The Truth about FFXIV Dawntrail

Dawntrail is the next latest and greatest in the Final Fantasy XIV saga, but how is it truly shaping up? FFXIV is celebrating its 10th year anniversary, with Dawntrail marking a MOMENTOUS MOMENT with an entirely new adventure with a level 100 cap. The next FFXIV expansion launches with an incredible amount of new content: graphics overhaul, Viper and Pictomancer as two new classes, eventually Beastmaster, new Final Fantasy XI based raids from FFXI's very own Shadowlord as titled "Echoes of Vana'diel", a ton of side content including new crafting and gathering questlines and much more!
But will it be any good? Why did I initially not feel as hype for this great expansion? Taking a deep dive I explore the disconnect between Endwalker post-patch and the Dawntrail prepatch and where they diverge.
Things are shaping up, and I hope it's all for the better (I'm going to play all of it as per usual.)
This is The Truth about FFXIV Dawntrail.
#ffxiv #finalfantasy #dawntrail
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[@wildheaven1827]

Wuk Lamat trail. As in, Wuk Lamat running ahead excitedly while you're in the background carrying her stuff.

[@pumpkingamebox]

I was so expecting Dawtrail to be actually about us reversing the effects of 13. And then we just don’t…

[@Naruto4life6]

When I saw this trailer, I kinda felt the opposite. That smile Meteor had in the beginning felt like a sense of his adventure spirit has been brought back. Look at endwalker in the beginning how down he is. The last time he smiled was in Stormblood. You have been saving the would for years, and finally, you can go on just an adventure now. No longer held down by this since of duty to save a queen, to help a resistance, or to bring an end to the primal threat. You are just an adventurer again, and Meteor looks so happy.

[@GOBZ_01]

I like and appreciate this. It has been pretty raw each expansion with him getting grittier each cinematic, so it is a welcome change 😃 well said

[@kalandarkclaw8892]

This is exactly how I viewed it too. "Time for a vacation" Over the last several years each expansion has been a continuation of the previous as things developed but this is a fresh restart. Nothing is being continued and a new story to enjoy.

[@Pikachu-qr4yb]

Meteor?

[@GOBZ_01]

@@Pikachu-qr4yb sort of a name given to the Default character in cinematic that represents the player 😁

[@joshanonline]

It would be a fair point if not for this 'vacation' to be so mediocre. You can apply that conformist logic to everything bad. Truth is: it did not need to be so tedious.

[@ChilleUK]

I think it's because we finished a 10 year story so hard to be hyped for another long journey right now.

[@networknomad5600]

It’s not. Dawntrail really is lacking in content.

[@GreywindLina]

I'm always hyped for another long story or journey.

[@RobinsMusic]

No dawntrail just sucks it’s just a bad story

[@GreywindLina]

@@RobinsMusic I actually enjoyed the story. Granted that I expected a few things that didn't happen, but I was still satisfied. Dawntrail does what they were set to do: establishing a new overarching threat. Although that's probably just my take on the last scenes.

[@joshanonline]

@@GreywindLina Downtrail story is an interesting idea done in the most dull and mundane way. It has good parts but the bad parts are Too bad. I was excited to reach it and dozens of quests later, I find myself just angrily spamming ESC. I had to go youtube--this is terrible. I'm a noob writer and I'm confident I can improve downtrail story several times. The people in charge are just too incompetent to be there by meritocracy. They gotta be diversity hires or something worse...

[@206Zelda]

What I can't wrap my head around is that this is relatively the same team that worked on previous expansions, and then we get THIS as our base-story. I quoted YGOTAS Kaiba while I was watching Wuk Lamat for the umpteenth time speak about 'peace and happiness': "We get it: War is bad, death is bad. My [sibling] is/was bad. Now will you please stop beating me over the head with all of this symbolism and end this pretentious charade already?!" I had much more fun doing the CLASS Quests than I did doing most of the MSQ in general. I'm praying future content will remove Wuk Lamat from our hip permanently.

