Reactions to The ENTIRE FFXIV Dawntrail MSQs [Spoilers]

[@25xxfrostxx]

Sphene's crown at the end is because she's going to come back. There was a throwaway line from an NPC in Solution 9 that her crown was a "special" resurrection device.

[@dystasia]

That doesn't sound like a throwaway line tho xD

[@SuperRamos619]

Yep I believe this as well.

[@recuo55]

wouldn't be cool if/when she does come back she ends up becoming a part of our adventuring group next expac as our dungeon healer?

[@aWhysGuy]

Wuk Lamat’s Clenched Fist is the main character of this expansion.

[@Twocoolman115]

lol, you can’t be a FF main character without a clenched fist.

[@PalhacoCapitalista]

The real Naruto were the Wuk lamats we met along the way

[@asdfaaa1000]

and the "everybody nods" moments are the friends we made along the way

[@DacianGradaMusic]

even after playing it myself, watching others go through it and such, it's always nice to see people's journey of the MSQ, so thanks for this mega-cut video! Can't wait to see how the story develops from here, it was a great start IMO and there are enough "loose threads" to go from so it's gonna be a very interesting continuation for sure. Now onto the Arcadion!!

[@DrunkenPanda1986]

In response to your comment at the end of the video of us possibly going to the South Sea islands that the Milalla came from, we've already gone there. That was the Variant dungeon Aloalo Island. In fact, if you do that dungeon before the reveal about the Milalla in the MSQ, you get different dialogue options mentioning the Speaker and your adventure there.

[@herebejamz]

Alo Alo wasn't the entirety of the South Sea Islands--specifically mentioned as a seldom explored corner--so there's a good chance we'll get more there anyway, especially now that it's a main scenario plot point.

[@Luxayt_]

This mite be me thinking and also a stretch but we may see some of Southern Othard and Kingdom of Dalmasca in the future to.

[@talancorwell]

​@@herebejamzthe Milalla are from Aloalo specifically, they're actually referenced in one of the log entries. It talks about the first settlers of the island, their leader the Speaker (referenced directly in msq), and their mysterious disappearance during the fifth umbral calamity aka the age of endless ice. It's literally all there, very cool bit of planning by SE there (it's entry 2 I believe)

[@JRZTT]

Lost my grandma last years and those event in Living Memory hit close to home T.T

[@a-a-ron9027]

thank you for compiling/editing this

[@ProfessorBinks]

just finished msq maybe 3 hours ago, looking forward to this

[@bandi138138]

The tattoo on Sphene's back says Sphene Til Alexandros XIV, a nod to Garnet Til Alexandros XVII from FF9

[@xTyith97]

The ending of the expansion is pretty wild. The fact the key to travelling different reflections responds to Azem’s crystal and bears its mark has some pretty interesting complications for the WoL I would imagine. One being that we are the creator of the key… so are we inadvertently responsible for the destruction and suffering of Alexandria as a result of the key being in the wrong hands?

[@dystasia]

"responsible for the destruction" maybe but remember the whole bit about it being a tool for good or evil. We only know that It was once used to save the people from the source who were going to get killed by the fifth calamity to get to the 12th. It being developed by the WoL of other reflections is harder to assume.

[@Disconnected66]

It responding to the crystal could be due to ascian design, not original azems. The assumption that it was us completely and entirely forgets that no one was ever supposed to have any of the crystals except the unsundered. They would've never made plans accounting for sundered souls 10k years in the future obtaining those crystals. Absolutely possible azem made it, but there is also nothing indicating that with certainty :P not to mention we don't know what other civilizations had contact with and therefore were uplifted by ascians. Could be another group that made it due to emets influence. We also know that the key appeared to kriles ancestors in a time of dire need, but definitely WAY after the sundering. So if azem made it originally, who gave it to them to save them from the cold? Lots of unanswered questions that indicate it might not be azems actual creation.

[@richardwicker8456]

3:09:18 It's worth noting that if you've done all of the paths for the Aloalo Island variant dungeon and finished its storyline, there's additional lines of dialogue that will appear here.

[@normalmighty]

As soon as I got to that point I was immediately regretting never getting around to Aloalo Island. I was meant to do all the variant dungeons before DT, but life got too busy and I only did The Sil'dihn Subterrane.

[@DioD3]

Noice! Thanks for uploading this!

[@fayte0618]

One thing is for sure: some ff14 players don’t want lighthearted/disney/shounen in their msq and be side character to someone thats not universally “cool” Objectively you can see the writers are trying to subvert the first half “examination” arc by making it more intimate than competitive and that threw most people off. The very odd thing for me is knowing Wuk Lamat’s characterization and journey though the MSQ people have this expectation she’ll talk like Graha or something. Being childish is her thing. Thats why the writing is like that for her dialogue. I can understand people not liking that but its not bad at all, it just makes sense.

[@JustinStrife]

And she never zhould have been made ruler. There's no way in hell the WoL would help someone become the leader of a country who they just met, and someone who really had no idea what the job meant other than 'PEACE AND HAPPINESS'. The story was so bad this time around and the warrior of light was reduced to a nodding, cheerleader.

[@HalfLifeHalfDead]

What absolute nonsense and grade A copium to explain away how mediocre the story has been. The problem isn't that people universally dislike another character taking the spotlight, if that were the case, people wouldn't have liked Hien. The problem is that Wuk Lamat is a terrible character, who went through almost no character development, and her ascension to the throne felt unearned and fake. Her entire personality revolves around talking about peace and being afraid of rather benign things, like heights, water, cramped spaces or llamas, and she never truly grows out of it or is challenged in any meaningful way on a personal level beyond a generic "believe in yourself". It's also absolutely false to say the devs tried anything new. The first half is a repeat of plot lines they already attempted in SB, while the second half was a repeat of the "you have to let go of the past" stuff they keep coming back to for a third expansion in a row, told in the exact same way, with the exact same moral. The issue isn't that the community misunderstood what the devs intended or that they tried something new people weren't prepared for. The issue is that they in fact didn't try anything new, that this felt by the numbers and shared all the issues past MSQs had, but few of the strengths.

