FINALLY! Some GOOD MSQ | FFXIV Dawntrail 90-95

[@jeremyphillips6564]

Back in ARR, there's a solo duty where you spar with Hoary Boulder, and he realises for the first time the gulf between himself and the WoL. He gets back up several times (and Coultenet even helps out eventually), but each time you dispatch him with ease. A mentoring moment like that with Wuk Lamat would have been great.

[@XieRH1988]

i think the problem with the player expectations was that they were thinking of wuk lamat as someone who was weak and needed to become physically stronger (which leads to the WoL being like a combat mentor) when the actual MSQ plot was more about her learning about the cultures of Tural and leaving behind her sheltered life. The fact that she went from not being able to land a scratch on Bakool Ja Ja to beating him in a duel is not all that different from the WoL struggling against Zenos at the start of 4.0 to beating him by the end of 4.0. The WoL was never mentored in Stormblood nor underwent any training arc to power up. If anything, Zenos was the one who powered up by gaining his fake Echo power. Sometimes the way these stories work is just that the protagonist has potential that isn't fully unleashed until the circumstances bring it out in full force.

[@FishSkeleton-]

Is that really mentoring though, and not just showing that you far outclass someone? If Mike Tyson whooped some winner of a local tournament, is he really teaching them much per se? 😂

[@knukls928]

I mean with his ppunches he might actually cause you to lose levels.

[@Poldovico]

@@XieRH1988 Life/adventuring mentor, rather than combat.

[@kiriuxeosa8716]

I did love that fight and have been wanting another like it I feel that something the audience would love is exactly what was advertised but didn't get I want to fight all the scions in their respective classes I think that would've been perfect Physical dps against estinien Magical dps against alisaie Healers against urianger Tanks against thancred Or even like the level 50 dungeon where they do teams so we go against the twins Thancred and Urianger doing their bromance tag team Sorceress Y'shtola with a few summons for support Krile and G'raha switching jobs between healer tank and summons to try and counter whatever job you go in as Honestly what better fight than The heroes who saved the star and restored peace to the land THE SCIONS OF THE SEVENTH DAWN! VS. The lone adventurer, The champion of the people, The crosser of realms, The conquerer of primals, The slayer of gods, The traveler of space and time, THE WARRIOR OF LIGHT!!!!!!!

[@csrjjsmp]

I’m glad everyone loves Krile I just wish the writers loved her more too 😢

[@Fenix1o]

Yeah that's been the main lingering complaint i've had about Dawntrail really. I wish we actually did more mentorship. It kind of felt less like a mentorship and more like an unpaid babysitting job.

[@FF-tp7qs]

Also the competition with Koana and Urianager and Thancred was a nothing burger. They spend more time helping than getting in the way

[@quesopasso]

"I want my Indiana Jones Krile adventure". Me too...

[@alchemi802]

Me three. To bad we didn't get that, or even a good story for that matter. :(

[@brikaro1]

As I read this I saw the framed picture of Indy and his dad behind Garrett lol

[@danthefool21]

I'm watching this after your analytics conversation on the podcast. These videos are the main content I interact with. I love these videos for the discussions and the superb editing. Hope this helps, ya'll are great!

[@Amovetv]

Thanks dan!

[@venabre]

I loved, LOVED the start of Dawntrail, but I am extremely biased, for I live in Central America and I was doing it alongside my boyfriend who lives in South America. When even the cups they use in the campfire are something you can relate to because you have identical ones in your kitchen, boy does that make for an amazing experience.

[@serisothikos]

The degree of material-culture research they seem to have done for this was frankly unbelievable. Cloth textures, textile patterns, ceramics, stonework, you name it.

[@Cellybeans]

That’s so cool

[@Raika63]

Agree on needing more scenes as a mentor. I hear a lot of "we're there as her mentor" but I feel like we only really get those two scenes, and one is meant to be a payoff. Why not have us duel her a couple times before her limitbreak bonanza solo duty rather than have the same conversation about peace for the hundredth time? Maybe have us give her more advice? I would have loved a scene of someone who happened to know who we were that was about to treat her badly and then we just stare at them menacingly and they adjust their tone all of a sudden. If I'm going to be the badass mentor, make me feel like the badass mentor for more than like a single scene before the payoff; make me feel like her victory is my victory in that duel with bakool ja ja - because I didn't really feel that.

[@Disconnected66]

they could even cut us off from dueling with ali bringing us god forsaken tacos and wuk lamat accidentally crushing them they could still hurt us how they wanted to while giving us the good writing

[@KLGChaos]

Agreed. There was a comment I made on Jesse's video about us not feeling like we've inspired much or taught much. We were just kinda there to kill things.

[@katarh]

Garrett mentioned "Not as Luke, but as Obi-Wan" regarding the relationship they were trying to portray. And thinking back to the OG New Hope Episode IV Star Wars, what is one of the brief scenes we get between Luke and Obi-Wan? Proper tutoring on how to deflect laser blasts without being able to see. That's the kind of crucial one on one mentoring that would have set the stage much more clearly that we're there to act as as a mentor, and not just a hired bodyguard. Hell, it wouldn't have even needed to be combat. Just a game of Hi-Low or something to show the importance of evaluating risks and weighing the odds of success.

[@MaZeW1]

I honestly was not bothered by that too much. One way to teach is traditionally to do your thing and make your apprentice learn by immitation. And I see most of what happened as exactly that. They probably could and should have made sure people got that. And the one thing they always showed WoL as is acting with calm confidence.

[@AvRiku]

the sad thing is the game has done the mentor thing good to great a ton of times already, rising event a few years ago + the host of job stories in the HW/Stormblood expansions. We arent a mentor, we are a glorified cheerleader/nodder and it frustrates me to no end hearing people say "but we mentored Wut Lumak", Hell you could of easily had each of the scions sit down the campfire and tell relatedable stories about themselves and how they grew. Have ALphy talk about his Crystal Braves and his journey with Ysale/Estienin in HW, have Aliesia talk about her struggles to find her place when she her brother's academics constantly overshadowing her and her own insecurities (you know like what Wut Lamak has with Kona) just to name a few.

[@WillKazeOh]

Garrett: How right am I!? Me: *takes a deep breath* Garrett: Don't tell me! Me: *stops breathing*

[@Poldovico]

I think part of the issue is we are used to Ishikawa's writing team. They would, multiple times per expansion, take the boldest swings possible in earnest and hit every one. Think of it: you've placed Shadowbringers and Endwalker among your favourite stories ever, but if you try and make a synopsis of them they'll sound like the most overcooked, bloated, cringy Z-tier anime BS you've ever heard. Much like Wuk Lamat herself, the newer direction clearly doesn't feel as confident taking those big swings. This is fine in a vacuum, they are risky as hell and you don't want to see a game that tried that and missed, but that style of writing defined modern FFXIV, so the tonal shift can not be avoided.

[@TITANCREED]

Kyle’s comments bring to mind an insight from Ebert: “Don’t judge a movie by what it’s about, but how it goes about it.” That doesn’t immunize Dawntrail from criticism or forgive its internal flaws. However, it should be remembered as people start talking about what they wish Dawntrail had been. That’s why I gravitate towards Kyle’s criticisms over others, including those who are very positive about the expansion. He’s providing critiques based on what he has seen thus far and without objecting to Dawntrail’s inherent tone and general narrative priorities. He also discusses the game without trying to reconcile it with the problematic dialogues occurring in social media. This isn’t an indirect disparagement of Garrett’s comments, for the record. It’s just that, as someone who works with writers and has to consider Ebert’s line every day, Kyle’s opinions are of a nature that I deeply respect. Also, regarding Garrett’s comment on pacing, it’s an issue of integration. Dawntrail’s early zones are redundant with one another in terms of tone and character beats. This part of the expansion is also fairly episodic, with each zone setting up and resolving its own crisis. That causes the zone itself to feel rushed, while the redundancy causes the overall experience to feel slow.

[@YapatononskibidiinohioYapper]

It's not that we are dissapointed because it's not something we wish it had been. That's cause it was advertised as such and we rightfully feel wrong. We already prepared for the stake to be lowered so the bsr is already lowered, going down even more than that is just comically evil. 😂

[@thesunthrone]

@@YapatononskibidiinohioYapper This hyperbole is not helpful. A game's story turning out different than advertised, for a game that often misdirects in its trailers anyway, is not "comically evil". Disappointing, maybe, sure. But it's just a video game, man. Unsubscribe, come back when you think it's better, don't make this a bigger deal than it is and don't devalue language when actual, tangible, real evil exists in the world and can be seen on display every day.

[@wolfair]

Zoraal Ja fought Valigarmanda with us because he wanted to test his strength against the monster that his father fought all those years ago. there is nothing humane about his choice here - he just continues to try and prove that he's strong enough to be his father's son.

[@thesunthrone]

And when Koana made that off-hand remark of "well dad fought it pre-nerf so this isn't really the same" to Wuk Lamat, Zoraal Ja took it to heart and discarded any worth he might have earned from this victory. Once again, it was not enough and he had to do more, be better.

[@RougeMephilesClone]

45:51 My first time listening to this, it sounded like the music literally exploded into the scene. Perfect.

[@Naoto-kun1085]

Balanced criticism of Dawntrail is my favorite thing x3

[@shadeblackwolf1508]

Alexander calculated all possible futures during the fight at the end of the raid, and if we beat him, his calculations conclude there is no possible timeline in which he is a net positive, so he powers down. The twinning regeals that G'raha's time travel was done with a Garlond ironworks replica alexander

[@MaggieBer]

the skydeep cenote track is one of my absolute favorite track, it is both longing and mythical at the same time. embodies sadness and relief. just soooo much love for it!

[@psymar]

"I know the Allagans, the Allagans are good friends of mine, and you're no Allagans!" -- G'raha Tia, if he were there

[@STOOPIDDUMBY]

I checked out of the streams once you guys started playing. Not for any negative reasons but because I wanted to put some distance between my experience and yours so I’m glad to check back in with you guys

[@NezeruGaming]

Of all commentary on Yak'tel, no one ever picks up that it isn't racism or race superiority that fuels the xenophobia of the jungle mamool ja, but their dire material conditions. They want escape of the lower jungles leading to conflicts with the hrothgar, because the resources are scarce and they see creating powerful "sacred two heads" as their only way to uplift their circumstances. That's why it was important that Wuk Lamat address the material conditions at the root of their problems so the slow healing process with the rest of the Tural community could begin, not some reductive "racism was magically solved with the power of friendship" many people seem to take from this zone.

[@katarh]

The only thing they were able to grow was friggin blue bananas. Just getting them some more crops that'll grow under those conditions will be a massive help. Koana, more than anyone, is the one who can use his Sharlayan knowledge to give them the aid they need. What of other goods that they could trade? I bet some goldsmiths would be interested in making jewelry out of the meteorites. What of ores? What of other unique fish in the area? (Fisher role quest even has you get something from one of the deep cenotes, iirc.)

[@wishtwine]

One of my favorite bits of storytelling flavor from that zone is that if you do optional side quests, you don't get any gil from them like you would in other areas. Maybe one or two will give you food items but that's it.

[@tryagain6691]

It is both. Tural is united and they could leave, just as many mamool ja did as they followed Gulool Ja Ja. They aren't exiled or locked into that place, they are the extremist group that chose to remain there and they try to breed two headed mamool ja, that will lead them out of the deep jungle, despite a two headed mamool ja already being on the throne, who already lead many of their people out from there. Their two headed children are also grew up thinking themselves born superior, which is clear when we see and hear Bakool Ja Ja. So, it is not just race superiority and racism that fuels their xenophobia, but it plays a very big part in their culture.

[@scotty110]

I see some parallels between the Mamool Ja and the Omicrons, in that both did what they did out of a perceived necessity for survival, the Omicrons of course took it soo far that it became all they knew, but the Mamool Ja appeared to understand the cost of doing what they were doing, but saw no other alternative themselves, it made them more amenable to alternatives, it was the whole "we can't keep doing this" "do you have a better idea?" "no......" trap that they all know is what will happen if they speak up about it, and Bakool Ja Ja finally makes the decision to break the silence by telling us everything.

[@ahorseofcourse7283]

Remember that bad material conditions can help to fuel the fires of racial violence, particularly if the ruling classes -- the Autarchs of Mamook -- stand to benefit.

[@gabgano8101]

Thank you for cooking this delicious repast. I think this is your best video so far, no joke

[@johnaldridge83]

I understood that reference

[@alden2085]

I think the biggest problem for me with the first half of DT was how it gave us a ton of threads that would have been interesting to pursue, but the only thing it actually wanted to spend more than a teaser's worth of time on was Wuk Lamat realizing just how amazing she really is, if she just believed in herself. It wanted us to mentor her, but gave us almost no chances to do so. Like you guys pointed out, when one of those mentor moments came up it was great, but there was like.... 3 of them? I think it's what contributed a lot to the "Hurry up... wait, that's over already?" vibe. The threads that were interesting were over too quickly, and the threads that weren't interesting felt pointless because they went nowhere.

[@Norbert_Sattler]

The storm was caused by Valigarmanda's seal growing weak, and some of it's powers leaking out, so... depending on your point of view, a Kaiju causing the storm was either not far off, or spot on.

[@eorzeanECM]

I've been missing your MSQ streams but this is second best. I truly appreciate your MSQ recaps. So instead of a super chat...joined the bromance patreon.

[@Amovetv]

Aw, thanks big time!

[@davelzdr]

The boys again continue their time honored tradition of being so right while being so wrong. Incredible

[@duskblade1119]

You guys were cooking up some interesting theories at the end.🙂

[@tenkiforecast]

I think one of the big problems early with Dawntrail is that CB3 was so worried about the Warrior of Light accidentally doing a colonialism that they made the entire first half of the expansion...feel like it lacked any kind of conflict.

[@SilentMike55]

I am interesting in learning more about Kyle's new life living in a bush

[@lotus_rouge]

Fantastic video! I thought the first half of DT was kind of just a vibe myself and didn't mind anything particularly exciting happening for a while immediately after EW, but I do agree with your ideas about what could have made it better. Some more excitement and intrigue sprinkled in would have gone a long way, especially with the rite itself, it was surprisingly straightforward yet meandering at the same time. Looking forward to seeing what y'all think of the second half :)

[@jaesaces]

I think Bakool Ja Ja's father knows how awful this tradition is too, but for the sake of his people, it is a necessity and something that he *needs* for his people to prosper. Which explains why when presented with a viable alternative he's willing to be the representative scapegoat for his people.

[@Forren236]

23:24 Hereabouts this is something that changed between 6.55 and 7.0, Wuk Lamat was implied to be much more travelled and worldly in 6.55 but ended up being the sheltered city girl in 7.0 and the whiplash was insane.

[@BananaMellor]

I didn't get this whiplash and with hindsight I attribute both 'versions' of her as simply being a curious person who finds joy in seeing and doing things firsthand. I don't think this necessarily has to be in conflict with her being sheltered. We don't know a lot of the specifics of her childhood or how exactly she spent it. But if I had to guess, I'd say she found plenty of things to marvel over in the city, including the various peoples living there. But her experiences didn't give her insight into the areas outside the city nor the cultures that existed outside the melting pot she called home. And I'd wager she also spent plenty of time on things she didn't enjoy - the classic 'you must study even though you hate it' trope that often shows up with royal or noble characters who are expected to have administrative obligations in the future.

[@MaZeW1]

When was she implied as such? Nevermind. The "let's go hunting to learn about each other" might suggest such a thing. I would not say it depicts her as "travelled". It however made her appear much more country girl than she ultimately turned out. So I can see that. It was a bad first impression for the kind of character she was ultimately supposed to be.

[@callowguru2611]

I took that to be her being boastful about herself and misrepresenting who she is. Just like how she doesn't get seasick.

[@fredy2041]

When was implied? Did you pick up her fake out personalityy that he takes out on lv 91 ?

[@callowguru2611]

@@fredy2041 I had suspicions that she was all talk early on because of how she reacts to the talking bird solo duty and how she gets freaked out and then immediately says she wasn't scared, only surprised. Set her up as someone who could talk the talk but not walk the walk.

[@bloodyninja2411]

Love how they seem to forget in skynote dungeon song is also sad because of all the dead babies.

[@Syrra13]

I am so excited for you guys to see the rest of the story

[@Kasaaz]

On Krile: I wonder if the reason so many Lalafells go mad with power is because they're so small and forced to be so patient so often...

[@Derekloffin]

For the 'dead' head, I think the best explanation is that he is braindead. He isn't dead dead, but effectively will never regain consciousness. This means that all muscle control is left with the remaining head I would guess so he can still keep the other head up, but nothing much more.

[@katarh]

Regarding the lack of voice acting: While the UK voice actors were not impacted by the SAG-AFTRA strikes, there might have been some impact on the US based voice actors hired specifically for Dawntrail. That is one speculation why scenes that clearly could have had voice acting in them were left unvoiced - they simply ran out of time after the strike was over. (SAG-AFTRA has now started striking again versus some other video game companies, but SE is not named in the current strike. Thankfully.)

[@MsSjofn]

I absolutely would be one of the people saying 'it's fine, we're there as a mentor!' if I ever felt like I was actually mentoring anyone. And the game has done that very well before, several times (they even do it better in one of Dawntrail's own side quest chains!), they just ... *didn't* this time.

[@TheHyny]

That intro edit made me have a hearty laugh. Thanks for that. 😄

[@SventFulgur]

Alright you heard the man, just smile and let the rainbows sing

[@micalt]

About the sometimes weirdly fast pacing, Limsa Lominsa takes 4 expansions to even start to fix their past mistakes and is making a point about how long and difficult it is to let go of old grudges and prejudice. But Mamook fixes its issues in 1 level.

[@ahorseofcourse7283]

Because they have a two-headed semi-demigod who now has permission to shout, "NO MORE EUGENICS!" whenever a lizard tries to Hoobigo a chameleon right in the Boonewa for purposes other than love or MamoolyFans.

[@necroguy11]

There’s a huge difference in dynamic tho. Limsa struggles with those issues primarily because they are multi-factional and deal with control over concrete resources/land. In contrast the Mamool Ja are a united entity with a specifically solvable issue who are, and this is key, FANATICAL about the opinion of Bakool JaJa. As soon as he announces he’s behind WoL and co’s solution they are committed. In contrast Merlwyb spent most of her time, even currently, trying to convince the diverse factions of Limsa who already had fractured relationships with each other to begin with.

[@CFHistory]

I know you guys have voiced concern about the DT videos underperforming; speaking from my experience, I think personally I have shied away from DT MSQ videos in general because I saw a lot of extreme negativity (especially like what Garrett mentioned in passing about Lamaty'i), so I have wanted to avoid them until you guys have had the whole experience, as well as wanting (and I'm gonna steal a line from another community member I saw comment whose name I can't remember) to have the space in my heart for listening and considering what legitimate criticism people DO have; DT as a whole is very special to me and I haven't wanted my own gut reactions and emotions to affect my enjoyment of your consistently well-reasoned assessment of ffxivs narrative all of this to say, I am excited to watch your full catalogue of DT videos eventually, and I legitimately love your MSQ videos; I hope you will continue to make them going forward, because even if I don't agree with y'all on everything, you bring such a well constructed and unique perspective to discussions of the story of 14 that I will always want to come back to 💖

[@herebejamz]

I think a lot of people feel Bakool's dad get's kinda glossed over for the eugenics is the difference between restorative justice over retributive justice. Instead of condemning the people who did the thing, they've found the societal issues that led to that malpractice and fixed it. Instead of dwelling on it, the perpetrators are given an opportunity to make amends and grow from it, much how Golbez isn't executed for his crimes either. As for his acceptance of being wrong, the situation reads to me more like he always knew it was wrong. Those are also his children in that cenote. But it's sunk cost fallacy. In for one failed baby, in for a thousand. They saw no other option, but now they do have choices. They can make their community worth living in without violence and eugenics now.

[@csrjjsmp]

@@herebejamz which is why restorative justice sucks donkey balls

[@thebrave9971]

VerCarth seems to be very much enjoying that throne after the FF1 run

[@patyos2]

Ya in a way Dawntrail is a lot of ARR and Stormblood where you travel foreign lands to learn and help the people

[@patyos2]

I can’t wait for more Dawntrail MSQ streams

[@BananaMellor]

There were times when I appreciated the choices the devs made to make it make sense that we can call on allies for dungeons or trials. Making the story make sense for why characters are there with you. And I think Dawntrail has probably taken that too far. From a plot perspective there are characters who have nothing to do but because they happen to be there, we can use them for Duty Support. If I had one comment I could pass to the devs, it's to not let the meta mechanics get in the way of the story. We can handle a few instances of suspension of disbelief. I think even now there's still some earlier cases that weren't addressed for duty support and plotwise we're basically soloing a trial despite the mechanics making it an 8 man fight.

[@iantaakalla8180]

I enjoyed Stormblood’s justification of 4/8-man stuff, where it is basically “you were told to go alone but you don’t know who else joined at the same time and invitations were not explicitly forbidden. If your solo run turns into 4/8-man jobs, certainly that’s not out of the question, right?” in Bardam’s Mettle. There is also Alisaie’s conversation about battling Susano’o where she is like “this upcoming job is so tough it feels like you need 8 people to handle it”. Honestly, I could accept the fact that the Warrior of Light recruited other adventurer who also were Warriors of Light to help out.

[@AtelierMcMuttonArt]

@@iantaakalla8180 "Honestly, I could accept the fact that the Warrior of Light recruited other adventurer who also were Warriors of Light to help out." Do you mean In the Susanoo fight? If so, it's actually explicitly stated in an equally forth-wall-breaking manner: "How fortunate that you had the wisdom and foresight to invite several of your fellow adventurers on this journey to the Far East"

[@SpySoundKiller]

Been missing the videos!! Let's goooo!! :D

[@RockR277]

That's some good cooking. It's cool that you guys have the chance to even think about this stuff, cuz as someone just going through normally I didn't make all these connections.

[@holo_val]

I love watching your videos cause it reminds me of how my friends and I love to speculate on the story plot and characters and hype each other up

[@cbrooke2]

Honestly the Alexander connection is a great cook, I hadn't even considered it but that's a fun theory! Now I gotta go back and do the Alexander content...

[@TheFlu-54]

On the note of lizard folk from different tribes being actually in love, there is actually a really sad no cutscene side quest "Seek the Sun" where that is one of the points addressed. Its not a resolved point of the quest but it is important to the storytelling of it. Edit added specific quest name.

[@scottstuddert9178]

4:49 **Malo Mart theme running on a constant loop in the back of my mind intensifies** 36:10 **Cornservant rustles alertly** 37:33 I personally called this back when the trailers were dropping, because the Head of Reason doesn't even move in the cinematics. People talked me out of it because there's a VA listed for him, which is a great dodge (and he is voiced, it's just during the solo duty). So stick to your cooking. Whatever wild takes you have, hang onto them and don't let go until you see the metaphorical or literal body. 48:43 The criticism that the Scions aren't used enough is valid (And Yoshi-P has addressed it), but honestly I think what they did with Estinien is just about right for him specifically. Maybe needed one or two more scenes or minor encounters where at different MSQ points you find him out hunting in the jungle, just reinforce that yeah, he's out here, he's doing the thing he does, maybe you'll run into him later. 51:14 :)

[@MsSjofn]

Yeah Estinien is the only Scion where I'm like "yeah this is pretty much exactly what I expect from him during all this." And I love that for him. :P

[@OfMelodies]

Per usual, I think Garrett is being a little harsh and Kyle is being a lot more nuanced about their criticisms. I disagree that the first half of Dawntrail is less interesting than Stormblood. Is it slower compared to ShB and EW? Obviously. It's a brand new story with seemingly no real threat and a predictable outcome. Is it saccharine? Absolutely, but by the 95 dungeon reveal I knew that those simple, naive adventures were about to come to an end and I knew I was going to miss the low stakes of it all. I thought the environments and societies were infinitely more interesting than StB. The fresh slate and not having multiple, constant threats looming made it easier to connect with the places I was going to and made the story a LOT easier to digest. DT isn't perfect by any means, but I wish more people saw the merit behind it all. I had a lot of fun.

[@knightsolaire5351]

Really funny bit: zoraal ja is an actual ASS viper in valigarmanda. He was like 7th in aggro in my run 💀

[@iantaakalla8180]

I suppose that justifies Zoraal Ja’s endless need for power. He thinks he is at the top but he isn’t even the one damaging Valigarmanda the most and that’s a weakened Valigarmanda. No wonder he turned to ever-increasing sources of power.

[@KuMikuPa]

He's actually highest dps among NPCs according to dps meter, followed by Koana, threat is not always an indicator

[@knightsolaire5351]

@@KuMikuPa whenever I parse in trusts it just lumps them all into 1 pile so idk how you’re getting that info lol

[@beatrixkaelin5120]

About the Mamook eugenics thing: Yes, of course some of them fell in love. Bakool Ja Ja's parents ARE in love as well. It's why his mother is so passive. She wants things to change, but can't bring herself to be hated for standing against it. But there is a very important reason for them to try and ban the FORCED pairings. Look at how many empty houses there are in Mamook. You can cheat and count how many of the buildings don't have a roof. Their Birthrate is so abysmal they don't even need half their houses. And for Bakool Ja Ja, during the feat of Repast, he complains that he would never have released Valigarmanda if he knew he'd have to wait for everyone at the Feat of Repast. He only ever thought of it as a distraction. The other thing to really think on, is that Gulool Ja Ja couldn't beat Valigarmanda, and had to use Valigarmanda's own magic against him. If Bakool Ja Ja could shatter the magic, then Zoraal Ja who is so strong he can one shot Bakool Ja Ja without killing him should be able to beat the Skyruin too. So I'd just leave it as "Yeah, he released Skyruin, but no one was hurt, and the terror is finally over. Ultimately, he did a whole lot of nothing." Alexander was Sharlayan! They made a Giant robot to make a safe research center that could travel everywhere. But it was abandoned because it needed too much Aether to move. Then it was taken by the Illuminati Goblins, which made it more steampunk. The Primal form of Alexander was made by the Hotgo clan who wanted a safe home, using the Enigma Codex to give it life along with a horn like the one from Tupismati which could gather aether form the land super easily. The Mide Hotgo sealed it, and the Illuminati continued to use the Primal for time travel powers granted by the Enigma Codex.

[@MaZeW1]

I am 99% sure Alexander was not Sharlayan made. There was the enigma codex (the strange cone shaped thing) that was a repository of knowledge of unknown origin. And amongst the information it contained was how Alexander was to be built. However, the Hotgo au ra tribe were unable to actually make it and then were duped by an ascian into summoning it instead. But it never was Sharlayan, it just happened that the summoning was performed in the former Sharlayan colony.

[@Deode-d4h]

I'm pretty sure just because they arrogantly think they could "beat" Valigarmanda doesn't excuse the fact that releasing the most dangerous tural vidraal is a bad idea. Valigarmanda could easily evaporate a few villages if it wanted to and we're lucky it just did a relatively minor burst of power once it was freed, and then flew Wor Qor Lardor to recharge it's power. We stopped it before it could do real damage to the continent.

[@beatrixkaelin5120]

@@MaZeW1 Except Y'Shtola told us directly it was made by Sharlayan. Her line is: "Yet it is no mere forgotten contrivance of Sharlayan. The resultant aetheric disturbance confirms that it is a primal, and that it was summoned amidst the ruins left for the river to reclaim." Sharlayan tried to make the defensive Giant, couldn't power it, left it to rust in the Thaliak, The Hotgo Clan Came, used the Codex to try summoning it instead, called the future version, which ate Dayan, killed all of Mide's other contemporaries, and dropped off a book which the Illuminati would use to predict the raid series. After she left, the Goblins managed to finish the summoning of the Primal itself in of the ruins that had sunk into the river, got the completed Enigma Codex to time travel, and it was then called into the past, were a Alexander dropped off a simulacra Black Couerl, killed a few people, and vacuumed up another. Since the Alexander-Dayan stated Alexander was betting on the Warrior of Light's success, it had to do these two stable time-loops in order to create the Bootstrap time-loop to save the Warrior of Light (allowing Biggs and Wedge to experience time travel and the Garlond Ironworks study its mechanisms for time travel.) The Enigma Codex which was used in part to summon its primal form was not the Primal itself, It is what lets the en-Primaled form of the Sharlayan built structure to travel through time and compute possible futures. It's not directly confirmed, but due to the Alexander-fused Dayan, The Core of Alexander could not die, so it must be sealed in a place far away from all hands. So Dayan and Mide become one with Alexander's core, and thanks to some side content stories, we learn that the legends of the Hotgo Clan is that two Children, a boy and a girl, climbed out of a steel Giant's body and formed their clan, which is implied by the characters present that it's Dayan and Mide. My Theory on this is that the Undying Core ran out of aether while sealed in time, and reformed as the Enigma Codex, a record of all Alexander's knowledge and Computations, which then helps to further complete the Perfect Time Loop that is the entirety of the Alexander Raid Series.

[@beatrixkaelin5120]

@@Deode-d4h Again, look at the Context Clues. Gulool Ja Ja Couldn't beat Valigarmanda's magic. Instead he used The Tural Vidraal 's own magic to seal it, that's why for 80 years it never got out, it couldn't surpass its own ice. The fact that the Ice was weakening, wasn't due to the Skyruin trying to break out, but because it was weakening. Since Bakool Ja Ja's magic could break the Vidraal's ice it means he had power which was stronger than its magic. Let's take a look at what happened to people who were in the way of the Vidraal's escape. They were buffetted by the Skyruin's flames, but unlike the flames which STILL BURN EVEN TODAY WITH IT DEAD, These flames did nothing more than parch throats and knock people. Every Injury easily they had were healed by Alphinaud, before we even headed off to kill Valigarmanda at Wor Qor Lardor. And even more telling, during the fight, we are hit by the Vidraal's flame, and while we get a debuff that stays to the end of the Fight. It only lasts to the end of the Fight. Meanwhile every flame Valigarmada made when it was in its prime still burn.Hell, I'd go as far to wager that because not a single Yok Huy was affected by the permanent burn we were when hit by the Tulidisaster, and were healed by Alphinaud, It could be that the flame that did hit them were leftovers from Bakool Ja Ja's flames from releasing the Vidraal, not the Skyruin's. While, yes, Bakool Ja Ja was an idiot to let Valigarmanda free, and he was arrogant to think he could simply kill it later, unleashing it to be a distraction for his competitors, if he was determined to kill the Vidraal right away, he probably could have. Remember, it was only a tough fight for us because we had to wander around to find it, and it had all that time to eat aether from Wor Qor Lardor to power up. And yes, Valigarmanda flew straight to Wor Qor Lardor, the only reason we took such a round about way, was because it took that long for Erenville to realize we could've just used the flames from any of its previous attacks to find the Skyruin.

[@MaZeW1]

@@beatrixkaelin5120 When Y'shtola says "Yet it is no mere forgotten contrivance of Sharlayan. The resultant aetheric disturbance confirms that it is a primal" She directly says it is NOT Sharlayan-made. When you encounter a mystery machine in the middle of former Sharayan territory you might be thinking it was made by them. She is shooting that idea down. It is not a Sharlayan-made machine, it's a primal. While Mide is not the most reliable source I do not think she lies when she says about the Enigma Codex: "It's a book of ideas(...) Within its pages are found myriad wonders(...) most remarkable of all are the plans for a walking citadel." The codex contains the blueprints for Alexander, but unable to make such a complex machine and with some Ascian prodding the Hotgo decided to summon it instead using the enigma codex like an ancient uses a concept crystal to summon it. Then the time loop makes things complicated as time travel alomost always does. The core became indestructable through the Horn of Thaliak, an artifact handed to them by the ascian (who was a callback to a story from 1.0) and Alexander's logic system then created the infinitely repeating instant to stop itself from endangering the world. How the whole Mide and Dayan stuck in Alexander's mind and the ancient legend of the two children comes to be and all that is speculation, as is the origin of the enigma codex. I could write some theories of my own about the codex but it involves DT spoilers I'd like to avoid here.

[@siyrean]

I feel like Valigarmanda should have been an on going threat after its release. Like we would go somewhere new and see the distraction it brought and we would have skirmishes with it along the way before a big trial. It would also hit home for Bakool Ja Ja how bad it was that he released it as we see him start to feel guilt for the destruction he’s brought. Move the trial till later and let him fighting with us, against it be more of a redemption moment.

[@turnintino]

This is a small thing, but I'm kind of glad that it wasn't, just because it would've meant even more altered terrain that would never be fixed because of the way maps work lol. Like, I happened to explore the area Valigarmanda would later be unleashed upon out of sequence, because I was grabbing all the aether currents I could, which meant I saw all the molten rock craters and flaming mountains that I would LATER learn were meant to be the results of Valigarmanda's jailbreak rampage. I'm not a huge role-player or anything, but that kind of immersion-breaking still feels bad to me -- whether I'm seeing it too soon, or when I'm revisiting parts of Gyr Abania long after Stormblood and am still greeted with freshly-flaming Garlean wreckage. Narratively, I absolutely agree with you, that the Valigarmanda threat needed more room to breathe (and that isn't the only thing with that problem in DT, as has been discussed at length by other folks). I just wish every part of the gameplay experience, exploration included, were able to align with that more elegantly.

[@Boethion]

@@turnintino I think all the molten pits and stuff was supposed to show the destruction it did in the past since its magics seem to be perpetuate or at least last a really long time. It didnt actually do anything to the zone after it got released aside from the Ice Prison being gone.

[@Auron200004]

You're right about everything! Except the stuff you're wrong about I mean

[@KhallStream]

Thank you for being conscience about being overly positive. I think XIV is a community of extremes. People hate on things to the point of … relax! Log off, go outside, it’s just a game, take a break. And on the other side, they can enjoy something SO MUCH that it blinds them to any kind of fault and anyone that disagrees even SLIGHTLY is crucified, labeled, ridiculed, and ignored. Above anything else I watch content creators for is honesty. Your love of something can be contagious and welcomed and your distaste of something can open eyes to things I might not have initially noticed. Keep it up, boys. 🙌🏻

[@YapatononskibidiinohioYapper]

Well said

[@gin9410]

personally i found the first half of this expansion to be the strongest start to an expansion, but i also am biased as someone from latam since i spent so much of it in awe of how well handled everything regarding the cultural representation was done, aside from the "crunchy tacos" lol, but it was just genuinely heartwarming to see stuff from my culture be treated with so much love. Plus Wuk is exactly my type of character so i was super happy with following her. The scions themselves are not useful here and i agree they shouldnt be here if they werent even gonna use them, or just use them better, though i will say about the marketting, ShB was also marketed as "time to fight the garlean empire!" which was a blatant lie lmao, so nothing new in that front. i am quite aware and have issues with DT, but it just did not stop it from it being so special to me to the point were i can say its probably the msq i look back to most fondly

[@jackoffrosts]

It was special to you because it wore your ancestors culture like a skinsuit?

[@gin9410]

@jackoffrosts this might be the single funniest reply I have ever had lmao

[@wavypavy4059]

I'm most of the way through clearing all the side quests from these early DT zones, and some of the side quest chains interested me more than the msq for the same areas. Which speaks to the fact that there's a lot of really great world building in dawntrail with smaller scale stories, but also that the msq struggles to balance demonstrating some of that small scale world building with the epic storytelling of previous expansions (and later dt)

[@PetarBladeStrok]

Storm was in fact caused by Kaiju. You probably forgot but it was caused by Valigarmanda's seal weakening. So you were right Kyle! 😂

[@Amovetv]

OH DAMN! Points are points!

[@TheDeliciousMystery]

There is no way on gods green earth Wuk Eve isn't in the HIldebrand quests.

[@dajungle4010]

Alright I just got to the last act of dawntrail. I want to say I understand the criticism and there is a lot dawntrail could have and should have done better. But when I come to expansion themes. At the lvlv 98-100 quests I feel shadowbringers was about the preservation of the past, Endwalker was about the apparent pointlessness of life and dantrail is about the fear of death and in that regard fits right in with what came before. I think any and all major rebukes of this story are valid but must have come from people who gave up before reaching LVL 95 and onwards

[@Morbius246]

VOD squad! Rise up!

[@MondkindVonFlauschen]

Wuhuuu

[@Helbereth]

"I'm living in a bush" almost made me spit my coffee...

[@canatsey]

First half had some weird pacing for me, but I overall enjoyed it. World Building is such a cool thing for me

[@Vesperwow]

I'm an uberfan of this game, but I have never been less interested and feeling like I was doing chores as much as playing through dawntrail.

[@kaleiohulee6693]

After EW I was semi-retired from the hero-ing business. I just fixed this world and I just wanted some time to enjoy it. As for the overall quality I think the story could have benefitted from another draft as there were points that could have been stronger with minor tweeks. People tend to get too extreme these days with their love/hate. Personally I'm very interested in where the post-patch goes, and I suspect it probably has major implications for any problems anyone had with the MSQ.

[@Myskitalwin]

There was much I have to say regarding your video, but I can't word it without context from 95-100. So for now... 😊😊😊

[@CFHistory]

I will also say, no spoilers but I am in the camp that I think the fact that endwalker specifically separated it's patch content, as opposed to where the patches in previous expacs would close out the main story, kinda affected people's expectations; I think the patch content in DT will do a lot to close out some of the loose ends and things that we let go a bit too easy here

[@FF-tp7qs]

I like Wuk Lamat too, but I wanted more of other characters as well. Barely anyone else ever seems to give their opinion of events. Dawntrail has some good ideas but I really think it needed to be given another draft to iron out the kinks

[@Poldovico]

You have the right of it with the early draft energy. And I think they did a disservice to the voice actress they cast as Wuk Lamat, resting the expansion on her performance to the point she would have needed to be Emet-tier outstanding the whole way through to avoid her character becoming grating just by virtue of overexposure.

[@vicarsol9954]

Fine, here's my offering of retention to the YT algo rhythm gods

[@KLGChaos]

Quite the title. 😅 But yes, DT up to this point was very driven by plot. Gotta get from one thing to the next so stuff just didn't have enough time to breathe and led to a lack of the characterization we've grown used to the last two expacs. The one thing I felt we lacked as a WoL was a character arc through all this. Even when we were in a support role, we had something going on. They tried to do the mentor thing, I think, but with a mostly silent protagonist, it fell flat.

[@SilverZephyr09]

Oh, don't worry, the mic picked up Carth just fine!

[@RockR277]

If you like Maulskull (Hammer Face), may I suggest the first Eden savage tier?

[@DrummerLocnar]

i took the whole inter-clan marriage thing in the feat of brotherhood as arranged marriages where they MUST try to procreate, vs a couple who loves each other but KNOWS they likely wont have kids, but still wanting to try anyway. both have the result of blessed siblings, but one is devoid of choice and agency over their own lives. i dont think anyone was going around mamook going "WAIT, STOP RIGHT THERE, you can't love each other anymore!" lol

[@JetEriksen]

Dayum we really skipped all the patch content on this channel.

[@katmeerkats]

I've enjoyed my playthrough of dawntrail but I wanted more nuance and less graphic novel level story telling. I would have been ok with the first half of dawntrail being the whole story if we received mature nuanced storytelling along with it.

[@JohnDCrafton]

"What if they're in love" is not justification for an arranged marriage. The end does not justify the means.

[@Steve-YT383]

Rest in Peace Jafar Ja

[@KPS2311]

I havent played since the last patch before DT came out, for financial reasons. I cant decide if Im sad or not.

[@serisothikos]

I think the identification of a lack of an obvious Enemy in the beginning is very apt. Bakool Ja Ja is too obviously not the true villain, and the motives and danger level of the others aren't really straightforward to identify.

[@tommyspringfield7687]

i'm starting to think the story would have been better if square explained it was a story about helping Wuk Lamat ascend the throne. they kept repeating it was a "Vacation" and "where going against the other scions" and "finding the golden city" (also taking part in the right but still) those other 2 might has skewed how this all played out. if they had said "helping in the right," and "helping Wuk Lamat on her journey to dawnservant" (and the golden city blah blah blah) might have turned out different. it's like in the video for the engooding of no mans sky, the part where he shows the chart and it's scoop of the game and time to make it then the hype as it's about to come out.

[@Sano-san]

Will be honest, up till the solo duty with Gulool Ja Ja, I had been bored with the story. It really does feel like ARR build up. Which isn't a bad thing. I had fun with all the sections, but it felt slow and I knew to expect that. But fully was the trail of Respite fully commited me to the story.

[@midnightmiqo]

Perception/Personal preference is such a wild thing. Garrett saying the first 4 levels lacked charmed and I nearly snapped my neck whipping towards the monitor. I found the first half immensely charming from the start, and my thought was folks didn't like it because it was all so low-key and more simple character moments as we settle into a new land. I've said this so much, but I honestly remember day 2 of playing in early access, probably around this level, and looking at my husband and saying with honest appreciation, that this felt like the paced opening of any expansion. (Boy did the internet correct me days later lol)

[@Rangrok1k]

I wonder if that intro storm will tie into Dawntrail's Field Operation. I'm not sure if you consider information from the Dawntrail promo website as a spoiler but I'll put a bit of a gap here just in case... . . . . . . . . . . . Dawntrail's Eureka/Bozja equivalent is confirmed to be Shades' Triangle. As the name implies, it's basically the Bermuda Triangle, where "men and vessels alike have been lost to its allure, never to be seen again." So I could imagine someone poking something in Shades' Triangle and triggering some trap or releasing some entity that caused the giant storm.

[@scw55]

I understand people finding the first five level uninteresting. I went in assuming the worst and found it pleasant. I did go through it casually. One task per session.

[@Thedreadgazebo]

For some reason I cried laughing at the sudden twinning theme

[@shadeblackwolf1508]

For me, Zoraal-ja didn't truly click till his big moment

[@onyx.avenger]

17:40 I agree that some percent of the forced marriage corolla would probably fall in love. It reminds me of the song "Do You Love Me?" from Fiddler on the Roofs, where the two parents sing about whether they fell in love after having an arranged marriage.

[@s0niKu]

24:00 If you enjoyed Wuk messing up the mechanic there, let me recommend you try the duty support for dungeons and trials. Wuk mucks up some of those too, and has custom lines complaining about how confusing they are!

[@NickTheDM]

I actually loved everything up to level 95, arguably *more* than what came after it. And I think part of that is whet the trailers set you up to expect. I went in having only seen the cinematic trailer so when they were like “Here are some pretty cool zones with interesting cultures, you’re doing The Amazing Race” I was 100% bought in to that premise and it didn’t bother me that it “wasn’t going anywhere”. Because it was, it was leading to winning the challenge and the coronation. I would have been ok if that was twice as long and was all this expansion was. I really do think telling us about Solution 9 before the game came out did a huge disservice to the average player experience because that weight of expectation became omnipresent.

[@hazardyoutube1121]

i love there cooking on whats on the other side of the gate now to wait untill they see if its true hahahahahaah

[@jannakaye9759]

The issue with the characters in story is literally the trust and duty support systems

[@EntityXIII]

SMILES IN THE COMMENTS (below). xD I won't say where, but a couple things you said about what you think is coming made me cackle like the madwoman I am. I will, however, say to this, "Please look forward to it." Also, yes, my biggest gripes about this expansion was not only the lack of character balancing, where other characters present could and should have contributed to numerous scenes, but we had to chat it up with Wuk Lumat instead, and how there are so many good themes and moments but little to no mastery of prose or narration. Whenever I think about it, I also recall at some point Yoshi saying the story was finished ahead of schedule, and I think, "Maybe you should have taken some revisions." I still had some fun with it, thanks to my boyfriend being present and the two of us making our commentary along the way, but this expansion's main story is rough.

[@KironX1]

Bakool jaja is this expansions Fordola.

[@fjordexplorer9062]

I’ve seen the Fordola / Bakool Ja Ja comparison come up a bunch of times at this point, but it only ends up making BJJ’s writing look lacking. As an actual enemy combatant, Fordola’s crimes were worse than BJJ, but she still spent most of the expansion as a secondary antagonist, then in the patches ended up in jail, was put on what’s almost a literal leash as conditions of her parole, and throughout it all still demonstrates a bunch of anger just bubbling below the surface every time anyone talks to her. Her road forward is possible and encouraged, but every step of the way it is demonstrated she is still at the mercy of her past choices. I think the root of the problem is BJJ’s involvement in the Valigarmanda incident, which was still a terrorist act. FFXIV’s commitment towards redemption has always been an admirable trait that should continue, but even to where the boys are at in the story BJJ (and his father, for the eugenics program) gets a pat on the back compared to Fordola. It’s unusually saccharine for the game, and that’s what has been driving a lot of the ire towards BJJ’s face-turn, even if his personality is popular.

[@Meowlo]

Another issue I have with the Mamook period is that Gulool Ja Ja is from there. He knows the situation. He has to know, right? But he didn't take any of this initiative to try and address the fact that all they can grow are bananas? He didn't have any of the same guilt as Bakool Ja Ja?? I dunno just felt like a weird void. Little bit of character assassination for Gulool Ja Ja so that the claimants have something to do there, i guess. eta: that was some fun cookin :)

[@katarh]

I believe he didn't understand why they didn't follow him to the big city. After all, he was a Blessed Sibling right? And he was the ruler of the nation! He had a whole capitol for them! And almost all the people of Mamook did follow him, except the most hardcore traditionalists, who moved the goalposts and didn't just want a Blessed Sibling in charge of the nation - they wanted one to subjugate all the other races in revenge. At some point, you have to wait for people to be willing to help themselves. They showed no inclination of wanting to do so. He may not have realized how dire it had gotten back "home."

[@fredy2041]

Literaly the mayority of the mamool ja followed him

[@Meowlo]

@@fredy2041 literally apparently not since there's still a bunch left behind

[@Meowlo]

@@katarh Him maybe having a blind eye to the area is valid but he has ketenramm there, who's supposedly like his bestest oldest friend. You'd think he'd have kept him apprised of the situation there and how dire it had gotten. It led to a moment that felt very, group of established people can't help themselves and need more worldly outsider to help them instead, which I am personally not a fan of.

[@fredy2041]

@@Meowlo Ehh no? Literaly the mayority left.

[@seekittycat]

😂 that Stormblood flashback absolutely sended me

[@Kasaaz]

Zoraal Ja at the taco event was me when I was just trying to save the First, but they told me I had to jump through some more stupid hoops to get a pair of magical shoes to open a castle and then they wouldn't give me the shoes.

[@limontree476]

It's actually Alexander's sister. Same model with a big pink bow. Sorry big spoiler

[@andrewl7367]

The intro gag has never been more on point 😂❤

[@Darklover15]

I kinda view DT as the new ARR. Messy beginning that drags into boredom at few points, but eventually builds into something interesting. Should the writing have been more polished? Absolutely, but there’s time for the devs to fix up the issues. I’m interested to see how the next expansions built on DT.