[@KisaraShera]

Just to put it into perspective... it took me nearly 4 months to get through Endwalker from Start to Finish, from the escape outta the first shard to the Endsinger not to mention the Patch Content that followed from .1-.5 but since DT isnt there yet, it would be unfair to compare it to that soooo just Dawntrail as a "RAW" expansion than: Dawntrail was released about a week ago... and Im done, got two jobs at 100 (WHM and Dragoon), gatherers all at 100, crafters are on their way and two already on 100... in the matter of a week, 2 if you count EA, but... thats it? Thats Dawntrail? Something we've waited for, for 2 years?! And I didnt skip anything, I've read through the quests, listened to Wuk Ma Balls for hours to make friends with people around the world and surrendered all my worldly belongings to her, but thats it?! Two weeks of content?! Granted I've been playing almost non-stop because I wanted to avoid getting spoiled (not that, that has ever been a problem with 14, but with a controversial expansion such as this one, that is unavoidable, Im afraid), but STILL... TWO WEEKS?! Like... what the balls?!

[@RicardoSantos-oz3uj]

Worst story of all expansions. It could have been saved if the writer had a senior editor calling out its bullshit. The Exart in ShB. Was a great character. But imagine if the Exart instead of staying defending its city decided for us to follow him. Let him do all the talking. And every thing you did was relatedd to the Exart orders. And the character wanted to be the focus of attention 24/7 without giving any other character a chance to develop. Finalizing on him killing Hades at the last moment. That's Wuk Lamat in Dawntrail.

[@jakz737]

It’s boring so far

[@Sane-Revelation]

I mean... We just finished a huge 10 year long streching story line. We cant expect something as epic shadowbringers right away I dont think DT is JUST going to be a summer adventure, there is clearly more hidden within that isnt shown yet.

[@cionm7077]

Came from the future...It was not. There was nothing hidden, its lit a sidequest.

[@Cendar]

We need a vacation, honestly lol

[@TeemoTemosson]

We knew DT was going to be lowstakes, but we weren't expecting it to be this boring. I'm just starting the 95 quests so hopefully it gets better.

[@wildheaven1827]

It can be low stakes but that doesnt mean it can be boring or filler. It still has to do something new. People aren't going to be entertained for 2-3 years by one extra spell/action when all the battle content is still just fighting striking dummies and simon says.

[@ZanesZygot]

I play FFXIV since it first came out and as time went on I learned to manage my expectations for its expansions. If you stop and think about it the changes were slow and gradual. It's the MMO you know what they will deliver, and it will be at least ok always. It isn't like WoW, GW2 or other mmos were you are always expecting the big new thing, the big new feature.

[@sjnscale]

The big new failure 😢

[@xaahd]

Dude, it's awful. It's so awful.

[@invaderzam]

Yeah, I think we needed a break from the high stakes of all the previous expansions. With each expansion the stakes become...steakier? I believe we will get to fixing the 13th. But kind of like Spiderman Far From Home, this expansion will be an extended denouement and a fond farewell to the Scions. One last big bash before we go our separate ways.

[@lesliecarlisle3869]

Everyone keeps saying this but it just makes me laugh because I do not see the scions going their separate ways EVER

[@Kur0m0ri]

Nah, i think the Scions will stay permanently for trusts and i absolutely hate it... Bringing the Scions back straight after Endwalker was completely unnecessary (Some- or all of them shoud have died in EW, their story was finished and it would have been a great end... OR make them disappear for more than 2 expansions before letting them show up again, to make it more interesting, but no...), not enough happens with them. They were practically not needed and they could have just established new, fresh characters instead...

[@phantomvox951]

After 9 years of playing this game I have lost the excitement overtime. I will play Dawntrail but not expecting anything refreshing.

[@majoodlastsin4468]

Same shit same formula every expansions they need to change engine and overhaul the game

[@addisondesalvo6184]

I will be honest. After endwalker and as someone who has played since 1.0, I would be ok with a simple summer adventure dealing with a monarchy sucession battle, maybe beat a few demigods and some continental level threats, you know normal stuff. I don't want them to do a world of warcraft "here is a new world ending threat" every new second. The story was so good because each threat related to the ancients and sundering. Now we get to be Azem and explore the world and see what else is there. Emet told us where to go and our duty as azem to watch and help the star so simple continental level threats, no universal endsijgers. I am fine with that and need the break

[@LegendaryDorkKnight]

"The best Assassin's Creed game." Ah yes. Assassin's Creed 2.