[@weilima9316]

“Sphene” is a type of Precious Stone, just like “Garnet” 😊

[@Player2476]

The perfect splice at 2:07:30… “I will do your mother”

[@universalsinewave7559]

Yes. Perfect....and not at all intentional....👀

[@NPDStudio]

Thank you for this 😂

[@talancorwell]

I mean, let's be honest who wouldn't

[@FunnyGinMan]

I *just* finished the MSQ myself. Very curious your thoughts on the expansion :)

[@sno_au]

IMO. It was a nice story with some great moments, but very slow and not very exciting for most of it. Toward the end it got better but compared to other expansions it was a step down.

[@JRZTT]

@@sno_au Agree but considered this is just a new beginning of a new saga, I guess this to be expect, I compare this to 1.0-2.0 and I think they done a great work especially toward the end. I think with this key it might possible to fusion all reality without calamity part and might open the gate to the rest of the fragment.

[@sonnyson01]

​@@sno_au i compared it more against Stormblood since the plot was somewhat similar. And both expansions were coming off the end of one story arc, and this one is definitely better than Stormblood imo. Excited to see how post msq patches will be

[@Seraphima249]

Movie time guys! Grab the popcorns and the drinks! Today we feast :D

[@ArthurOfThePond]

did you notice that when Queen Bee Sphene "recreates" the keystone after we take out Azem's crystal she adds Azem's Sun symbol to the top of it? I also notice that when Bakuul Ja Ja has a nervous breakdown after Wuk beats him, there is an image flashing on screen. It's the same image The Skydeep Cenote starts with - the urns of the dead Mamool Ja babies

[@FynitieLockheart]

omg reaction supercut! Time to sit and get the popcorn

[@sethharrison2284]

DT made me excited for the future. For MSQ, they have the wiggle room to go anywhere now. Fight design and zones were a step up. And God damn does the game look incredible now. It felt good to just have fun for a change.

[@katherinemerkel3505]

The story is mid

[@hortehighwind8651]

Same I like the zones, dungeons and trials. The story felt like a slow half movie with plot made by someone who adores anime instead of inspired by the greats like GRR Martin and the War of the Roses. How does soul resurrection makes sense when animals can maul you in the meantime or when shot your insides are mush anyway.

[@katherinemerkel3505]

@@hortehighwind8651 Yes the writer of DT needs to stay far away from the games story from now on. 🤢🤮

[@castoputa]

@@katherinemerkel3505maybe give some reasoning? I mean, if you can articulate any…..

[@xicision2533]

​@@hortehighwind8651 we literally explode so many times in FFXIV and we can just "rez" people. Why is this the thing you don't understand? The amount of things that should kill us in a single hit realistically, and nevertheless we resist and fight at full force like nothing ever happened, why is resurrection from death the thing that doesn't make sense?

[@Sorakovu]

I loved the story, I like they took their time exploring the different cultures within Tural, I also loved being a mentor to Wuk and Koana, and now Im more excited for the future expansions~

[@JustinStrife]

Can you explain exactly how we were a mentor? I have been a mentor for others for over 30 years, and even though I see this come up with people defending the story, I didn't see where we actually did any mentoring in DT.

[@stevespain6445]

The naming conventions are from Central and South America, not random name generators :) For an expansion that was essentially an anti-climax to the previous meta-narrative; I think they did well.

[@Disconnected66]

> essentially an anti-climax to the previous meta-narrative mate this is so over the top LOL yeah it was pretty good, ew was too but it was not an "anti climax" to a "meta narrative" lol why do people act like this is something they majored in or something xD that is genuinely a meaningless combination of words

[@melissas4874]

@@Disconnected66 At least be bothered to use punctuation if you are going to rant about their wording? Make an actual sentence?

[@Disconnected66]

@@melissas4874 why? You knew where the end of my sentence was when I did the xD, and after mocking the dumb "meta narrative" section do you really think this is insulting or something? The person I replied to literally did that in their comment too. Are you consistent in your attempts to be shitty? Or just when you think 1 person deserves it because you don't like what they said. Hmm. Sounds awfully like you do what I just did, and have literally no height on me, despite standing on your horse. look omg i used some punctuation but didn't with some :OOOOO i didn't even capitalize one of the I's but I did those two... Cheerio little guppy

[@slashthedancingwalrus1510]

Strongly disagree, this expansion might make me uninstall for the first time in 10 years.

[@Ronzeru]

Cant tell who are trend hating this vs who genuinely hate it. But honestly, i really enjoyed it. The story and music reminded me heavily of the Grandia series, whch ive adored. So i wont be jumping on the hate train.

[@PalhacoCapitalista]

Fuck social media trends man, let's be an individual not a "hating on reddit ameba"

[@RasnerG]

pretty much ask anyone who doesnt live on twitter/reddit and they will tell you what they dont like or like, now you cant say dont like seomthing and they will label you as a transphobe and that you hate women

[@CelerisXIV]

I legit didn't know about the whole situation concerning wuk lamats VA til I went to reddit on finishing the story... I get some of the frustration but the parts I liked matter more to me than what I hated.

[@RandomDrop]

looking forward to your thoughts video! I think from your preview both of us land around the same place!

[@lymez79]

Are you going to release longer cuts of the DT MSQ plathrough or is this the only video for MSQ? I had been holding off watching it thinking there was going to be a longer series of vids.

[@SuisekiYaris]

good to watch this meanwhile I level up my crafters XD You are right, the last zone hits different if you lost someone, it was a little hard for me to be in that zone because it reminds me a lot of that person I lost... Waiting for your final thoughts :D

[@MsAussieSheila]

I haven't lost someone, but the Krile story hit me hard because of my history with my parents. It is the only time I have cried in msq and probably the only time I remember crying to any media in years.

