It’s been 11 years since Remaining Fantasy XIV crawled out of the ashes of its disastrous 1.0 launch with A Realm Reborn. 4 subsequent expansions have seen the participant base balloon to new heights, surpass its MMO rivals, and (because of the superb Yoshi-P) surf a wave of fine vibes.
However each wave should ultimately crash towards the shore and recede, and Dawntrail might be proof that XIV is now ever-so-slightly previous its prime.
By the conclusion of Endwalker, you’d squashed two solely separate cosmological apocalypses – it’s time for a trip. Enter the New World of Tural, Remaining Fantasy‘s tackle Mesoamerican and South American tradition, historical past, and structure.
The nation’s beloved Dawnservant (aka the king) Gulool Ja Ja has determined he’s too previous to rule and wishes a successor. The 4 candidates are his delivery son, a cocky combating champion, and his adopted kids Wuk Lamat and Koana. You’re on Workforce Wuk Lamat, serving to out a good-natured cat woman with confidence points as you journey the land battling your rivals in challenges set by numerous distinct cultures. On the finish of your path? The fabled metropolis of gold.
These anticipating the Warrior of Gentle taking heart stage can suppose once more, as Wuk Lamat is unambiguously Dawntrail‘s protagonist. She goes on the hero’s journey, grows as a personality, offers with emotional battle, and drives the narrative. As on your Warrior of Gentle? Nicely, you’re actually simply kinda there for ethical help and pitching in with bashing any giant monsters.
Throughout cutscenes your character’s position is to silently stand at stage rear, with the digicam often chopping to you nodding or smiling, simply to remind the participant that you just’re there too. From time to time, this very peripheral position on this story will get a bit absurd. In an early quest, Wuk Lamat should tame a hard alpaca. You assist her safe the particular saddle she must calm them down, however are advised solely she is permitted to do the precise taming. So Wuk Lamat heads off alone to do the enjoyable stuff, whilst you sit round at camp twiddling your thumbs questioning if she’s okay.
If Dawntrail had been a typical Remaining Fantasy recreation you’d play as Wuk Lamat (and, certainly you often do). For a lot of gamers it’ll be an underwhelming expertise to spend 40-50 hours as a passive cheerleader/bodyguard to the true hero however, to be honest to the writers, there’s solely a lot you are able to do with a generic zero-personality everyhero. That mentioned, if the adorkable Wuk Lamat rubs you up the improper means, you’re going to have a tough time getting via Dawntrail.
Diminishing your lively position within the story has the knock-on impact of highlighting XIV‘s prehistoric strategy to quest design. Merely put, after 11 years the designers actually ought to be capable to consider quests extra inventive than speaking to 3 folks and returning to the hunt giver or, if you happen to’re fortunate, combating three monsters inside a purple circle. Endwalker‘s tedious tailing missions additionally return however, frankly, regardless that they’re dangerous they’re not less than one thing totally different.
For me, the busywork of the MSQ quest is the plain bread surrounding the scrumptious sandwich filling of the dungeons and trials, i.e. the content material that forces you to sit down up and listen. There are not any structural surprises right here for XIV veterans: every dungeon accommodates three bosses interspersed with mobs. however whereas the creativity font may need run dry on quest design, Dawntrail continues to be discovering superior and difficult bosses to struggle.
Most of those depart little room for error and require you to shortly work out their mechanics. Fail to grasp what’s happening in time and your adventurer will find yourself as a depressing heap hoping a healer will rez you. By the point you’re into the extent 95 and above dungeons, the bosses don’t maintain again, tossing fast-paced mechanics at you after which layering them on high of each other. They’ll all be mastered in time, however count on to die in later dungeons till you determine what’s happening.
Dawntrail additionally ushers in a stunning new graphical replace for the whole recreation. Supplies, faces, and garments decision all get noticeable uplifts, although it’s the improved lighting system that correctly dazzles. There are firelight dialog scenes that zip previous “this seems to be good… for XIV” to outright “this seems to be good”.
Remaining Fantasy‘s lengthy historical past of musical excellence can be on full show from the second you arrive in Tural and the upbeat big-band bop of Tuliyollal kicks in. Every zone’s theme is nice, although a later blues guitar-led tune had me exploring the map simply to listen to it play out.
As for the general story? I gained’t get into spoilers, however the deal with appreciating unfamiliar cultures and the need for a pacesetter to grasp the folks they lead is first rate stuff. Later into the sport issues crumble a bit after a twist everybody and their canine ought to see coming – and I want later environments hadn’t been spoiled by advertising and marketing – however settling into a well-known Remaining Fantasy groove of villains screaming and reworking into godly beings mid-battle is a tried-and-tested formulation.
Perhaps Dawntrail was destined to be an anticlimax. Endwalker wrapped up eight years’ price of dangling plot threads in really bombastic trend and there was no means Dawntrail might attain these heights. Even so, that is in the end a narrative your character is barely concerned in – issues would most likely play out in roughly the identical means if you happen to weren’t there in any respect, which isn’t significantly satisfying.
And, whereas the graphical glow-up signifies XIV has a very good few years left within the tank earlier than it seems to be out of date, they should give us extra attention-grabbing issues to do through the MSQ. Maybe a few of these uninteresting quests are right down to engine limitations that may’t be labored round, however in that case it may be time to consider slowly and gently winding down XIV and pouring that have right into a sequel that’s not constructed on PlayStation 3-era tech.
Dawntrail isn’t XIV‘s most inventive, attention-grabbing, or well-written growth, but it surely’s nonetheless brimming with character, vibrant surroundings, nice music, and unimaginable bosses. So, until you will have a significant issue with babysitting overly optimistic cat women, you’re going to have a good time.
The reviewer bought his personal copy of the sport.
Remaining Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail
‘Dawntrail’ shoves your character thus far into the background of its story chances are you’ll as properly not be there. That mentioned, the vibrancy and character of Tural is an actual breath of contemporary air, and the dungeon bosses have by no means been extra satisfying to take down.