The current expansion Dawntrail for Final Fantasy XIV has been facing backlash from the community since its release. With the latest patch, new reviews have also arrived on Steam. The well-known YouTuber Zepla is now reacting to an article about it and criticizing what fans have loved about the devs for years.
Who is Zepla? The YouTuber and Twitch streamer Zepla is one of the most prominent content creators for Final Fantasy XIV. According to her own statements, she switched from World of Warcraft to the Japanese MMORPG between 2015 and 2016 and became captivated by the story from the Heavensward patches starting at 3.2.
At the start of her channels, she primarily published guides and comedy videos, which helped many players get into the world of Eorzea and introduced them to the advantages of Final Fantasy XIV. She currently has over 302,000 subscribers on YouTube as ZeplaHQ and an additional 76,000 on her highlight channel ZepLIVE, along with around 261,000 followers on her Twitch channel (as of June 18, 2025, 11:30 AM CEST).
What’s going on with Final Fantasy XIV? Recently, an article from Gamesradar+ highlighted the negative reviews on Steam regarding the expansion. According to the article, the ratings on Steam have dropped to “mostly negative” since the release of patch 7.25.
Editorial note on the reviews on Steam
We could not confirm the ratings, as Dawntrail currently has 51% positive votes overall and 41% in recent reviews labeled as “Mixed” in Germany (as of June 18, 2025, 11:30 AM CEST) (see Steam). Nevertheless, there were times when the expansion also had the rating of “mostly negative”.
The reason for this is primarily the new content “Kreszentia,” which players generally receive well, but still leads to some criticism. However, according to Gamesradar+, it mostly disappointed expectations. Especially the intense grind and the highly repetitive design of the content are not well received by the community.
Why is Zepla reacting to the article? With the release of the latest expansion “Dawntrail” the YouTuber also appeared to be more critical of Final Fantasy XIV. In particular, she considers the story to be one of the greatest weaknesses of the add-on. In her latest approximately 17-minute video, she references the article from Gamesradar+.
She is sure: The story makes weaknesses more visible that have actually existed in FF14 for years.
“It is far below the standard that the game has set”
What does Zepla criticize? In her video on YouTube, Zepla discusses the mentioned article with her community and shares her opinion on it. Although she has not played the new content Krezentia, she has informed herself within the community and followed the discussions.
She shares that many players would find the new content boring, monotonous, and too grind-heavy, without real innovations compared to similar contents from past expansions like Bozja or Eureka. For many, it feels like “the same game again”.
The streamer agrees, as these points lead her back to things she has considered a major weakness of the game for years: The “formula” of FFXIV has remained the same for years – something that, in her opinion, was previously compensated by the strong story (e.g., in Shadowbringers) is now more pronounced due to the overall weaker story of Dawntrail, as she sees it as “far below the standard that the game has set”.
You can watch the entire discussion with her community here:
Additionally, she criticizes that the developers respond too much to the community’s wishes without bringing in their own creative impulses. The mere fulfillment of player demands without real innovation, in her opinion, leads to a content cycle that lacks ideas.
In particular, Zepla sees this as the reason for the feeling of alienation among players from FFXIV. A real fresh start or new ideas would be urgently needed to rekindle enthusiasm and win players back.
This is how MeinMMO editor Alexander Schürlein sees the issue
As a long-time raider and player of Final Fantasy XIV, I can understand the feeling. The MMORPG has followed certain patterns for years that can also be well predicted. However, I do not agree with the opinion that creativity is entirely lacking. Because even though Dawntrail contains a lot of “more of what has already worked,” the fights in dungeons, raids, and other content still feel fresh.
You can tell that the developers are trying to stick to their own system while still providing Aha moments and new impressions. Especially the new raid series has so far convinced me as a player of challenging content. And yes: the story is tedious, but it is also the beginning of something new, and that may just need some time. For my part, I have not completely given up on Dawntrail and hold on to the hope that much can still happen in the future.
In the past, there was major criticism of the new content Krezentia, primarily due to the strong focus on grind and the very low drop chances of important materials for the relic weapons. However, the developers have already addressed this point to the community’s delight: Final Fantasy XIV: Because players complained, there are now more rewards in the new MMO content