[@GOBZ_01]

ok well THAT one is good too but Black Flag is just fantastic LOL

[@hkoizumi3134]

I feel you. I have playing as much as you have but also 9 years with FF11 online. Color me surprised when they announced FF11 collaboration. At this point of my journey with FF14, I am surprised I am not jaded. But I am coping. Yoshi P and his team are master of red herring. I remember vividly Yoshi P downplayed shadowbringer before launch saying it would "comparable to standard single player RPG" but in fact, it became the best JRPG story ever told. Not to mention the whole arc with Zero felt exactly like Warrior of Darkness in Heavensward patch back in the day. Little did we know, it would pivotal to greatest RPG story told later. I have hunch we will again later in 8.0 or 9.0. And lastly, the upcoming simplified combo system tells me they have something big planned. My guess is they'll be adding sub job system just like in FF11. This means we will finally be able to customize our favorite jobs to different kinds of role within a role.

[@Dewkeeper]

As always, when it comes to FF14, the phrase "Let them cook" applies. Have i liked every dish they've served me equally? No, but I've been delighted every time.

[@networknomad5600]

We let them cook with Endwalker, and it was garbage. Try again?

[@doemoo4779]

Big agree that DT hasn't hyped me up like the past 2 expacs But ultimately, it's a soft reset/rescaling of narrative and doesn't have all the loose threads to draw from. And I'm ok with that

[@GOBZ_01]

And that’s ok!! 💪

[@riaglitta]

Yeah, absolutely - it's a new story starting, and at least they will be telling a new story better than they did for ARR ;D

[@Tagonschezar]

SB didnt Hype you up?

[@doemoo4779]

​@@Tagonschezar SB was my first time being current and I didn't have the knowledge of fanfests, live letters and job action trailers I didn't have time to soak or build hype. Was more so just happy to be seeing the new stuff on release. Still love the expansion but it felt like a continuation of something I was already enjoying, not hype for new expansion

[@Atigeve]

Maybe I am the odd one here, but as a 20 year FFXI player, this expansion and seeing all the connections (even in the endwalker .x storylines) have me incredibly excited for dawntrail. It kinda feels like the ToAU expansion from XI, and a proper homage to the game that brought us XIV to begin with. While I have been hyped about all expansions, this one for me hit different, seeing the mamool ja and wooded area, and Galool Ja Ja as a main character, seeing the advanced tech area they showed (Thinking Alzadaal esque) and the FFXI raid, IDK I for am super hyped, even if the 2 new classes dont totally fit my style.

[@sammon1415]

I've been playing/replaying all the potentially Dawntrail-relevant story content, such as the Blue Mage questline (Whalaqee tribe lore) and Eureka (Krile and Galuf's backstory), and I'm finding myself increasingly more excited for the possibilities that a whole expansion set in Tural could bring.

[@GOBZ_01]

Hell yea I love this!! You inspire me to go do the same 😁

[@ZfanzockerHD]

This Video was very beautiful! Had a very good smile at the end

[@Dreded100]

I think part of it is because you love FF4. I don't, and genuinely didn't like the Endwalker patch MSQ. I was SOO happy in the 6.55 MSQ that we FINALLY are moving on from boring FF4 rip-off filler quest. (Yes, I know it will most likely be revisited in a later expac, maybe I'll enjoy it then)

[@TenzaBurabura]

I like your perspective! You're positive. I get sick and tired of people always measuring things by their worst characteristics, especially when they're just subjective things. Like, hello? Hundreds of people spent years of their lives to make you something they felt was awesome? Why the disrespect? It doesn't make you sound cool, it doesn't make people want to agree with you just because you're "passionate", it makes you a complainer. And no one actually likes complainers. Acknowledge the good with the bad. Rant over. Did like the video, though.

