7.3 MSQ Was Absolutely Terrific

[Exinias]

I thought the storytelling, writing, flow and direction of all the MSQ was top-notch. I noticed pretty early on that there was different music in almost every cutscene from start to finish and it really helped keep things exciting. DT has some absolutely beautiful motifs and arrangements and 7.3 showcased all of it brilliantly.

I liked the change of pace with the start of MSQ by doing the puzzle stuff too, it was something different and it was more than just watching cutscenes and more than just finding that one hidden thing. I guess it gave me personally more purpose as to what my character was doing in-game and allowed me to redeem myself when Alphinaud quizzed me all those years ago.

Dungeon was absolutely spectacular. Music was insane, visuals were aesthetically pleasing, and all the bosses were super fun and the 2nd boss especially was wild. I really enjoyed the trial as well (Will do the EX soon) and especially the cutscenes afterward where the Scions were fighting Necron, very top-notch quality on everything involved with cinematics and cutscenes. I also did the trial in duty support so that was cool to see!

Getting to see Living Memory restored was the total cherry on top, too, and it looks even better than when we first saw it. (Also, most beautiful theme in the game and I'm glad it has so many variations)

Overall, Speen is Queen and I loved the quality of the MSQ and everything that supports it.

[Auro_Seldaris]

It was better. The post-trial cutscene alone was more effort put into the game than the entirety of 7.0's MSQ. It isn't mindblowing but it was certainly a step in the right direction in all aspects. The music especially was much appreciated after the continual reuse of tired old ARR-era tracks.

Now let's have this be an indicator of improving quality, and not just a one-off last-ditch effort to "save" DT.

Remember, after Endwalker, Yoshida specifically said to expect lower quality going forward. That they had put "almost too much" effort into EW and we shouldn't expect that level of quality for every expansion going forward. (Which is BS, btw. You don't get to dictate what I expect, Yoshida. It was also talking out of both sides of his mouth, as they also said they would "spare no expense" on FFXIV going forward.) I guess they finally realized there's a point where you cut too deep and the bleeding becomes uncontrollable.

So like I said, let's have this be an indicator of a course-correction and not a last-ditch "all hands on deck" attempt to salvage Dawntrail.

[Carin-Eri]

I, for one, agree!

I was never a 'hater' where 7.0 was concerned, but one issue I did find with it was that it didn't really have any standout moment - the closest we really got was Vrtra's appearance, which leaned heavily on Endwalker nostalgia ('Footfalls' for emotional impact) and the Queen Eternal Fight, which I felt was dampened by Wuk Lamat gatecrashing the battle after Queen Eternal identified 'us' as the "single greatest threat".

So far as I am concerned 7.3 corrected that. Real-Sphene was really likable and well-written, the story was engaging, the puzzles added a nice interesting twist to proceedings, and I felt the finale was epic and the Warrior of Light actually doing something in the cutscenes was a real treat! I've watched it several times via Unending Journey - something I hadn't really done with anything from 7.0 - 7.2.

Each to their own, obviously - but it was 10/10 for me.

[Larirawiel]

It was way better than the previous stuff, yes. I liked the puzzle part of it. But there were still way too many very weird lines from the scions. So i give the patch a B-.


Cheers

[Wasselin]

I really like it. I kind of feel like some parts of Dawntrail were a little out of order. Like the exposition about the origins of Oblivion should have come sooner, for example.

I really like exploring these transhumanist themes since this is something that a small cadre of people are starting to espouse in real life. What is the motivation to live forever as a digital copy, and what would that do to you and to everyone around you? It's not the deepest dive into the topic, but it's not completely flattened either. They do a decent job of not making it too simple or one-sided, which I appreciate.

I did also appreciate that this story had a point more than I got from the 7.0 storyline.

[AntoniusQuil]

So far post-7.0 msq is definitely my favourite post-X.0 msq. I’m curious how 7.4-7.5 will turn out.

[Themarvin]

If they would fix Ultima Thule as well, that would be nice too...

