Dawntrail

[MoJaal]

Are there any Dawntrail enjoyers there? I was pretty on the fence on even starting it, after all the feedback I read on the Internets. And its... fun. Environments and music are great as usual, vibes are relaxing, story and characters are captivating enough. And I gotta say, I like this dense upbeat cat much more than I ever liked Zero with her "I can't feel compassion" struggles. I also play with Japanese voiceovers, if that's any difference. Not looking to start a flame war, just want opinions of the players.

[Jeeqbit]

Certain things could have been better, but it was alright. And I like Wuk Lamat as well.

[TeresaFortell]

I like the cyberpunk aesthetic, but that may be because I also enjoy playing 2077, which has probably skewed my taste for this kind of setting.

[MikkoAkure]

I think people with super polarizing opinions may have mostly filtered themselves out and cannot post to the forums anymore, but I still think it wasn’t that good.

Despite being the main thing I was looking forward to, the first half of the storyline in Tural felt really weak to me. The Scions also felt as if they had a really poor excuse to be there and didn’t do anything, making it feel like there was a mixed opinion on the Scions in the writing room where half the staff wanted to move on from them while the other half (or management) couldn’t let the game continue without them so we got a really awkward middle-ground.

I wasn't looking forward to the sudden aesthetic shift teased in the previews before the expansion but ended up liking those parts more than the Tural parts and I guess the writers felt the same because Tural was completely abandoned by the game after 7.1.

The voice direction quality really dropped this expansion and even preexisting characters did not sound good at times and apparently more than a few lines were re-recorded. Famously the Wuk Lamat one at the end of 7.0 and G’raha in the patch story. Speaking of Wuk Lamat, I didn’t hate her, but I really didn’t care for her either and I feel like a lot of enjoyment of this expansion depends on how much you liked her since she was the bulk of the expansion. If she didn’t click with you then the whole thing felt like a slog and I think the game could have leaned on a wider cast of heavily involved characters and also utilized Krile better in 7.0.

That all said, I think the encounter gameplay was the best it’s ever been and that’s the majority of the content people do repeatedly over and over. Shame the expansion just felt dragged down by the writing team.

[Gaiinahat]

Koana was supposed to be the main character. Woke Lmao wasn't even supposed to exist.

[Selsix]

I hated it. Been playing since 2.0 and it's honestly the worst expansion I've ever seen.

[JenSha]

I liked the dungeons, the glam restriction removal, the dye changes, more furnishing slots, and that's about it. I hope Evercold will be more fun, especially story-wise.

[Carin-Eri]

I actually enjoyed it.

Was it the best expansion/story they've given us? Nope.
Was it the weakest expansion/story they've given us? Ehh... probably - but then, following Shadowbringers and Endwalker was never going to be an easy ride.
Was it the affront to game storytelling that some act like it was? Definitely not.

I've said this before, but Wuk Lamat didn't bother me in general (dare I admit that I sometimes found her endearing) and there was only one instance that I wished she wasn't there - the fight Vs Queen Eternal, because having the boss say "you are the greatest threat" should've drawn a line under that fight and I don't feel there was any need for Wuk Lamat to get involved.

However, I enjoyed the story in itself, I thought the Arcadion was fantastic and I'm of the opinion that they wrapped it all up pretty well too, and have set things up for Evercold very nicely. I would therefore have to confess that the experience was, overall, positive for me.

And one thing almost everyone DOES agree on where Dawntrail is concerned - the music was superb!

[Regis_Paran]

It was awful. It will take some next level writing to clear that stain. And I'm not sure SE writers are capable of that atm.

[Selsix]

the music was superb!

Well, except for "Smile" anyway.