[@hassinalhashmy6777]

I just finished the story of the game and all i can say say is its GARBAGE who the fk asked for this dog shit story and lame characters I also wanna know who they r making this kind of trash to ? but im damn sure they r makeing it for me Right now i feel like this game is not for me anymore so im out of this i had my full of garbage i might give it a second thought if they turned it back to heaven's ward days stuff back then legendary good and sick and dube That was my honist and humble personal openion peace out

[@Dhalin]

I dunno, I mean, I thought the trailer was good. Show off the two classes, show off the new race, and some of the areas we'll be going to and the general theme of the expansion. Seems like they did all a trailer really needed to do. In fact, ShB's and EW's trailers had misleading information (the voice lines in ShB's trailer being spoken by a gremlin were actually said by Emet-Selch, while the "Paladin WoL saves Alisaie's life in a lush green battlefield is actually G'raha doing it in the snows of Garlemald") that I felt was kinda 'meh'. They didn't need to be cryptic with DT, they just needed to give you an idea of what the expansion's theme is, and some of the features you might see within it.

[@Omegaphoenix128]

Honestly, even though the devs said it'd be a new adventure, I cant see how it'll completely disconnect from everything that's happened. To many loose ends. Given how the post EW msq dealt with the void amd "fixing" that world, I think that lays the initial idea that going forward, we might be more or less start working towards un f+++ing the other reflections. That or the fact that someone on the new world wants to rule so they can invade Eorzea now that Garlemald is defeated, there is a similar parallel with hydaelan and Zodiark gone creating a power vacuum for some external aggressor to try and take control. Who knows, frankly. While i do want something fresh, I am going to be annoyed if DT behaves like the world almost ending was just a cloudy teusday and no big deal.

[@basilnottheherb]

i think its valid to miss wanting that hype for the new expansion but im placing my money that this revamp/soft reset to our adventuring days is gonna pay off.

[@tenebraescientia]

We missed you Gobz!

[@TheOneGreat]

The worst thing is the boring jobs for me.

[@ipip5516]

Picto is pitiful, it's just so boring.

[@Tavak86]

The problem is that we have nothing to grab onto for this expansion. Usually the post expansions do a good job of building up context for the next chapter but that didn’t happen this time. The fact that it’s a totally new story didn’t help either. I’m looking forward to the story but I’m not head over heels like before.

[@RustedCrown11]

Honestly im for this being a more down to earth expansion. we just saved the world, I think we deserve a vacation. its like the beach episode that happens after all the grand drama happened. if the world was in danger every expansion then it would get stale and boring. we need the more low key adventures to space out the grand world saving

[@kalandarkclaw8892]

Preconceptions are a mother fucker but I'm just gonna take things as they come vs making demands and expect the devs to conform to what I think. Not everyone will be 100% satisfied and those people will be the loudest as always. Time to tone them out and enjoy the game the way I want to. People just look for any excuse to be complain these days.

[@smashedbread]

I honestly am looking forward to it possibly being just adventure and wonder instead of overarching dramatic crazy storylines. Maybe we just need a break for one expansion where the world isn't going to end lol

[@Coolio_Ash]

im thinking this will be a gameplay focused expansion like stormblood was. im expecting sick as fuck raids and dungeons. catching the sword was just the start we're gonna stop a fucking spear just like our boy Haurchefant this expac

[@user-uv4wn2xx7o]

It’s not

[@gandarf80]

How do you know? Have you played it?

[@Greco4915]

No wonder they needed most peeps to up their devices, They put all the lights and crazy special effects in Arcadion. Imagine how crazy it's gonna be on Savage

[@jeansilva3394]

Because it is over, this is just a feel good "good by" expansion!

[@JimC1984]

Yup been at it since ARR another 2 year expansion with the same exact shit on a different coat of paint. Yoshi P said theyd make it into an MMO not a single player gamr ... and then hes homogenized tanks in action trailer..... got lazy with summoner... etc. Bunch of shit. But newbie gen zs will buy it!!!

