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Final Fantasy 14 has recently celebrated the tenth anniversary of its highly successful relaunch, and the game's most recent expansion, Endwalker, has delivered record subscriber counts. Many MMOs would be considered a little long in the tooth at this point, but FF14 shows no signs of slowing down - the epic story, which Director Naoki Yoshida recently compared to an ongoing television series, will soon continue with the upcoming Dawntrail expansion.
What do we know about Dawntrail's story? And there's so much more to love about Final Fantasy 14, from its characters and settings, to its dungeons and side quests, all the way up to its top-tier raids. Dawntrail's announcement gave us a lot to unpack, and we're unpacking it all right here.
New Story, New Setting
Now that you've watched Dawntrail's teaser trailer - the 'Dawntrailer', if you will - let's dive into that pristine sea and see what awaits.
When Final Fantasy 14 began, the writers were let loose to tell all sorts of tales, but the central storyline revolved around Zodiark and Hydaelyn. The dramatic struggle of the noble Scions against the mysterious Ascians; the machinations of the Garlean Empire and its role within the Ascian plans; the seeds were planted even before the A Realm Reborn relaunch, and they continued through Heavensward, Stormblood, and Shadowbringers, before coming to an epic conclusion with Endwalker.
Dawntrail marks the beginning of a brand-new story for Final Fantasy 14, the premiere of another marathon narrative that could last as long as FF14's second decade of service. After the Final Days of Endwalker, it's probably for the best that Dawntrail appears to sport a lighter tone than recent expansions.
A Whole New World
That's not to say Dawntrail will be devoid of dark intrigues, but first, let's mull over what we know about the setting. Toral, commonly referred to as the New World, is a continent to Eorzea's southwest separated by a large body of water called the Indigo Deep. A wide diversity of peoples inhabit Toral, from ever-familiar Hyur to the Mamool Ja beast race seen far less frequently elsewhere.
The capital city of Tuliyollal will be the major hub city of Dawntrail, and it's a more diverse sprawl than Ishgard, Kugane, or even the Crystarium. Similarly unique is Tuliyollal's less industrious nature; the citizens believe in working harmoniously with nature rather than chopping it all down in the name of so-called progress.
The ruins of an ancient empire of Giants litter the mountainous landscape of Urqopacha, one of Dawntrail's new regions of exploration. Heavily forested Yak'tel is home to both the Mamool Ja and the Hrothgar who inhabit Tural. We'll no doubt learn of more regions as marketing continues - six total's a fairly safe bet, given the precedent set by prior expansions.
Succession
Though Dawntrail will pave the way for a new game-spanning overarching story, the expansion will naturally contain its own self-contained plot as well. The premise is as follows - the protagonist heads to the New World to assist in a ceremony to determine Tural's next ruler. It's a big duty, but not without the added benefit of what Director Naoki Yoshida calls 'the very best summer vacation a hero could possibly have'.
Alongside Alphinaud, Alisaie, and Erenville, the Warrior of Light embarks upon a journey across the Indigo Deep. Should rumor be true, the contest may lead them to the fabled gates of a city of gold. Little do they know that it will also see the Scions divided.”
We'll go out on a limb and guess, given the many fantastical things the Scions have encountered thus far, that this fabled city of gold likely exists in some fashion. As for the division, we know the Warrior of Light may wind up head-to-head in rivalry against some Scions as this perilous high-fantasy expedition kicks off. The notion of a competition between dear friends seems to add to Dawntrail's somewhat lighter tone, though who's to say what lurks behind those golden gates?
New Jobs, New Dungeons, New Raids
What's a Final Fantasy 14 expansion without tons of new content, starting with new jobs? Yoshida's confirmed two new Job Classes will join the ranks in Dawntrail, but mum's still the word on what they'll entail. What we do know is that both Job Classes will be DPS, with one in the melee style and the other ranged.
Turtle Talk
Yoshida's infamous for providing blatant hints concerning future announcements, and when he removed his jacket on stage at the Las Vegas Fan Festival in July, he revealed a shirt featuring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. As intended, fan speculation quickly began to spread. Those titular turtles are all named after famous artists. Pictomancer, perhaps?
Another expansion staple is the inclusion of a higher level cap, and as we move on from Endwalker and into Dawntrail, FF14's level cap will be raised from 90 to 100. That means ten more levels' worth of new battle abilities, too, and all sorts of fresh strategies as a result.
Final Fantasy Feeling
New Variant Dungeons are on their way, as well as a recurring replacement for the current eight-player Pandaemonium raids. But what really got folks' heads turning at the Vegas Final Fantasy 14 Fan Festival was Yoshida's comment that Endwalker's Myths of the Realm series of Alliance Raids has proven quite popular, and Dawntrail's own Alliance Raids will feel 'even more FInal Fantasy-ish' as a result of that success.
That doesn't tell us much, except to expect something plenty of Final Fantasy fans can anticipate on its own merit. It also decreases the likelihood for another big Square Enix IP crossover a la Shadowbringers' Nier Automata collaboration.
New Graphics, New Side Quests, New Customization
Notably, Final Fantasy 14's version 7.0 update will commence an expansion-wide effort to improve the game's graphics across the board. 7.0 being the launch of Dawntrail means we can get hyped for some immediate improvements, though we should bear in mind the bulk of the first wave of graphics updates will regard the new zones and characters of Dawntrail itself.
Further down the line, slowly but surely, the fullness of Final Fantasy 14 will receive the same improvements to lighting, shadows, texture quality, and so forth. Yoshida cautions that we may notice blatant differences in the graphical fidelity between various major NPCs for a while.
Quite Conceivable Upgrades
You know you're watching a Final Fantasy 14 Fan Festival when one of the loudest and most prolonged audience cheers involves ink-dyeing. Starting with Dawntrail, players can dye many pieces of gear two separate colors per piece, which opens up a wealth of new fashion choices. Additionally, the long-requested furnishing limit increase will kick in a little after launch. No word yet on the new limit.
Glasses that can be worn alongside headgear, that's another notable paradigm shift in character design. Speaking of monocles, 'Inconceivably Further Hildibrand Adventures' will carry on the proud tradition of giving Eorzea's favorite bumbling detective another questline. We look forward to seeing him stumbling into cases and haplessly resolving them out in the New World.
Everything Else We Know About Dawntrail
There's plenty more to chew on. A Strategy Board will be implemented in Dawntrail, allowing players engaged in multiplayer modes to easily communicate battle tactics and positioning without the need for language. Chatter always helps, but this should help considerably with harder fights, whether you're along with friends or people you've never met.
Blue Mages will receive a needed update, likely to consist of a risen level cap and new monster abilities to learn. The team's also thinking about further Deep Dungeon locations, as well as more fun at the Gold Saucer, but it seems we'll have to wait for details on either front.
Pelupelu Pals
If you've played Final Fantasy 10, you'll already be somewhat familiar with the Pelupelu, one of Dawntrail's Beast Tribes. The small-statured fellows are natural entrepreneurs and proud producers of such New World staples as tea, coffee, and mezcal. How we'll end up attempting to ingratiate ourselves into their society remains to be seen!
Dawntrail Release Date
Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail is currently on track for a Summer 2024 launch. Yoshida hopes it will arrive at the earlier end of that estimate, but he's giving his team more breathing room by keeping things somewhat vague.
In the meantime, Endwalker still has plenty of patch life, with Patch 6.5 Part 1 coming in early October. We'll take care to update this article as we continue to learn more about FF14's trip to Toral.