I felt so sad when we had to destroy the beautiful last zone

Re: the last zone, that's kind of the whole point. That portion of the story is all about letting go of that vision of the past, so I feel like letting you just toggle the illusory version of it would kind of ruin it. To me, that was a really great moment of the gameplay reflecting the themes. Just like Erenville has to try and be content with the time he had with Cahciua and hold that in his memory, we gotta just enjoy the original version of Living Memory while we can.

Doesn't NG+ restore most settings to their original visuals if they change?

The reason why he died was already explained in their duel. No one can interfere even if the person resurrected.

Issue with the Bakool Ja Ja story is they don’t lay enough groundwork for the reveal. Imho they should have made him a bit more Dick Dastardly (keeps getting ahead and setting traps but increase the ‘danger’ he poses) and a bit less ridiculously evil steps he takes that are just ridiculous. You can also use that to play up his desperation. As written he’s a bit too cartoonishly evil and then suddenly the reveal happens. I agree with you though I did like him by the end, but I think it could've been better

My main problem with last zone is that it's either a story of lost and many precious thing were lost as we turn the terminal off...... but then we would be conducting mass murder. If the endless were never alive, it doesn't matter to turn the terminal off, then nothing of note have been lost, and the story have no weight to begin with.

If Wut Lamat can donate just 25% of her screen time to other character, Dawntrail as an expansion would improve a ton, especially in first three zone.

I feel like one of the only people who thought the second half was boring and wanted more of the swashbuckling south american adventure

If what we did in the Unlost World wasn't murder then there is no such thing as murder in the FF14 universe. The Endless weren't copies of memories, they were the memories extracted from the soul and preserved instead of lost like what happens in the natural process. So what's left of Cahciua is a blank soul, more likely in some Alexandrian's regulator than in the aetherial sea. The part of her that feels excitement at seeing her son, the part of her that squeals, "my fuzzy bunbun," that is what we deleted. What's left is some life energy that may if it ever finds its way into another being lead that being into being more excitable and adventurous. But what made Cahciua, Cahciua is forever lost. And if that were not the case, if a person was just their soul and not their memories and personality, then murder wouldn't be a big deal in the FF14 universe as the soul is eternal. And while yes the Endless needed living aether to be manifested, we destroyed people already manifested, so that aether had already been spent and we destroyed the minds of those people which did not require living aether. Even if Sphene refused to be reasonable, we could have spared the servers and found a way to preserve those who wanted to continue on as Endless. There is the option of a virtual world, there is the option of dynamis, there is the option of robotic bodies, there is the option of getting help from the Omicron, there is the option of Allagan cloning. There were so many things we could have attempted to do for those people, but the story was so busy being preachy it didn't consider how I might feel about doing a play to make children smile and then turning around and deleting those same children from existence five minutes later. The last zone was more horrific than I could have imagined possible and now it sits there, a fetid corpse, to forever remind us of our darkest actions. The Ascians look like the Peace Corps compared to us.

1:20 I enjoy yapping. Consider me subscribed.

My understanding is that alot of games in square enyx is not making money and that ffxiv is their main cash cow

A remake of a 27 year old FF game got every scrap of dialogue voiced but the one game in their current stable that is actually profitable can't even get the MSQ fully voiced. It's disappointing.

I do like Wuk Lamat as a character but ive gotta say (my opinion ofc) the english v.a does not feet the character at all

Wasn't it announced that there would be a zone where we could level up crafters and gatherers sort of like Diadem? Could this be a way the last zone is restored? I feel like the art team spent way too much time and effort on that zone to just toss it away. I loved the story. I hated Wuk Lamat in the post EW stuff. I knew they were going to develop her, and they did. I respect her, warts and all. I don't have an issue with the WoL not being the main character. In ARR I felt more like Minfilia's servant than the main character. Plus, this story was setting up the next ten years and considering that they actually made me feel for several new characters and get me emotional while just laying groundwork speaks volumes for the story team. We were the driving force behind Wuk. We were an exemplar and a teacher and without the WoL's previous experiences Wuk's chances in the contest would've been dead on arrival. I enjoyed the pacing and felt the story was better than EW, at least for me. Graphics upgrade was great for me. Soken IS a genius and singular talent capable of a myriad of genres.I agree that the new story dungeons were not just snoozefests and they required you pay attention while still being accessible to casual/story gamers and I think that is wonderful for everyone. I can't wait to see where the story goes. If the raid design is as improved as the dungeons I think the people predicting a big falloff will be pleasantly surprised. Thanks for the honest review and for your guides!

