Final Fantasy 14's latest patch has me hopeful for the MMO's story again—even though Square Enix still has a lot of good will to recover

I didn't like Dawntrail's story very much. Okay, that's not entirely true—I liked some of Final Fantasy 14's latest expansion. I liked certain scenes, I liked certain ideas, I liked certain overarching themes; I especially liked the scenery. But the actual moment-to-moment storytelling was so clumsily executed that I was left genuinely baffled.

It's a real shame, too, because the changeover from long-time writing lead Natsuko Ishikawa should've been a great opportunity to get some fresh blood into the mix. Ishikawa's been helming the story since Shadowbringers, and she's done a sterling job. I was open to a change, though, since I'd never expect a writer to stay in the same position on the same project forever.

But Dawntrail lacked a lot of what made Ishikawa's writing great—a sense of weight and philosophical sensitivity, an appreciation for character, an instinctive knowledge of the importance of small, meaningful moments tucked between the margins.

Despite supervising the story, aside from that one G'raha Tia gondola scene? I felt like I was playing a different game, held by storytellers who had bitten off more than they could chew and, consequently, were unable to focus on anything important.

You can read my full thoughts elsewhere, but—suffice it to say, Dawntrail left a sad, frustrated bitterness in my mouth. The more I thought about it, the madder I got. I cannot say my remaining thoughts are fond: I was not confident in this new writing team, and Creative Studio 3 had a lot to make up for.

Patch 7.1 didn't exactly give me much hope, to begin with. Koana learning about the true nature of his parents' "abandonment" via a conveniently placed exposition merchant. No, literally. At the very least, it set up some interesting story beats. Story beats that, I'm pleased to say, patch 7.2 and 7.3 delivered on with solid consistency.

At the time, I wrote that I wasn't yelling "we're so back!" I'm still not yelling it, but I am quietly whispering it, surprisingly full of hope, under my breath, doing a cool anime pose with a clenched fist or something. Because patch 7.4 has completely charmed me.

Charm and character

Krile, who had been sidelined for the entirety of Dawntrail (despite the inciting incident for the whole expansion being about uncovering her past) finally got her moment in the sun, torn between the world from which she came and her newly-discovered past, wondering if she owed it to her parents to commit herself to their community in Treno.

There is unfortunately the "speak to three people" quest, again, but it's couched in actually helping out with something relevant—and more to the point, Treno is really well-conveyed. FF14's writers suddenly remembered that you needed to develop a location like you would a character. You can't just rattle off facts about reed production, you have to actually show the people's personalities through their actions, the way they talk to each other, and their culture. And 7.4 nails it.

Not least of all because of the charming NPCs we meet there. Characters in Dawntrail repeatedly felt like information vehicles—which has always been a problem, FF14 is still a JRPG, but Dawntrail really struggled with it.

Patch 7.4, by contrast, takes the proper time to endear us to Treno natives Lumull and Eyaney, who both felt like actual people with a pre-existing bond we just happened to walk into, rather than blank vessels through which the story might flow at a central character. The dialogue, for the most part, feels naturalistic and filled with heart.

Again, this is all basic stuff—but it's a sign that something's really shifted. Either Creative Studio 3 was scared straight after Dawntrail's reception, Ishikawa's taking a more stern hand in her supervisory role, hey! Maybe FF14's new lead writers just improved. Sometimes people grow and learn from their mistakes, it's not impossible.

The patch-end stinger with Halmarut and Calyx gives me hope, too: Calyx being so terrified by us nearly merking him that he decides only to remotely pilot little guys (which he could conceivably hide in) is genuinely really funny, and while I am feeling ascian fatigue, Halmarut seems genuinely different from her ancient kin.

She's the first non-hyurian ascian we've seen, she's not interested in wearing her robes, and she speaks to Calyx more like a colleague than an inferior—more to the point, she seems entirely unbothered that the ascians basically failed. My pet theory is that the "Winterers", FF14's seemingly new villain group, only have one ascian member: The rest of them are more like Calyx, people from across the shards trying to find new ways to survive the future.

Dare I say it, there's some real potential here. Dare I say it, I'm actually really, properly excited for the future again. Dare I say it, we might be… back? There's a chance that 7.5 completely biffs it at the finish line, or that 8.0 can't carry that same momentum: But at the moment, things are looking bright.