Review Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail Patch 7.1 Crossroads
With the events of Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail now but a memory, Patch 7.1 Crossroads arrives to continue the story of Tural and Alexandria, while introducing tales from an altogether different world, Vana’diel with a brand new Alliance Raid.
With the absence of a MSQ based trial, we’ve combined other combat elements into a new category which encompasses things like the new Allied Society Quests, Sphene EX, Unreal, and Job adjustments.
We have four reviewers, five categories, and a maximum score of 100! Let’s see how Patch 7.1 fares!
Warning: This review contains spoilers for Patch 7.1 content.
Main Scenario
| Fusionx: Dawntrail left us with a lot of unanswered questions. Chief among them for me was the parentage of Gulool Ja- so I was glad that Crossroads addressed it- although part of it gave me “Prompto’s mother” vibes from Final Fantasy XV. Who was the rabbit boss of the dungeon and why was there all that build up for a seemingly non existent outcome? The second half of the patch helped to further explore one of the culture’s that was present in Shaaloani, which is something I would have liked to have seen more of in the 7.0 MSQ. Once again however, character development felt rushed. Khona’s sudden burst of love for Rroneek, to the point where he was ready to die for one, felt very out of place. Last but not least we have the appearance of Sphene at the end of this patch. There’s not much in the way of hints at what this could mean for the rest of the patch series but I can’t help but think of the last time this game brought a character back from the dead, and just how terrible it ended up being. | 2/5 |
| Xenedra: Starting with a PSA: Stalking and obsession aren’t ok, kids. Yoshi-P JUST implemented better blacklist functions and now we’re showing the problem in story with a sweet twist? Hopefully people see this as a deterrent, rather than encouragement. That aside, this segment of the story was… fine! A solid 3 out of 5. It answered a handful of questions some people had about various characters’ origins, and then kicked us back into dealing with the more sinister (more interesting) things going on in Salulu’ Nine. Not much more to say here other than that. Very fine. I’m ready for the next part now, please. | 3/5 |
| Aldianaux: Definitely one of the MSQ patches of all time. I did like Koana in the spotlight, and the spooky vibes of the dungeon. The Alexandrian’s memorial and learning about ‘death’ section didn’t land as well as it could have for me. I think I needed more time to let that story-beat breathe before paying off with the big reveal. Koana’s section was necessary but not incredibly compelling. I like seeing him get some character growth, but it felt a bit rushed. I am intrigued to see what the heck will be going on in Solution Nine in 7.2 though, so in that regard, the MSQ did its job. | 3/5 |
| Anonymoose: After processing the base Dawntrail scenario, my primary concern was not that I had negative things to say about it; it was that I didn’t have much to say about it period. I had a great time exploring the setting of Tural and playing the actual content of the expansion, but the scenario itself felt condensed, compartmentalized, and difficult to experience as a cohesive anything. I felt like we rarely slowed down to explore either the meaning of our actions, or their direct consequences (never mind their unintended consequences, wherein lies, I think, the greatest storytelling potential). I felt rushed from major plot beat to major plot beat, not focusing on any one arc long enough to form meaningful thoughts or feelings about its contents. The death of Queen Sphene is the perfect opportunity to finally slow down and meaningfully explore the looming consequences of ending the entire experience and meaning of life, death, and the beyond as Alexandrians know it. And, for that matter, the perfect opportunity to confront a problem that Wuk Lamat can’t talk her way around with one heartfelt speech. To start with the rough edges, the execution of seizing on that opportunity was not flawless. Funeral. Establish foreshadowing of unintended consequences. Focus on running subplot. Upbeat palate cleanser. Suckerpunch arrival of foreshadowed unintended consequences. The ongoing compartmentalized and formulaic storytelling makes it difficult for me to engage the scenario as Anony Moose – former(ish) Warrior of Light – adventuring enthusiast – rather than as This Guy – frequent(ish) Enjoyer of Video Games – lore enthusiast. That said, when it comes to exploring the unintended consequences of our actions, dealing with the legacy of Preservation, the abuse of regulator technology, the false return of Queen Sphene, and the rise of a death cult competing to enter a paradise with a population cap is quite possibly the coolest, edgiest, and most realistic thing that could happen – so I’m actually kinda stoked. P.S. I also find it very funny that – after an expansion that felt like a medley of past plot themes – Sphene’s identity has been hijacked by a manipulative third party while her authentic soul has somehow returned in another form. Not beating the Stormblood-2 allegations. P.P.S. Gulool Ja, you remain wise beyond your years, a better person than most, and you radiate Ga Bu energy. Assuming it doesn’t break carrying the emotional weight of this story, we’ve got your back, li’l dude. | 3/5 |
Main Scenario Total: 11/20
Dungeon
| Fusionx: This dungeon gave me some big Resident Evil vibes, including it’s own bit of “Itchy Tasty” while exploring it after the initial clear and reading the journal entries scattered about. The ending boss gave me something I wasn’t expecting in what could be an obscure reference to either Monty Python and the Holy Grail or Final Fantasy XI. The fight was fun… when I was able to actually see the whole thing during my second run of the dungeon. During my first run, the healer and myself died while the boss was still a bit above 50%. The Dancer and Dark Knight handled the rest of the fight themselves while we extracted materia on the cliff overlooking the battle from afar. The dungeon ended up serving as a stark reminder of the current state of roles. | 3/5 |
| Xenedra: I 👏 am 👏 having 👏 : fun in new battle content! Much clapping, many grabby hands at these small, but, I think, thoughtful changes. It still fell within the now traditional formula, and the trash packs were their usual slog, but you actually have to pay attention in the boss fights. And they delivered some new things we’ve never seen before, not to mention old mechanics rehashed in a fun, new light! I’m super hopeful for whatever battle content 7.1+ brings! | 4/5 |
| Aldianaux: This is a dungeon that I won’t groan at when it comes up in the roulettes. Which might be the best thing I have ever said about a dungeon. I loved the vibe, the story lead in, and the music. On top of that, these bosses are amazing. I think the team is hitting a great level of difficulty for this casual content. The third boss has a fun twist on the normal battle arena. It has a good shock factor and might get you the first time, but it is usually recoverable. Unless it was your healer… I just wish it wasn’t exactly the same hallway format as 90 percent of the other dungeons. | 4/5 |
| Anonymoose: I liked it. I liked the Umbrella Corporation laboratory vibes. The mechanics were creative. The lead-up, clean-up, follow-up were all baked into the scenario well. The environmental storytelling was solid. The final boss was sufficiently “LOL WTF” for the context. The gear set looks good. While it may not be the most memorable or meaningful dungeon in the game, it comfortably exceeded the demands of the moment and I won’t mind seeing it in Duty Roulette. | 4/5 |
Dungeon Total: 15/20
Other Combat
| Fusionx: This patch also brings in a new set of Allied Society Quests with the Pelupelu. Accept quest, go here, click thing or fight mob and return. And while there’s certainly a bit of Final Fantasy X charm thrown into the decor and tone of the new location in Kozama’uka, I can’t help but feel like these quests feel even more “throwaway” than previous iterations. In the questline, they talk about making the manatee-like punutiys fly and one of the WoL’s response options is “Sure, why not. Sounds feasible” as if we’re just shrugging our shoulders and going “Honestly, just do whatever you want as long as it gives me EXP” Though it also feels weird as some kind of work around for not wanting to simply repair the steps due to whatever possible limitations the team or game has. Party Finder content is not for me. I do not relish teaming up with a group of strangers who will disband after one person makes one mistake and wipes the fight. That said, the people that do have more patience (or the static) for this content seem to have enjoyed it. That said, I was a little disappointed to see that my favorite, Japanese gameshow inspired mechanic, was removed from the Sphene fight. Byakko is… Byakko. Each unreal fight just serves as a reminder to me that this game has yet to figure out a way to simply just scale its content up. It’s a continued band-aid solution to a much bigger issue that SE doesn’t seem to care about trying to meaningfully address. The idea of Square Enix continuing to buff (or not) jobs other than Pictomancer seems incredibly odd. The idea of adjusting all the other jobs instead of adjusting one seems absolutely ludicrous to me and fundamentally wrong. Gunbreaker had some nice changes at a glance, and I appreciate how Dragoon feels less busy after its adjustments. | 3/5 |
| Xenedra: I’m going to start with the Pelupelu quests because these are what brought this section down for me. I actually, really, like the concept behind them, and I love that they went so far as to make a website and actual merch to back up the idea of a Tural Travel Agency. It’s really cute! Really cute! That doesn’t make the quests more interesting though. Sphene Extreme was pretty good! Not anything too difficult, but it definitely felt more fun than most of the Extreme Trial fights from the previous expansion. It had many geometric patterns to make my brain feel those battle dance sparkles, but also a handful of more random mechanics that could be handled a few different ways. I was also pleased to see that, somehow, the Extreme version didn’t trigger visual vertigo in me nearly as bad as the normal mode. HOOPH, the earth section was rough! Byakko? Never heard of him. Or at least that’s what more than half of my static told me when I told them we were going to get the Unreal out of the way. I was pleasantly surprised to find I had almost no difficulty stumbling through this one; it really seemed easier than the original version, but also exactly the same. Just watch out for that Leg Sweep… | 4/5 |
| Aldianaux: The Extreme Trial is fun. I don’t think it is pushing any boundaries as far as design is concerned, but it was fun to learn. The music will make it more tolerable to run a million times for the mount. Byakko is a weird outlier of a fight in contrast with more modern content. The tempo ebbs and flows in a way that doesn’t jive with the current job design. Or maybe I just hate that “falling” phase and I am overthinking it. The latest round of Job Adjustments were… Interesting. Gunbreakers have lost the ability to terrify their healers. That’s not at all true, but a change to Superbolide makes it less likely to happen. Dragoon had some of its’ characteristic ‘busyness’ removed with a change to the number of casts of Nastrond they will be weaving into their burst window. And Pictomancer- No wait… It wasn’t adjusted? That doesn’t seem like a great idea- I wonder if that will have any effect on the party makeup of teams involved in the world first race? Oh… | 3/5 |
| Anonymoose: I’ve given up the “core” part of “mid-core” so you’ll have to forgive me by going purely by “what the content is” and “my observations of others doing it” when it comes to The Minstrel’s Ballad: Sphene’s Burden and Jade Stoa (Unreal). My measurement of an Extreme is rarely focused on whether it’s simply harder, but rather on whether the increased difficulty comes with increased novelty and fun, and it seems to me that Sphene has succeeded in doing both. Byakko continues a pattern of me never being quite sure whether “Unreal” is going to be closer to a recreation of “Extreme-at-Launch” or “Extreme a month or two later with relevant iLV upgrades”. That’s not a bad thing, though, necessarily; I suspect there’s not a huge market for struggling with old trials as much as reliving them not being “roll face on keyboard” easy. Pelupelu quests I don’t have a ton to say about good or bad; the Pelupelu are there. They had quests. The Hanuhanu perhaps should get more credit for their participation. But the rewards were solid and that’s what counts. | 3/5 |
Other Combat Total: 13/20
Alliance Raid
| Fusionx: Alright everybody… it’s finally here. The part of Dawntrail that I’ve been looking forward to since it was announced at the London Fan Fest. Overall, I came out of the experience net positive. That said, I did have some issues with the first installment of Echoes of Vana’diel. First, the story. Sareel Ja tell us that he came into contact with the Walk of Echoes, but unless you’re well versed in Final Fantasy XI‘s story, you might not understand what that even is. You also might not understand who the bosses are, or why we’re fighting them. There is however, an NPC you can talk to after the raid that helps to explain who you just fought. That same NPC however, is my next issue. They briefly talk about the gear that they’re wearing and where they got it. It’s a fun nod to FFXI that also poses a glaring issue. I was wearing the same exact gear set while talking to them, and in fact, that gear has been one of my most used glamours since it was introduced way back in Patch 2.4. How is it that my character has had this same armor set (and the others taken from FFXI) long before this portal to Lower Jeuno appeared on Etheirys? Likewise, the gear reward for Jeuno The First Walk left me incredibly disappointed. Not only is the Ark Angel gear something that FFXI players couldn’t even obtain until sometime over the past year, but it almost feels like the developers did so as a shortcut, considering that the gear would already partially exist as the Ark Angels themselves appear in this raid. I’ve never been terribly fond of these kind of “mascot” armor sets (which makes you look like another character) and I was hoping that the gear from this raid would have been things players were able to earn during their time with FFXI. Lastly, there are the details of the “world”. There are some wonderfully meta aspects, like the note talking about Byakko’s pants, or the character looking for a teleport. These moments definitely got a laugh out of me, and it was a nice nostalgic nod. On the other end of that however, were elements that pulled me out of the immersion of Vana’diel. Things like the extra glyph-like elements added to the structures in Tu’lia, or the not-as-gloomy bridge leading to the non-FFXI-accurate Throne Room. These were things I certainly recognized from my years with Final Fantasy XI, but they were changed just enough to feel… off. Wrong, even. There’s also Eorzean script on the signage in Lower Jeuno, likely a result of simply reusing assets. Luckily for Square Enix, they can easily brush all of these “issues” under the rug by just saying “Oh, it’s Sareel Ja’s interpretation of failed versions of Vana’diel” However, there’s a part of me that really dislikes that in their back pocket as a valid reason for “giving Galka’s five fingers.” If you played a little bit of XI, the raid might be a fun, nostalgic little romp. If you’ve never played it, it’s certainly not any worse than the NieR raid series was. But for someone like me, where Final Fantasy XI is the most important game in my life? They missed several marks. | 3/5 |
| Xenedra: I’ve made it no secret I do not look back on my FFXI days fondly, so I had no expectations coming into this. Maybe less than no expectations. Apparently that was the way to approach it because I loved this 24-man. It hit my traumatized nostalgia brain just right, only really playing on the fond and/or stereotypically old school MMO memories. It was a jaunt that I could appreciate. As with the dungeon, the fights were fun! A challenge at times, even, with mechanics you need to pay attention to, but are appropriate for the level of difficulty a 24-man should offer, in my opinion. I am ever-so-slightly disappointed to see that the fights are already being shortened by people getting used to their patterns, but I’m still having fun, so I’ll live. The story was… quirky? I like that it ties in with our screwed over side-villain, but his planning seems, well, bad. But frankly we already knew that from MSQ. He’s a bit of a failure as far as conniving, adviser type villains. It feels a bit like the omega raid series where they came up with an appropriately themed skin for, “Let’s make an FFXI thempark 24-man!” But you know what? I was a big fan of the Omega raids. Take me to the theme park, Yoshi-P! Let’s get cotton candy and Nashira Manteels, mk~? | 5/5 |
| Aldianaux: I have always been a fan of Final Fantasy XI’s overall aesthetic, and I loved seeing it with the boost in fidelity more modern technology brings. The story is just fine. It is a serviceable vehicle for the “greatest hits” tour that this Alliance series is likely to be. Though, I do wonder what greater implications it will have. The fights! That’s where the juice is for me. Great difficulty design for the most part, if a little uneven with less coordinated parties. And is that a multi-target boss fight with a mechanic that needs to be interrupted?! More of this please. But! I don’t love the Ark Angel set. I would rather see the multitude of other, less samey gear sets in the future. Some of XI’s gear is peak fantasy and I’d love to see as much as we can of its unique styles. Hey, Yoshi-P… If you are increasing rewards, please give us more Alliance gear. Maybe some weapons? | 4/5 |
| Anonymoose: I gauge the success of “nostalgia content” by how convincingly it replicated – not the authentic original – but my flawed, embellished memories of loving it. The remake should feel convincingly like my memories, only for the self-deception to be revealed when I return to the original to find it somehow lesser despite being the same as it always was. In terms of visuals, Echoes of Vana’diel went above and beyond for me. Even the camera angles evoked nostalgia. The attention to detail and little in-jokes enhanced what was already a positive experience by virtue of the stunning visuals. I’ve long-dreaded the possibility that one day the servers might go dark and Vana’diel might cease to be. This raid reminded me of how badly I wish it could be preserved in a single-player form, and how tragically unlikely that is to happen. Only successful nostalgia content could evoke that sense of wistfulnes… so… 5 out of 5? (Would love the weapons to match those Ark Angel outfits, tho, ngl…) | 5/5 |