[Vyrerus]

7.3 was ok. 7.2 was better. I'd order the DT post patches from best to worst as 7.2 > 7.3 > 7.1.

The opening sequence was fairly emotionally empty. The cutscene work, and unique/more physical animations made up for it. I was iinterested to see how things turned out for Geode, and exactly what the cutscene motions were going to be.

However, it was another throwaway red-shirt at the end of the day, so it comes down to praising the cutscene work, rather than the real impact on the story. Think about how it could have just as easily been any Oblivion member, and how it would have lead to the same excuse to cozy up to Shale. Like we weren't shown Geode and Shale's prior relationship leading up to this. We were told about it. A little bit before and a little bit after.

I also keep hearing people praising the music choices, but I don't recall hearing much of anything new. I know in the FFXI raid they leaned into using FFXI cutscene themed music, but in the actual MSQ of 7.3 it was mostly reuses. Which isn't bad. Other than their insistence at plugging Smile into a game where it doesn't belong in any cutscene (it's credits music and should stay there), all of the choices did fit their respective scenes.

I liked the dungeon bosses. The 2nd boss receives a lot of praise for its unexpected throttling of what's normally a 24-man separation mechanic into a 4-man duty, but honestly the first boss was also solid in my opinion. Note, I've not been actively playing the game as I've been back in FFXI making REMAs and slaying Odyssey, so I haven't done Occult Crescent. But the whole, hide the tells mechanic on the first boss is still tripping me up.

The trial was also fun, if a bit easy. I liked the XIV take on that boss.

Sorry to say and to see though that they know no other way to write Wuk Lamat. She shows up to be a Blackhole Sue still, twisting dialogue and NPC knowledge/perception in on herself even while being mostly absent. Then when she did get her minor friction induced wounds, it turned into a total overblown concern moment for her that lasted entirely too long.

As far as I'm concerned, 7.3 was just more Dawntrail, with player feedback taken into consideration but only so far. Like I've seen for months people wanting more Shale, and we got more Shale. I've seen for months people saying less Wuk, and we got less Wuk. But there was no motion to really step back or change things to truly be better. It was more like an attempt to make DT more palatable. They succeeded somewhat, but I honestly don't think they learned to not do what they did, and more how to just placate us.

[Khryseis_Astra]

I, for one, agree!

I was never a 'hater' where 7.0 was concerned, but one issue I did find with it was that it didn't really have any standout moment - the closest we really got was Vrtra's appearance, which leaned heavily on Endwalker nostalgia ('Footfalls' for emotional impact) and the Queen Eternal Fight, which I felt was dampened by Wuk Lamat gatecrashing the battle after Queen Eternal identified 'us' as the "single greatest threat".

So far as I am concerned 7.3 corrected that. Real-Sphene was really likable and well-written, the story was engaging, the puzzles added a nice interesting twist to proceedings, and I felt the finale was epic and the Warrior of Light actually doing something in the cutscenes was a real treat! I've watched it several times via Unending Journey - something I hadn't really done with anything from 7.0 - 7.2.

Each to their own, obviously - but it was 10/10 for me.

Same here. I really loved my character actually doing something unique to her job in the post-trial cutscene! I just wish the book in the inn gave us a pause button for the cutscenes so I could get a nice screenshot of that, because my timing on that one sucks!

I know some people won’t agree, but

I also loved seeing the Ascian at the end. The Zodiark/Hydaelyn era may be over, but there are still Ascian unaccounted for. As someone who enjoyed the Ascian, Ancients and Azem lore, I think there’s still more good stories that can be told that could be weaved into the new story arc.

[Carin-Eri]

Same here. I really loved my character actually doing something unique to her job in the post-trial cutscene! I just wish the book in the inn gave us a pause button for the cutscenes so I could get a nice screenshot of that, because my timing on that one sucks!

I'll admit, I was grinning like an idiot when

Wuk Lamat dropped to the floor to reveal a pretty pissed-off looking Warrior of Light stood right behind and very willing to put an end to Calyx's BS!

And agree that it was really difficult to get a good screenshot there; this was the best I could grab: