Recent reviews by macchiato

The selling point of any FFXIV expansion is the story. You are required to do the story to reach any endgame content, there is minimal game play before then, and you are expected to pay attention and read or listen. Because of that, criticism of the story is legitimate. And the story presented here is tedious, poorly-written, and devoid of almost any purpose. Half of cutscenes are non-voiced, and the ones that are lack emotion and acting. Others have compared this to ARR. I think it is worse.

I don't need to add plot specifics because most people who play FFXIV will buy this expansion regardless. But for those who aren't locked in: if you want a preview, please use New Game+ and replay the Titan banquet quest line from ARR.

To the sycophants: I have played every expansion over the past ten years and thousands of hours. This is not my "first expansion", as someone put it. And that's what makes Dawntrail so disappointing. Square Enix kept the plodding visual novel "gameplay" of previous expansions but left out the plot. And wasn't that the biggest defense of having an MSQ so devoid of gameplay? That at least the plot was good? What are we left with now? Endgame content? Please don't play healer during it, or you truly won't have any reason to play FFXIV at all!

Also, a reminder that Square Enix is not a family-run company. It is a multibillion-dollar megacorporation. Your $40 purchase of Dawntrail is equal to 0.00000176% of their annual revenue. This is a flagship product for Square Enix's largest franchise, not an indie title and a charity. Expectations ought to be set accordingly.