Summary

• Dawntrail offers a light-hearted tone and fresh setting, featuring new jobs, quests, and areas inspired by South America.
• The story revolves around Wuk Lamat's quest for the throne, with a focus on her growth and relationships.
• While some may find the stakes lower than previous expansions, Dawntrail provides a refreshing change of pace and enjoyable experience.

Coming off two critically acclaimed expansions, Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail has some big shoes to fill. The fifth expansion for FFXIV (sixth, if counting the reboot that was A Realm Reborn), sees familiar faces in strange lands while setting up a new narrative arc after Endwalker resolved the Hydalean and Zodiark storyline. For anyone who's seen the trailer for Dawntrail, it's also noticeable what a 180 this expansion feels like - forgoing the darkness that permeated through the last two expansions for sunshine, beaches, alpacas, and tacos.

For all its shift in narrative tone, Dawntrail still feels like FFXIV. There are Aether Currents to find, job quests to complete, dailies and hunts to track down, FATEs to in, and plenty of cutscenes layered throughout the Main Scenario Quests (MSQ). There are also two new jobs - narrative heights of Shadowbringers.

FFXIV: Dawntrail Story Impressions

A Light-Hearted Tone That Feels Needed At This Point In The MMO's Lifespan

The story of Dawntrail (and how well players will respond to it) really depends on how much someone can get invested in newcomer Wuk Lamat and her story. The premise here is that Wuk Lamat wants to ascend the throne, but in order to do, she must complete a series of tasks in what essentially boils down to a treasure hunt against her adoptive siblings. The competition isn't entirely friendly, and there's a solid twist about halfway through the MSQ that shakes up both the narrative and the overall tone.

In fact, Dawntrail's narrative feels similar to Stormblood's - as the focus is primarily on one NPC coming into her own by getting to know various factions and becoming one with her people. Stormblood had a familiar character leading the pact, though, whereas Wuk Lamat was only introduced in post-MSQ content with patch 6.55. It's a risk, lowering the stakes and asking players to get invested in a brand-new character.

Mostly, it seems to have paid off. Dawntrail feels like a breath of fresh air after the somewhat gloomy and claustrophic nature of Endwalker. And just because Dawntrail's story feels more laidback doesn't mean it's not compelling. The new cast is fun and well-developed, and the game does a solid job of feeling like it's a new start. The story, which is somewhat simplistic compared to the more philosophical narratives of Shadowbringers and Endwalker, still offers an introspective look at forgiveness and finding one's place in the world.

Dawntrail feels like a breath of fresh air.

The downside to having a new start, of course, is that the player character takes a backseat to the plot in a major way. Even recurring characters like Thancred, Urianger, Alphianud, and Alisaie feel underused at times. This will likely bother some players - especially veterans used to saving the day - but Dawntrail feels like such a nice change of pace that taking a back seat in the storyline didn't feel too distracting.

FFXIV: Dawntrail's New Content Is Still Great

New Dungeons & New Areas Are Highlights

The New World, or Tural, is full of vistas, mountains, and riverlands in Dawntrail that are clearly inspired by South America, and each of the areas stand out in their own way. From a Machu Picchu-looking area full of alpacas to a land that looks like the Amazon rainforest, FFXIV has rarely been so vibrant with its designs. Sure, Limsa Liminsa has a nice beach resort vibe with pirates, and each expansion has had its own bright moments, but the colors in Dawntrail add to the fun and more relaxing atmosphere.

It's not just the new explorable areas that benefit. The dungeons in Dawntrail mostly feel open and colorful, too. There are times the designs of these new areas can feel too familiar - too much like Radz-at-Han or too much like Brayflox's Longstop, but overall, the new areas feel pretty fresh - no easy feat for an MMO that's been going for over a decade.

In fact, Dawntrail has some of the best dungeons and trials to date. The bosses in dungeons usually have interesting mechanics and there's enough variety to keep everyone on their toes. Even the first dungeon, Ihuykatumu, feels unique because of its story importance, even if its mechanics pale in comparison to everything that follows. Tender Valley and The Strayborough Deadwalk are personal favorites, and the callbacks to FF9 peppered throughout this expansion were great, too.

Getting to use NPCs in dungeons and trials never felt so easy, either. In addition to the graphics update, which looks excellent, the NPCs and Trust system seem much smoother now. Given how challenging some of these fights can initially seem, it's nice to have U characters that can hold their own. I can confidently say that Dawntrail has my favorite trials of any expansion at launch - they find a balance between fun and challenging that FFXIV has perfected over the past decade.

FFXIV: Dawntrail - Final Thoughts & Review Score

4.5/5 - "Must-Play" By Screen Rant's Scoring Metric

At this point, Dawntrail will be a divisive entry in FFXIV's history. People will complain the stakes are too low or that the new characters aren't as interesting as the Scions. There's not a villain on the same level as Emet-Selch. Tural is full of too-familiar races and designs. Those may all be valid arguments, but personally, I've found Dawntrail to be entirely refreshing. After previous expansions seemed to one-up the stakes and darker tone each time, this kind of reset feels needed and is well-welcomed.

Dawntrail isn't without its issues, and the first half of the MSQ feels stronger than the final stretch, but it's an expansion worthy of FFXIV's legacy. The story rarely drags, even if cutscenes sometimes overstay their welcome. In many ways, Dawntrail is a surprise - from its tone, to its New World, and to its characters and plot. For an MMO that's been going this long, that feels like an incredible feat.

I've adored my time in Tural, and it's some of the most fun I've had in FFXIV in the 11+ years I've been playing. Wuk Lamat is someone worth rooting for, and the designs found in Dawntrail are just beautiful. I'm just eager to get back and see where future updates and the post-MSQ of Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail will take me from here.

A code for Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail was provided to Screen Rant for the purpsoe of this review.