[@ApexGale]

People don't seem to realize that Dawntrail wasn't just Mesoamerica, but also the Southwest and Great Plains. I think the idea here was "let's do the pioneer era, but rather than the Natives being chased out of their homes they were the ones helming industrial advancements."

[@warm-heartedreaction6191]

i really like the theme of DT so much the parent and loss and tie a lot of plot point together

[@normalmighty]

That was probably the most impactful final zone I've seen in this game. It was a really beautiful message.

[@PunishedDad]

@@normalmighty the more I think about it the more I like it, the endless like erenvilles mum that were aware they were living off other peoples essence is some other kind of existential nightmare

[@Zendjinn88]

Quazii out here calling the story moments left and right! 😎 he knows too much!

[@blingosvengefulghost5266]

Thanks for the video. It was fun.

[@Connie_cpu]

2:16 Galuf died when he cast the spell that that killed everyone on the Isle of Val (Eureka) to stop the ascians from using it.

[@The-die-youve-created]

I hope, truly desire that Solution 9 becomes the new hang out! Though it sorely needs an inn. It actually has some really lit stuff! A cycle shop, a lab (two actually), cocktail shops, A NIGHT CLUB! My thoughts being, if Yosh and the gang see it regularly packed, we'll get more of the last third of the MSQ and less (a lot less) of the first two-thirds of it. Maybe even clean up the rubble and artillery craters, too.

[@andyoh1987]

loved the msq, can’t wait to ng+ it!

[@rtbear674]

3:17:22 Good thing I already switched to JP VA. This scene is the most atrocious for me. You expect someone who got kidnapped, barely be able to grow to good enough fighter, need to save me? Warrior of Light, Who beat gods, stopped world ending boss on the edge of the universe? Or if you want to help ME, you need to bring the whole gang together. at least Krile and Graha should be there as well. Barrier got open, 3 of them jump in, Krile throw some paint attack and parry the boss attack, Wuk Lamat block the other one, while graha use barrier. There wuk lamat can say "We won't let you fight alone!" Then Graha look at your character "Just like the old days!". Krile "I'm finally can be together with you". WoL smile and stand up again. Continue the fight. There you go. 3 of them have their moment they wished for. Wuk Lamat promise with Alisaie, Krille finally can stand together. Graha really adventuring with you in the source. As is It's disrespecting the 2 character who came in with you too, and we grow fond of, Just to shove more wuk lamat in your face. The story became WoW Story, where Warrior of Light doesn't matter, it's always someone else doing the last hit. After the fight, Sphene didn't even look at you. WoL doesn't matter. NONE. It should be you who got teleported out because you are the most dangerous of all. then everyone holding on to their life while wuk lamat holding ground trying to convince sphene, graha healing, krille attacking in a cutscene. And when they can't hold on any longer, and everything look grim YOU then broke the barrier, jumping in through the crack, And summoning 7 other people while jumping. then 7 light appearing one by one mid flight turned into 7 other people, in slow motion, and multiple angle. Just like the Warrior of light Boss in Shadowbringer. You want to know why I got called the warrior of light? This is why! (I never need to join in the kid's fight in the first half of the msq). While playing Open Sky song. The tone of the fight become "Now that I'm here, As long as we are here together, This is just another adventure! We'll make you listen Sphene!" (Well sure if you suddenly add 8 powerful adventurer to the fight). The tone of the fight will be lighthearted. The boss' design wasn't even intimidating. Now you spanked the boss, and the boss is back to her senses. You clean up whatever talk you need with Sphene. This is shoving Wuk Lamat down your throat. Which made me don't like her now. Because the main story for me is The Character you are with from 2.0. your main character. Trash scene, should just delete it.

[@Nurr0]

The entire premise of this expansion is that we're hired muscle and a mentor for an inexperienced leader (Wuk Lamat) running for power in a foreign land. We were NEVER meant to be the sole hero. I'm genuinely perplexed by everyone upset by this, we got exactly what we signed up for, a lower stakes conflict we could walk away from at any time if we wanted. You're allowed to not like that, but if we were the sole hero solving everything it would get old really fast. We already saw this exact scenario play out in World of Warcraft. In the early days you were a nobody who helped the real heroes, then up to around Legion/BFA you became the biggest best hero in the entire world similar to a WoL, nothing can be done without you, and people complained about that. Now they've scaled it back again so you're just a cog in the machine and people are complaining about that change too... I don't think it's possible to make everyone happy.

[@dystasia]

Oh Wow, as a JP VA player watching this in this video in English actually HURTS. Felt like they completely butchered Wuk Lamat in English. Wuk Lamat sounds like she is always in pain and has no energy. Completely different vive from JP. Wuk Lamat is actually super likable in JP VA.

[@rtbear674]

​@@Nurr0 That's for the first half of the story yeah. Is what we came for. I don't even mind on the first half. Second half? Now that the stake is the world, This is what we HAVE to do, knowing what kind of being we are now. Then they decided Wuk Lamat need to save you in the final boss fight? Without Krile and Graha tia to boot? This is trash story. This last mid fight Wuk Lamat Insert is unneeded. Having hostage situation in the first half is good, making you can't do anything. Or now the enemy is the one that uses big brain move to lure you somewhere else stalling time sealing you inside fighting with them. While their real aim is somewhere else. You still can do a lot with it. And this is the final boss of the expansion. yeah why not have 1 best moment for your own character in an expansion.

[@temisu_namisu]

​@@Nurr0 you are right about not making everyone happy. If we had been the main hero again, another set of players would complain about the story being no different. After a week of just seeing the same sort of extreme opinions, I've pretty much given up trying to have a normal conversation. Whilst I would say that the writers should look for good criticism, they should stick as much to their vision as they want to. Any given story will resonate with some, and not with others. The majority loved HW, I didn't care for it and found it generally dull. I loved SB, many did not. DT will probably sit more in the generally well received, I think, but not as much as ShB or EW. And that's ok.

[@RoboChocobo]

​@@Nurr0 In every cutscene and story beat Wuk Lamat is center focus for the camera, while the WoL is awkwardly standing behind them and to the side like they got edited in during post-production. People are naturally going to notice how they're being treated second-fiddle by the *game*, even as they try to engage with the *premise*.

[@KatyWhitekavkj]

1:08:35 wait, you can do those tracking missions on a MOUNT?! *facepalm* cannot believe I didn’t think of trying that 😅

[@SprocketAudio]

gfx update really shines on youtube vids .. holy...!

[@TheNerd]

26:00 I would say that the media tour build was likely made months ago. I can't imagine them, "having free time" for a "special demo version" of the game during the sweatiest part of the development phase.

[@Voice_9_Heart85]

The most surprising me and also the same time felt proud about it is about this one food. Nasi Goreng. Someone would knew Malay or Indo language would call that dish lol. Or it's just one food.😜

[@BorgWolf359]

SPOILER'S - I loved Wuk Lamat's journey in Dawntrail's start! After this I'd like to see other Heroes rise up that we help! Our WOL needs to explore because that is Azem's thing! We need to get more Azem shards too during our journey! I think we will see the Queen again because her crown is a data storage device! We need to study the chalice & figure out who made that dang thing! The Ancients definitely did not make that & it was on the Source originally! I can't wait for the next MSQ update!

[@RasnerG]

The chalice has the same symbol as the azem crystal, so we need to know more about azem.

[@NPDStudio]

By the end of the game, i consider Wuk Lamat as 'family' along with the rest of the scions. Hope we get to see more of her ^^

[@JustinStrife]

Oh god please no. Even the Japanese don't have her in their top 10 characters of DT.

[@guitalex2005]

There is a tiny loose end that isn't quite closed and would make good content. Remember the kid with thunder sickness? To me, it immediately reminded me of tempering and the people at the Inn at Journey's End. Maybe Alisaie brings Angelo and helps cure them.

[@hkoizumi3134]

At first, I didn't like how the story was going. But after completing it and let it cook in my head, I came to conclude that this expansion was great. Like the vibe stands, this expansion wasn't about WoL and his comrade. They are already been established. That concept alone left bad taste in people's mouth but I think it worked well, so far. I just hope that they will not throw away Wuklamat like Lyse after their expansion. After going thru all that effort of making her likeable. One thing for sure, the devs got their world building to the tee. Like Wuklamat, I was on the journey with her learning about their diverse culture in the new world.

[@JustinStrife]

We had to talk to her 139 times in the MSQ. Believe me, you're in the minority about her.

[@FinalFrankie]

I really enjoyed the MSQ! Getting to spend time with Erinville, and Krile’s backstory were my favourite parts.

[@lunyiea]

Honestly, when the dragons came and the EW music played... for me it was the best moment of the whole DT expansion.

[@omarlopezproductions]

I enjoyed the story quite a bit reminds me of arr with all the setup for future.

[@roastpork5437]

I think Wuk Lamat is a tough character to portray properly. It doesn't help that her English VA is not very good. She sounds fine in normal conversation but whenever the scene calls for emotional highs or emotional lows, she utterly fails to convey these critical emotional beats. "spheeeeeeennnnee" took me out of it for a good 10 seconds - if you know what I am talking about, then you know. In all fairness, Wuk Lamata English VA is not bad, her delivery is passable in your run of the mill anime RPG but when her co-stars are veteran theater/TV/movie actors giving stellar performances, her lackluster performance becomes that much more noticeable.

[@RasnerG]

when one see the other works from the eng va of wuk lamat one can know the range and emotion can get, the problem here is the direction the msq direction was bad, the VA direction was bad making the msq feeling like a slog on most parts.

[@goglux2]

It's not on her as much as the direction for the voice was probably not good. The actress shows she can do great voice over in some moments, it's just that sometimes she fall flats in certain scene and you can feel it's the direction she was given were off.

[@RoboChocobo]

@@goglux2 Why did they hire an American to be the principle character of the xpac when British VA's have knocked it out of the park so far? Why does this character have 5x as much voiced dialogue as everyone else?

[@michaelstiller2282]

As much as i want to watch. I most likely won't get to DT for like a year. I need to finish other things. And the release of DT didn't come with an expanded glamour chest. I already have my favorite gears stored. I just can't be up against wanting something new and having to toss something i already like.

[@Celis.C]

_"Ah yes, we saw this in the trailer"_ I'm glad I never watched said trailer prior to the MSQ. It's also quite weird to hear the English voice acting; I've had the Japanese voices in my playthrough, which I must say was absolutely stellar. Also remarkable is to see that IRL is headed towards Ul'dah / Eulmore, whereas a future like Solution 9 is possible. There are a lot of themes in Endwalker + Dawntrail that seem to subtly provide paths that apply to IRL. I like Wuk Lamat's approach to things, especially in the light of Game Theory.

[@Ren99510]

Well I think most people use the English VA because they don't speak Japanese

[@Celis.C]

@@Ren99510 Many people watched Squid Game, but most of them don't speak a word Korean

[@zacharyheng9962]

i like how he had hopes of the expansion MSQ 🤣

[@justaman381]

Can't be Alexandria without Alexander :) I think Sphene will be back soon, still mysterious about scientists guy that made living memory. once YoshiP hits about Zenos's Avatar and it's become Zero, now he hits about asican, so I'm bet on scientists guy.

[@ShoteR_Omega]

Funny seeing the same questions and expectations from him. Like the golden city at the end of the rite that we end up not entering and going to cowboy land for filler, or not intervening in the duel of the dawnservant when his son cheats... You can see the concepts for the story are good but the execution and pacing is flawed, it's like EW not having garlemald or the moon maps and just having labyrinthos2 or thavnair part 2 then just skipping to Elpis directly. By the there would be too much filler.

[@ShoteR_Omega]

And for living memory, there's a huge hypocrisy not considering the endless living things, isn't this rationale the same as Emet's? Since we are only partial souls splitted between the reflections, we are not considered fully living beings as well

[@Ren99510]

​@@ShoteR_Omegano it isn't because the endless are just memories. On top of that they need a lot of people to die to keep them going. Didn't you see what Graha said? Its a futile cycle, eventually you will run out of people to kill

[@CelerisXIV]

It feels more like the endless are akin to ai constructs using training data from all the memories they keep extracting from people. Also they were focused in existing in perpetuity while we have gone through an arc of all that lives will die and that is something that while we will feel loss and sorrow will help us grow and pass on to others.

[@mistmonster]

I still have so many questions

[@DarkWartex]

I like Wuk Lamat for the most part, but the delivery here from the VA is just atrocious 3:17:22

[@DukeofSpook.]

I don't really understand why this is a popular criticism. I personally think the voice acting there is good and at the very least just okay. I would say many other characters have much worse voice acting moments in the expansion than hers at that part. Like wtf was going on with Thancred at some parts lol?

[@DarkWartex]

@@DukeofSpook. Have you not heard the Japanese VA for this scene? It's a night and day difference. It's a popular opinion because the delivery of the line was done in such a monotone way that it kills the whole vibe.

[@MasterLittica]

Honestly hated that entire sequence, Sphene 'deleted' her digitised memories and OVERWROTE them with new directives basically turning herself into an automaton. It is explained quite well that the Endless are the memories ONLY, no Ego or Soul just recorded memory. This entire thing should have happened BEFORE the deletion / overwriting finished, hell have Wuk successfully convince Sphene she dun goofed and have her last words before overwrite be to stop her but that... ruined what was a fun story and a great boss fight for me.

[@JayShifu]

Dawntrail was fun! I liked the story in general! Really enjoyed how the story wasn’t about WOL and focused on Wuk Lamat! Obviously it wasn’t gonna top Endwalker and I went into it expecting fun and different! Expectations met! 8/10 !

[@kikukat8780]

I liked the expansion well enough, more for the big step up in the graphics, the amazing music (of course!) and the out-of-this-world gameplay! The story though... was going well in the first half. The second half had an interesting plot twist but was disappointing with confusing lore dump and poor explanation of some characters with their depth. Either way, without going too much into detail, I hope the patches flesh out their backstories a little more, as well cleaning out the confusion with the latter half's story. That aside, still an ok story and I enjoyed it well with my friends! Thanks for uploading your video though! Always fun to see you on your journey!

[@pinkchckn]

1:44:33 that "o tragic" caught me offguard rofl

[@ruthnovena40]

I liked this arc. and the role here of being an adventure not WOL. They took their time to give the lore and est. the background of the new world. The journey with Lamat. She grows as she learns about the people and what her father did. She made a wise choice in the end don't want to get to specific since some said they had not done this yet.

[@Harima-gtf]

I am waiting for your spoiler free video m8! Please make it happen .

[@thesunthrone]

I personally enjoyed the story a lot, but my bias is that I just love worldbuilding and exploring various fantasy cultures and their real life inspirations. So the framing of the contest as a way to learn about the people inhabiting Tural was agreeable to me, and I think the idea of the contest itself being arbitrary and more just a way to get the Dawnservant's children to engage and learn about the people they would rule is cool. For those that expected their character and the Scions to be at the center of this story... I can certainly see why they are disappointed. And this is what CS3 are going to have to struggle with. Some players love being at the center of every cutscene and plotline. Other players desperately want to just be an adventurer without the weight of the world on their shoulders. With this story, they attempted moving much more in the adventurer direction, with the whole Arizona zone being a pure aimless adventure in seeing where the wind blows - until the plot comes calling again and now we actually have to gather the Scions and resolve the new world-threathening calamity. I personally like that we stand back and let the natives try and resolve their problems first, rather than rush in like some world police - going Azem mode only when it truly is needed and there's no other way. One thing to note, though - the english voice direction was really all over the place. I don't necessarily mean Wuk Lamat who is front and center and whose final fight performance really isn't great and is an easy target for ire and criticism, but the Scions themselves. Urianger and Thancred in several scenes sound like they've forgotten how to do their character's voices and are not sure whether they're reading the Scion lines at all, and Y'shtola in the soul bank sequence sounds like she's trapped in a jar and communicating via radio. What's up with that? Especially when other voices like Gulool Ja Ja were great? I personally enjoyed a lot of the various accents that they had for the locales, and the Xak Tural natives speaking with straight up American accents, that was a great and immersive choice. However, the places with the original Scions are sometimes bafflingly off and I'd be really curious what kind of a production nightmare is responsible for that, because it is very much uncharacteristic with the voice performance in all the previous expansions, even if the actors themselves did not know too much about the unfolding story or context. They still managed to put on amazing performances. Was the voice direction split across different studios this time? Were the sessions rushed? Did the actors get poor direction? Were there technical issues that resulted in awful quality recordings like with Y'shtola's lines?

[@silvernode]

Khloe wrote Dawntrail and made me play it but didn't give me a line.

[@cstrouts]

I loved the story. Wuk Lamat is a great character, and her growth as a leader was well done. I did predict her eventual team up with Koana before the expansion even launched, but there were still surprises in the first half of the story, such as the redemption of Bakool Ja. Koana's presence means that the writers can send Wuk Lamat on more adventures with the WoL in the future too, so she might not get retired like all the other world leader characters have been once their expansions were over. The second half of the story is when things really started to cook though. The initial mystery of the lightning dome and what happened inside it was great, along with the mystery of Sphene and what exactly was going on with souls. I loved all of this, and turning out the lights in each section of Living Memory was very sad. I'm eager to see where we go with this story in the patch content. If I understand correctly, the lightning aspected shard where Living Memory is located is a dead world, so I don't think we will explore there. My guess is we will use the key we acquired from Sphene to travel to the First and start restoring the First and the Void. They have many options for future stories, that's for sure. I have one gripe. Why the hell does Erenville have an Icelandic accent when everyone else from Xak Tural, including his own mother who raised him, have an American accent?

[@TheHashtagSquad2K15]

Wuk is not a good character lmao, she boils down to the same tired jokes again and again like oh hey guys isn't sea sickness and throwing up funny? Oh hey guys isn't she so quirky with being written like an insecure 12 year old?

[@cstrouts]

@@TheHashtagSquad2K15 She starts out brash and insecure, but she doesn't stay that way. By the middle, she's making decisions for the whole group, and they're thoughtful decisions, not foolish ones. She grows into a good leader who can listen to people, understand their problems, and find someone to fix the problem if she's not an expert in that area. It's called a character arc. I wouldn't use the word quirky to describe her either. She's very outgoing and likes people, and she had a happy, privileged upbringing without any real tragedy in her past (at least not any she was old enough to remember), so she's a unique character in the game.

[@DukeofSpook.]

@@TheHashtagSquad2K15 Did you only play the first 3 levels of the expansion? She changes a lot through the msq. Also, nothing about Wuk Lamat is quirky; she's literally the opposite of quirky lol. She's good with people and is very true to herself. Quirky in your context is someone who acts like they're different while doing normal things. Wuk Lamat literally puts herself down for not being as good as her brothers through the first half of the story until she finds confidence in herself through her journey. She just had to get over her fear of being seen as weak because she thought that's what was expected of her as the Third Promise. She grows so much through the expansion :)

[@TheHashtagSquad2K15]

@@cstrouts you say she grows into a “good leader who can listen to people, understand their problems, and find someone to fix them” that’s quite literally the only thing she does. Her only “strength” is “being good with people” but more often than not it’s her stumbling into the right people and us doing 95% of the leg work for her to take credit in the interaction. When I think of someone who is “good with people” in this game I don’t think of Wuk, I think of Alphinaud. You know another character who didn’t really have any tragedy in his past, who grew up priveledged, who thought he was doing something right but also had a real character arc where he grew into a night and day difference from when we were first introduced to him. He takes charge, he actually takes initiative to spearhead efforts himself and most of the time we’re not doing it for him. And most importantly he actually acts like a young adult and not a 12 year old who is always second guessing themselves. Her being a “unique character” in the game does not make her a good one just because she is unique.

[@TheHashtagSquad2K15]

@@DukeofSpook. Not quirky? Did you forget the "I like spicy" "Oh I love food hehe" "oh are you not going to finish that?" or perhaps the seasickness bit 100 times? Or maybe the constant talk about alpacas being terrible for 2 hours? And the haha funny spit joke?

[@SMNtheNight]

I definitely did not expect Bakool Ja Ja of all the characters to make me break down like that... Of course, he was only the first, as expected. Dawntrail was just amazing.

[@JLOGIAC]

Yaaayy 😊

[@miyum95]

"Sphene, listen to me" HORRIBLE Voice here.....

[@darkwolf9ball]

If you noticed Gates and the void is heavily implied. My guess is Meracydia Will be next With us going to the Void. 3 Zones would be Meracydia, 2 would be in the Void with the 2nd Hub being in the Void possibly and the final zone IDK. Or it's us going to a shard we have not been to yet. The only other possible thing would be two other outliers. Us Island Hopping for Instance going back to the Far east as a Main Hub than Island Hopping. Or We will go to another whole planet doubt that though. It would be interesting.

[@gilaverde]

I didn't like this expansion. Wuk Lamat was a weak character, I never got any connection to her and many of the scenes with her (the entire story) was just drawn out too long. She drowned out so many other characters like Kryle, a well established character we all know. I found myself skipping Wuk's voice overs, I was done. Rather play through Stormblood again then play Dawntrail again.

[@KironX1]

Storm blood was good though so I don’t get what you mean. I think you’re a being a bit dramatic there pal.

[@wojnr]

@@KironX1 yep Stormblood had good political story. It didn't feel as childish as DT. Pacing was the issue, not the story.

[@RasnerG]

@@KironX1 Stormblood was labeled the worst expansion we had due to the same issues DT is having but at least Stormblood took many good steps in writting. DT feel like a shonen anime and most of the developmenet was done offscreen

[@interinoedemame]

Peak story. But srly how did they wet the bed so bad with wuk's Voice its so dry and emotionless like a teenager reading a script for the first time. Jp audio wins today.

[@thesunthrone]

It wasn't just Wuk, the Scions sound off too in many cases. During the soul bank sequence right after the lvl 99 dungeon, Y'shtola sounds like she's trapped in a jar and communicating via radio, even though she's right there. Urianger and Thancred also sound off in full half of their lines, like they don't know/remember their character voices.

[@KironX1]

It’s so weird how some people have hate boners for this expansion. I don’t get it. Of course it’s not as good as shadowbringers….so what???

[@SuperRamos619]

People want different things from their story I guess. I found the overall story good, but the writing for the script was atrocious.

[@wompoo7967]

14.40 I should have thrown Wuk Lamat overboard right there and then, I could have saved myself so many chalk on blackboard moments.

[@JLOGIAC]

I dont think S9 will be the place for people to afk, its still tullyolal 😊 ,but when the raid tier open up i think it'll be 👌

[@MushadX]

take a break from saving theworld lmaol

[@dreamer6737]

I feel like they should have made a bold step moving away from the Scions and introduced new interesting party members for the next 10 years. DT story wasn’t that captivating….

[@Muzzle1300]

Played with JP va so going from that to hearing Wuk Lamat’s English version made me thankful I dodged a bullet I would have skipped or muted the voiced cutscenes at that point

[@RoboChocobo]

The story and how it's told were intensely frustrating, to the point that it brings down what otherwise are triumphs in art, modelling, music, and gameplay.

[@Hawkenwhacker]

*_"The story and how it's told were intensely frustrating"_* In what way?

[@katherinemerkel3505]

Do you not notice what is mediocre storytelling?

[@youtousim]

@@Hawkenwhacker Probably not for the same reasons, I felt the same from the second third of the game onwards: It feels like, in the past, the creative team put more efford in actions, world and behaviour 'making sense'. Feels like they completely threw that out the window. They also managed to convey a feeling of gravitas when we make important decision in expansions past. Showing us not only the bright side. Which is totally missing in DT. The freshly united couple we're about to delete from existence happily waving us off instead of leaving us with dread for the genocide we're about to commit. Even liking Wuk Lamat at the start, it's hard to ignore her presence pushing everything else back. The pacing is atrocious at times. Teasing a big threat, only to delay the encounter by 2 hours, only to then reveal there was never a threat in the first place: Why should there be any urgency in the end, if a scrambled emergency strike force of dragons completely crushes any invasion plans out of nowhere? After not seeing a single dragon on the continent, implying the ocean is not easily traversable for the winged kind. That just being one example where the story does undo itself in a nonsensical fashion.

[@fallenyetholy1810]

@@youtousim”Genocide” lmao.

[@occiderisaethiopissa3702]

Couldn't agree more, there were so many missteps for example if they allowed the Expansion to revolve around more than one central character the story would have been allowed to breathe more. There's a chart for how much voiced dialogue is in Dawntrail and the main character has more voiced dialogue than every single other character in the expansion put together. It's suffocating.

[@qlcrane8019]

Please speak to Wuk Lamat

[@Prottoy959]

My take on the MSQ is that it was just hamfisted storytelling. Firstly, the world-building aspect of it took too long and I don't think it built it well enough even with that time. We get a cultural overview of the people and that's about it. Could've been made better if we had other local traveling companions along-side Wuk Lamat all the way thru the expansion. I thought Koana was far more interesting character and would've liked to spend more time with him. I mean, he's the de-facto ruler and totally left on the sidelines. In the 2nd half it would've been so much better to have both of them around for MSQ, that could've explored more about how the two of them would collaborate or differentiate on matters. Especially as we get to Heritage Found. Tonal inconsistencies. I thought with the passing of Gulool Ja Ja, Wuk would have her comeuppance and become a little more serious as the burden on her is greater and struggling between family loss and the compulsion to be a strong leader. But she's having a laugh soon after. Or that Sphene/Zoraal Ja attacks and kills the people she now leads, soon as she meets her, she's all, "Checks out, I want to understand you!"... I also didn't like how Alissae was just there to be a cheerleader, when she could've been more of a mentor to Wuk, because shes been thru some shit herself. I could go on, but this already long enough. In conclusion however, I'll say: Thank God they didn't give Meracydia to these set of writers.

[@darkmindaustin]

The Echo is an ability that is granted by Hydaelyn or by those capable of utilizing similar capabilities (as was shown by Elidibus during the ShBr Post MSQ,) thus allowing people to be contacted by her directly. It is kinda like a shotgun thing she uses to get people to understand the world better and be good little Mommy Soldiers. That was why she was able to talk to Mommy. Otherwise Minfilia would have been an aspect of Azem.

[@MasterLittica]

I don't know where you got that idea from, the Echo is an ability that activates as a reaction to a sundered soul and only a sundered soul 'remembering' the trauma of the end of days, usually in reaction to a star shower. It is the reason the Scions dont gain it when Elidibus starts activating people in 5.3, they are new souls not descendants of the people from the ancient world that were sundered. The only ability we get directly from Hydaelyn / Vanat is the 'blessing of light' something she herself calls just a 'small' protection charm when we meet her in Elpis

[@PunishedDad]

@@MasterLittica I might be crazy but doesn't the echo come from hydaelyn too?

[@MasterLittica]

@@PunishedDad Not quite no, she does notice when someone awakens to the echo and sends the 'Hear Think Feel' message but that seems to be more an automated response than something she activly focuses on.

[@wojnr]

This is the weakest MSQ of all in my opinion, even worse than modern slimmed down ARR. It feels like a budget Disney version of ShB with more annying Lyse as the main character, mostly because she is everywhere. Her voice acting was just bad, quality of others was also way lower. I switched to JP VA but it was already too late. Overall the expansion wasn't bad, but I expected much more from the beginning of a new saga. MSQ still has the same issues, story wasn't good enough to cover that this time. Turning off Living Memory was a ballsy move, I'm not sure I like it because leveling gatherers and earning gill would be much more fun in non-dead zone.

[@CarlosHernandez-kn8sl]

I understand the "vibe" I like it but I didn't love it, if something I hate about MMO is not acknowledging the power we have, I know we are suppose to be anonymous to them, only a "rumor" and we are on "vacation", I like the idea that we restrict ourselves so the story plays out, but when "sh*t is on" we are suppose to be "ON". Example, I would have love to see When Zoraal Kills Gulool Ja Ja, Wuk Lamat attacks but does nothing, so we attack and casually rip his arm off, showing that we have being fooling around to help Wuk Lamat and if this guy wants Eorza he will have to pass through us, no child's game anymore, FFS WE KILL ENDSINGER!!, then he will "challenge" Wuk Lamat to win some time to try to defeat us, and the story plays along. Every single MMO "We kill the Lich King" "oh that's awesome now please can you fetch me some rat balls please?" (the rats are level 95). or "I need to wipe my grandpa's butt champion will you aid me". FFXIV until now has always aknowledge our worth I love that, now I didn't hate it but for sure I didn't love to be back ont the typical MMO "champion". Graphical upgrade was the best of this expansion

[@Itama22]

DT MSQ was such a massive disappointment, it's honestly embarassing what we got compared to the previous expansions. I'm just glad the stuff besides the MSQ still provides the quality we deserve.

