after launch.

[BakoolJaJa]

User score has been steadily falling ever since release. I remember it being at least 8.7 at some point. The past day it's been decreasing by 0.1 every few hours. I'm expecting it to fall further. (Update: Score was 7.1 when the post was created, dropped to 6.9 less than 4 hours later.)

The critic scores... We'll see. It is smart to wait until raids release and take them into account, definitely. But also I'm guessing many of the critic reviews aren't going to focus on things like story that much at all. So I expect them to be more on the positive side.

None of this matters that much either way. It's still just an expansion and doesn't influence people's views on the entire game. Destiny 2 shit the bed with Lightfall. Didn't stop them from successfully selling the expansion after that. But they DID take the player feedback to heart. That is the ONE thing we should be hoping for. And that is the one reason to leave reviews.