The dad died because it was a duel, they showed how the dad fought estenian and you in a solo duel, it seems like a full traditional thing. Even zorul ja says that wuk basically chested because she fought the shade of the dad in the final trial with help. And in the later half wuk states how she doesn't want interference in their one on one fight. Seems like a cultural thing. I don't care that I'm not the full main character at all you are full focused as the true defender and you are choosing to help wuk she would have gotten destroyed the entire time without us backing her ideals, I wasn't bothered by her at all and was actually happy she had some part in the final fight and things. Also! Wth was with the Azim crystal symbol on the big trophy thing in the end fight?? Wondering if he created that or if he may be an interdimensional being which kind of means we might be or something, like the way the story is moving for the patches.

Everything about Dawntrail has been fantastic except the MSQ. It's probably the worst ever expansion msq in execution. Wuk Lamat is also the worst character in FF14 imo. Everything before the ascension ceremony is throwaway. The latter half is ok, not great and not bad and personally, is only saved by Krile's family section. With that being said, the content is fantastic, the dungeons are a breath of fresh air and I'd rather have a mediocre story, but great content.

Dude, you almost hit on all the same things I thought (and at this point i've listened to many reviews). Get out of my brain.

The dmg on tank gap closers need to be brought back asap. I feel like they’re making every job so easy to play. Like wtf did they do to monk they made it so brain dead now.

I've taken a break, about halfway through the expansion. No desire to continue at this point. Ishikawa clearly wasn't behind the writing of this, and it shows. The painfully repeated gags and themes,which start out being fun and endearing, but are annoying by the 5th or 6th time they keep repeating it. Babook being a murderous psycho... and then just miraculous making a complete 180 in the course of a single cutscene... The pacing is just weird all over the place The blatant copying of major beats from previous expansions - especially ShB and EW - felt cheap and really made the writing seem even lazier to me. Create *new* situations that will pay off down the road. It was grating on my nerves, so I decided to just take a break and come back when the excitement and expectation is out of my system, so I can enjoy it for the subpar experience it is. I wondered at first if I was just somehow missing something.. but looking at a lot of the reactions being "mixed"... it seems I'm not alone in my experience.

I kinda like taking the backseat this time around, let other characters have their time in the spotlight. We're just out here, making friends, seeing sights, slapping villains around.

I would say it's mediocre. It's not as good as Endwalker, and even EW wasn't that good.

If the final days happened in Tural, I would let that stupid continent burn. I did not enjoy the whole "ooh cultures mean tacos and festivals" what a childish way of seeing culture. Also peace and happiness is not how rule, I wish I aided Koana instead of this braindead lion. 3/10, I give it 3 cause Erenville and Krile kinda helped me appreciate (they should have been the main focus)

main story is the worst on this expansion. the others improvements are aight/good tho.

100% this is XIV's Pandaria. Divisive, and the closing of what made the game originally great. I have no doubt this was the direction Yoshi and CBU3 really want to tske FFXIV. Sadly they have let down nearly the entire playerbase with that direction. Hopefully they attract a new audience with this new XIV. Sustaining success with an MMO is difficult. It will be interesting witnessing what I anticipate being the biggest dropoff of players in XIV's history in the next two months or so

I feel like it took me 10 hrs to get to the first dungeon ngl I was getting bored with the MSQ. IMO MSQ should be fully voice acted. Having to read so much makes it really hard for me to follow the story.

Good review. I agree in most all points. Story felt a bit rushed at times, and somethings don't add up - Erenville got information over virtual travel into the Mesa Tower.. when? .. where? .. Bakool Ja Ja's Arc felt rushed too. And personally i don't like Wuk Lamat very much. You mentioned most of the points. She is no 'woke' character - she has a lot of weaknesses, thats true. But i cant stand her personality. But a small saving point is that she grows and learns a bit in her journey. But as others here mentioned - the MSQ is not the best one in FF14. And yes, it feels a bit like WoW Pandaria..

MSQ was garbage Shoujo manga