my specs exceed the recommended and I'm getting wild visual issues, poor textures, can't even run it on low without having issues after a few hours. really disappointing, world had some issues at launch but nothing like this. very passionate about this series but cannot recommend it in this state. give it time.

EDIT: still running poorly/crashing after doing multiple things to try and improve it.

EDIT 2: As Capcom has just announced the gathering hub recently in the first title update I have realized most of what has happened is because they have deliberately released a unfinished game because they knew they could. In light of this even if they manage to fix the problems with performance and crashing I will not be updating this review. This is a black mark on capcoms image as far as I'm concerned.

Edit 3 6/2/2025:Game now finally works in a much better state compared to release. the stuttering issue is no longer present. it did however take them 3 months to get to state that I would call passable. Negative review will stand.

Edit 4 7/3/2025:Game runs okay but is now requiring shaders upon every login and is now crashing. GJ Capcom.

Dawntrail is a very different vibe from the previous expansion. We went from saving the world to much smaller more local issues in a new unfamiliar area. And that can definitely come off as worse then the previous expac. stakes are considerably smaller and our char is not in the spotlight here. Wuk Lamat is very much main char here and this can be jarring for people that have gotten used to us being in the forefront. This expac is the start of a new storyline in the series and we are very much put in the mentor role to these new chars. mostly because we are the god destroying warhead of the previous storyline. If it feels lackluster it is only because they have to introduce these new chars and show their growth. If you compare this expac with the first one of the previous storyline, base ARR it's about in the same place. all the interesting things in ARR happened post patch. I do not worry about the story. let them cook.

Otherwise everything else is an improvement from the previous expac. experts are more difficult then they were before which is a welcome change. classes have received QOL improvements that make them not less complicated but easier to play in general.

Edit 4/14/2025 7.2 rolls around and things are getting to a place where people are reengaging. I knew this would happen and without the work of the base game it wouldn't have been meaningful. good job square.

3 years after release and still a buggy unplayable mess. frames drop constantly. lowering the graphics do little to actually improve performance. story might be interesting but the bugs make it impossible to enjoy. I'm sad I preordered this.