Launch Review: Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail is an uneven experience

Trying to wrap up a decade of storytelling is quite the ask, and the Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail expansion certainly attempts to make waves.

Its multi-year patches of the previous expansion, Endwalker, while entertaining, did little to convince players that the stakes would be anywhere near as high when it came to kicking off the game’s next ten years of strange sagas and otherworldly quests.

And we’re not going to lead you on by saying that these lofty expectations for Dawntrail were smashed. They were managed. Adequately, in fact. But does that make this new journey a reason to break your promise of ending your time with the once-dead MMO on a high? Probably not.

But it also wholly depends on why you might have considered that in the first place. And if you didn’t… well, you’ve probably already raced through it and come to your own conclusion.

Rather than travelling the seas to talk with smart alecs about the impending apocalypse, going back in time, and even jetting off to the edge of the universe in their bunny-managed spaceship, here you’re going on a relaxing summer holiday. At least, that’s the joke we all made when the first trailer was released.

In reality, Dawntrail has players going out of their way to help one of the game’s warmest characters yet convince her two-headed reptilian dad to give her the throne of his united continent over her half-siblings: a catboy, a single-headed lizard, and another dual-headed scaleyman. Yes, you’re almost strong-arming the government of a neighbouring nation. It’s just another day for Hydaelyn’s chosen champion, and that’s part of what makes this particular jaunt such a joy for the most part.

After proving yourself time and again by becoming a mass murderer of dictators, gods, and ancient ghosts—cementing yourself as the realm’s answer to Goku or Superman—it’s great to see an expansion written with those victories in mind. The number of key cutscenes that have you pull your punches is a breath of fresh air. But it’s also a