The latest expansion for Final Fantasy XIV has just launched and set sail for Tural. At launch, however, the addon is only receiving mixed reviews on Steam. Many players see parallels to the weak Stormblood.
What is Dawntrail? Dawntrail is the fifth expansion for the MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV. After the last expansion Endwalker concluded the story that started over ten years ago with the original version of the game, a new story arc is set to begin.
The addon brings many novelties at release. You can read all about it here:
In Dawntrail, the Warrior of Light and their friends are transported to Tural, a new continent inspired by South America. There, the current ruler is seeking a successor. A candidate recruits you to support her in her attempt to assume the throne.
The launch trailer teases the story:
Only moderate feedback on Steam – This is how it looks for Dawntrail
What do the reviews on Steam look like? At the time of the news, Dawntrail has a rating of independent listing on Steam with a rating of Mixed
. This is based on a total of 1,423 reviews. Of these, 913 are positive, but 510 are negative.
How significant are the reviews? Steam is just one of several platforms through which Final Fantasy XIV can be played. However, it is the only way to obtain somewhat reliable player counts, as Square Enix does not publish official player counts via their own launcher on PC and Mac, and the PlayStation and Xbox numbers are also unknown.
At the start of the early access of the game, player numbers jumped from about 15,000 on a daily average to over 91,000. The all-time peak was reached in 2021 at the release of the previous expansion Endwalker and is 95,102 according to Steam Charts.
Thus, the reviews were written by less than 2% of the gamers playing at the peak of the expansion exclusively via Steam.
No longer the protagonist, but an overpowering babysitter
What do players criticize? Many criticize the story of the expansion. Since it cannot be skipped, it constitutes a major part of the early game and leveling experience. Opinions specifically differ on the new NPC Wuk Lamat.
Reviewer HuiMoin writes: Whether you like this expansion depends entirely on whether you like Wuk Lamat or not. You are no longer the protagonist, but an overpowering babysitter.
Others like Vivi Ornitier are annoyed by the many fetch quests: […] I’m almost level 93 and doing fetch quests for hours, and because nothing exciting happens, I’m watching videos on my second screen.
Parallels are repeatedly drawn to the second expansion Stormblood, which received similarly mixed feedback from players. But even in Stormblood, the player’s character was in a more supportive role, helping the character Lyse to free her homeland Ala Mhigo.
Under a reddit post, JustiniZHere writes: […] I understand that this type of storytelling [like in Dawntrail] works well for some, but for me, it’s a total failure. It reminds me of all the things I hated about Stormblood; they learned nothing.
Is there any positive feedback? Among the 913 positive reviews, there is also praise for Dawntrail. Steam user Cabbage writes that while the story is weak like in Stormblood, the boss enemies and fights appear in a more positive light.
In the review by user Ark, patience for the story is called for, along with high praise for the dungeons, graphics, music, and balancing. In another review, from Steam user HollyBlueAgate, it is explicitly pointed out that the slow story and focus on Wuk Lamat were announced, and one had to expect that. Here, too, the new trials and dungeons are praised.
On reddit, Greyven draws the following conclusion: The story lives and dies depending on whether you like Wuk Lamat, due to her extreme presence in the story. You love her? Great expansion for you. You hate her? Terrible expansion because she is ever-present.
There is also feedback on X.com (formerly Twitter). Much of it is actually positive:
Dawntrail is good and I like Wuk Lamat
writes @Zeiciq via X.comI come out of my MSQ bubble and see people complaining and I’m shocked, honestly. Dawntrail is brilliant in its storytelling and pacing and manages to redefine the stakes on a personal level in a wonderful way.[…]
writes @EmUnArum via X.comAll in all, a pleasant ride – nothing felt like filler to me, as in previous expansions, and I appreciate that very much.[…]
writes @ArdenVT via X.com
Is Dawntrail really that difficult? An assessment
I played Dawntrail up to the level 95 dungeon. Indeed, Reddit user Greyven hits the nail on the head with his comment:
The obligatory main story of Dawntrail is extremely cutscene-heavy. Also, the player’s character is no longer fully in the spotlight for the first time since Stormblood. The main character is Wuk Lamat.
Because of this, personal feelings towards her play a significant role in the evaluation. Those who like Wuk Lamat as a character will likely forgive the main story its weaknesses and look forward to adventures with her. Those who cannot stand her will be incredibly frustrated and annoyed with the quests.
Since players in Final Fantasy XIV have always been the key character, the shifted focus is now also something to get used to.
The criticism, however, primarily refers to the story, and Final Fantasy XIV is more than that: Overall, there is also much praise for the new dungeons and trials as well as the graphic update. The quality-of-life changes are also well-received.
However, since the story is so omnipresent, its quality, which may not meet all expectations, overall negatively impacts the feedback more than it actually should.
I personally threw myself into early access and wrote a report on my experiences so far. For spoiler reasons, I won’t go into detail about the story, but I admit: I had to warm up to Wuk Lamat as well. Here you can read: Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail shows that the MMORPG is increasingly becoming a single-player game