[@RinTheBard]

As a general gen z player the 2min meta is disappointing, casual content is too easy, and there’s no complexity in jobs anymore. They took away bards complexity to make it more accessible, which as a bard main I don’t know how to feel about it. The game is slowly being turned into a game that pushes the erpers to play their classes brain dead rotation in my expert roulettes

[@Teachidoll]

bruh they are basically putting all there previous content in the expac.

[@pres002]

click bait got me man. I was like mmmm nah fam and then boom! cant wait to jump on my sage and picto mains

[@laurenlunamar4729]

Picto main and sub main sage for me such a toss up with seraphim form with SCH but choose sage in the end.

[@sorakun555]

I think the game's just hit the point where it's found a solid formula and will simply build on that. We're used to big, sweeping changes in either a new kind of content or a new job doing something different from the rest, but DT has been set up to not have to do that. And that's not a bad thing, although I do think a lot of people will be ready to scrutinize it after the community's general consensus with EW.

[@networknomad5600]

It’s not a solid formula. It’s braindead. It’s bleeding veterans left and right.

[@LoudmouthLink]

Let's Give Credit to him tho, Im a small content creator and editing is crazy hard sometimes, credits to him for keeping us entertained

[@GOBZ_01]

Hey thanks!! 😁 you get me ❤️

[@warllockmasterasd9142]

This is the new ARR of the modern dawn of ff14. It needs the set up for the next things to come.

[@Fransens]

Nah I'm 100% with you on the feeling of "That's it?" after watching the trailer. It felt like one of those filler beach episodes in most anime that are just that... filler. Buuuuuuuuuuuut... I've been gushing over the story of FFXIV for the better part of 10 years now and I know they just finished that decade long story arc and have to start fresh again. And from a WoL point of view... our character and their friends have really, and I mean REALLY, earned a vacation! My guess is they will get it and just happen to stumble upon the (next) greatest story ever told in gaming. I just temper my expectations by looking at DT as the ARR of this decade.

[@keiichimorisato98]

Honestly, I'm cool with that. We need something a bit more uplifting after two incredibly heavy expansions. And a new story needs to have groundwork laid so that future expansions don't have to spend a lot of time establishing the conflict and can just go at it.

[@12tanuha21]

Some may see it as a filler, I see it as the start of a new story prologue.

[@riaglitta]

I CANNOT WAIT FOR SERAPHISM

[@anubisval2940]

Completely understand. It looked underwhelming and boring. The game overall just seems stale and repetitive. There is nothing to be hyped about with DT coming, and the new classes are corny.

[@loomingdeath1758]

How so thats like saying all classes in any game are corny XD

[@anubisval2940]

@@loomingdeath1758 The viper class is a complete lack of innovation. It's a fancy samurai. The pictomancer is the dumbest thing they added to 14. It doesn't vibe with the other jobs, looks completely stupid in game, and shows they are running out of ideas. The should have left it in nes FF with Relm. Seeing how Dawntrail is being received with it being both boring and awful story, a month later from my comment, underwhelming is a nice word to use.

[@mariogentry4238]

Aside from the boring current state of jobs, I hope will lamat won’t be saying “I will be dawnservant!” Every 15 minutes

[@loomingdeath1758]

....thanks for jinxing it lol

[@mariogentry4238]

@@loomingdeath1758 sorry 😭

[@Zenderstrife]

Dawntrail is Devil May Cry 2

[@Coolio_Ash]

welcome back dude

[@JulesDoesStufff]

Been playing since SB but played the beta of ARR but this game has always pulled me on as I am a fanboy for FF but I am excited for this regardless. The fact they have so much more content planned is astounding. Will I like it? Probably but idk some people are just unpleaseable I guess 😮

[@tenjiechin]

Stormblood was great. Playerbase was smaller, job design was still being figured out, and CB3 wasn't afraid to try something new that isn't so hand-holdy through the entire story. Glad Shadowbringers and Endwalker happened, and glad they're being put to rest as they've definitely overstayed their welcome with a VERY hard lean on story over gameplay

[@chewysnack28]

I am avoiding the press tour for this one because I watched all of the endwalker ones and had a major plot point ruined for me by Yoshi P himself. Because of that I thought EW fell flat.

