FF14 Patch 7.3 Stuns Fans But the Real Thrills Lie Beyond the Main Story

FF14’s 7.3 update gives a strong ending to Dawntrail but the story speed and the new dungeon make me even more excited for the game’s future.

The Dawntrail expansion for Final Fantasy 14 is now finished. This week’s 7.3 patch brought the ending to the story of this expansion and it was done in a stylish and well-presented way. The story for Dawntrail has been a bit divisive among players meaning that some people liked it a lot while others had mixed or negative feelings. I’m not going to go into deep detail about the story itself because I don’t want to spoil important moments but I will say that the ending went about how most players probably expected. Even so I still had two moments during the final scene where I was so surprised or excited that I actually shouted out loud. This kind of reaction is fairly common for the game’s third patch updates. These patches often bring big and emotional conclusions to an ongoing story arc but by the time they happen players usually have a good idea of what’s coming because most of the key story pieces are already in place. What excites me even more than the ending this time though are the other things included in the patch many smaller changes and improvements that show Square Enix is paying attention to player feedback and making adjustments.

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The issues that people have with Dawntrail are not brand new problems. Many of these problems have been present in Final Fantasy 14 for years but they were easier to overlook in the past because the story was so gripping that you wanted to see every moment of it. Personally I don’t mind a little bit of slower routine-style content in my MMORPGs. I even found the setup for the Heritage Found section of the game to be interesting. That said I also noticed the repetitive quest design where you are constantly told to go talk to three different NPCs before you can move forward. This kind of safe by-the-numbers design has become a common complaint among players and it’s now a bigger talking point than before. Fortunately the main story quests (MSQ) in patch 7.3 feel like they are addressing this issue. The design feels improved and like a step forward for the game.

I will try not to spoil any big story moments but I do need to talk about some of the gameplay mechanics in the new patch. There’s still a lot of talking to characters but the pacing now feels better. When the game sends you to speak to multiple NPCs it is done in a more interesting and purposeful way. Instead of just gathering information and then being told exactly what that information means your party members now ask you to think about it review what you’ve learned and come to your own conclusions. This makes the conversations feel more engaging and less like a checklist of tasks to complete.

The best part for me is the section that takes place in the lab. In this part you actually get to solve a set of real puzzles instead of just watching the story happen. The puzzles themselves are not too hard or complicated so you don’t have to worry about getting stuck for hours. They are definitely easier than the tricky Secret in the Box optional quest from Endwalker and they are nowhere near as brain-busting as The Greatest Story Never Told from A Realm Reborn which is famous for being full of riddles. This is still part of the Main Scenario Quests (MSQ) so it’s clear that the developers didn’t want to make it overly difficult. It feels like Yoshida’s team is just testing things out to see how much puzzle-solving players actually enjoy in the main story. For me I think it’s a great idea. Even if the puzzles are simple it feels refreshing to actually take part in the missions instead of only following along while the game drags me from one cutscene to the next. I honestly found myself smiling and giving a mental thumbs-up to the team for trying something different.

I also really enjoyed the brand-new dungeon although I can’t say I was surprised by its quality because Dawntrail has already shown that its battle design is fantastic. Still there’s something special here the developers are still experimenting with new ideas. One boss in the dungeon tries to trick you by using fake visual warnings to confuse you about what’s coming next. Another boss is completely different and separates all the players forcing each person to fight in their own small arena in a one-on-one battle. It’s a cool twist that makes the fight memorable. I wouldn’t want every dungeon to use this exact setup but as a one-time thing it’s exciting and unique and it’s been a long time since I’ve seen something quite like it.

Another thing that really stands out is how much the game’s production quality has improved. Dawntrail already made big improvements in this area and I think that’s one of the reasons why it felt so noticeable when some important scenes didn’t have voice acting because the rest of the presentation was so good. The camera work the angles and the cutscenes have all become better. The characters now feel more alive and expressive than ever before. Their faces gestures and body language all help tell the story in a way that’s more engaging. I remember back in the early pandemic days during Shadowbringers patch 5.3 there was a very funny and memorable balcony cutscene that showed just how much personality the animations could have. That moment was one of the highlights of the game for me at the time. Now it feels like that same level of charm and liveliness is present in almost every scene making the entire game feel more vibrant and immersive.

The new Final Fantasy 14 update is called The Promise of Tomorrow. At first this name sounds like it is only about the main themes of the story that comes after the Dawntrail expansion. But when you think about it more it also feels like the developers at Creative Studio 3 are giving us a little hint that they are working on changes which could shape the future of the entire game. Even though patch 7.3 is good and has strong content there is still a lot more work ahead. Most of what we got at launch are activities that you can only do once. The only things that will keep players busy for a while are the new alliance raid and the new extreme trial. We will have to wait until update 7.31 to get access to a brand-new location called the Cosmic Exploration area.

For players who only care about fighting and challenging battles the wait will be even longer. They will have to hold on until patch 7.35 to play the new deep dungeon. This deep dungeon is not just another piece of content it is part of a bigger plan. During Live Letter 88.producer Naoki Yoshida explained that the Pilgrim’s Traverse is an experiment to test some ideas for the future of the game. One of the biggest ideas is to make sure that every type of player no matter what they enjoy whether it’s battles story crafting or exploration always has enough to do to keep them happy. We will only see the full results of this plan when version 8.0 comes out. That’s still some time away but looking at how things are going now I’m already excited and ready to see what they serve up next.