[@warm-heartedreaction6191]

yeah compare to SB that lyse still resolve nothing and nothing actually happen in the end we just fight zenos and it done theme still all over the place by the end imagine compare to that

[@tjandhuri]

I just finished MSQ, will not be rewatching yawntrail, the ending was ok though.

[@TheAsj97]

The ending was the worst part, sure, the start is boring and Wuk is annoying, but at the end we all turn into Emet Selch and commit genocide for LITERALLY no reason (not that a reason would improve it), and the writer just expects the characters to be ok with it??? That hack writer clearly has no idea that Ultima Thule's beast tribe questline exists.

[@wojnr]

​@@TheAsj97 I had some hope after introducing Spheeen but it was destroyed quickly. Let's just blame her programming for everything and if she rebels, let's override the program. Super lazy writing.

[@dystasia]

I really loved the story! I have to say though that after playing the game in Japanese and now watching this video I just can't stand the English VA of pretty much most of the new cast. Wuk Lamat sounds like she has something in her throat and also the acting doesn't match well the emotion and attitude of the character. She has very low energy and speaks too slow. Krile sounds like a 55 years old woman. Erenville is pushing a fake accent too hard and is too obvious also sounds way more mature than he looks. Sphene sounds like a 35+ year old woman. What the hell happened? The vive from the JP VA and story felt completely different. Don't get me wrong, most of the English VAs of the classic characters are so good (except for Alisae that sounds way too old) but the new ones just doesn't match. After watching this I can understand why so many people (who played in English) didn't like the new characters. Where is Wuk Lamat constant crazy excitement and energy levels!? Where is Erenville stoicism and low volume expressions of being annoyed!? Where is Krile's soft and slow spoken but empathic demeanor!? It all feels so much different for the worse in English.

[@megaten1977]

How do you mean fake accent? He might roll his Rs more on some words but that's the VA's real accent.

[@Zephhi]

I completely agree. It's actually really good in Japanese but the English is so bad, even for returning scions lmao

[@rtbear674]

I think even the recording or the QC is bad. I don't remember Thancred sounded like that in earlier expansion. Then I switched to JP VA around 25% in dawntrail.

[@dragocrafterr8286]

erenville's is his real voice tbf

[@dystasia]

@@dragocrafterr8286 I see. Even then it feels like it doesn't match the character. Try listening to the JP one in a couple of scenes and tell me what you think.

[@charliewu4874]

I would not want to experience the story again. Been playing since 2.0, never have I been so frustrated at the MSQ as this expansion. Click the video just to suppose you.

[@Boki_86]

A you please explain what frustrates you?

[@Chu.mungus]

Speak with Wuk Lamat... again

[@dood52751]

​@@Chu.mungusMinfillia's pray return to Waking Sand vs Wuk Lamat's Speak to Wuk'Lamat

[@CyrusHresvelg]

@@Boki_86 I am also frustrated at some part of the MSQ, mainly the overuse of Wuk Lamat. The first part that I feel uncomfortable is the heart to heart scene at the inn after Level 93 Trial. I know the WoL is suppose to be fond of Wuk Lamat and serve as a listening ear for her. However, I can't reciprocate as the player controlling WoL since for me, 37 MSQs is not enough for me to be so close to her. The second part is when she ask the WoL to join her administration in Tuliyollal, I have skin crawling and yelling "NO" in real life. In my mind, maybe I was thinking her as a possessive person who want to keep her best friend (Her PoV) with her all the time by chaining the WoL with a role in her administration, even if the WoL is a free-willed adventurer. At this point, I don't dislike her, I just think she is an annoying person for me and hope that she lessen her role in the MSQ. After a short breather with Erenville exploring Xak Tural (Level 96-97 MSQ), she came back as a prominent role for the rest of the story. I think toward the end, I really dislike her presence in the MSQ. The story don't have to be written in this way where Wuk Lamat is around for 80% of the MSQ. I want more scene time for Krile, Erenville, and the Scions. I also don't mind Koana or Bakool Ja Ja if they follow us to the last 3 zones. I rather Wuk Lamat harden her resolve to protect the city while Koana went with us to reason with Sphene. I can understand the intention of the story writer to introduce new characters but shoving Wuk Lamat onto our throat is not the best way for us to accept her. I agree that some of the player might like Wuk Lamat and enjoy her presence but 80% of the MSQ is just too much for me. If she stay in the city as Dawnservant after the competition, I might still miss her presence in the later part but as for now, I don't want to see her again. I think this is pretty much impossible since the writer shove her into us by having her for 80% of the MSQ, she will definitely play a role in the patch content since the writer invested too much in her. For me, Wuk Lamat is a best friend that I did not ask for and occupied my time from my other friends. Normally, I would watch streamers or content-creator for their MSQ journey, even for ARR and SB since there are some parts that are interesting for reaction. DT is the only expansion that I don't feel like watching any of that. I can finally understand my friend who don't like Zero and skip the MSQ from 6.2 to 6.55, until one week before DT. PS: This is the first time I about opinionated about a character in FFXIV that I engaged discussion on social media and reddit. Normally, I will just keep it to myself or discuss with my friends.

[@jakz737]

I find myself struggling to play.

[@insertcognomen]

i thought the narration was too much. Like in the opening it's just erenville saying exactly what we were watching on screen. more show please, less tell

[@ExceedProduction]

Sphene. Listen to me.

[@wojnr]

spheeeen

[@Chu.mungus]

Thank you for making DT bearable.

[@Sithalos]

Story got way better after the gym badges part for sure, but holy hell Wuk Lamat's VA really dragged this down. I hope to never hear that voice ever again.

[@crazagres1839]

She only played everyone else off screen / stole the entire, I guess.

[@akumawraith2803]

I’ve just started dawntrail and so far not impressed. When I was doing the trader msq I cringed when I saw the pop up animation of the trades.