[@RiogaRivera]

stop doing drugs

[@dividedbyzero4]

The story may not hype me as much as shb-6.0, but the content offerings surely does and I hope they stick the landing. Field operations, variant & criterion (hope they fixed the reward structure), cosmic exploration (ishgard restoration-esque), deep dungeon, beastmaster.. it's shaping up to be the most content dense expansion since stormblood.

[@Dodolfo1]

I'm expecting DT to be like ARR and Stormblood. Kinda not so good but preparing the ground for the next adventure.

[@ironwolfsaber2739]

Problem with Beast Master and Blue Mage was problems in FF11, if you didn't have a certain spell you got kicked. Both of their jobs even at optimal loadouts where still fated to be solo. Instead of restricting the entire class within the cookie cutter restrictions of main line classes, they decided to make a class that embraces its freedoms and being broken. They also cleverly introduced these classes as a means of zone fillers (beast master likely will be roaming 2.0 areas at the start) to keep the zones occupied and help feel alive as many zones just empty out after most players quest it out of existence.

[@jeansilva3394]

i loved endwalker

[@SharkFaceKilla]

nice

[@Ryotsu2112]

We love to see it.

[@gmorkins6006]

This is the only xpac where im waiting to see what peoples impressions are before jumping in.

[@ruick78]

I think Dawntrail going to be our HW, it start of slowburn with intrigue and then we will get to epicness by end

[@tommyspringfield7687]

THANS FOR THE SPOILERS! done watching this video now!

[@peacockterumi528]

Technically speaking I'm looking at this expansion as the summer vacation episode.

[@ItsPawsitivity]

It’s essentially ARR 2.0 - it’s to set up the next story line. I’m expecting it to have a slow start, and maybe nothing too wild happen at least right away, and I’m okay with that. I’d love to not have the world ending every other quest for a little while 😂

[@DeusGamez]

my theory is that we will be dealing with a final fantasy 8 situation with its lunar cry causing things to fall out of balance i remember distinctly afterall how eldibidus told us there had to be an equilibrium or else chaos would inevitably ensue etc but then again i also wouldn't be surprised if we end up having to deal with some time travel shenanigans all over again like having our far future self warn us against doing something or even if we somehow become the bad guy ourselves

[@Taikomo]

Dude's name is not Meteor. Never has been, never will be.

[@1jidion]

ive known going into dawntrail, its probably gonna be structured similarly to arr, where the bread crumbs for something bigger will be laid out, we will get hints of a new threat, some minor baddies, we will probably meet a couple central characters to the overarching story, but this isnt gonna be like shadowbringers or endwalker level of world/universal threats, its gonna be arr levels of just country level threats

[@1jidion]

i mean, to be fair, final fantasy has had its share of advanced civilizations, look at Insomnia from 15, or esthar from 8, hell, midgar, but definitely esthar

[@SiresOrbwits-oi8mz]

We probably won't be doing anything with the thirteenth until the warring triad becomes mandatory like the crystal tower did. Then again they didn't have a problem dropping Gaia officially into the lore in 6.5.5. But if I had to guess I'd say it'll probably be either the 9th expansion or the 10th expansion.

[@keiichimorisato98]

Don't forget that we have a fragment of our soul just kinda sitting in the ocular of the Rising Stones... a piece of us saved from the darkness of the 13th by Lahabrea.

[@Magnarmis]

He isn't if you follow the post role quest chain from shb.

[@avi3365]

Think we just need to let them cool aye

[@PokeMasterQuench]

Banger video

[@KazumiKiguma]

"I remember every pre-patch leading up to an expansion giving us a hint of what to expect" Do you? Do you really remember the pre-patches to Shadowbringers giving us a hint of what was to come? Had we not been given info about going to the First from Fan Fests would you have really understood wtf was going on with the Scions going into comas and where this was heading? Cause I feel like that did a MUCH worse leadup of expectations than Dawntrail's did.

[@Zaikofortem]

I'm also coping about the Thirteen arc hoping for Eden to be used to terraform/reset that world and find out if the OG Golbez is indeed our 2nd Ardbert