Final Fantasy Challenge: Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail. “If bloodshed will save my subjects, then I will become history’s most brutal queen.”

I didn’t actually finish 7.3, but I’m not far from the first dungeon and what I saw of the story so far led me to write this early. I don’t think there’s going to be some twist at the last minute that will ruin anything, so I think I’m good. Honestly, I needed to write this. It’s purgation. Anyway spoilers through 7.3.

I loved Dawntrail. There is no but coming. I have negative criticisms of the story and some of the gameplay choices, yes, but I’m not here to bury Dawntrail. It has many praises to sing, and I think that’s important, but before I begin, I want to talk about stories.

Stories, especially in an interactive medium, are difficult to tell. They require you to take a bunch of events and bend them together in a way that is emotionally resonating and narratively satisfying. The end, when a story is done well, is generally the most memorable and emotionally resonant part. Despite what people pick up from their middle and early high school English classes about story structure, the climax does not take place in the middle, but the end of the story. It is the last bit of action before everything wraps up, the climactic finale. It is Luke destroying the Death Star, Macbeth dying on his own terms in the fight against MacDuff despite knowing MacDuff is the man not of woman born, it is Thanos snapping his finger and it is Jon Moxley tapping out as “Hangman” Adam Page hangs him over the top rope with a chain. These are all the climaxes of the story, and one might note, the end of all of them. One is literally the final act of a wrestling match. It is generally the part people remember the most. A pithy quote, a cool action sequence, an important moment earlier during the rising action is also likely to rank up there as well, but the climax is where it all comes together. It’s a little bit different in a printed medium, and sometimes film and television, where the climax can stretch out for some time; technically, the climax of Infinity War continues until everyone fades from existence, but the Snap is the important part.

Conversely, the part people dislike the most is the beginning. I have said, many times, that I hate exposition. It’s long, it’s easy to make tedious and, quite frankly, it’s boring to write. I don’t like it as the audience and I really hate it as writer, but it is just as important as the climax. It is where the characters are introduced, the stakes laid out and the plot given form. It takes a while to get going, and when something is brand new, it’s going to take longer than a sequel, where the characters and world are already known. It’s a lot easier to jump into the action, so to speak.

The biggest issue Dawntrail has is that it’s the Exposition of a new story. It’s not just a sequel, it’s starting over from a new beginning, and a lot of the growing pains for the game are going to come from that. Endwalker finished an entire 10 year story arc in extremely climactic fashion, to the point that none of it can be followed up on. A new story needed to be done, and threading that needle is going to be difficult. The truth is, Dawntrail does thread that needle quite deftly, but it does have stumbles and issues as well. It’s also unapologetically still Final Fantasy XIV, with all of the baggage that comes along with that (some of which is significant, although at this point, I think we need to understand that Square isn’t going to give more money to the cash cow and this is just how the game is going to be).

So, to start, I do recognize that it has some foibles. First, I can understand if someone doesn’t like Wuk Lamat. I did, I loved her, but she’s very Naruto coded and she has a lot of lines where she shouts someone’s name. Sena Bryer did a great job, which is obvious in the patch quests and earlier parts of the story, but I’m not going to pretend shouting “SPHENE” isn’t annoying. Anyway, Ayaka Shimoyamada had the same issues in Japanese, so it really is more like Thancred shouting “MY TURN” than anything else. I’m not going to comment on why people chose to harass Sena Bryer while they took Peter Bramhil’s performance as a meme, but I know why people did and I do not approve. I wouldn’t approve of harassing any VA, but I know why it happened this time. That said, Wuk Lamat is also a big, dumb wannabe hero and you have to spend the whole game being Gandalf to her Frodo and it takes three-quarters of the game to get there. Then Vrtra shows up and fucks things up, but it is still three-quarters of the way into the game. I get it, that can be frustrating, wanting to be the big hero and instead, the story is about shepherding the new generation.

