The air around Dawntrail, Final Fantasy 14's upcoming expansion, is decidedly different to how things were in the runup to 2021's Endwalker. It makes sense, really. We're not in the throes of a global pandemic, nor are thousands of "WoW refugees" departing from Blizzard's MMO for greener, more catboy-y pastures.
We're not on the cusp of a major narrative climax either, wrapping up a decade-long story. It's the total opposite: Dawntrail is the start of a new arc, more low-key than what our Warriors of Light have been put through in the last several years. The joys of exploration and adventuring are perhaps a little less hypeable or marketable than world-ending apocalyptic threats. But I don't think it's the only reason things feel a little more tentative this time around, and while Dawntrail's story may be low stakes, community reception and success feels critical for defining how the next several years of Final Fantasy 14 will look.
I say things feel tentative because, as PCG's fellow Final Fantasy 14 enthusiast Harvey Randall puts it, it has been "two years of frustration" for many players. Post-Endwalker patches have been subject to a hefty amount of criticism, more than I ever remember during my nine years of on-and-off playing. The issues Harvey outlines—slow story, lack of midcore content and an unsatisfying relic grind—have been shared across the wider community.
It's hard to feel like there hasn't been an ever-growing exhaustion with the formula Square Enix has stuck so stalwartly to for the last several years.
