I don’t think it’d be too controversial to say that Dawntrail might be the weakest FFXIV expansion we’ve seen so far. There are a couple of things working against it: the fact that it’s a filler arc of sorts, and that it tries to do too many things at once.
With FFXIV‘s latest patch, titled Into the Mist, wrapping up Wuk Lamat’s story properly and ushering in new story beats, I’m once again reminded of why I loved this game so much in the first place. With Into the Mist, we’re officially leaving Wuk Lamat and Tuliyollal behind. The succession of the throne has been sorted; everyone has found their place. What’s left for us to do but forge ahead in search of new adventures?
More importantly, however, Into the Mist also recenters the story around the mystery of Krile’s past, a plot point that got lost in the chaos of the throne succession arc and the Alexandria curveball in Dawntrail. While Dawntrail did give us answers to Krile’s lost family and background, she often felt like an afterthought, which didn’t sit well with me especially given the build-up to the expansion. Into the Mist finally rights that wrong as we venture into Treno and learn more about Krile’s family and where she grew up.
The story takes place almost entirely within Treno, and it’s surprisingly introspective as we spend most of our time with Krile dissecting her feelings of displacement. While Krile has lived most of her life in the Source, she finds herself feeling obligated to perhaps stay in Treno and the Ninth because that’s where her parents resided. It’s a paralyzing feeling, not knowing where she belongs, and Into the Mist‘s most poignant moments revolve around her moments of introspection with the Warrior of Light, who remains stoically silent as ever. It all culminates in an epic battle — as FFXIV story arcs often do — with the Scions and Sphene rushing to Krile’s aid as she defends Treno’s citizens from fiends.
By the end, Krile is reunited with her aunt, who of course tells her she’s always welcome in Treno, but also reminds her that home is wherever the heart is. It is all incredibly cheesy stuff, but because of all the goodwill and strong characterization work that FFXIV has built up over the years, the cheesy stuff always hits just right.
While Into the Mist does spend some time setting up what looks to be the primary antagonists for the next part of the story, it’s a strong reminder that FFXIV is at its best when it focuses on a single theme. I didn’t particularly mind that Dawntrail was going to be a filler arc; in fact, after four expansions’ worth of world-ending threats, I was ready for my beach episode and the low stakes that came with it, but that wasn’t how things shook out. Not only did Dawntrail introduce yet another world-ending threat, it also tried to do too many things at the same time. We had to develop Wuk Lamat and do the throne tournament. We had to learn about Tuliyollal. We had to make time for the Scions, even though they barely had any impact on the story. We had Krile’s story. We had to deal with Zoraal Ja, who might very well be the worst villain FFXIV has ever seen.
The scope of FFXIV‘s past expansions has always been huge, but they were also always focused on a singular theme. Stormblood, for instance, was split between Ala Mhigo and Doma, but the theme remained the same: search for a way to save a defeated state while preventing another from suffering that same fate. In contrast, Dawntrail was all over the place. Into the Mist alleviates some of the expansion’s issues by cutting away the fat, and I’m happy to report that I’m back onboard the FFXIV train once again.