I also get not liking that as a story. It doesn’t always thread the needle, and there’s also Urqopacha’s first half, which is just inexcusable. Come on, I’ll agree with any hater on that, especially since I think it’s the more beautiful of the first two starting zones. I want a JRPG set in fantasy Mexico because of it, but I also don’t want to spend four hours doing a fucking trading deal. Anyway, I lost the plot for a second. I understand feeling like the Warrior of Light gets left behind for this new kid. It’s important to note that she doesn’t, the Warrior of Light is the main character. Wuk Lamat is a deuteragonist with the Warrior of Light, but the story isn’t actually about her. It’s about the Warrior of Light stepping up and embracing the new story. Jesse Cox made the observation that the Warrior becomes Ardbert, but I disagree. She’s not Ardbert in this story, she’s become Louisoix. She is here to shepherd the new generation, now that she is fully free from her past self as a member of the Convocation. Jesse Cox said he thinks it’s going to be a Spider-Verse (an Azem-Verse, he said) and I agree, because the Warrior of Light’s destiny is to grow beyond the world. If there’s anything that this whole project has taught me, it’s that. The Warrior of Light, whether it’s Terra Branford, Cloud Strife, Clive Rosfield, Ramza Beoulve or Ariadne Nighteye, they have to grow beyond their own world.

Dawntrail does a good job with this, but it’s a complicated story. It doesn’t always make things work the way it should. Wuk Lamat really does get too much screen time at certain points and the first half is too long before we get anywhere. I wouldn’t say that it’s poorly paced, all of it makes sense and comes back, but it is a slow start.

Anyway, I’m tired of fandom grievances, but I needed to say my piece. The patch quests are some of the saddest, darkest things I’ve seen in a Final Fantasy game. Zarool Ja is just a bastard. That part where Galool Ja sees his own father reject him is one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen in a video game. I didn’t cry like I did at certain parts in Final Fantasy XVI or Endwalker (or even when Otis fucking died in this, we’ll talk about that), but I think it’s the saddest thing I’ve ever seen in a game. It’s just heart wrenching to see this sweet 10-year-old boy see his father say no to him. The Golool Ja model doesn’t have a lot of face movement, even for this game, but the scene did such a good job of selling how much it broke the poor kid to see that. Like, was someone processing a real issue? It was one of the most “real world” bad things I’ve seen in a game, and part of the reason I didn’t cry is because, intentionally, there is no emotional purgation. It just hurts. There’s no “oh this is sad, isn’t it?” moment, it’s just “fuck you, sometimes parents are assholes. There is no resolution.” Like, god damn. It was fucking dark as Hell. The patch quests aren’t shying away. I needed a break after Geode because it’s just like “that’s how it goes, fuck you.”

Anyway, the regular story also had some great moments. Vrtra showing up with Koana going full anime protagonist is one of my favorite bits, and what made me realize what this whole story is about. Also, the story arc we got for not just Koana and Wuk Lamat, but also Bakool Ja Ja. A big two-headed asshole with a funny name became a two of my favorite characters. Yeah, he’s two people, and I love that the Mystic still remains kind of an asshole no matter what happens. Also, the game reached deep into the old lore about the mamool ja and the two-headed ones and turned it into a story about eugenics and how hate can destroy a community. Can destroy a family. God, Dawntrail has a lot of shitty dads. Unless they’re Wuk Lamat’s dad, either, they’re just an asshole. I’m glad at least Koana’s parents didn’t abandon him like he thought, because shit.

However, the last half of the story is an insane thrill ride. Like, it’s just crazy that there’s this whole cyberpunk real from the Ninth that is here to harvest the life force of all of the reflections to power their undead fake afterlife. Like, holy shit, that’s some dark shit. However, when we get to Otis? God damn. Yeah, I get it, he’s a full character reference to Steiner (and we get to kill the full character reference to Beatrix in 7.2 and it’s sad too), but his character was so well done and his death made me tear up like this was Endwalker all over again. It wasn’t, you know, the moment where I realized it would all end with just Ariadne and the twins, but damn, it was emotional.

Dawntrail had some issues, but the growing pains were worth it for some of the best moments in the series. Either the Final Fantasy XIV series, or Final Fantasy, take your pick.