What Dawntrail and Evercold Mean to Me
Spoilers Below, Beware..,
I joined this game somewhere around 4.2, all I remember is Byakko being the big part of that patch but just having started the game, I didn't finish the story until about 4-5 months before Shadowbringers was coming out.
This means I wasn't there for a lot of the games “starts.”
Before people get the wrong idea, there’s nothing wrong with that. There are people signing up right as I type this and starting their wondrous journey through Etheirys and all it has to offer. They get the joy of experiencing a wonderful game packed with lore, likeable characters and villains that you will both love and hate scattered across the hundreds of hours of content.
Dawntrail (and by extension Evercold) is special to me not only because I thoroughly enjoyed travelling to a new part of the world and learning new and wonderful things, but because I get to be a part of a new journey unfolding within the game. I get to experience this game in ways I haven’t before, despite all my hours sunk into this game. I almost feel like a sprout once again, staring in awe at what's to come and experiencing an excitement I haven’t felt since the release of Shabowbringers.
This game means a lot to me, and I was always a little jealous of my friends that were old 1.0 players. Not because they lorded it over me or made me feel small, but simply because they got to witness the start and the end of this fantastic journey. It was so cool, at least to me, to know that someone had stuck with the game long enough to see its worst and best parts, to watch as the biggest villains revealed themselves and threw everything you thought you knew about the game into utter chaos because one single line of dialogue from them changed everything.
Dawntrail was wonderful. Not quite as climactic or jaw dropping as Shadowbringers or Endwalker, but just as wonderful. I went into it with the mindset that this was the start of a new story, expecting it to be as epic and conclusive as Endwalker was a silly expectation that could have never been met. I was excited to see where the Warrior of Light and the Scions of the Seventh Dawn were going next, what great enemies awaited us in distant, foreign lands, buried in mountains and hidden away from the world. It had its ups and downs, but that's the case with all expansions. What expansion doesn't have its bad and good moments?
I enjoyed our little vacation before our duties as the famed Warrior of Light/Darkness came back, now with extra teeth and a vengeance that hasn't been seen since Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Also my favourite class getting front and centre? Absolute Cinema (I'm biased, I know).
The excitement I feel towards Evercold and the new chapter that is unfolding is indescribable. I can’t wait to see what awaits us on the Fourth and I’m excited to be a part of something new.
I would like to add. Please do NOT feel like you must rush through to be "ready" for Evercold. The only "ready" you need to be is getting the game downloaded when maintenance is going on the day of the patch. Enjoy the game, do side quests, plough through the MSQ in a week, still be rolling through ARR the moment Evercold drops. This game thrives on personal intervention, don't let someone else rush you through so you can farm [insert fight here] with them. After all, they don't pay your sub.
Let’s go, Evercold.
I dunno about you lot, but I’m drop kicking Calyx the first moment I get. I will boot this mf’er back to Ninth where he can rot for eternity.