Alliance Total: 17/20
Other
| Fusionx: They finally came up with a “solution” for the portrait issue that has plagued the game since it’s introduction. Definitely a big thumbs up from me on that… but I have to wonder why they didn’t give us an option for “No, just fix this every single time stop asking me, this is really dumb.” I hope they continue to work on this and create a better solution. The set feature for the glamour dresser feels like a good addition at a glance, but ultimately ends up feeling clunky and disappointing. Give me a “consolidate” button on the dresser UI that just puts everything into the sets that they’re a part of. Also, SE needs to finally give in and simplify how dyes are obtained. Losing applied dyes as part of this set option simply sucks. New interior options for housing is nice. Though the top railing not connecting to the railing on the stairs in the mansion when every other house layout does this is… odd. Changing interior styles is also a pain, because if you actually use your housing storage, there’s a chance you’re going to need to get a bunch of retainers to offload the gear onto in order to even change interiors in the first place. The game feels like it’s punishing you for using your storage. Also how is it still not standard practice to include blank partitions or door partitions whenever they add new house styles? They remembered the Achievement NPC exists and added some new rewards, though their cost, when compared to just how much currency I actually have at that NPC seems so bizarre. I have thousands of these tokens and new things cost two each. I mean, it’s fine, I can certainly afford it, but it makes the whole system feel weird to me. The addition of the Pandaemonium epilogue is not unwanted, but certainly… odd in its existence. SE also messed up a contest winner’s hairstyle, and we’re also still seeing hairstyles added for Viera and Hrothgar 4 years after the races were implemented I can’t believe this is a thing we’re still talking about. | 3/5 |
| Xenedra: My focus here will be on the addition of gear sets to the glam’ dresser. It’s a great idea in theory, and it did help me cut a bit down on my storage, but man are there some kinks in this spaghetti. First of all, it’s really only glamour gear that they applied the sets to at all. Things like level one map materiel sets. What about my full sets of gear from 24-mans I don’t ever want to have to run again? It feels like an extreme oversight that I hope they fix in the future. Maybe they just didn’t have time for ALL the gear? Second, the method for finding and re-storing gear into this sets is SO clunky! You have to first, as mentioned, find the pieces that can be stored as a set, then remove them, then put them back in the dresser together. Shouldn’t there just be a button when you find a piece? And worse than that, and also my last(?) gripe, putting all the gear into sets removes the dyes! This isn’t a new disappointment as far as gear storage goes, but in this new age of using not one, but two possibly expensive dyes on a piece, losing both those dyes can be painful to your digi-wallet! I have two pieces of a handful of items now so that I can compress down the sets, but still keep my expensive dyes. Granted, 2 pieces is still less space than 5, so I’m not too mad about it, but it just. Seems. Silly. | 3/5 |
| Aldianaux: They gave us a good reason to do maps again. I think Maps, Fates and Hunts are the most “traditionally MMO feeling” content we have right now. So I dig it. The choice to go back and spruce up 2.0 graphical content is a welcome sight. The beginning of the game has to keep up with the times if the game is going to grow. There were some missteps though. The Housing changes are great but afflicted with the usual clunkiness of our housing and item storage systems. Somehow the Portrait update popup is both a nice bit of quality of life and also just annoying enough to fit in with the rest of the Portrait system. It is somehow exactly what I expected. | 3/5 |
| Anonymoose: I feel like we got a solid assortment of useful housing items and fun mounts, minions, and emotes, but my assessment is primarily rooted in two things: I asked for artisan spectacle facewear, and I got it. I asked for the drink-shake emote, and I got it. I think they may have accidentally sent me a pool table instead of a billiards table, though. It has pockets. | 5/5 |
Trial Total: 14/20
Patch 7.1 Total: 71/100
You can listen to our spoiler-filled review of Patch 7.1 on Aetheryte Radio Episode 302.
Images courtesy of Square Enix, and taken by reviewer.