Last Fantasy 14 is in a transitional interval. The 2021 growth Endwalker was successfully the finale to a narrative that started with 2013’s A Realm Reborn approach again on PlayStation 3. It was a type of Last Fantasy meets Avengers Endgame; a narrative that capped off eight years, 4 expansions, and over 200 hours of story content material in a spectacular emotional rollercoaster of a climax with the destiny of the universe within the stability.
However the place do you go from there? What do you do as soon as you’ve got crossed many of the t’s and dotted many of the i’s, as soon as you’ve got battled a foe of unfathomable energy hell-bent on wiping out actually every thing? How do you prime a narrative as massive as Endwalker, itself simply the ultimate chapter of an already large story? Dawntrail is the subsequent chapter within the Last Fantasy 14 story and it solutions that query with a shrug. You do not prime it. And what’s extra, you do not even attempt to — no less than, not instantly.
It is a daring transfer. Dawntrail dials every thing again to zero. This can be a story that begins out not with low stakes, however no stakes. You are employed by a Hrothgar (mainly, a lion girl) known as Wuk Lamat, who’s the adopted daughter of the ruler of Tural, a continent largely unknown to the individuals of Eorzea. She’s considered one of 4 rivals in a contest to seek out the fabled metropolis of gold and decide who will take over from the ageing Dawnservant when he relinquishes the throne.
And so with little left to do in Eorzea following the occasions of Endwalker and in dire want of a bit little bit of enjoyable within the solar, you and some of your comrades comply with Wuk Lamat to Tural to behave as her entourage within the succession contest. What follows is a largely light-hearted journey within the astonishingly stunning Tural, serving to the endlessly optimistic and likeable Wuk Lamat as she visits the completely different areas of the continent and takes half in every thing from cooking an area delicacy to catching and driving an alpaca.
The opening hours of Dawntrail are charming, and humorous, however they don’t seem to be precisely riveting. It is a large change of tempo from the pressing and ceaselessly dire Endwalker, however then that was in all probability needed, and we would by no means go so far as to say the opening to Dawntrail is boring. Tural is an enchanting and wondrous place, and the world-building within the early hours of the growth is usually glorious. All of it simply feels a bit frivolous.
However then about half approach by way of the growth all of it kicks off, and when it does it actually kicks off. The story takes some fairly wild turns within the second half of the journey, and it is a type of the place if you happen to tried to guess what the top can be after the primary 10 hours, you’d not get it proper in 100 makes an attempt. The emotional beats within the latter half of the story actually land due to the work put into establishing characters and areas earlier, and there is even some revelations for a few of our outdated pals too. We actually love this story.
It is not simply Dawntrail’s narrative that landed for us, although. The dungeons on this growth are the most effective the sport has ever had, that includes quite a few sophisticated mechanics, jaw-dropping locales, wonderful music, and superior bosses. We discovered ourselves ceaselessly bamboozled by a boss using ways we would by no means seen earlier than in FF14, and for a sport you’ve got performed for 1000’s of hours to nonetheless be capable to shock you is a uncommon deal with.
Fight is additional enhanced by the brand new jobs you may play as in Dawntrail. First there’s the Viper, a bodily DPS (harm per second) class which makes use of two blades in a similar way to Zidane from Last Fantasy 9. Taking part in Viper means managing buffs to haste and harm, in addition to getting your self into the suitable place to maximise your offence — sure assaults do extra harm from the aspect or from behind an enemy. It is quick and flashy, however for our cash it is overshadowed considerably by the opposite new class.
Pictomancer is the second new job, and it is fairly spectacular. The Pictomancer is a magical DPS class that makes use of an enchanted paint brush to attract assaults and buffs in battle. You initially have three canvases to work with – one weapon, one creature, one panorama. You employ abilities such as you would with another class, solely a few of these add one thing to one of many canvases. Utilizing the suitable abilities to complete the portray of a hammer on the weapon canvas, for instance, offers you a comical outsized mallet that you would be able to bop enemies with.
Utilizing the moogle’s pom talent causes lots of of balls to drop from the sky onto your enemies whereas including a pom to the creature canvas, and utilizing the moogle’s wing talent damages baddies whereas including wings to the canvas and ending the portray of a moogle. You then have entry to the Mog of the Ages talent, and utilizing it causes your newly painted moogle to spring to life and blast all foes with an enormous spell.
We discovered Pictomancer powerful to get the hold of initially, however as soon as we did it grew to become considered one of our favorite lessons in all the sport. It is all about increase assaults in phases for the large payoff in the long run and it is a tonne of enjoyable. In any other case, there have been tweaks to different, current lessons, however nothing earth-shattering from what we performed, and nothing as drastic as the whole Summoner rework from Endwalker.
Elsewhere, there are adjustments to how dyes work on garments, and now you can alter two completely different colors on most gadgets of clothes slightly than only one, which is nice information for glamour followers. Spectacles now have their very own tools slot as a substitute of being thought of headgear, so you may put on a cool hat and glasses on the identical time. There’s additionally a brand new playable race within the feminine Hrothgar – a humanoid lion – if you happen to fancy a personality change.
After which there’s the graphical replace. We marvel if you happen to’d discover the graphical replace in any respect if you have not performed Last Fantasy 14 shortly, however for frequent gamers it is fairly apparent. Hair, clothes textures, and faces all seem like a step-up from what got here earlier than. The brand new areas, too, make glorious use of the graphical enhancements, with areas trying a lot much less empty than beforehand seen within the sport, and with rather more foliage current.
Talking of areas, there are some stunning sights in Dawntrail, from darkish forests to lush grasslands and majestic mountains. Tural is usually South American in inspiration, solely with a Last Fantasy twist in a similar way to how earlier growth Stormblood riffed on Japan. Within the latter half of the sport the areas you may go to are aesthetically very completely different however no much less pleasing on the attention.
Dawntrail additionally continues Last Fantasy 14’s development of unbelievable soundtracks. There is a massive band monitor that performs each time you go to the primary metropolis within the growth and it is an actual toe-tapper. It’s very misplaced as a city theme for whilst you’re wandering round doing all your procuring, but it surely’s so good that we simply do not care. There are bombastic boss tracks, quiet reflective items, and one dungeon theme that we will solely describe as a trance banger mashed up with ’80s type guitar solos. It is splendidly bonkers.
Conclusion
Dawntrail is one other glorious growth for Last Fantasy 14. The story takes some time to get going, however as soon as it is completed setting the scene it takes some fairly massive swings within the second half that left us captivated. The dungeons are the most effective the sport has ever had, the brand new Pictomancer class is an absolute pleasure to play, it is obtained unbelievable artwork design, and a soundtrack that is attractive. Here is to a different 10 years of Last Fantasy 14.
