sorarockss93: Whoever decided Krile's arc should be so short needs to re-evaluate their choices in life.

EricJohnson-qr4oe: I spent the whole first half of the expansion thinking “Can I team up with Koana? He seems to know what he’s doing.”

ZanTheFox: Estinien had the Dawntrail experience we should have had

LucyPyre: you're entirely right about everything in this video don't let twitter gaslight u

robintheforeteller: I really wish Wuk Lamat had stayed behind in the second half to protect the city since she's literally the supposed warrior, while Koana joined us to Shalooni and Heritage Found since he's the technological guy, and would understand better what things do, and even understand the nature of Sphene better. It felt very awkward.

matthewsnow3074: I don't understand how anyone though Wuk Lamat was a good idea. I think the WoL should've hung out with Estinien the whole time.

Mr.Genesis: Glad you waited on a REAL review.. Not a "Rushed" review for clicks, clout and content.

You let your opinion simmer and actually did your due diligence in writing your review. Thank you for an actually detailed review no one will get from any other media source.

anthonydelfino6171: The point you bring up about NPCs having bland corporate speak felt like that got applied to ALL the characters

I was so excited when I saw the twins were going to be part of our team joining us. But when there was literally no fun bickering it banter between them, I felt so cheated.

It really felt like they were there to fill out trust spots and could have just as easily been Uriangier and Y’Shtola for all the contributions they had to the plot

Mari-pf8tm: This game felt mostly like a HUGE tribal quest.

MarkoDinicDinke: I remember there was a quest point which said "Speak with Wuk Lamat yet again". Even the devs knew. :')

warghoul570: I took a week off of work to play Dawntrail.I thought the story was so bad that about three days into my vacation I was wishing I was at work. This was the first expansion that I just wanted to get it over with instead of wanting to see what happens next.

Gortash: Dawntrail was the first time in 8 years that I play FFXIV that I had to skip a MSQ cutscene

jtwhat3004: My biggest wtf moment for wuks character development is the reveal of her bio dad. Then nothing comes our of it

Also that final boss interruption

Dracounguis: Have you ever gone to your friend's house to play, but your friend's mom says you have to include the little sister...

Noversoft: Zoraal Ja was impossible to take seriously from the moment he stated his motivations. He's literally a Reddit armchair general and would have gotten bodied instantly going into a war-hardened, post-EW rest of the world. Hell, he gets bodied instantly on his own turf. His only successful move was his surprise attack on the capital, but he doesn't really do anything strategically except posture. Then his forces he spent 30 years building get annihilated in an afternoon by an extremely small contingent of specialists from the East, dragons, cowboys and his countries' own original military. He couldn't even beat his own father with that bonus 30 years without his regulator crutch.

He was pathetic and lame and every time I saw him on screen I wanted to alt-f4. He really should have been the one with the mid-story heel turn into a regretful good guy, after seeing that the rest of the world was well and truly already familiar with war, death and tyrants.

tfish110: "Good luck in Ishgard, IDIOT!" had me dying

yabiyabi: Zepla, I was wondering why you were quiet about this subject. Quietly I hoped to myself "I hope Zepla is the one content creator who will take her time to submit a full detailed review in the future"... so I waited and hoped patiently. And you do NOT disappoint!!!! THANKYOU!!! You even added details I felt, but I did not feel like expressing it. Not only that you went step by step and your feelings showed even during the live stream footage. I wanted to thank you for taking your time releasing this!

90Rush: Wuk Lamat: claims she cares about the people of Tural.

knows nothing about the people of Tural.

Something doesn't add up here.

MangoPanic: I was legit so disappointed we didn't actually get to clash with the Scions 'cause that's how the expansion was advertised

Durahan82: The Writers failed the Beach Episode.

MrJoyShow: I've said it before and I'll say it again.. the quality of the MSQ in a game like FFXIV can absolutely have an impact on the enjoyment of the rest of the game, whether they're directly related or not. It's why I think a lot of us have been pretty lenient about the game's shortcomings, so I think it's no coincidence that there seems to be an uptick of more critical, negative or apathetic sentiments about the game as of late.. and that's frustrating.

I know you mentioned how you were depressed for a little while after first finishing Dawntrail's MSQ. I'm still kind of there. I still do care about XIV, which is why I keep reading and watching stuff like this, I suppose in the hope that things can improve from a writing standpoint if enough people raise their concerns.

Great video overall, really lays out a lot of the reasons why the story didn't work, in a constructive way. I hope they really take this stuff to heart. Thank you for posting it, probably was not easy to make given what's been happening lately. Stay well.

TechnoTurtle9974: Im going to need some time to speak with Wuk Lamat about how I felt about this video.

Demon_Tiem: I will never forgive Wuk for interrupting that fight

Hilipinapixili: Your final point about the lack of nuance is what really got me as well. The way Nanamo's reckless idealistic reforms almost got her killed. The way you trying to make things better was met by opposition, not by enemies (which are a given), but by the same people you were trying to help, like it happened in Ishgard or Garlemald. The way Endwalker tried to establish a message about finding what makes life worth living, yet at the same time presented Zenos as a twisted version of it's own message by becoming single-mindedly consumed by his own obsession, not being afraid to show how finding the spark to beat despair can also go totally wrong.

These "devil's advocate" moments are what made me fall in love with FFXIV, and are sorely lacking in Dawntrail. Tural itself is presented as this melting pot of diverse cultures living in perfect harmony, which is a beautiful thought but also very unbelievable, lacking in nuance, and anathema to actually interesting storytelling. Any inkling of conflict in the tribes is easily steamrolled by Wuk Lamat's bright-eyed idealism, which goes through the whole story pretty much unopposed, and the constant repeat of the "peace and happiness" mantra feels tiring at best, infantilized and patronizing at worst.

I guess the way they tried to put the idealism to the test was with the idea that Wuk Lamat inevitably had to go to war against her brother in order to maintain peace, which is indeed a contradiction. But Zoraal Ja was portrayed in such a villanous way that in the end the whole thing just feels like a typical conflict with the bad guy rather than a highlight of the inevitable problems of her idealism. Remove Zoraal Ja, who is an over the top and exceptional anomaly, and everything is swell. It just misses the mark, IMO.

j-churchill: どなたかこのビデオエッセイを日本語に翻訳してください

This is the most well presented critique of the issues with Dawntrail story. It's what I felt the enitre time playing the MSQ. I wish YoshiP, the writing team, and the english translation team would see this. From what I've seen in the media interviews after DT, I think they've taken the wrong feedback.

Jan 03 2025

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